VisitScotland eUpdate - July 2005
Photo: Luskentyre Beach, Isle of Harris
Welcome to the latest VisitScotland eUpdate, giving you an overview of VisitScotland's current activities.
This month:
Business Opportunities Package - Deadline Reminder
Tourism businesses across the country are being urged 'not to miss the boat' in benefiting from VisitScotland's new Business Opportunities Package.
The Business Opportunities Package includes the same three promotional elements as the previous membership scheme operated by Area Tourist Boards. Businesses that sign up to the package will get an entry on the website visitscotland.com, an advert in the local area holiday guide and promotion through the local tourist information centre.
With the deadline set for the end of August, businesses
that want to sign up for the package should contact their local business
relationship manager (BRM) whose details
can be found at www.scotexchange.net/vsnetworkoffice.htm
London Centre's Internal Exhibition Space
The VisitScotland London Centre has an internal wall space for exhibitions and displays to highlight what Scotland has to offer. The London office has already displayed exhibitions from Poole House Hotel, Rabbies Trail Burners, Thistle Parks and Speyside Wildlife. Current exhibitions, to coincide with SeaScotland month, are The Majestic Line Cruises and Deep Sea World. Upcoming exhibitions include Edinburgh International Festival, FirstScot Rail, "Walking Month" exhibitions and Macdonald Hotels.
Not only does the exhibition space look great, but with a footfall of around 6000 people into the London office in a summer month, it is a great way for Scotland's trade to advertise. The London office is now exploring additional opportunities for trade advertising, so watch this space!
The exhibition space is booked up until December,
however, if you would like information on advertising opportunities in
the London office for 2006 please contact Casia Zajac, Director - London
Office, Tel: 0207 321 5750
Email: casia.zajac@visitscotland.com.
Tourism Innovation Development Award
The Tourism Innovation Development Award is now in its 8th round. To date, there have been 26 winners, each receiving up to £15,000 in match funding to assist in implementing their innovative tourism project. In addition, each project has been assigned its own Innovation Advisor to work with them through to the implementation stage.
The deadline for Round 8 Expression of Interest Forms is Tuesday 9 August. If you have an innovative idea that you believe will benefit Scottish tourism then submit your application now.
For further information regarding the award, please Email: scottishenterpriseTIDA@strategem.co.uk or freephone 0800587 8054.
It's a Wild Business! - New Leaflet and Website Available for Businesses
Following three successful tourism business workshops in May, the Tourism and Environment Forum has launched a new leaflet and website on nature-based tourism. The high-impact leaflet provides initial ideas for businesses interested in getting involved with nature tourism with further statistics, case studies and information available on the website. For a copy of the leaflet or to access this information visit www.greentourism.org.uk/nature
Tourism Cares For Tomorrow Summit Meeting - Scotland 19 - 20 October 2005
Tourism Cares for Tomorrow is a non-profit organisation formed from the merger of USTOA's Travellers Conservation Foundation and NTA's National Tourism Foundation. USTOA's membership represents 125 brand names of which over 80% currently operate in the UK at some level, and the NTA have over 600 tour operator members with just under 100 active with UK products. In addition, VisitScotland has invited SITE members along to the event and are targeting 20 incentive operators to attend this event.
VisitScotland is hosting the TCFT summit meeting, bringing to Scotland around 80 major tour operators and incentive buyers from the US for a workshop, golf tournament and gala dinner. The workshop is scheduled for the morning of the 20 October, which will provide suppliers with the opportunity of attending the following:
19 October - Networking Dinner
20 October - General Session - North American industry update
20 October - One to one business sessions.
This event will be held at the Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh and will be limited
to 2 delegates per supplier. Cost £495 + VAT for 2 delegates or
£400 + VAT for 1 delegate. For more information please contact Melanie
Angus, Trade Promotions Manager
Tel: 0131 472 2336, Email:melanie.angus@visitscotland.com
Ontario PGA Golf And Merchandise Show, Toronto, 26 - 28 October 2005
Scottish suppliers are invited to exhibit at the 2005 Ontario PGA Golf Merchandise Show and help establish Scotland - The Home of Golf as the premier golfing destination for the Canadian market.
