Visit Scotland | Alba
Article published 05/02/2024

Two key objectives across all of our paid, owned, and earned marketing campaigns are seasonal and regional spread. Our aim is to position Scotland as an inclusive, year-round destination.

Our campaigns also promote Scotland as a place to experience powerfully enriching personal experiences.

Within our global marketing media campaigns, we want to move audiences along the visitor lifecycle. That is to say, the process from looking at destinations, to booking, to visiting.

This cycle starts with growing awareness and inspiring people with all that Scotland has to offer across all months of the year.

A driver takes a picture of an Eriskay pony who pokes his head through the car window

Our paid media campaigns

For 2023 and 2024, our paid media campaigns have focused on the UK, United States, France, and Germany. These campaigns are live across the key planning and booking months of September to March.

A mix of content partnerships is aimed at our key international markets from January 2024 to let people know what a visit to Scotland can mean for them. These include places to see and stay, and things to do across Scotland as well as unique reasons to visit across the year.

For these campaigns, we partnered up with National Geographic / Disney, Culture Trip, Le Figaro, and Skyscanner.

Brand building on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat is complementing our UK and US campaigns. This is in addition to Connected TV in the US market.

These campaigns reinforce and challenge everything a holiday to Scotland can be to visitors from these key markets.

We've also partnered up with Destination Management Organisations and local authorities. This happened in places like:

  • East Lothian

  • Falkirk

  • Fife

  • Lanarkshire

  • South of Scotland

Some of our campaigns

  • Expedia partnership across UK and US markets

    Our UK activity was live from 1 September 2023 until 31 January 2024. Our US activity ran from 4 September 2023 until 30 November 2023.

    Activity has two key objectives. One is to raise awareness of Scotland. The other is to drive bookings across flights, accommodation, visitor attractions, and activities.

    We were also able to target people who are looking at competitor destinations and gain valuable data and insights.

    A second phase is running in the US market from January 2024 to March 2024.

  • DFDS campaign with Germany and the Netherlands

    We promoted Scotland in the shoulder seasons to some of our important European markets (Germany and the Netherlands). This took the form of a campaign last autumn with DFDS for travel by ferry into Scotland via Newcastle.

    For the campaign, we raised extra awareness for East Lothian and the South of Scotland as a great place to visit in the autumn and winter.

  • Spirit of the Highlands and Islands autumn campaign

    This campaign promoted the natural and cultural heritage of the Highlands and Islands. It included a mix of paid media, content partnerships, press, and influencer activity.

    A UK publishing partnership with The Guardian achieved strong results and engagement. Our Dutch and German campaigns led to some excellent awareness of Scotland through partnerships like that with Die Zeit.

  • ScotRail's Kids for a Quid

    Launching in early October, we worked with Beano’s Dennis & Gnasher to drive bookings to ScotRail's Kids for a Quid during the autumn holidays.  For the campaign, we highlighted the appeal of rail travel for families to reach attractions around Scotland.

    Read more about the Beano / ScotRail campaign on visitscotland.com.

  • Great Days Out

    This campaign aimed to enthuse people in the UK to go on a day out in Scotland during the shoulder season. The goal was to support visitor attractions and activity operators who would benefit from more people taking a mini break.

    Read more about Great Days Out on visitscotland.com.

Related links

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