VisitScotland eUpdate - March 2008
Welcome to the second eUpdate of the year which features a wide range of articles which we hope you will find of interest.
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11/03/2008
One of VisitScotland Aberdeen and Grampian’s key marketing publications, the 2008 Essential Guide, is now available. More...11/03/2008
Aberdeen Airport is celebrating after beating world-wide competition to win a prestigious award for outstanding customer satisfaction. More...11/03/2008
A new programme of tours from Pride and Passion has just been finalised. More...11/03/2008
Calling all tourism businesses - your chance to advertise in VisitScotland Aberdeen and Grampian’s 2008 brochures. More...11/03/2008
Inspire is an £8 million fund that has been developed as part of the Scottish Arts Council's commitment to increasing participation and aims to provide more, wider and better engagement with the arts. More...13/03/2008
The winners of the Grampian Food Forum Innovation Awards were announced on 12th March 2008. More...13/03/2008
The recently installed authentic reproduction Victorian railway carriage in the Ballater Tourist Information Centre will open to the public on Saturday 22 March 2008. More...13/03/2008
Thirteen of some of the finest cafes in Aberdeen City and Shire are joining forces with tourism businesses around the country to help give visitors a sweeter taste of Scotland More...11/03/2008
Pride and Passion Scotland is inviting all office workers to go ‘Back 2 the floor’ this March. Read on to find out more… More...13/03/2008
Work has already begun on Aberdeen’s three Thistle Hotels, at Aberdeen Airport, Aberdeen Altens and Aberdeen Caledonian, in a major refurbishment project. More...13/03/2008
The third annual Perthshire tourism conference has been hailed a massive success with some 120 delegates attending the one day event. More...13/03/2008
If you fancy a different way to spend your weekends, then how about this? The Highlander is a weekend of quad biking provided by Highland Offroad. More...13/03/2008
Perth Theatre is to receive a £2m makeover as part of a project to boost cultural facilities in the town. More...13/03/2008
Blair Castle Trekking Centre is offering tourism operators in Perthshire a special discount for their staff to come trekking on weekdays from 25 March until 28 June 2008. More...13/03/2008
The festival is based in Kirriemuir, the gateway to the superb Angus Glens and birthplace of Peter Pan author JM Barrie. More...13/03/2008
Mey Selections was one of the sponsors of this year’s Scottish Tourism Week 4-11 March, which saw a number of events taking place throughout the country. More...13/03/2008
Who says you need to be a café to have Café Days? With two local venues participating in the new Café Days promotion, Oban TIC decided to get in on the act and stage another charity coffee morning earlier this month. More...13/03/2008
VisitScotland chairman Peter Lederer has been celebrating a new promotion for some of the country’s best cafés by using two of the venues for meetings with local industry in Argyll this month. More...11/03/2008
VisitScotland Ayrshire & Arran have been working with consumer PR to bring 11 journalists to Ayrshire for a golfing press trip. Publications include The Sun, The Mirror, The Daily Record, Lady Golfer and Golf International. More...11/03/2008
From 2008 the European Tour Qualifying School will be heading north of the border for the first time in its history to Dundonald Links on the stunning Ayrshire coastline. More...11/03/2008
Glasgow Prestwick Airport’s relationship with Wizz Air continues to go from strength to strength. As Wizz launched their latest new route from the airport, the inaugural flight to Poznan coincided with the news that Glasgow Prestwick was named the airline’s Best Overall Airport for the month of December. More...11/03/2008
Stay ahead of what’s happening in Ayrshire & Arran and you can pass on information to your visitors about events they can experience. There’s a cultural feast for the eyes, ears and taste buds. More...11/03/2008
World Famous Bras were on the agenda at this year’s 2008 Talking Tourism Industry conference with one of the UK's leading female entrepreneurs Scotland’s Michelle Mone. More...11/03/2008
11 Ayrshire & Arran cafés are joining forces with tourism businesses around the area to help give visitors a sweeter taste to Ayrshire & Arran. The new Café Days website www.visitscotland.com/cafedays shows visitors where they can get a great cuppa and cake and make a day of it. More...11/03/2008
VisitScotland Ayrshire & Arran worked with VisitScotland Glasgow to take a joint stand at Tur in Gothenburg. Tur is the largest Scandinavian tourism fare and attracted over 42 thousand visitors. More...11/03/2008
13 Scottish Borders cafés are joining forces with tourism businesses around the area to help give visitors a sweeter taste to the Scottish Borders. The new Café Days website www.visitscotland.com/cafedays shows visitors where they can get a great cuppa and cake and make a day of it. More...11/03/2008
Lothian and Borders Police have launched its “What’s around the corner?” an innovative motorbike safety campaign. What’s around the corner is a proactive motorbike campaign for the Scottish Borders. More...11/03/2008
The Scottish Borders Tourism Xchange Day was recently held at the Border Union Showground in Kelso with over 75 businesses attending. More...17/03/2008
