VisitScotland eUpdate - May 2007
This is the fifth eUpdate of the year which features a wide range of articles which hopefully you will find of interest. Remember you can update your subscription details or forward on this eUpdate to a colleague, by clicking on the links above. Let us know what you think of eUpdate by emailing us at eupdate@visitscotland.com. Please contact us also if you would like to hear more about any of our marketing activities or business opportunities.
15/05/2007
The search is on for Scotland’s finest tourism businesses with entries being sought for the 2007 Thistle Awards. More...15/05/2007
A two day Gaelic event kicks off at the Moray College in Elgin this weekend (26-27 May) as part of the Highland Year of Culture. More...15/05/2007
bmi recently launched a new air link between Aberdeen Airport and the Belgian capital, Brussels, providing a convenient afternoon departure and a much needed non-stop flight connection between the two cities. More...15/05/2007
Spring time in the Cairngorms National Park means one thing- the return of the Heather Hopper bus service linking different areas of the Park. More...16/05/2007
An innovation and networking free event, aimed at inspiring businesses in the Highlands and Moray to make the most of the opportunities in the growing mountain biking and cycling markets, part of Scotland's Active and Adventure product. More...15/05/2007
A Moray business has received a top accolade in a national scheme recognising quality in Scotland’s food and drink. More...15/05/2007
Tourism businesses throughout Grampian were offered the opportunity to benefit from marketing advice easrlier this month in tourist information centres across the region, from Forres to Stonehaven. More...15/05/2007
The fourth Northern Star Business Awards Dinner will take place on Thursday 27 September 2007 at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre. More...15/05/2007
An Aberdeenshire business has received a top accolade in a national scheme recognising quality in Scotland’s food and drink. More...15/05/2007
The David Welch Winter Gardens in Duthie Park, Aberdeen has attained 14th place in the latest figures reflecting Scotland’s top 20 free tourist attractions, according to VisitScotland’s Scottish Visitor Attraction Monitor, which was announced earlier this month. More...16/05/2007
Dine around East of Scotland was a joint initiative between the Sector Development Department and the Fife, Perthshire and Angus & Dundee network offices. Building on the successes of previous Dine Around promotions, the aim was to introduce the concept to a new area of the country and engage with the restaurant community and local foodies. More...16/05/2007
Festival urges those abroad to come home to their ancestral roots More...07/05/2007
Falkirk area attractions are the big success story in the newly published Visitor Attraction Monitor, led by a massive increase in visits to the Falkirk Wheel. More...15/05/2007
Tourism businesses around Argyll, Loch Lomond and Forth Valley are set for a summer tourism boost as VisitScotland publishes a suite of new visitor guides to the area. More...16/05/2007
This year’s Big in Falkirk was too good an opportunity for our TIC staff to miss, so they headed out to Callendar Park in a mobile TIC unit to get right in the middle of the action. More...09/05/2007
Dunoon has reached a global TV audience courtesy of BBC World on the back of an early exhibition match promoting the town’s second Swamp Soccer tournament. More...15/05/2007
Kintyre Cultural Forum has launched a brand new what’s on leaflet at Campbeltown TIC in order to help visitors get the most out of the peninsula’s arts scene. More...16/05/2007
Calling tourism businesses in Mid-Argyll and Kintyre! The season is upon us so it’s time to check you’re doing everything you can to get the most out of summer 2007. Come along to this free event in Tarbert TIC for a timely one-to-one with your local relationship manager. More...16/05/2007
This year’s Highlands & Islands Music and Dance Festival has been another roaring success, and the VisitScotland’s Oban office has shown support with the presentation of a quaich to the festival chairman. More...16/05/2007
Thought to be Europe’s first island destination management organisation, VisitArran aims to bring a further 4,500 visitors to the island to spend more than £800,000. More...16/05/2007