Attendance at the 2004 event was up 5% on the previous year as 2,151 PGA professionals, golf course owners and operators, green grass and off-course retail buyers and other professionals allied to the field came to source leading-edge equipment, apparel, accessories and services for their businesses.
This is a unique opportunity to become involved in a relatively new event in the PGA calendar and ensure your business is front of mind for Canadian golfing professionals.
VisitScotland, working in conjunction with Scottish Development International, has reserved a 20ft x 20ft pavilion allowing space for up to ten Scottish partners. There will also be a business workshop featuring one to one appointments with Canadian travel trade on 25 October. Cost is £550 + VAT
For more information please contact Melanie Angus,
Trade Promotions Manager
Tel: 0131 472 2336, Email:melanie.angus@visitscotland.com
New Golf Guide for Aberdeen and Grampian
As part of the continuing effort to promote Golf Tourism, a newly designed and updated guide to golf in the Aberdeen and Grampian area is being produced. The previous guide was extremely successful and VisitScotland is confident that advertising support from the industry for this guide will be strong. The guide is expected to be ready by October this year and will be distributed through the following channels.
- Main fulfilment to the Golf Tourism Marketing
Campaign
- Exhibition programmes in the UK and overseas,
including golf and travel events.
- Postal, telephone and email enquiries
- Tourist Information Centres
For information about advertising in the "Official Guide to Golf in Aberdeen and Grampian Highlands" please contact Siân Williamson, Tourist Infromation Assistant,VisitScotland Aberdeen Office, Tel: 01224 288835 or Email: sian.williamson@visitscotland.com.
The golf website www.golf-grampian.com is also being redesigned to become more easily updated and more in keeping with the branding of our family of websites. A draft version of the website is ready and it is expected that the new site will be online by August.
Events and Exhibitions Opportunities
VisitScotland's Events and Exhibitions opportunities for 2005/06 are now available to be viewed on line at www.scotexchange.net
The programme of activity covers a wide range of events and includes exhibitions, trade fairs, sampling opportunities and promotions and includes dates and prices for each event.
Trade Fairs and Exhibitions provide an excellent platform for Scotland's tourism industry to promote their products directly to buyers. They are an ideal opportunity to engage face to face with Tour Operators, Wholesalers and Business and Incentive Buyers in order to grow your business. To highlight just a few of the excellent opportunities available:
- UK Trade fairs such as World Travel Market,
BTTF and not forgetting VisitScotland Expo 2006
- Opportunities for the Golfing fraternity at
PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando and International Golf Travel Market
(IGTM) in Gran Canaria
- Business and Incentive Travel dates at International
Confex and EIBTM
- Additionally, there also includes a large list of consumer exhibitions throughout Europe
For some of these events, Scotland will exhibit under the 'Scotland' brand within the VisitBritain stand, whilst at others we aim to use our experience to provide the highest quality purpose build stands in which to showcase your product.
To discuss any of these opportunities in more detail, or to book stand space, please contact Tracey Cunningham, Events Sales Manager or Anne Sykes, Events Co-ordinator on 0131 472 2333 or Email: tracey.cunningham@visitscotland.com or anne.sykes@visitscotland.com
VisitScotland EXPO 2005 - Online Evaluation
Following VisitScotland Expo 2005 in Aberdeen, feedback on this show was obtained from three groups of buyers (UK buyers, SCOTS agents and International buyers) and UK exhibitors. Visit www.scotexchange.net for the full findings.
Scotland Village in New York Evaluation
VisitScotland carried out an evaluation of the Scottish Village in New York during Tartan Week. The evaluation research was carried out in April 2005 with visitors to the Scotland Village located in Vanderbilt Hall in Grand Central Station. Visit www.scotexchange.net for the full findings.
Marketing Research Awards
VisitScotland and insight agency, Nunwood Consulting, enjoyed award success at the Marketing research Awards 2005. The successful partnership that earlier this year won the award for International Brand Development at the first Mareketing Excellence Awards in Scotland, scooped the award for Best International Research Project and the Overall Marketing Award for Marketing Research.
VisitScotland and Nunwood Consulting faced tough competition from BT, Microsoft, Shell, Allied Domecq, Nestle and other best practitioners in research and marketing to win the awards.
