The 2006/2007 Tourism Management Development Programme finished with an outstanding Masterclass presented by Dr Michelle Harrison and Billie Moseley of the Henley Centre.

This was the third year the Henley Centre had presented at the Masterclasses and this year they brought a truly global perspective to the future of the Scottish tourism industry as the speakers took the audience through a range of Global Energies.

These are based on extensive international research including feedback from tourism “trendscouts” in Rio, Tokyo and Barcelona. The speakers encouraged delegates to consider what these mean for their organisations and how to use these findings to meet business objectives/targets

The six Global Energies taken from around the world that businesses were encouraged to consider in their day to day running were:

Professional Consumers - Spending power, luxuries, value for money, rising consumer expectations

Making a Difference - Influencers, environmental change and global proximity

Age Redefined - Relationships and growing life expectancy. No longer happy to sit and age.

Keeping it Real - Authenticity i.e. history and heritage and how to bring this to your customers - Scotland has this, so use it.

Communication - Relationships and controlling of information received.

Experiential Society - The way the service/experience is delivered – consumers wish to maximise their time and performance.

This was an extremely well attended event with fantastic feedback. For more information on previous Henley Centre Masterclasses please visit www.scottish-enterprise.com/tourism-pastevents.