Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire’s top attractions, events and accommodation providers – including The Gordon Highlanders Museum, Glen Garioch Distillery, Dalriada Luxury Lodges and Aberdeen Festivals - are amongst tourism businesses taking part in the country’s biggest travel trade show.
VisitScotland Expo 2018, which takes place at Glasgow’s SEC (Scottish Event Campus) on 11 and 12 April is the 39th staging of Scotland’s biggest business-to-business event for the travel trade.
A total of 15 tourism businesses from Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire will attend the event, including VisitAberdeenshire, Douneside House, Eat Drink Aberdeen, Golf Aberdeenshire and Meldrum House Country Hotel & Golf Course.
The national tourism organisation’s flagship show will give over 300 Scottish tourism businesses – including accommodation providers, visitor attractions and activity providers – from every corner of the country the chance to showcase their products and services to almost 600 tour operators and travel agents, including more than 450 from overseas. This is the highest number of exhibitors since 1998 – 76 of these are exhibiting for the first time.
The national tourism organisation is celebrating the Year of Young People at Expo 2018 by putting power in youngsters’ hands. VisitScotland’s Modern Apprentices and Graduates will compile the shortlist for the event’s stand awards and trophies will be handed out to exhibitors with the best stands at the two-day travel extravaganza.
A number of delegates attending the event – including a group of eight German buyers, another with 12 Canadian buyers and one entitled ‘Scotland’s Greatest Outdoors’ - will also participate in familiarisation (fam) trips to the region, to give them a real-life first-hand experience of the types of holidays they will be able to provide to customers.
Locations on fam trip itineraries include The Marcliffe Hotel, Aberdeen; Invercauld Arms, Braemar; Ballogie Estate, Aboyne; Royal Lochnagar Distillery, Crathie; Mercure Ardoe House Hotel, Aberdeen; Tor-Na-Coille Hotel, Banchory; Deans of Huntly and Macleod House, Balmedie.
Research has shown that 82% of international buyers will feature a place they have visited on a fam trip in future programmes.
Dalriada Luxury Lodges are exhibiting at Expo for the first time this year. VisitScotland Chief Executive, Malcolm Roughead, officially opened their eight luxury self-catering cottages in Stonehaven recently.
Bob McAlpine, chief executive of Dalriada Luxury Lodges, said: “Tourism is fundamentally a people business and VisitScotland Expo gives Dalriada Luxury Lodges an ideal opportunity to meet the type of people who can make a difference to our business. It also gives us a convenient forum for collaboration with a wide range of our fellow accommodation and hospitality providers in a single location.”
Jo Robinson, VisitScotland regional director, said: “Once again, Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire tourism businesses have come together to showcase this wonderful region to a global audience.
“I am delighted that many of our visiting travel agents and tour operators will get the chance to experience this fantastic region for themselves on one of our fam trips.
“VisitScotland Expo provides local businesses with a fantastic opportunity to engage with tour operators and suppliers from all over the UK and overseas. It is crucial that we work together to grow tourism and I am delighted to see such commitment from related businesses in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.
“The future of Scottish tourism lies beyond our shores and we are inspiring, supporting and encouraging businesses to match their global growth ambitions.
“We promote Scotland with Scotland. Partnership and collaboration is at the heart of Scottish tourism and VisitScotland works with local industry to develop and deliver initiatives that grow the visitor economy.”
Yvonne Cook, VisitAberdeenshire head of tourism development, said: “As a visitor destination, Aberdeenshire has an enormous growth opportunity, thanks to our expanding accommodation supply signifying confidence in the future of the region and the abundance of activities and attractions.
“With demand exceeding supply in other parts of the country, there is an opportunity for Aberdeenshire to increase its share of the market. One important way to achieve that is working with the travel trade and attracting a high volume of business in the form of group travel, which is why it is so important for VisitAberdeenshire to attend VisitScotland Expo as it allows us to make new travel trade contacts and strengthen existing relationships.”
For more information about VisitScotland Expo, visit www.visitscotlandexpo.com