Further infomation on the Marketing awards is available at www.scotexchange.net/news
Launch of Viral Adventure Game
VisitScotland has launched its latest innovative
campaign to raise the profile of adventure sports in Scotland - a unique
viral adventure game which is played online.
The overall objectives of the campaign are to
- To improve data acquisition for the adventure sports database
- To raise the profile of Scotland as Europe's Adventure Capital by encouraging players to play the game and then pass the message/game onto as many of their friends as possible.
There will be three game editions in the VisitScotland Adventure Challenge - a mountain biking game (based on the Nevis Range) followed by a whitewater rafting game (River Tummel) and a surfing game (Lewis). Each game will have great prizes on offer, the first of which is a high spec Kona mountain bike.
It is hoped that the campaign will have a reach of over 1.5 million.
All of the games will be available to play at http://games.visitscotland.com/
- why not challenge your friends to find out who can score the highest?!
Conference Scotland - Latest Business Tourism Unit Guide
VisitScotland's Business Tourism Unit has just produced its latest guide, Conference Scotland, offering a fully comprehensive guide to Conference and Meetings venues throughout Scotland.
The guide has over 400 line entries which give
in depth summaries of venue facilities, making the publication invaluable
for anyone organising an event in Scotland.
For a copy, please Email Alasdair Maclauchlan, Meetings and Incentives
Executive or Lisa Williamson, Marketing Executive in the Business Tourism
Unit on businesstourism@visitscotland.com
Highland Spring Promotion in London
Just in time for the hot weather, VisitScotland and natural mineral water company Highland Spring are taking a refreshing slice of Scotland around the UK to promote Scotland as an ideal holiday destination.
For the third consecutive year, VisitScotland has teamed up with Highland Spring in a joint marketing campaign - Pure Scotland - to promote Scotland as an ideal destination for a short break and to promote the Highland Spring brand.
A specially designed haulage vehicle depicting
spectacular Scottish scenery will leave from the Highland Spring base
in Perthshire to travel around the UK. The vehicle will be loaded with
promotional bottles featuring the joint Highland Spring and VisitScotland
initiative and will aim to entice people to come to Scotland to enjoy
the stunning scenery and benefit from the fresh air and clear water.
Essence of Scotland Campaign
The next wave of the Hub Exploring campaign will soon be launched. As with the first phase of the campaign, Hub Exploring is designed to meet the needs of the many visitors to Scotland, who base themselves in one location and do a number of day trips from that base.
More information on this campaign can be found
on www.scotexchange.net
or by contacting Judith Mair, Product Manager - Touring, Tel: 0131 472
2013 or Email: judith.mair@visitscotland.com
Golf Channel
VisitScotland has been working with the Golf Channel, the biggest golf channel in the States, as part of a series of special programmes. One of the programmes will be badged VisitScotland and will feature a Scottish golf course, providing a great opportunity to showcase Scotland's fantastic golf offering to a key overseas market.
For further information please contact Fiona Stewart, Consumer PR Manager - North America, Tel: 0131 472 2033, Email: fiona.stewart@visitscotland.com
William Wallace Promotion in Sydney
VisitScotland has been working with VisitBritain Sydney on a William Wallace promotion, which will take place in Sydney from 22 - 28 August. As part of this promotion there will be a special screening of Braveheart at Sydney's Mosman cinema on 25 August. As part of the event, there will be a Scotland promotion in the foyer of the cinema which will include whisky tasting, samples of Walkers Shortbread and displays from VisitScotland, 2UK and Emirates.
For further information please contact Fiona Stewart,
Consumer PR Manager - North America, Tel: 0131 472 2033, Email: fiona.stewart@visitscotland.com
Dubai TV
In conjunction with VisitBritain Dubai, VisitScotland brought Dubai TV to Scotland for a week to film around luxury hotels, spas and cashmere designers. The filming will be aired on a special lifestyle programme for women titled "Asraruha" across six satellite channels.
For further information please contact Fiona Stewart, Consumer PR Manager - North America, Tel: 0131 472 2033, Email: fiona.stewart@visitscotland.com
Lorient - Festival Interceltique de Lorient, 6 - 13 August
For the first time, VisitScotland is taking a presence
in the tourism pavilion at Lorient, the major Celtic Music Festival in
Brittany. Over 650,000 visitors attend the festival and VisitScotland
aims to target the market with a propensity to Celtic countries. This
is a test event and, depending on success, we may look to increase presence
another year.
