Selling Ayrshire and Arran to the world
01 May 2012 15:34:09
Ayrshire and Arran led the way at VisitScotland’s annual Expo at the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh last week as public and private sector partners worked together to promote the area to travel trade buyers from around the world.
At the launch of the Ayrshire and Arran Tourism Strategy on 14th February attendance at the national tourism trade show was identified as one of the key early actions. The success of the stand is testament to the new partnership approach.
The presence at the show in Edinburgh strengthened Ayrshire and Arran’s position as a leading tourism destination. This year’s stand included four of Ayrshire’s leading businesses and tourism associations working together on a custom-built stand designed to highlight the best of Ayrshire and Arran.
Expo is Scotland’s flagship business to business event for the travel trade. Leading tourism businesses and associations including Auchrannie Resort, Accommodation Ayrshire, VisitArran, and Gailes Golf Experience combined to showcase their products and services to key buyers from around the globe.
Moira Birtwistle, Chair of the Ayrshire and Arran Tourism Leadership Group said: “Everyone is working very hard to deliver early actions and move forward with our new five year tourism strategy for Ayrshire. The collaborative approach to showcasing Ayrshire at VisitScotland Expo over the past few years has been one of the foundation stones of our new strategic approach and I am delighted that the partners have worked so hard to put our area on a national stage and engage with new markets.”
Daniel Steel, Tourism Officer at East Ayrshire Council, who has co-ordinated the collaborative presence for the past four years, added: “We are working very hard to ensure that Ayrshire is viewed as a key destination so I am delighted that we have been able to again support our industry partners in showcasing the area at VisitScotland Expo. The show always provides an excellent platform to sell the area to travel trade and generate new business for Ayrshire. Our partners took enquiries from all over the world during the two days so I am sure that everyone will benefit from this ongoing partnership approach.”
Mike Cantlay, Chairman of VisitScotland, said: “I know from my recent visit to Ayrshire that there is a renewed energy to work together to grow tourism. The benefits of a joined up approach are clear from watching the partners at the show. Engaging new markets, shouting about our best assets and cross-selling are all essential to growing the sector and Ayrshire and Arran seem to do this very well with their collaborative presence at Expo over the past few years.”
Following the success of the collaborative presence over the past four years, plans are now underway to further strengthen Ayrshire and Arran’s position as a key tourism destination with a presence at the 2013, when the show returns to Glasgow.
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