Expo-sing Aberdeenshire’s tourism gems

Golf, castles and whisky in Aberdeenshire were all part of a themed trip organised for a group of European tour operators as part of the country’s biggest travel trade show - VisitScotland expo 2015.

During the five-day visit, from 18 to 23 April, the five delegates from Germany and Spain were visiting four golf courses across Aberdeenshire.

Organised by VisitScotland in partnership with Golf Aberdeen City & Shire, the courses included Aboyne Golf Club, Trump International Golf Links, Murcar Links Golf Club and Cruden Bay. Murcar Links is to host the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play from 30 July-2 August this year, supported by VisitScotland.

The delegates enjoyed a tour of MacLeod House & Lodge Hotel at Trump International Golf Links and visited Crathes Castle in Royal Deeside. They also stayed in a number of North-East hotels, including De Vere Village Urban, Aberdeen; Meldrum House Hotel, Oldmeldrum and Macdonald Norwood Hall Hotel in Aberdeen.

VisitScotland expo takes place on 22-23 April 2015 at the AECC in Aberdeen. To make the most of the hundreds of national and international buyers in attendance, VisitScotland has organised a series of familiarisation (fam) trips in order to inspire tour operators from around the world to create new or expand existing Scottish holiday packages.

The aim for tour operators is to impress their clientele with their range of products and destination knowledge, therefore personal experiences and contacts in Scotland are vital. The show and fam trips are designed for tour operators in order to enhance their knowledge of Scotland and allow them to develop new Scottish product.

Philip Smith, VisitScotland Regional Director, said:
“Expo provides us an ideal opportunity to fuel the imagination of our overseas tour operators each year, giving them lots of inspiration on how they can package up Scotland for their customers. We very much welcome this group this week and hope to demonstrate the strength of our tourism offering in Aberdeen City and Shire.

“This year’s expo, in our home city of Aberdeen, will welcome around 500 international and UK based buyers, and as we continue to take Scotland to the world, we hope that our wide range of familiarisation trips will encourage even more people to visit our beautiful country and boost the visitor economy.”

Speaking as the group arrived at Murcar Links on Monday, Malcolm Gunnyeon, Club Captain of Murcar Links Golf Club, said:
“The group managed to get a real flavour of what Scotland is all about and it was great that Murcar Links was a part of their trip. It was a real pleasure to host each and every one of them and we hope they will return many more times in the future.

“This is a fantastic time to be part of the club as excitement is building towards the inaugural Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play, which takes place from July 30 to August 2. The event will be another great opportunity for us to showcase what an incredible golf course Murcar Links is and for Aberdeen to once again demonstrate it is a must-visit destination for any golfer.

“Aberdeen has so much to offer and all visitors to Murcar Links are struck by the hospitality of our club staff and members, who continue to show the world what a unique and special club we are part of.”

More than £24 million worth of business is likely to be conducted over the two days of VisitScotland expo. Scotland will be promoted by over 230 businesses from across the country with a Scottish tourism product to highlight. Of the 230, at least 39 businesses from across Scotland will be exhibiting for the very first time.

Last year’s event in Glasgow saw over 6,700 appointments and a recent study conducted in 2012 found that hosting expo could be worth around £1.7 million for the local economy. It is hoped that hosting this year’s expo in the Granite City will provide the same economic boost.

Aberdeenshire Council and VisitAberdeen are official destination partners at this year’s VisitScotland expo. The partnership with VisitScotland will offer both Aberdeenshire Council and VisitAberdeen stand space and marketing opportunities to further promote Aberdeen City and Shire to tourism businesses.

Buyer registration for VisitScotland expo 2015 is open until the show commences and buyers can register here: http://www.visitscotlandexpo.com/login/

Caption:

Pictured (L to R) are: Hayley Forson, Jose Luis Moya, Ana Rodriquez, Hector Emslie, Sean Buckley, Andrew Shinnie, Aileen Hayes, Carola Kammerinke and John MacFarlan.