For further information on this event, contact Joanne McNulty, Marketing Executive, Tel: 0131 472 2241, Email: joanne.mcnulty@visitscotland.com
German Touring Campaign Update
The German touring campaign has generated over 40,000 responses in total with the best results coming from online activity. Visits to the German gateway site have done extremely well, with an increase of 65% this year January - April compared to the same period in 2004.
For information on future German marketing campaigns contact Annabel Kohler, International Marketing Manager, Tel: 0131 472 2342, Email: annabel.kohler@visitscotland.com
Aberdeen and Grampian
Telling the Belfast Story
The Aberdeen Hoteliers Association, supported by VisitScotland Aberdeen, Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeen Airport and Flybe, will be hosting a Media Evening on 4 August 2005 at Belfast Castle to promote the new Flybe air routes between Aberdeen Airport and Belfast City Airport.
Flybe launched the flights on the 28 March with daily flights Monday- Friday and a Sunday Rotation. The flights have proved a massive success and a new Saturday rotation will be launched in October.
Angus and Dundee
Angus Goes Online
Angus has launched the new website www.angusahead.com containing a dedicated tourism channel 'Visit Angus' that intends to attract visitors to the vibrant area.
The 'Visit Angus' channel will host a wide range
of information for visitors and residents planning vacations or leisure
time. The site includes details of events, attractions, entertainment
and the many sporting and outdoor leisure pursuits in which Angus excels,
such as walking, angling and golf.
To get your business of event listed click on the 'get listed' link on the www.angusahead.com website.
Dundee and Angus Convention Bureau
The Dundee and Angus Convention Bureau has been granted special status to continue to market the City of Dundee and Angus area as a competitive business tourism destination as a part of VisitScotland following a major increase in business tourism in the area.
The announcement comes as the Convention Bureau confirms that the Royal College of Nursing International Nursing Research Conference will be held in Dundee in April 2007 in a major coup that will attract approximately 600 delegates from across the world and generate £420,000 for the local economy.
For further information, please contact Karen Tocher, Convention Bureau Manager, Tel: 01382 527 531, Email: karen.tocher@visitscotand.com
Walking Guide
A walking leaflet featuring 5 themed trails throughout Dundee city centre has been produced. The trails are designed to encourage people to explore the main buildings, sculptures and areas of architectural and historical interest in the city and further afield. Each trail should take around one to two hours to complete, however, there are attractions that can be visited along the way, so the trails can entertain for the whole day.
The leaflet, produced by VisitScotland Dundee with assistance form Dundee Historic Environment Trust, is a free publication which will be available from Tourist Information Centres in the Angus and Dundee area.
For further information, please contact Karen Sleith, Marketing Officer, Tel: 01382 527 539, Email: karen.sleith@visitscotland.com.
Argyll, the Isles, Loch Lomond, Stirling and the Trossachs
Major Gateway Marketing Campaign Launched
A high-profile summer marketing campaign to encourage the millions of passengers using Scotland's main airports and railway stations to explore Argyll, the Isles, Loch Lomond, the Trossachs, Stirling & Forth Valley has been launched.
A major programme of activity over a five-month period includes:
- Large scale posters of 11 stunning views of
different parts of the area at 38 sites in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen
and Prestwick Airports plus Glasgow Central, Glasgow Queen Street, Edinburgh
Haymarket and Edinburgh Waverley railway stations.
- A new Highlights of Scotland car touring leaflet
featuring eight themed routes around the area, distributed with every
Dollar/Thrifty car hire and through information stands at gateway locations.
- Further distribution of the Highlights of Scotland
leaflet via other gateway outlets, including the Superfast Ferry Terminal
and airport hotels.
- Online version of the touring leaflet at www.highlightsofscotland.com
For further information, contact Martin Breslin, External Relations Executive Tel: 0141 566 4011, Email: martin.breslin@visitscotland.com.
