Press release -
Celebrating success
Eight local businesses are sharing the secrets of their success as part of a leading tourism conference, held today (Thursday 15 March 2018) in Dundee.
As Dundee & Angus prepares to embark on its most exciting year in recent history, the Showcase of Success event, part of the Dundee & Angus Tourism Conference, invited participating tourism providers to talk about the changes and innovations they have introduced to meet the needs of visitors and the impact this has had on their business.
This year sees the eagerly-anticipated opening of V&A Dundee and the return of the world’s biggest golfing competition, The Open at Carnoustie in July, with both events set to draw audiences from around the world.
The arrival of the first V&A museum outside of London, in exactly six months’ time, will showcase Scotland’s cultural offering, and provideapotential tourism boom for Dundee as well as the surrounding areas of Angus, Perthshire and Fife.
Meanwhile, Angus is set for its own tourism boost courtesy of media exposure generated by The Open Championship as millions of TV viewers across the world tune in to watch the Carnoustie-based competition.
Delivered by Dundee City Council, Angus Council, the Dundee & Angus Chamber of Commerce and VisitScotland, the Dundee & Angus Tourism Conference, is taking place today (Thursday 15 March) at West Park Conference Centre, Dundee, andis designed to help ensure the local tourism industry is ready for an influx of visitors and prepared to work together to boost visitor numbers.
The businesses taking part in Showcase of Success include:
- Dark Dundee,
- The Gin Bothy,
- Glamis Castle,
- Maggie’s Penguin Parade,
- Behind the Scenes Cultural Tours,
- Pirate Boats,
- Newton Farm Holidays
- Run for the Sights.
Among those speaking will be Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop, V&A Dundee Director Philip Long and Justin Reid from TripAdvisor.
Delegates will also hear from Kiki MacDonald from Euan’s Guide and Marina DiDuca from VisitScotland about how business can ensure they offer an inclusive tourism experience so that everyone can enjoy the best the region has to offer. Figures show the UK accessible tourism market is valued at £1.3bn.
Tourism Secretary Fiona Hyslop said:“The highly anticipated opening of the new V&A museum, and return of The Open Championship to Carnoustie, means that 2018 already promises to be a major year for tourism across Dundee, Angus and the wider area.
“But there are also plenty of other exciting attractions available for visitors all year round, many of which were discussed at this Showcase of Success event. I look forward to seeing the results of what I’m sure will be an extremely busy and fun filled year for Dundee and Angus.”
Jim Clarkson, VisitScotland Regional Director, said: “We’re gearing up for what promises to be an exciting new era for tourism in the East of Scotland. Now is the perfect time to celebrate the successes of the tourism industry and look at what we can do in the future to capitalise on this opportunity.
“Tourism is an important part of the local economy, creating jobs and sustaining communities. There is real excitement and anticipation within the industry just now and we hope through this conference we can harness that enthusiasm and encourage businesses to pull together and make the most of this wonderful opportunity.”
For more information please visit: www.visitscotland.org
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- corporate communications
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 five overarching strategies: Marketing, Events, Quality and Sustainability, Inclusive Tourism, International Engagement.
- 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
- 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 tourism in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com
2018 Year of Young People
- The Year of Young People 2018 will be the next of the Scottish Government’s series of themed years, following the Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology 2017.
- The Year of Young People (YoYP 2018) will inspire Scotland through its young people aged 8 to 26, celebrating their achievements, valuing their contributions to communities and creating new opportunities for them to shine locally, nationally and globally
- Central to YoYP 2018 will be a celebratory events programme that puts young people at the heart of its development and delivery, creating new and valuable experiences for young Scots and the wider public, with links to the inaugural 2018 European Championships.
- Over 200 young people throughout Scotland are currently being recruited to become YoYP 2018 Ambassadors. Ambassadors will ensure that people and organisations in their communities know about what’s happening and will lead on projects and activities to create events and opportunities to celebrate young people.
- The Year of Young People will have six themes which were developed in co-production with young people themselves:
- oParticipation – looking at how young people can influence public services and decisions which affect their lives
- oEducation – creating a stronger role for young people in shaping their learning
- oHealth and Wellbeing – supporting young people to lead healthier, active lives and have opportunities to learn about and improve their mental health and resilience
- oEquality and Discrimination – broadcasting the value of young Scots, challenging negative perceptions of young people, and supporting young people to take leading roles in challenging discrimination in all its forms.
- oEnterprise and regeneration – celebrating young people’s role in innovation, entrepreneurship and the Scottish economy as well as making Scotland a greener and more pleasant place to live
- oCulture – celebrating young people’s talent and contribution to Scottish culture and arts.
- Further information on what’s happening and how people can get involved can be found on the new website www.yoyp2018.scot or @YOYP2018 on Twitter.
