It has been fantastic to see the return of domestic and international visitors to our region this summer. We’ve enjoyed The Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links, Making Waves Festival, Year of Stories 2022 ‘Once Upon A Time in South Ayrshire’ and the Arran Festival of Food and Drink to name a few highlights.
As we approach the autumn and winter season, we will continue to work with partners in our tourism and events industry on promoting activity that extends the season and ensuring Scotland and Ayrshire & Arran remains front of mind for potential visitors.
We’re prioritising activities that will stimulate demand and new bookings for the industry to support its long-term recovery with more details in the update below.
We know that many businesses are facing difficult decisions and are having to consider how they adapt their operations to manage the cost challenges. We would encourage you to visit our industry website for all the latest industry advice, support and guidance and we will bring you news on industry events taking place in the region.
We also want to take the opportunity to celebrate our tourism and events industry who have worked tirelessly in the past two years. The return of the Scottish Thistle Awards regional finals later this month offers us the chance to do this and I would like to wish all those shortlisted the very best of luck.
During the summer months, Arran was featured in several campaigns with influencers and brands visiting the island and creating content for their social media channels.
Between July and September, our consumer PR team promoted Ayrshire & Arran to audiences in the UK, Europe and North America:
Over on our consumer website, new articles have been added featuring some top attractions in the region:
Scotland’s UNESCO Trail is being promoted with the launch of a dedicated VisitScotland marketing campaign. The campaign, aimed at potential visitors from the UK & Ireland, Germany and France, will encourage them to discover more about the country’s 13 place-based designations included in the trail. Galloway and Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere is one of the 13 designations included in the Trail.
Our Industry Relationship Manager for the region, Craig Lawless, is the eyes and ears on the ground, working to support the development and growth of tourism businesses. Working across the region, here is some of the trends Craig has witnessed in the region:
A major highlight for us was the return of iconic and much-loved events in Arran, namely the Brodick Highlands Games and the 184th Arran show after an absence of 3 years! We also added two brilliant seasonal colleagues to the team and provided an excellent visitor service.
We have had a buoyant summer with a return of a diverse range of international visitors. Often visitors return during their stay to share experiences, particularly of wildlife spotting which we in turn can share with others.
Many visitors also come to Arran to re-live childhood or other significant memories and it is a special place for them. We had a lovely couple visit this week who had become engaged at the top of Goatfell!
Several festivals have taken place over recent months such as the inaugural Arran Food Festival, the 10th Anniversary Arran Studios Open Weekend, The McLellan Arts Festival which included the first WeeMac Children's Book Festival with the exhibition and prize giving being held at the iCentre. We have promoted all of these events enthusiastically.
Tourism businesses have been able to host in-person travel trade familiarisation trips for the first time since the pandemic, in Ayrshire.
Tour operators, travel agents and destination management companies from the UK and key North American, European & Asian markers visited Ayrshire, as part of VisitScotland's travel trade event Discover Scotland 2022, known as Discover Scotland: Live Showcases, in addition to the online business-to-business event earlier in the year.
The experiences included Craufurdland Castle and Country Estate, Marine Troon, Robert Burns Birthplace Museum and Culzean Castle & Country Park. Our international guests also had the opportunity to meet with representatives from Ayrshire & Arran Destination Alliance and VisitArran during the visit.
Culzean Castle exterior, Ayrshire
The Trust Golf Women's Scottish Open, supported by VisitScotland and one of the biggest events on the Ladies European Tour, was played at Dundonald Links in North Ayrshire for the 4th time this summer.
The broadcast and media coverage helped generate global interest in golf tourism across Ayrshire, which pre-pandemic was worth over £17 million pounds and supports more than 400 jobs.
The tournament was part of an unprecedented run of five elite men's and women's competitions in consecutive weeks through July into August, with the 150th Open, the Genesis Scottish Open, AIG Women's British Open and Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex attracting hundreds of thousands of spectators to Scotland over the summer.
Louise Duncan, VisitScotland's sponsor invitation who made her professional debut at the tournament, standing with 'Scotland The Home of Golf' sign
The regional shortlist for this year’s Scottish Thistle Awards has been announced and it’s a fantastic line up highlighting the strength and depth of Scotland's tourism & events industry.
Accommodation providers, visitor attractions, hotels, restaurants, events and individuals the length and breadth of the country are in the running for a 2022/23 Scottish Thistle Award. Congratulations to all the businesses shortlisted in the Ayrshire & Arran region:
