Tourism industry gather to welcome new national gateway

One hundred representatives from Scotland’s tourism industry will gather at a reception today (Tuesday) to officially welcome the new national tourism website, VisitScotland.com.

The launch, which will include an address by Jim Mather MSP, Minister for Enterprise, Energy, and Tourism, will congratulate the many individuals who have contributed ideas and views for the new site launched earlier this month.

The new website is quicker and easier to navigate and helps the visitor with a number of new features. These include ‘Scotland’s Ultimate Visitors Guide’, a fast, free and direct guide to the most comprehensive information on Scotland held anywhere in the world. The new website also includes a Travel Shop where visitors can buy travel tickets, holiday packages and gift vouchers.

Marco Truffelli, Chief Executive, VisitScotland.com commented:
“We’re delighted to reward the industry with their efforts by hosting this celebration. We have made the first in a number of planned improvements for the site and we will continue to develop it in line with industry and consumer demand.

“Our invitation for feedback remains at the forefront of everything we do. By working in partnership with the industry we can work much more effectively for the benefit of our visitors.
Senior industry figures have been broadly supportive of the new website.

Graham Birse, Deputy Chief Executive of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and Edinburgh’s former tourism boss, commented: “VisitScotland.com’s new platform is a significant advance. Our online visitors expect one or two click access to information on their activity, area and accommodation. And the industry wants to present itself in an online platform that permits access to the unique character of individual properties and attractions. This latest evolution of the national website does both- and we commend VisitScotland.com on an excellent piece of work.”

David Smythe, Chairman of the Association of Scotland’s Self Caterers, commented: “This is a really good improvement on the previous site. Dividing the visitor into two streams on the front page is a good idea. The journey through the site is far more entertaining.”

Scotland is unique in the UK by hosting the most popular tourism website on the market. Visitors are offered the same rich source of information and opportunity to book accommodation online, at the contact centre and throughout the tourist information centre network.

Increasing numbers of visitors are choosing to research and book their Scottish holidays online. 11 million visits* were recorded to the website in 2007 and this is predicted to rise to 12.9 by the end of the 2008. VisitScotland.com has secured a total of £70 million pounds worth of bookings since the service launched in 2003.