Over the next few months VisitScotland will be reassessing Challenge Fund, taking account of learnings to date and in particular considering how these can be built upon for the future.
Since its launch in November 2004, the VisitScotland Challenge Fund has approved 92 successful applications and awarded almost £1.25 million to groups across Scotland. This has involved working with over 3,000 tourism businesses in tourism groups.
With European Funding secured until December 2007 this is a natural time to review the current fund and explore the concept of developing a fund to accelerate growth to assist the tourism industry reach the ambitious 50% growth target by 2015.
Round 9 of the application process is currently underway and will be the last round of the Challenge Fund in its current format. The deadline for Round 9 applications is 31 May 2007 for projects taking place between 1 August 2007 and 31 July 2008.
In the meantime, your local Challenge Fund Advisor will continue to work with you to develop your idea to allow you to progress with a future application when the new fund is in place later this year. Contact details for local advisors can be found on our website, www.visitscotland.org/challenge_fund/help_and_support.htm.