VisitScotland's international consumer E- Newsletter featured Ayrshire & Arran as the perfect ‘City Plus’ destination in its May edition. More...16/05/2007
An Ayrshire & Arran Visitor Attraction familiarisation visit has taken place for VisitScotland staff. More...14/05/2007
Ayrshire will once again be jumping this week to the best of the Scottish inspired gigs, acts, theatre and dance with the annual burns an’ a’ that! Festival. More...14/05/2007
Events at the burns an’ a’ that! Festival bring the spirit of the festival to life with the help of Ayrshire ‘stars’. More...16/05/2007
The idea is simple and original: take the vibrant and often transient art form of Brazilian graffiti, and apply to the walls of Kelburn Castle. More...16/05/2007
Arran Wildlife Festival events are already booking up fast. More...16/05/2007
A Surf & Turf Trip has taken place for conference and event organisers. More...14/05/2007
VisitScotland has announced that Pamela McMahon has been appointed as the new Area Director for VisitScotland Borders. More...16/05/2007
A Scotland Means Business familiarisation trip took place in the Scottish Borders from 26 -28 April. More...15/05/2007
The next Area Tourism Partnership meeting will be held on Wednesday 6 June. More...15/05/2007
Peebles Retail Association has been successful in receiving VisitScotland Challenge Funding More...14/05/2007
Skirling House has received a top accolade in a national scheme recognising quality in Scotland’s food and drink. More...14/05/2007
Dumfries & Galloway Council (DGC) and VisitScotland Dumfries & Galloway are moving ahead with a ‘Business Transformation Project’. More...16/05/2007
From October 2006 current Fire Certificates became invalid, have you replaced yours? More...14/05/2007
VisitScotland Dumfries & Galloway staff joined nine people on the Mersehead ‘Beach Clean Up’ More...14/05/2007
A new website for motorcyclists travelling around Dumfries & Galloway and then over to Northern Ireland has been launched More...14/05/2007
Scotland/Dumfries & Galloway has bid to host the prestigious World Mountain Bike Conference on Sustainability in 2008 More...16/05/2007
This is an ideal opportunity for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises to find out the implications of Tax changes announced in the recent Budget. More...17/05/2007
The results of the 2006 Scottish Visitor Attraction Survey were announced recently, with great news for Edinburgh and Lothians. More...17/05/2007
Tourist Board Training has developed a pilot workshop aimed at tourism operators keen to look after film crews working in their local area and which will complement VisitScotland’s Film Crews Welcome Scheme More...17/05/2007
Scottish golfing legend Sam Torrance OBE joined journalists from across Europe in East Lothian this month in an effort to promote the county’s golfing hidden gems. More...17/05/2007
Edinburgh will have the opportunity to showcase some of its finest dining establishments and to promote the city and Scotland as a culinary centre of excellence at a new food and drink event for the capital. More...17/05/2007
Edinburgh Airport Tourist Information Centre has been recognised as one of Scotland’s best for its customer service in a recent national survey. More...17/05/2007
Explore the Twin City Treasures of Edinburgh and Glasgow and enjoy the spirit of the Highland Games with Timberbush Tours' new themed day tours More...17/05/2007
Radisson SAS Edinburgh has appointed its own full-time environmental advisor, a move which is believed to be a first for Scotland. More...18/05/2007
The award winning Pan-European Cities campaign will begin again in late summer, promoting Glasgow and Edinburgh across the continent. A wide variety of marketing opportunities are available now, ranging from web travel deals to cooperative on-line advertising. More...15/05/2007
Over the past few weeks, the Fife network office has been working towards creating a new template for the weekly What's On. The Fife office is the first area to roll out the new template with other area's around Scotland soon to follow. More...15/05/2007
On Saturday 23 June a spectacular celebration of King Robert the Bruce will take place in Pittencrieff Park in Dunfermline, in the shadow of the Royal Palace. More...15/05/2007
Law’s Close, The Merchant’s House, is now officially open for the summer season. More...15/05/2007
