It's All About the Place & the People: Destinations Mini-Conference

An event by Scottish Tourism Alliance, sponsored by Calmac. 

Destinations, towns and cities are identified one of five key assets of Scottish tourism in the national tourism strategy, Tourism Scotland 2020. There are over 30 destination organisations in Scotland, all of whom are working hard to strengthen and grow the sector and the visitor experience in their areas, through the implementation of their own destination plans, linked to the national strategy.

This event is aimed specifically at destination leaders, such officers, Board or committee members of destination groups, destination managers in public agencies and Local Authorities and others who are active in supporting their destination activities. The event provides an opportunity for these professionals to come together to share ideas and best practice around destination development and marketing in Scotland.

Attendance free - eventbrite booking page. 

Programme

9.00am Registration 

9.30am Welcome by Chair: Calum Ross, Board member of Scottish Tourism Alliance & Argyll & Isles Tourism 

9.40am Session 1 - A National & International Perspective

Facilitator: Riddell Graham, Director of Partnerships, VisitScotland

• Travel Trade, Quality & Destinations: Andrew Macnair, Business Development Manager - Scotland, UKInbound
• Towns and Tourism - The Spirit of 2017: Phil Prentice, Chief Officer, Scotland’s Towns Partnership
• Destinations & Local Authorities: Cllr Stephen Hagan, Orkney Islands Council
• Destinations, A View from Across the Atlantic: speaker from Nova Scotia delegation

10.45am Session 2 - New Products

Facilitator: Graeme MacFarlan, Commercial Director, Calmac

• Wild About Argyll: Carron Tobin, Argyll & Isles Tourism
• North Coast 500: Tom Campbell, North Highland Initiative
• Social Travel Summit: Graeme Ambrose, Visit Inverness Loch Ness

11.45am Break

12.00pm Session 3 - Future-Proofing Destinations

Facilitator: Aileen Lamb, Tourism Manager, Scottish Enterprise

• Getting Edinburgh China Ready: Mags McNeil, Edinburgh Tourism Action Group (ETAG)
• Predicting Visitor Markets to Glasgow: Daniel Macintyre, Senior Manager, Glasgow City Marketing Bureau
• Final speaker to be confirmed.

1.00pm Final Q&A and Closing Remarks

1.15pm Close