Press release -
What's current in Perthshire?
From adventure tourism and new visitorattractions; to the UK City of Culture Bid and innovative historic projects, Perthshire’s history and heritage took centre stage at a top regional tourism conference this week.
Held at Birnam Arts on Wednesday 22 March, Perthshire Talks Tourism 2017, which was attended by representatives from approximately 100 businesses, looked at how the region could use its rich past to help attract visitors in the future.
The annual event was delivered by the Perthshire Tourism Partnership, Perth & Kinross Council and VisitScotland.
Recent figures show that in 2015 almost a third of visitors cited ‘history and culture’ as a key motivator for their trip. In keeping with the Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology 2017, the conference was split into four sessions; investing in our history, maximising our natural heritage, bringing the past to life and unearthing the past.
Participants in the event heard from Pitlochry Dam Visitor Centre, the Snow Roads Scenic Routes, the Scottish Crannog Centre, Loch Tay Safaris, Highland Fling Bungee, the Mary Queen of Scots Festival, Perth Charterhouse Project, Perth & Kinross Archaeology Year and the Chief Executive of Culture PK leading the UK City of Culture bid.
With a growing reputation for adventure tourism, Piotr Gudan, Co-Founder of Broon Coo Adventures was also among the speakers and revealed why he believes the region should use its natural assets to attract visitors.
Piotr said: “We are blessed in Perthshire to have some of the most stunning scenery in the country. Our natural heritage is among the top reason people visit Scotland so it makes perfect sense that we use this as one of Perthshire’s selling points. I believe by using our natural heritage we can position the region as among the top adventure tourism sites in the country.”
VisitScotland Regional Director Jim Clarkson said: “Perthshire has a strong reputation for its fascinating historic attractions, breathtaking scenery and unique wildlife.
“The Perthshire Talks Tourism event was the perfect setting for businesses to come together and look at how we can use Perthshire’s strengths to attract more visitors.
“We are entering an exciting time for local tourism thanks to major investments such as the Pitlochry Dam Visitor Centre, Perth Theatre and the Perth Museum and Art Gallery redevelopments.
“Tourism is more than a holiday experience; it creates jobs and sustains communities in every corner of Perthshire all year round.”
David Smythe, Chairman of Perthshire Tourism Partnership, said: “Perthshire Talks Tourism is a chance to bring together those working on the frontline of tourism in the region. It offers a great opportunity to find out about what is happening across Perthshire, as well as share advice, experience and examples of best practice with other tourism professionals. Perthshire has so much to offer but we need to continue working together as an industry and use tourism treasures, such as our history and heritage, to fulfil our potential for visitors.”
For more information: www.visitscotland.org
Topics
- Tourism
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors
- Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
- 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
- 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
- For VisitScotland’s press releases go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.aspx, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/
- 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)
- For holiday information on Scotland go to www.visitscotland.com
- For information about business events in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com
- 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
