Meet the exciting people behind our member businesses.
Name: David Jackson
Company: VisitScotland
Job title: Regional Director
Give us the elevator pitch for your business.
VisitScotland is Scotland's national tourism and events organisation. Our core purpose is to drive the visitor economy and grow its value to Scotland. Tourism and events are one of Scotland’s - and the north-east’s - key growth sectors. The industry is worth almost £11billion to Scotland’s economy and supports 1 in 11 jobs nationally.
Who are your customers?
We work with a range of audiences, partners and stakeholders and focus on three key priorities – market development (attracting leisure and business visitors); place and destination development (working with the public and private sector including local authorities and destination marketing organisations, such as VisitAberdeenshire, to support tourism and events) and business and experience development (delivering advice and support to over 16,000 Scottish tourism and event businesses).
What is the biggest challenge and opportunity your organisation is facing right now?
Ensuring Scotland remains competitive and continues attracting visitors year-round, despite the rising cost of living, whilst helping businesses navigate the challenging economic landscape. Our world-renowned destination brand and outstanding tourism and event businesses and experiences remain our biggest opportunity – an opportunity as significant here in the north-east as it is anywhere in Scotland.
What is your word of advice for fellow Chamber members?
If you’re a business in the tourism, events or hospitality sectors, our new national Business Support Hub is an invaluable source of advice and resource, with over 100 pages of advice and support including case studies, how-to articles and bite-size videos on everything from online booking systems to the latest insights on visitors from international markets.
What is the best thing about being a Chamber member?
Our Chamber membership is invaluable in helping us to stay informed on the wider business and economic landscape in the region whilst also being a great way of connecting with businesses and identifying shared opportunities.