Dumfries and Galloway
Autumn Campaign
An Autumn Campaign for the Dumfries and Galloway area is due out mid August. On the theme of Travellers' Tales - a collection of fascinating journeys in Dumfries and Galloway, the campaign will mimic the look of a personal travel journal that has been written by previous visitors with tales of four fascinating journeys. Although the journeys are by characters, they are very much inspired by the wonderful tales that have come in from visitors enjoying a trip in Dumfries and Galloway.
For further information, please contact Lindsay MacGillivray, External Relations Executive, Tel: 01387 245 575, Email: lindsay.macgillivray@visitscotland.com.
Edinburgh and Lothians
Area Director Announced
Ben Carter - currently Director of Planning and Resource Management for NHS Quality Improvement Scotland - will take up the post of Edinburgh Area Director from 26 September 2005.
Previously employed with Ethicon UK in a sales role, Ben holds a BA (hons) in Business Studies from Napier and an MBA from Strathclyde University. He boasts experience in change management through his role at the NHS, as well as in sales and marketing from his time with Ethicon.
Edinburgh City Pass
Visitors to Edinburgh are seeing more of the city for less with the the city’s new European style visitor pass.
The Edinburgh Pass, the first of its kind in Scotland, offers visitors the key ingredients of a short break to Edinburgh in one accessible package. Already, fifty five attractions, restaurateurs, retailers, transport and festival organisers will be participating. More are expected to get on board as the Edinburgh Pass attracts increased business to the city.
A further twenty six of Edinburgh’s top retailers, restaurants, festival and leisure operators have also signed up with exclusive offers. These include a £10 Day Pass to the five star Scotsman Hotel’s Escape Health Club, to ‘Two-for-One’ breakfast at Indigo Yard.
The Edinburgh Pass can be bought online at www.edinburghpass.org or directly at VisitScotland Edinburgh’s Tourist Information Centres.
For more information please contact:
Sinead Guerin, Tourism Project Manager Tel: 0131 473 364, Email: sinead.guerin@visitscotland.com
Fife
Fife Tourism Alliance - Chair and Vice Chair Appointed
The Chair and Vice Chair of the Fife Tourism Alliance, the area partnership forum for Fife, have been appointed. Nick White, proprietor of the Inn at Lathones near St Andrews and representative on the Alliance for the hotel sector, takes the Chair. Nick is joined by Anne Kinnes, General Manager of the Scottish Deer Centre by Cupar and representative for the visitor attractions sector on the Alliance, as Vice Chair.
The Fife Tourism Alliance has been established as a region wide partnership body with members from both the public and private sector. It will be responsible for representing, developing and promoting the interests of tourism in Fife; developing and overseeing the Area Partnership Plan; providing guidance to VisitScotland on Fife's issues and priorities and acting as a lobbying body to promote Fife's tourism interests.
Further information contact Alan Graham, Area Director
VisitScotland Fife, Tel: 01592 750066, Email: alan.graham@visitscotland.com
Kingdom of Life Card - A Day out with a Difference
Summer is here and visitors to Fife can now experience an extra special day out with their very own Kingdom of Life Card. The great value card lists over 30 attractions and restaurants across Fife each offering their own discount or added value deal. Card holders will enjoy a variety of offers from 2 for 1 entry at a number of museums and historic properties, 'children go free' at family fun attractions and discounts off places to eat, including a selection of Fife's award winning restaurants.
For further information contact: Cheryl Baer, Marketing
Executive, VisitScotland Fife, Email: cheryl.baer@visitscotland.com,
Tel: 01592 750066
Highlands
Highlands Autumn Gold Campaign
An Autumn Gold mailer specifically promoting the Highlands is being designed to highlight autumn season offers in the area. Direct enquirers are offered the opportunity to request a copy of the Autumn Gold brochure or visit an Autumn Gold website. The mailer will be sent to 25,000+ recipients out with the Highlands area.
For further information, please contact Greg Hart, Marketing Executive, VisitScotland Highlands, Tel: 01997 423 015, Email: greg.hart@visitscotland.com.
Perthshire
Perthshire Gardens Collection Initiative
Perthshire Gardens Collection, a grouping of 11 gardens, has just launched a new gardens short breaks initiative in conjunction with hotels, B&Bs and Guest Houses in the area. Theaccommodation providers have been given supplies of a new short break ticket which will give unlimited access to all 11 gardens over a 5 day period. The ticket costs £6 to purchasers (£5 to the accommodation).
