From our research we have identified the key holiday experiences that people want to have when visiting Scotland and much of our marketing is focused on promoting these. (The level of focus is adjusted depending on each market’s characteristics).

Touring

When many people come to Scotland, they want to experience all the things that they’ve heard about the country – our beautiful and diverse scenery, our friendly people and our intriguing, evocative history and culture. Therefore they often choose to come on a touring holiday, so that they can see and do as much as possible during their trip. Also, people like to mix different types of experiences during a Scottish touring holiday, for example visiting the cities as well as the countryside, or doing outdoor activities.  

To allow them to do this, we provide lots of practical details on how to get around and where to stay, as well as a wealth of information on places to visit, things to see and do, tours, events and festivals and uniquely Scottish experiences. Our themed itineraries are a great source of ideas and information.

For information on our touring campaigns, please click on the link

City breaks

In Europe especially, city breaks have been the fastest-growing type of holiday in recent years. Their popularity has been boosted by the many low-cost flight launches and increased use of the internet - which enables easy and last-minute planning and booking. In people’s busy lives, a short city break which provides a quick escape from normal life is an attractive proposition. However, the downside of the low cost flight boom is the improved access now available to a staggering number of destinations, resulting in a very competitive market.

In our international marketing, we focus on promoting Edinburgh and Glasgow as city break destinations. They have the vital direct flight links from many of our key markets, have relatively high profile abroad and a diversity of choice in accommodation and things to see and do.  

As the internet plays a major role in organising city breaks, we have specialist city websites  in the languages of our major markets, which provide lots of information to encourage people to visit and plan their trip. Their content includes 2 and 3 day itineraries full of ideas, insider tips from locals, and lots of information on city attractions, restaurants and events. As we know that people on a city break like sometimes to see more of the country, we also provide ideas and information on tours and days out in the surrounding areas, such as Loch Lomond near Glasgow.

For information on our city break campaigns, please click on the link.

Walking

Walking is a key activity amongst visitors to Scotland. This can range from a short walk of an hour or so, to a full-day (even a whole week) of hill walking. As Scotland’s scenery is so famous, the opportunity to get out and explore it is very attractive to travellers, both those who come on a specific walking holiday and those who would do it as only a part of their trip. Through promotions, PR and our websites, we communicate the many opportunities to walk in Scotland, in particular focusing on the German market where walking on holiday is a particular passion.

Recently, Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Natural Heritage, Forestry Commission Scotland and VisitScotland collaborated on research to learn more about our walking visitors, please click here to find out more.

Golf

Scotland is renowned as the Home of Golf and our North American, Swedish and German markets in particular provide considerable numbers of golfing visitors. We promote the special experience of golfing in Scotland – its excellent and often unique courses and its special heritage – in a number of ways including advertising and PR in the specialist press, promotions and presence at golf events.

You can find more information on international golf markets here and on our golf opportunities here.

Ancestral tourism

People with ancestral links to Scotland are a valuable market and the increasing popularity of tracing your ancestors has also resulted in a growth in ancestral-related tourism. This could be making a trip specifically to undertake genealogy research or simply visiting an area which has family connections. The key genealogy markets for Scotland are USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and we have a range of activities, including a website and direct marketing to encourage more of these people to visit Scotland to follow in their family’s footsteps.

Scotland’s ancestral tourism website: www.ancestralscotland.com