By Vicki Miller, CEO, VisitScotland
Over my first few months as Chief Executive of VisitScotland, I have had the pleasure of meeting with industry colleagues, politicians and business leaders to discuss the challenges and opportunities that face tourism and events.
These conversations have been invaluable – not only to share more about the important work we do and the impacts of this, but also to understand the needs of our stakeholders and partners and consider how our activity can support their future needs.
As an economic growth agency, our core purpose is to drive the visitor economy, growing its value to Scotland. Through our work and our support of the industry we help to stimulate investment into Scotland and help businesses to grow. This remains crucial as we all navigate shifts in the financial, political, and travel landscapes.
To keep pace with change and make the best use of our resources and expertise, we are focusing on three priorities:
Market development – Growing and diversifying Scotland’s reach in key international and domestic markets.
Place development – Enhancing destinations to ensure tourism benefits communities and regions across Scotland.
Business and experience development – Providing tailored support to help businesses reach new audiences and markets and deliver high-quality, memorable visitor experiences.
We are using data and insight to ensure we are reaching the right audiences at the right times, offering the right support to businesses and prioritising the markets where we see growth and potential.
The recent impressive international visitor figures demonstrate the importance of our work in this area and the impact that comes with this.
Our latest annual report shows that our activity to stimulate demand in 2023/24 through our multi-channel consumer marketing, generated a net economic impact of £56.7 million which means every £1 we invest in our marketing generates £11 for the economy.
The reach of our channels is vast and there is a vital role for us to play in getting information to visitors at this earlier stage of their holiday planning.
While marketing will forever be part of our DNA, it is clear our role is, and needs to be, far broader than that. One area we have been reviewing is our business and experience development activity and how we help businesses to tap into changing travel trends, capitalise on local investment projects and sector strengths and adapt their offer to reach new audiences and markets.
To do that, we will focus on providing tourism and events businesses with tailored, free to access advice and support to help them grow and deliver quality, memorable experiences.
We’re also increasing our focus on business development by building a bigger team of subject matter experts to support through our new digital hub as well as in person across areas like sustainability, inclusion, travel distribution and travel trade.
We have an important role to play in providing industry guidance and have specialist knowledge and expertise in these areas of advice. I am excited to share more about our business support programme in the months ahead.
VisitScotland is steadfast in its support for our tourism and events industry. Scotland consistently punches above its weight in a highly competitive global market, delivering world-class events and experiences that inspire visitors and set us apart. This success stems from collaboration, commitment, and the shared expertise of countless individuals and organisations. I look forward to building on these past success in the year ahead. Together we can ensure Scotland’s visitor economy continues to flourish.