The accommodation providers can either sell the tickets to guests staying with them, on a stand alone basis or use it to package up with their accommodation, in order to offer an inclusive gardens break.
This initiative is very much a pilot at this stage but it follows on from the successful introduction of annual season tickets for local residents and a 14 day ticket aimed at visitors. Both were launched a couple of years ago and sales are now healthy.
Perthshire Gardens are interested in hearing from any other accommodation outlets in the area who would like to sign up - there is no cost to them to be involved.
For further information visit www.perthshiregardens.co.uk
or contact Vicki Miller
Area Director, Perthshire Tel: 01738 450612, Email: vicki.miller@visitscotland.com
Scottish Borders
Eating Establishments Vie for Best Taste Honours
The 2005 Best Tastes in the Borders Competition has launched. Now Run by VisitScotland, with Scottish Enterprise Borders as the main sponsor, the Best Tastes in the Borders competition aims to encourage restaurants and other food outlets in the region to continue to improve the quality of their food and drink offer, as well as the levels of customer service they provide.
The deadline for public nominations is 16 September with a shortlist then compiled by a judging panel and all shortlisted candidates visited incognito by an independent, non-local professional judge. The winners and highly commended establishments will be announced in early November.
Nomination forms for the competition are available from the region's Tourist Information Centres, from a number of Borders eating establishments or online at www.visitscottishborders.com.
For further information please contact Karen Leithead, External Relations Executive, Email: Karen.Leithead@visitscotland.com , Tel: 01750 23818.
Walks and Gardens Guides Launched
Two new guides to the Borders region have been launched for summer 2005, one featuring the area's gardens and the other covering walks in the Scottish Borders.
The Garden Guide features 25 locations including the spectacular Teviot Water Gardens at Kelso, the beautiful gardens at Abbotsford laid out by Sir Walter Scott at the start of the 19th Century, as well as Dawyck Botanic Gardens at Stobo near Peebles, sponsor of this year's publication.
Sponsored by the Forestry Commission, the new Walking Guide to the Borders highlights some of the 1,500 miles of dedicated walking routes in the region. There are paths and trails for visitors interested in a short walk as part of a trip to the region, in addition to many medium to long distance walks. Town and village trails and numerous forest walks are also highlighted within the guide.
For further information please contact Karen Leithead,
External Relations Executive, Email: Karen.Leithead@visitscotland.com
, Tel: 01750 23818.
The Borders Touch
VisitScotland Borders launched a unique drive to engrain a customer service culture not just within tourism businesses, but across the Borders region as a whole. Targeting its own team, tourism businesses and local Borders community, the Borders Touch surpassed its objectives in its first year, showing although customer service is not traditionally thought of as a marketing department role marketing techniques can be brought to customer service.
VisitScotland Borders wants the local community to embrace this initiative with local heroes who go the extra mile being recognised and rewarded through the Best Borderer and the local population is being challenged to get involved either by nominating in the Best Borderer competition, taking part in customer service week or by considering the importance they play in improving service locally. It was therefore made the main focus for the Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) campaign.
Anyone wishing to nominate someone they know for
the Best Borderer 2005 title should fill in one of the nomination forms
available on the VisitScotland Borders website at www.visitscottishborders.com
or by calling 0870 608 0404. Forms are also available at any local Tourist
Information Centre.
Inaugural Tourism Partnership Meeting set to Take Industry Forward
The 29 June saw the inaugural meeting of the Scottish Borders Tourism Partnership, the new body that will oversee the region's tourism development activities. The Tourism Partnership comprises a cross section of representatives from the public and private sectors as well as representatives from various sectors of the region's tourist economy. Working closely with VisitScotland Borders, it will be responsible for developing and implementing an action plan to take the region's tourist industry forward over the next few years. It will also act as a local lobbying body for the region's tourism concerns and ensure that local issues, needs and priorities are represented at a national level.
For further information please contact Helene Sinclair, Business Relationship and Marketing Manager, Tel: 01750 23802, Email: helene.sinclair@visitscotland.com
New International Routes for Edinburgh Airport
Edinburgh Airport is celebrating after securing two new international routes, Warsaw and Helsinki, to add to its growing international route network.
