TISCOVER - your questions answered:

Why have you made these changes?

For any business it is a normal process to review technology on a regular basis and assess the best solutions to meet future needs. Given the rapid change and growth in the e-commerce sector it is all the more important for VisitScotland.com to do so. Traffic on the VisitScotland.com website has more than doubled over the last two years. Online accommodation sales are growing very rapidly too, with 93% of users of the website saying in a survey in 2006 that they would consider booking online at VisitScotland.com.

Against this background of growth our existing technology had reached the limits of its effectiveness. The change to the new technology platform, which powers not only the website but our other business lines (Contact Centre and Touirst Information Centres) is vital to support our current level of activity and expected growth. This is about taking things forward to the next level with more powerful, much faster and more scaleable technology that will better support both consumer and providers’ needs. The new technology will also enable us to launch exciting new tourism products and services in 2007 (see more below).

I liked the layout of some pages on the old website. Why have these changed?

Some changes are implicit with the new technology platform, which is based on the world-leading technology for national and regional tourism websites. The technology is powered by Tiscover, a company with 15 years of experience dedicated to web-based tourism technology. The Tiscover platform (including page layouts similar to those now seen on www.VisitScotland.com) is tried and tested over a number of years in numerous international markets including Austria, Italy, South Africa and regions of England.

I have found a ‘broken link’ (a link to another page, search or website which does not work) on the VisitScotland.com website. What should I do?

Due to the scale of the changes we are making, with literally thousands of links to be redirected or refreshed, it is possible that some links (especially links to searches) will temporarily be out of action or incorrect. Please send an e-mail to helpdesk@visitscotland.com, stating which link is not working and on which web page it can be found (please copy the URL address of the page from your browser address bar and paste it in to your e-mail). We will investigate and rectify as soon as we can.

I run a tourism business that is listed on www.VisitScotland.com but now I cannot find the entry for my business. What should I do?

All businesses’ records have been migrated from the old system to the new system. It is possible that your business is now identified in the system under a slightly different geographical locality. The new system is driven by a stricter and more technically efficient logic for managing the many thousands of provider records. This requires each business to be identified to one single (normally the closest) town or village (or other locality, e.g island). In some cases we have been able to create new geographical identifiers for tourism businesses, which will now better assist consumers searching the site – e.g. adding Districts of the major cities.  

In migrating from the old systems to the new it is possible that in some cases, due to automatic data apportionment processes, the location with which we are now associating your business is not the one which you are used to looking under on the website and in some cases it may need correcting.

To find your business’ entry on the website we suggest that you use a search which allows you to enter the Business Name. A positive search result by this method will show the location under which your business is now placed. (In the unlikely event that you are still unable to find your listing by this method this may be related to some other data problem – please contact our team in Livingston on updates@visitscotland.com (or 0845 602 3779), who will need to investigate for you).

I have found my business on the new website and I do not agree with the location with which you have now identified it. Can I get this changed?

You will need to contact us to raise your concerns (use contact details above). Depending on the circumstances, it may be possible, within reason, to move your business record to be associated with an alternative single location instead. To do this you need to send us an e-mail (address above) – including your contact name and details (preferably e-mail), business name, geographical location as shown on the new system and the single place-name to which you are requesting your listing be moved. Note that in the new system your establishment can only be associated with one base location – it is not possible to be associated with multiple locations.

Remember, there is a trade-off that we have to manage between the aspirations of tourism businesses, often based upon wanting to be associated with the most marketable location(s) to attract sales, and integrity for the visitor/website user, who will want reasonable information to guide them in making choices and/or an unassisted booking. For this reason we cannot guarantee that a transfer will take place until we have assessed the details of your request on a case-by-case basis. Requests may take up to a week to take effect.

I run a tourism business which is listed on www.VisitScotland.com. There is information / images missing/incorrect on the pages for my business on the website – how do I get this changed?

Contact the provider team preferably by e-mail to updates@visitscotland.com (or if you cannot e-mail, by phone to 0845 602 3779) to make them aware of the changes that you would like to make. Make sure you include your business name and your contact details when you e-mail us.

There is information missing / incorrect elsewhere on the website (i.e. not pages for individual businesses). Who should I tell?

Please send an e-mail to: editorial@visitscotland.com advising of the page(s) concerned and the change(s) that you think should be made. We will investigate and act accordingly. Please make sure you include the exact URL page address(es) of the page(s) that you wish to bring to our attention (you can copy the URL from your browser address bar and paste this in to your e-mail).

The maps of where to find specific tourism businesses/accommodation are sometimes not very helpful – can these be changed?

The current mapping technology is an interim solution only and we are already working on a much improved mapping technology which we will put live on the site as part of our second phase of developments, as soon as is possible (this will take a number of weeks).

Will there be further developments and features for the www.visitscotland.com website?

Yes. The initial implementation of the new technology on 20 November is the first (and biggest) phase of an ongoing programme to develop and improve the website and the other technologies used in the National Contact Centre and in TICs. There are many initiatives which we have in plan, which we will introduce over the coming months. New map functionality is one of these (see above). We are already engaged in ongoing development of the quantity and depth of local information held within the new Explore Scotland section. We also have plans to achieve greater integration of the promotion of local and national events with other areas of the website, including the accommodation listings.

What happened to the IONA / ARRAN electronic system that I used to update VisitScotland.com with the availability and prices for my accommodation business? When do I get to use the replacement Extranet system?

We have communicated on a number of occasions with IONA / ARRAN users that these systems would be de-commission by 20 November 2006, since they are part of the old technology platform, which has been replaced. Accommodation providers will be offered the opportunity to use the more powerful and sophisticated replacement, Extranet, through which they can manage the details of their business, including availability and pricing, extensive pages of images and descriptions, and the ability for serviced accommodation providers to place rooms on allocation to VisitScotland.com to enable online web bookings.

As we have previously communicated, the Extranet will be rolled out in phases to providers who previously used ARRAN or IONA. We will contact you with your new username and password for the Extranet in the coming days and weeks. If you have any queries about the new Extranet please contact updates@visitscotland.com.

I’ve heard that you will be introducing new products and services for tourism businesses, enabled by your new technology. How do I find out more about these?

Once we have successfully completed the implementation of the new technology platform we will be able to introduce a range of new products and services on a commercial basis for businesses and other organisations in the Scottish tourism industry. We are currently in the midst of independent market testing with tourism provider businesses to assess the propositions which we propose to launch early in spring 2007, to coincide with VisitScotland’s new 2007/08 Marketing Opportunities. Once the research is complete we intend to release preview information about our new range of offerings.

Our new initiatives will include ‘Web-in-a-box’, which offers a complete website package to accommodation providers and other tourism businesses. It will be simple and cost-effective to use yet allows them to launch their own sophisticated website where bookings can be made online. The package includes the Extanet inventory management tool and a booking engine that links to VisitScotland.com systems, including payment card merchant services, which allows direct commission-free bookings to be made from the providers’ own website (there will be an annual subscription fee for this service).

There is also potential to develop international promotional and sales opportunities for Scottish tourism businesses by leveraging Tiscover’s network of international distribution channels and relationships.

VisitScotland.com will work with VisitScotland, Tiscover and industry representatives to plan and deliver a phased roll-out of these new products and services.