Influential tourism buyers from the USA visited Orkney last week, as part of a major tourism drive to position the islands as a must visit destination for consumers from emerging tourism markets.
The trip was organised by VisitScotland to showcase the islands to travel operators from around the world in advance of its annual business-to-business event VisitScotland Expo.
Five Orkney businesses attended VisitScotland Expo in Aberdeen last week, where around 250 suppliers of tourism products from all over Scotland were exhibiting, including accommodation providers, transport operators, restaurants, and visitor attractions.
Exhibitors from Orkney included: Highland Park Distillery and Visitor Centre, Northlink Ferries, Tour Orkney and Shetland, and VisitOrkney, while Wild About Orkney Tours, Holidays and Shore excursions attended for the first time.
Up to 1000 buyers from all sectors of the tourism industry attended the event:
- travel writers,
- coach tour operators,
- group travel organisers,
- conference and event organisers,
- wedding planners,
- travel agents
- and independent tour operators and wholesalers.
The buyers came from diverse markets throughout the world including Europe, USA, Far East, Australia, and of course the UK, and this year will include three new buyers from Brazil.
Barbara Foulkes, Islands Manager for VisitOrkney, said: “This is a great opportunity to show these influential buyers exactly what Orkney has to offer. As we work towards our shared tourism industry ambition to increase revenues by 50 per cent by 2015, attracting visitors from emerging markets like Russia, Brazil and the former Eastern Europe will be crucial. VisitScotland Expo also gives businesses in Orkney a chance to sell directly to hundreds of other buyers from the UK and around the world.”
