Visit Scotland | Alba

What is the Quality Assurance scheme?

Quality assurance is the name of our official grading system for tourism businesses.

Our quality assurance scheme exists to help tourism businesses. We want to be there for them when they meet and exceed the high standards their customers expect.

We want to make Scotland a must-visit destination that visitors want to return to. This is a huge part of our purpose and the quality assurance scheme is crucial to achieving that.

In 2019, the scheme delivered more than £9.1 million of investment in Scottish tourism product.

David Jackson, Regional Director, presenting Still Spirit with a QA award
David Jackson, Regional Director, presenting Still Spirit with a five-star Quality Assurance award

The benefits of Quality Assurance

  • Build consumer confidence

    Star rating empowers visitors to make confident, informed choices.

    Knowing your business gets assessed by a trusted brand reassures your visitors. They also know they can expect a high quality product or service, and this extra reassurance is now more important than ever.

  • Gain more recognition

    Our well-established awards are familiar and trusted by visitors to Scotland. International visitors are more likely to seek out star graded product, especially when visiting for the first time.

    Online Travel Agents (OTAs) and the travel trade sector are more likely to consider working with a quality assured business.

  • Focus on investment in your product

    In 2019, the scheme helped to generate more than £9.1 million of investment in Scottish tourism product.

  • Be found first

    Visitors using visitscotland.com often base their search on star grading. Quality assurance member listings are 2.5 times more likely, on average, to receive visitor referrals.

  • Benchmark your performance

    We can help inform business decisions through tailored insight from our experienced team.

  • Grow your business

    Being a quality assurance member can help you to grow your business and get access to loans or funding. Some councils ask for business evidence that a visit from our Quality Tourism Advisors can provide you with.

  • It's affordable

    A small fee gains you membership of our Quality Assurance Scheme for a year. 

    This includes access to regular quality related news for your sector, advice from our experienced team, training opportunities and more.

Related links

Quality Assurance

Find out about the benefits of Quality Assurance and sign up today for an official Star grading assessment visit.

Quality Assurance sector guidance

Find the Quality Assurance guidance specific to your sector. And learn more about how we can help you offer visitors the best possible experience.