Between 2007 and 2012, the UK's old television signal will be switched off, TV region by TV region and replaced with a 'digital' signal. The Border TV region will begin to switch over in November 2008. More...11/03/2008
Stay ahead of what’s happening in the Scottish Borders and you can pass on information to your visitors about events they can experience. There’s a cultural feast for the eyes, ears and taste buds. More...11/03/2008
As many of you know, the Hawick Tourist Information Centre has moved into Tower Mill in the centre of the Heart of Hawick Campus which will enable us to offer an all year round service to our visitors. The new position is in a high profile location making it highly visible particularly to pedestrians and traffic travelling south along the High Street. More...11/03/2008
The region had several winners in the recent Scottish Hotel of the Year Awards held at Prestonfield Hotel in Edinburgh. The winners are decided through a series of public nominations, expert judging visits and awards panel, plus feedback from consumers. More...11/03/2008
The Melrose Sevens Rugby Football Club celebrates their 125th anniversary between 10 –13 April, with an extended rugby tournament and local attractions. More...11/03/2008
As we are fast approaching Easter our Customer Services team are busily preparing themselves for the season. More...11/03/2008
10 Dumfries & Galloway cafés are joining forces with tourism businesses around the area to help give visitors a sweeter taste to Dumfries & Galloway. More...11/03/2008
Stay ahead of what’s happening in Dumfries & Galloway and you can pass on information to your visitors about events they can experience. There’s a cultural feast for the eyes, ears and taste buds. More...11/03/2008
The region had several winners in the recent Scottish Hotel of the Year Awards held at Prestonfield Hotel in Edinburgh. More...11/03/2008
‘Let’s compete with the best of them’ – That was the message conveyed at the Dumfries & Galloway Annual Tourism Industry conference. The area played host to a successful tourism conference with over 70 businesses attending at Easterbrook Hall, Dumfries. More...12/03/2008
You are invited to attend the only business to business networking exhibition in Dumfries & Galloway. More...11/03/2008
Owners of the breakpad bike shop at Kirroughtree and a B&B in Castle Douglas are organising two events at the world class Kirroughtree. More...13/03/2008
VisitScotland’s joint marketing activity with easyJet in the UK, which aims to promote short breaks and low cost direct flights to Edinburgh, is underway. More...13/03/2008
The Glasgow:Edinburgh Collaboration, in partnership with Rabbie’s Trail Burners, is offering product knowledge training on Scotland’s ‘Twin-Cities’. More...13/03/2008
Visitors to Edinburgh and Lothians this spring will have plenty to keep them entertained with some great events taking place over March and April. More...13/03/2008
Robert Conway, proprietor of Arden House has been welcomed as the new Chairman of the East Lothian Tourism Forum. More...13/03/2008
New ‘what to see and do’ guides for East Lothian and Midlothian have been launched. More...13/03/2008
A new Visitor Information Point will be based at the County Buildings, Linlithgow from Easter Friday onwards. More...13/03/2008
Global hotel group Accor will bolster its presence in the capital this spring with the launch of the multi-million pound, four star Novotel Edinburgh Park. More...17/03/2008
Downloadable guides for your guests and staff to keep updated on what's on are available from www.visitscotland.org. More...13/03/2008
Rufflets Country House Hotel in St Andrews is continuing to drive forward responsible tourism, by rewarding eco-friendly travellers with a special incentive. More...13/03/2008
Eight talented employees at The Old Course Hotel, in St Andrews have been awarded a prestigious training scholarship. More...13/03/2008
Well, with 80% of visitors entering the country via Glasgow or Edinburgh, you really should! Glasgow:Edinburgh Collaboration, in partnership with Rabbie’s Trail Burners, is once again offering product knowledge training on Scotland’s ‘Twin-Cities’ for people working frontline tourism jobs. More...13/03/2008
The curtains have closed on the fourth Glasgow Film Festival in February with the news that admissions have increased by 25% on last year, reaching almost 20,000 in the ten-day programme. More...11/03/2008
Over 15 of the best Highland cafés are joining forces with other tourism businesses around the country to help give visitors a sweeter taste of Scotland. More...17/03/2008
Highlands & Islands Enterprise, in partnership with the Scottish Tourism Forum and VisitScotland, bring a workshop, designed specifically for people involved in the tourist industry, to your local area. More...13/03/2008
Inverness Outdoor Network, an association of twelve activity providers, took a stand at the Ordnance Survey Outdoors Show at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham last weekend. More...11/03/2008
“Going Green” – it’s in every newspaper and magazine you read and there’s someone talking about it every time you switch on the television. So how do your green credentials stack up? More...11/03/2008
The Highland Council has confirmed its Highland-wide policy on bi-lingual road signs. More...11/03/2008
Famed for its beaches and hospitality, the Highland seaside resort of Nairn is experiencing an unpleasant side effect from its popularity. Scottish Water is issuing a plea to businesses and householders on the west side of the town following the discovery of a large amount of illegally-dumped fats, oils and greases causing blockages along a 100 metre stretch of sewer under Seabank Road. More...13/03/2008
The second phase of VisitScotland’s joint marketing activity with easyJet in the UK is underway. More...11/03/2008
Top Scottish author, broadcaster and business woman, Muriel Gray, officially launched celebrations that mark the completion of a £200,000 public access and interpretation project along the Caledonian Canal and Great Glen Way. More...13/03/2008
A serene spot in Orkney and its resident café were chosen to launch a major VisitScotland national campaign. More...11/03/2008
A new programme of tours from Pride and Passion has just been finalised. More...11/03/2008
The Pier Arts Centre is among 10 museums and galleries on the long list for this year’s prestigious Art Fund Prize. More...17/03/2008
Highlands & Islands Enterprise, in partnership with the Scottish Tourism Forum and VisitScotland, bring a workshop, designed specifically for people involved in the tourist industry, to your local area. More...13/03/2008
Celebrities Nell McAndrew and Ben Fogle are urging the nation to forget its fast-food, abandon its armchairs, ditch its DVDs, pack in their PCs and instead get active by taking on a Monster Challenge. More...11/03/2008
The planned visitscotland.com presentations for 18 & 19th March have been postponed. We anticipate these will now take place in April. More...11/03/2008
Following on from the fantastic success of the 2007 Who Cares Wins Awards, we are delighted to announce that the 2008 awards will take place on Wednesday 26 March 2008 at a gala dinner in the Dark Island Hotel, Benbecula. More...11/03/2008
A familiarisation trip is planned for the Lewis and Harris Association members to visit the Uists from 25 to 27 March. The purpose of the trip is for Tourism Operators to familiarise themselves with what the Uists have to offer visitors. More...11/03/2008
Over 15 of the best Outer Hebrides cafés are joining forces with other tourism businesses around the country to help give visitors a sweeter taste of Scotland. More...17/03/2008
Highlands & Islands Enterprise, in partnership with the Scottish Tourism Forum and VisitScotland, bring a workshop, designed specifically for people involved in the tourist industry, to your local area. More...11/03/2008
The Shetland Museum and Archives is among 10 museums and galleries on the long list for this year’s prestigious Art Fund Prize. More...13/03/2008
There’s no shortage of arts events on offer for locals and visitors to Shetland over the coming months. More...13/03/2008
The Delting Up Helly Aa, the last in Shetland’s fire festivals of 2008, will be held on Friday 21 March. More...17/03/2008
2008 marks the fifth year of the ‘Scotland - Welcome to our Life’ Pan-European Touring Campaign - VisitScotland’s key international brand campaign. More...13/03/2008
The Scottish Government has published research on 'The Economic Impacts of Wind Farms on Scottish Tourism'. More...13/03/2008
VisitScotland showcased the very best that Scottish tourism has to offer to buyers from the UK market at the British Travel Trade Fair in Birmingham recently, as well as continuing the Perfect Day campaign and further promotion of the Café Days campaign. More...13/03/2008
The new VisitScotland.com website is on track for launch on 2 April 2008 and is expected to be the most significant change to the UK’s most popular tourism destination website in six years. More...14/03/2008
Pride & Passion are running a ‘Discovery Tour’ around various parts of Scotland to help build and update local knowledge of what the area has to offer visitors. More...13/03/2008
The Scottish Enterprise series of tourism management development events comes to a close this week. The agency concludes its 2007-08 programme with a sell-out event on outdoor activity tourism – and a Business Insight workshop on making the most of performance venues. More...13/03/2008
Organised by Scotland’s national tourism organisation VisitScotland, expo is Scotland’s only flagship business to business event for the travel trade that is entirely Scottish. More...14/03/2008
Accommodation providers are asked to remain alert to possible booking scams. A recent one highlighted by a business in Lewis shows the approach and style used by potential fraudsters. More...17/03/2008
VisitScotland's Business Tourism Unit have been heavily involved recently in promoting Scotland as an attractive location for conferences and events. More...17/03/2008
As part of the build-up to the 36th IAAF World Cross Country Championships, EventScotland has launched a new microsite looking specifically at how Scotland brought the Worlds to Edinburgh. More...13/03/2008
Fortingall Hotel’s commitment to reducing their environmental impact was reinforced last night at the Hotel Review Scotland Awards with the accolade of ‘Rising Star Green Hotel’. More...17/03/2008
Scotland’s natural heritage and forestry workers are being urged to secure their place with one of Europe’s most innovative exchange programmes. More...17/03/2008
If you have recently begun your life change or are about to take the plunge, producers of Five’s popular TV series ‘Build a New Life in the Country’ want to hear from you. More...17/03/2008
New content published includes new research on our visitors' experiences and tourism-related employment in Scotland as well as new content in our Marketing Opportunities and Partnership Working sections. More... | 