EatScotland has announced the first ever winners of its newly launched Award Scheme in a move that is set to raise the bar in the Scottish eating out scene. Over 40 establishments have been declared EatScotland Silver Award winners, a reflection of the individual establishments high standards of cuisine, service and the overall eating out experience. More...16/05/2007
To assist accommodation providers make full use of their ‘extranet’ access, web in a box etc on visitscotland.com, the Fife Network Office in conjunction with our colleagues at visitscotland.com have organised a training workshop on Wednesday 30th May at Cluny Clays, by Kirkcaldy. More...15/05/2007
St Andrews student accommodation at New Hall, on the North Haugh campus, has been presented with a gold award for the Green Tourism Business Scheme. More...15/05/2007
More than 20,000 spectators lapped up some spectacular entertainment at the Scottish MotorFair, held at Knockhill Racing Circuit. More...15/05/2007
The first Gold standard for Environmental Management has been awarded to Troustrie House B&B, near Crail. More...09/05/2007
There’s no rest for your business cards this summer as Glasgow Chamber of Commerce has put together some innovative networking events to help you relax and build your contacts at the same time. More...12/05/2007
Does your web site attract enough visitors? Are they the right kind of people? Does it translate into bookings and profits? This one-day workshop will demystify the web for novices or start-up businesses and give you confidence in running your own web site. More...07/05/2007
Inspired by the spirit of a certain TV show, the boss of the Carlton George Hotel in Glasgow has launched a search amongst the hospitality industry’s rising stars to find her perfect apprentice. More...09/05/2007
Meet Shona Telfer, VisitScotland’s new Glasgow Product Manager, who’ll be spearheading the organisation’s leisure marketing campaigns for Glasgow. More...17/05/2007
A new Essential Guide to Lanarkshire has been produced to stimulate increased numbers of visitors to the area and highlight the top attractions and events. More...17/05/2007
The Royal Navy's newest patrol vessel HMS Clyde will pay Inverclyde a fleeting four-day visit at the end of this month, from 26 to 29 May. More...15/05/2007
Design-savvy souvenir producers, ‘The Glasgow Girls’, based at the city’s Willow Tearooms, won a very special commission for a very special client — a gift for the SFA to present to the president of UEFA. More...17/05/2007
What kind of cities do people want to live in now and in the future? At this free event, you can find out how 5,000 people have imagined Glasgow in 13 years’ time: the outcome of the Glasgow 2020 experiment. More...17/05/2007
Major events can have a big impact on your business, and being aware of what's on can be a good service to your guests too. Here's a selection of highlight events around Greater Glasgow & Clyde Valley in the coming weeks. More...17/05/2007
New poster sites in Glasgow-area TICs, never previously available for businesses to buy, are amongst some prominent new marketing opportunities on offer from VisitScotland’s Glasgow network office. More...17/05/2007
Come and participate in the first ever Highland Whisky Festival. Four of Scotland's leading distilleries Balblair, Dalmore, Glenmorangie and Glen Ord are coming together over the weekend of 2 and 3 June to celebrate the Highland's heritage of whisky distilling. More...17/05/2007
On Friday 6 July 2007, Ullapool based Composer James Douglas, is marking a unique event by celebrating his 75th birthday with his Ensemble: The Glorious Company’ featuring in a stunning Gala Concert called a ‘Summertime Song Concert’. More...21/05/2007
The Dornoch Service Point and Tourist Information Centre was officially opened last Friday 18 May, enabling customers to access The Highland Council front line services and Tourist Information services from the same building. More...17/05/2007
Highland 2007 has announced funding for 24 events and projects as part of InvernessFest Fringe celebrations. InvernessFest is a two week long celebration of traditional and contemporary culture in Inverness taking place between 15 and 29 July. More...17/05/2007
The Outsider is a new event which combines all the best things about a music festival with a huge range of other activities. More...17/05/2007
Are you interested in finding out more about 2009, the year of Scottish Homecoming and how you can work with other Highland businesses to get involved? More...17/05/2007
