Press release -

VisitScotland working with TripAdvisor in European first

VisitScotland has joined forces with the world’s largest travel website in a collaboration to bring information about Scotland to the attention of millions of international and UK visitors.

The national tourism organisation is providing the online content for TripAdvisor’s Scotland destination page and putting more of a spotlight on Scottish tourism businesses between now and March. 

TripAdvisor predicts that the enhanced copy will drive many more visitors to the site’s destination hub, with the potential to send thousands of additional referrals to tourism businesses in Scotland.

As well as providing the content for TripAdvisor’s Scotland destination page, the collaboration will also involve a marketing campaign which will allow VisitScotland to generate new interest in the country.

Scotland is the first European destination to develop this kind of collaboration with TripAdvisor, an effort which will support the development of VisitScotland’s digital activity, including an enhanced website, mobile capability and other key digital projects.

The campaign will target key inbound markets for Scotland – the USA, UK, France and Germany.  Copy on the destination page will cover everything from whisky and Burns to the Borders Railway and ancestry.

Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing said:

“This partnership will raise Scotland’s profile and help market all that Scotland has to offer to millions more people in the years to come.”

Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland, said:

“In a digital age, it is crucial that we extend the message about all the amazing things there are to see and do in Scotland through a range of channels. This means working in cooperation with travel websites that will help us extend our reach.

“Our website, visitscotland.com, currently attracts around 20 million users a year – with TripAdvisor’s reach, we will be able to bring our message to millions more. TripAdvisor is the biggest travel website in the world, so the opportunity for Scottish businesses through this collaboration is massive.”

Martin Verdon-Roe, Global Vice-President, TripAdvisor, said:

“With over 350 million visitors to the site each month, TripAdvisor provides a unique platform for destinations to showcase themselves to potential visitors around the world.  We're delighted to be working with such a digitally savvy organisation as VisitScotland to incorporate their content into our new Destination Marketing product, providing TripAdvisor users with enhanced information they can refer to when planning and booking their trips.”

For more information, visit www.tripadvisor.co.uk/scotland

- ENDS -

Topics

  • Tourism

Categories

  • corporate communications
  • tripadvisor
  • international marketing
  • uk & ireland marketing

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:
      1. 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
      2. 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
      3. 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
      4. Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
      5. 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
      6. Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
      7. 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.
    • According to a recent Deloitte study, the tourism economy supports 270,000 jobs in Scotland in 20,000 diverse businesses. The same study calculates that the tourism      economy contributes £11 billion annually (direct and indirect impact, including day visits) and supports around 10 per cent of employment in Scotland. Almost 16 million tourists take overnight trips to Scotland.
    • 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


    Year of Food and Drink 2015

    • 2015 is the Year of Food and Drink, a celebration of Scotland’s natural larder and the role that food and drink plays in shaping our economic success.
    • Scotland generates over £2.5m per day through food and drink tourism.
    • A series of themed months will create an appetite for key areas of Scotland’s food and drink industries – from seafood and whisky to berries and high-quality meat
    • For more information, visit www.visitscotland.com/tastescotland

Contacts

Chelsea Charles

Press contact Scotland’s Themed Years Communications & Engagement Manager Contact for media enquiries on: Scotland’s Themed Years (i.e. 2018 Year of Young People; 2020 Year of Scotland's Coast and Waters; 2022 Year of Scotland's Stories) 0131 472 2067

Carrie MacWilliam

Press contact Senior Corporate Press Officer - National Contact for media enquiries on: Travel media (Scotland); Year of Young People; UK Marketing; Dundee; Fife; Angus; Perthshire 0131 472 2052

Amelia Whittaker

Press contact Senior Corporate Press Officer - Regional Contact for media enquiries on: South Region; Edinburgh and Lothians; Food and Drink; Scottish Thistle Awards 01750 723806

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