This October Centralwings, Poland's fastest growing low-cost carrier will start a new scheduled service from Warsaw to Edinburgh, flying three times a week as part of its winter 2005/06 schedule. Meanwhile, Finnair will launch a twice-weekly service from Helsinki to Edinburgh next summer, linking Finnair's extensive network of routes across Asia to Scotland.
For further information on BAA please see www.baa.com
Smoking Ban
On 30 June 2005 the Scottish Parliament voted to ban smoking in all enclosed public places because of the health risks associated with passive smoking. The new law comes into effect on 26 March 2006 and applies to businesses, clubs, pubs and restaurants.
It is the responsibility of all business owners to make sure their premises and staff meet the requirements of this new law.
For further information on the smoking ban and what it means for your business, log onto www.clearingtheairscotland.com or Email: info@clearingtheairscotland.com.
The Pride & Passion Movement Swings into Action
Over 200 business people from different sectors across the country are getting busy as committed Friends of the Pride & Passion movement.
Following a successful launch in May this year, this industry led movement has been gaining momentum as the Friends begin inspiring and motivating others to ensure that customers have a fantastic experience and recommend Scotland to others.
Each month the Friends will focus on specific themes that cover the many ways we can learn more about our customers and work towards surprising and delighting them. During July, the Friends have been concentrating on spreading the word about the Pride & Passion movement amongst their own staff, local businesses and the community at large.
The Pride & Passion website currently has downloadable versions of a presentation and video which Friends are using to encourage others to get on board, as well as some advice on how to start talking about the Pride & Passion movement and a press release for those wishing to promote any successes.
To find out more Tel: 0131 272 2122, Visit: www.prideandpassion.net or Email: team@prideandpassion.net.
For more general tourism news, please visit www.scotexchange.net
EventScotland - Overview of Activites
Scotland's growing reputation as one of the world's foremost events destinations has been greatly enhanced by the events that are taking place across the country this summer. The huge exposure given to G8 by the world's media has helped to showcase Scotland far and wide and Scotland is sure to benefit from the interest shown in the Gleneagles summit in the past few weeks.
But G8 is only part of the story; EventScotland is also involved in supporting a number of iconic events that include The Open at St Andrews, which demonstrates again Scotland's place as the Home of Golf, the Edinburgh International Festival, the recently hosted Island Games in Shetland and the British Special Olympics in Glasgow. This week, the British Seniors Open takes place in Aberdeen, the Homeless World Cup in Edinburgh and the VisitScotland Adventure Tri series which starts at the weekend. August sees a wide range of sporting and cultural events starting with the Storr Lighting Festival, Isle of Skye, Piping Live in Glasgow, Bowmore International Horse Trials, Perthshire and the first stage of the Tour of Britain that will begin in Glasgow and finish in Castle Douglas at the end of the month.
Through EventScotland's Regional Events Programme we are complementing the principal activity of attracting and developing major international events for Scotland. The Regional Events Programme was created and launched just over a year ago to give regional initiatives that can demonstrate their potential, the opportunity to develop and grow. It supports cultural and sporting events that can showcase regions, attract visitors and encourage domestic tourism. Over the past year the programme has made 54 awards supporting events all over the country in their aim to develop and grow. Ranging from Skye's Edinbane Festival, and the Hebridean Celtic Festival in the North, to the Wigtown Literary Festival and 'Spring Fling' in the South, the programme has helped develop events the length and breadth of Scotland.
For Further information on EventScotland's Support
Programmes please visit www.eventscotland.org
London Wins Olympic Bid
Scotland's national events organisation believe that the news that the 2012 Games taking place in London will support their work to invest in sporting and cultural events which promote Scotland as a visitor destination.
David Williams, Chief Executive of EventScotland
commented:
"The news that London has secured an Olympic Games is great news
for Scotland. It will provide a huge boost to the events industry and
will give us a valuable opportunity to promote Scotland abroad.
"EventScotland has supported the bid throughout the process and we
congratulate all the individuals and teams involved in securing this important
investment for the UK. We look forward to attracting pre and post Olympic
events to Scotland."
For further information from EventScotland, contact; Alan Miller, Corporate
Communications Manager, EventScotland, Tel: 0131 472 2312, Email alan.miller@eventscotland.org.