The final masterclass of the current Tourism Training Programme is taking place on Tuesday 22nd May at Anam Cara, Inverness. The master class is 'Driving your Business in the Right Direction' and will be delivered by Donald MacNaughton, Zoned in Performance. More...17/05/2007
An event aimed at inspiring businesses in the Highlands to make the most of the opportunities in the growing mountain biking and cycling markets, will take place on 19 June at Laggan by Newtonmore. More...17/05/2007
Cearcaill na Gàidhlig, or The Gaelic Rings, is a brand new initiative designed to boost cultural tourism in the West Highlands and Outer Hebrides, through the creation of a Gaelic language and culture ‘trail’. More...17/05/2007
The Skye Music Festival will take place on 25 & 26 May at the Broadford Airstrip on Skye. More...17/05/2007
Businesses from Knoydart and Skye have received top accolades in a national scheme recognising quality in Scotland’s food and drink. More...15/05/2007
Several of Orkney’s tourism businesses enjoyed significant growth in visitor numbers in 2006 compared with 2005, according to VisitScotland’s Scottish Visitor Attraction Monitor, which was announced last week. More...15/05/2007
Staff from VisitOrkney hosted colleagues from VisitScotland’s Edinburgh-based marketing team this month, in a bid to build on their existing knowledge of Orkney and fully familiarise them with the quality and range of exciting tourism activities available in the islands. More...15/05/2007
Barriers of both geography and time were broken down this month as Orkney formed the backdrop to a special reunion which saw more than 100 long lost relatives from Orkney and Canada brought together for the first time, in the second ever Orkney Homecoming event. More...17/05/2007
This year's Hebridean Celtic Festival headline acts include the Proclaimers, Moving Hearts, Seth Lakeman and the Peatbog Faeries. Tickets are now on sale. More...17/05/2007
Following some significant investment in the Stornoway Tourist Information Centre, it is now open and looking forward to the 2007 season. More...17/05/2007
The visithebrides.com website is looking to update the events listing for the summer months. More...17/05/2007
This one-day workshop is aimed at all tourism businesses which accept children, from B&Bs and hotels to visitor attractions, restaurants and tourist information centres. More...17/05/2007
A Watersports Welcome Workshop has been developed to recognise this growing market and to ensure that tourism operators are maximising the potential benefits to their business. More...16/05/2007
Six Scottish restaurants have received the top accolade in a national scheme recognising quality. More...16/05/2007
A radio controller from Glasgow has been crowned this year’s Hottest Scot after bringing music to the ears of women around the world. More...16/05/2007
In recognition of its superb, varied natural environment and outstanding tree and woodland heritage, Perthshire is known as `Big Tree Country`. More...16/05/2007
One of the biggest firework displays ever seen in Scotland will be taking place at Perth Racecourse on Saturday 26 May. More...16/05/2007
Perthshire Archaeology Month 2007 is the fifth annual celebration of archaeology in Perth and Kinross. More...15/05/2007
Shetland enjoyed a 3% growth in visitor numbers in 2006 according to VisitScotland’s Scottish Visitor Attraction Monitor, which was announced this month. More...15/05/2007
VisitShetland joined forces with the Shetland Field Studies Group, Shetland Islands Council and Shetland Enterprise, to produce a new guide launched this month showcasing the superb variety of walks to be enjoyed in Shetland. More...17/05/2007
Biggar, a town with a population of 2,000, has just announced its plans to become Scotland’s first carbon-neutral community. They plan to grow their own food, create their own electricity and recycle more. More...17/05/2007
Perth has now been officially recognised as Scotland’s first ‘Cittaslow city’ by Cittaslow UK, with the wider rural area of Perth and Kinross awarded ‘Cittaslow Supporter Status’. More...18/05/2007
The search is now on for the country’s most sustainable tourism businesses, who will be recognised in the industry’s most coveted tourism awards. More...21/05/2007
Introduction of a dedicated news feed for green/sustainable tourism news. Edit your profile to add these news items to your monthly newsletter. More...18/05/2007
