Press release -
Scottish Borders Tourism Partnership welcomes 500th member
Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, today welcomed Eyemouth Harbour Trust as the 500th Member of the Scottish Borders Tourism Partnership. The Minister was in Galashiels to meet members of the Partnership to discuss the tourism industry in the Scottish Borders.
The Scottish Borders Tourism Partnership is the lead association for all tourism businesses in the Scottish Borders. It is made up of 500 private sector businesses who work in partnership with organisations including Scottish Borders Council, Scottish Borders Chamber of Commerce, Live Borders, VisitScotland, Scottish Enterprise, the Southern Upland Partnership, Scotrail and Border Buses to stimulate development and promote the local tourism offering.
Will Haegeland, Chair of the Scottish Borders Tourism Partnership said:
“We are delighted to welcome Fiona Hyslop to the Scottish Borders and particularly that she can help us celebrate our 500th member to the Scottish Tourism Partnership. With its new management committee, the tourism partnership is now truly an organisation run by the tourism industry for the tourism industry in the Scottish Borders. The re-opening of the Borders Railway has encouraged the focus on the region as a key tourism destination with a vast opportunity for further growth. The potential ripple effect has inspired new momentum of industry innovation and product development across the whole region. This is just at its beginning and through collaborative cross industry working with the Scottish Borders Tourism Partnership at the lead, we can ensure a strategic and successful route forward.”
Paula Ward, VisitScotland Regional Director said:
“We were delighted to welcome the Cabinet Secretary to the Scottish Borders today to mark the momentous occasion of welcoming the 500th member to the Scottish Borders Tourism Partnership.
“Tourism is the heartbeat of the Scottish economy, causing a ripple effect which touches every industry and community, creating employment and economic growth. By working closely with communities and business groups like the Scottish Borders Tourism Partnership, together we can shine a spotlight on this region as a truly unique and outstanding place to visit.”
Photograph left to right: Fiona Hyslop Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, James Walker Eyemouth Harbour Trust Representative, Will Haegeland Chairman of Scottish Borders Tourism Partnership, John Henderson Vice Chair of Scottish Borders Tourism Partnership, Paula Ward Regional Director Scottish Borders VisitScotland.
For further information contact Will Haegeland 07957 463270 will@grapevinetalking.co.uk
For more information on the Scottish Borders Tourism Partnership visit: scottishborderstourismpartnership.co.uk
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- scottish borders
- corporate communications
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors
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- VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
- The organisation’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
- This will be supported by seven overarching strategies:
- Marketing: we will market Scotland and its outstanding assets to visitors from all parts of the world, including the promotion of Scotland to people living in Scotland to visit different parts of the country
- Events: we will support the national events strategy and its delivery, and sustain, develop and promote Scotland’s international profile as one of the world’s foremost events destinations
- Internationalisation and International Engagement: we will utilise all our platforms to enable Scottish-based tourism businesses to better understand international opportunities and market to a global audience and we will work within One Scotland Partnerships to optimise the potential of Scotland’s Diaspora and our strategic partners at regional, European and global levels
- Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
- Quality and Sustainability: we will provide support and advice to businesses, with the goal of improving the quality and sustainability of the tourism sector in Scotland. We will provide quality assurance to visitors through our Quality Schemes
- Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
- Working in Partnership: we will listen to and work with the industry, partners and communities to shape our offering and support
- To ensure everyone can safely enjoy Scotland’s amazing countryside and landscapes, VisitScotland encourages all visitors to fully respect their surroundings by behaving in a responsible and appropriate way.
- VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
- The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
- Spending by tourists in Scotland generates around £12 billion of economic activity in the wider Scottish supply chain and contributes around £6 billion to Scottish GDP (in basic prices). This represents about 5% of total Scottish GDP
- The Scottish Government is the Managing Authority for the European Structural Funds 2014-20 Programme. For further information visit www.gov.scot or follow @scotgovESIF
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- Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh) 2017 Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology
- 2017 is the year to delve into the past and discover Scotland’s fascinating stories through a wide-ranging variety of new and existing activity to drive the nation’s tourism and events sector, boosting tourism across Scotland.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology begins on 1 January 2017 and will end on 31 December 2017. It will build on the momentum generated by previous themed years in Scotland including the 2015 Year of Food and Drink, Homecoming Scotland 2014, the Year of Creative and the Year of Natural.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology is a Scottish Government initiative being led by VisitScotland, and supported by a variety of partners including Creative Scotland, Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Enterprise, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Built Environment Forum Scotland, Heritage Lottery Fund, Museums Galleries Scotland and Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology is supported by £570,000 of Scottish Government funding.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology events fund is managed by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.
- For more information visit visitscotland.com/HHA2017 or join the conversation at #HHA2017
