Business Tourism Unit
The Business Tourism Unit (BTU) promotes
Scotland as a destination for conferences, conventions, meetings,
and incentive programmes. It undertakes a wide range of marketing
activities both in the UK and overseas to attract corporate and
association events. It also encourages delegates to extend
their stay in Scotland for leisure purposes – so-called ‘business
extenders’ - or return on holiday with friends and family.
Background
Currently, business tourism represents 20% of all tourism
expenditure in Scotland. Business visitors spend almost twice that
of leisure visitors, making it a highly lucrative sector, and it is
also less seasonal than leisure tourism. In addition, attracting a
major conference reinforces Scotland’s credentials in key
industries and can make us a more attractive destination for inward
investors, meaning that the benefits of business tourism extend
well beyond delegate spend.
Key Activity
The BTU raises awareness of what Scotland has to offer as a
business events destination, and generates demand through targeted
marketing activities aimed at meeting planners, conference
organisers, venue-finding and event planning agencies, and senior
corporate executives. While focussing primarily on the key markets
of the UK, North America, Germany, Spain, and France, it also
identifies and ‘warms up’ emerging markets such as Russia and
India. Through its telephone and web enquiry service it is on hand
to offer prospective clients advice and assistance in bringing
their event to Scotland.
It also offers Scottish tourism businesses the chance to become
involved in a range of marketing opportunities including sales
missions, twice-yearly workshops under the banner ‘Scotland Means
Business’ and familiarisation trips to showcase to buyers what
Scotland has to offer for business events. The BTU works closely
with Scotland’s four City Convention Bureaux in Edinburgh, Glasgow,
Aberdeen and Dundee, with economic development agencies such as
Scottish Development International, and with Scottish Enterprise’s
Globalscots network of leading ex-pat business executives and
influencers.
Website
The BTU has its own website, www.conventionscotland.com which
offers a comprehensive venue search facility for meeting planners
considering bringing their event to Scotland and details of how to
contact the team.