The new summer programme of events is now up and running and not only covers the lowlands of Scotland but also the Highlands and Islands of Scotland after Tourist Board Training secured a Highland Project. More...21/05/2007
Applications are now welcome for this year’s awards, showcasing excellence in the Scottish tourism industry. More...17/05/2007
The Climate Group has published new advice and information outlining the top ten steps organisations can take to calculate their carbon footprint and how to motivate employees on climate change. More...18/05/2007
Recent research carried out to mark British Tourism Week found that nearly 90% of UK consumers believe hotels and tourism companies have a responsibility to operate in a way that protects the environment. More...17/05/2007
The VIBES (Vision in Business for the Environment of Scotland) award categories recognise small, medium and large organisation sizes in all sectors and will be presented at a high profile awards ceremony in December. More...18/05/2007
Recent research from TripAdvisor has revealed that more than a third of travellers are prepared to pay more to stay at an environmentally friendly hotel or resort. More...21/05/2007
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. More...21/05/2007
Public consultation is still open on the environmental report produced in relation to VisitScotland’s draft Corporate Plan. More...17/05/2007
VisitScotland's Communications team has been recognised in the CIPR Excellence Awards in the category of crisis communications for their work on the Avian Flu crisis in April last year. More...18/05/2007
Running from 19th - 27th May, Scottish Biodiversity Week is an opportunity for visitors and locals to find out more about biodiversity in their area. More...18/05/2007
Are you an accommodation provider? Is your accommodation wheelchair accessible and part of VisitScotland’s accessibility scheme? If so, you should have received a mailing about VisitBritain/Tourism For All’s guide to accessible Britain for 2008. More...18/05/2007
If you haven't updated your availability with VisitScotland.com for the remainder of 2008, you could be missing out on vital booking opportunities. Potential visitors are already searching for accommodation for summer and beyond so contact us now to update your property. More...18/05/2007
Keep Scotland Beautiful has recently launched a new campaign to tackle the problem of litter resulting from ‘food-on-the-go’. More...18/05/2007
VisitScotland is trialling joint press adverts in the Liverpool Echo and Yorkshire Post this autumn to encourage visitors to take a break in Scotland. More...18/05/2007
VisitScotland will again be attending Sweden’s premier golf event in Stockholm this year and invites you participate on their stand. More...18/05/2007
From Saturday 2 June until Sunday 1 July, food lovers in Aberdeen City and Shire will be able to experience some of the area’s finest fare for a fixed price of £15 as VisitScotland launches its popular Dine Around offer in the region. More...17/05/2007
Professor Brian Ashcroft of the renowned Fraser of Allander Institute ponders over the debate about economic development, growth and fiscal autonomy in Scotland. More...21/05/2007
The 2006/2007 Tourism Management Development Programme finished with an outstanding Masterclass presented by Dr Michelle Harrison and Billie Moseley of the Henley Centre. More...18/05/2007
Don’t miss this excellent opportunity to benefit from the emerging luxurious Russian market and meet with the key Russian travel trade directly. Based on excellent feedback from last year’s mission, VisitScotland is now planning Scotland’s next sales mission to Moscow and St. Petersburg promoting leisure and business tourism in Scotland. More...18/05/2007
VisitScotland’s travel trade site has expanded from its beginnings in North America to encapsulate our global travel trade audience. More...21/05/2007
Introducing a new series of 2007 Industry Workshops aimed at the golf industry. More...21/05/2007
The full Tourism Management Development Programme will be launched soon, so make sure you don’t miss out. More...18/05/2007
Work continues in Scotland’s key developing markets. More...18/05/2007
The Scottish Snowdrop Festival took place between 1st February and 11th March 2007 at nearly 60 gardens across the country. It provided inspiration for over 300 children who entered the under 12’s drawing competition. More... | 
