In this update you'll find the following regional content:
It has been fantastic to see the return of domestic and international visitors to our region over the summer months. I was fortunate enough to attend a number of great Highland events, including the Loch Ness Etape, Under Canvas, the Mountain Bike World Cup, Belladrum Festival and Dandelion.
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 ensures Scotland - and the Highlands - remain front of mind for potential visitors. I am delighted to announce two upcoming campaigns, first an excellent piece of collaboration across destinations in Highland on a winter campaign – watch this space for more details - and a major campaign, Spirit of the Highlands & Islands, to inspire visits at quieter times and encourage people to explore more and get off the beaten track.
We know that businesses are facing difficult decisions and are having to consider how they adapt their operations to manage the cost and staffing 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.
It's especially important now that we celebrate people in the industry who have worked tirelessly in the past two years. The return of the Highlands & Islands Tourism Awards in November offers us the chance to do this. I am looking forward to the return of this event and would like to congratulate all shortlisted businesses and wish everyone involved the best of luck.
Before we launch further into activity from July - September 2022. This week National Geographic has named the Scottish Highlands in their Best of the World list for 2023.
This places the Highlands as one of only two UK destinations features, across five key categories. The Highlands features within the "Nature" category to celebrate Scotland’s rewilding efforts, which aim to restore the original landscape of the Highlands by replanting and restoring native species.
Find out more about this prestigious accolade and view the full list of winners.
With the return of larger scale events we’ve really enjoyed the buzz around the place - including the return of the Harley Davidsons and their riders for Thunder in the Glen. A little bit quieter, but certainly tastier, was the Golden Spurtle World Porridge Making Championships in Carrbridge. We were delighted to get spurtles for sale in the iCentre just in time, as it's now easier to explain to visitors (and some colleagues...) what a spurtle actually is!
Now we’re looking forward (with our fingers crossed) to the ski season, promoting fantastic winter activities and walks and sharing our recommendations for places to warm up afterwards.
The Fort William iCentre has recently moved into a new High Street location with an updated interior design. The centre looks really smart and has been receiving positive feedback from our staff and visitors alike.
The new location is slightly further along Fort William High Street and gives us the opportunity to be much more visible to the many visitors to the region each year.
The iCentre is now much brighter, open and has eye-catching wall content that helps our expert colleagues sell the area and its tourism offering to visitors.
We've enjoyed seeing our High Street bustling with streams of people once again and also welcoming back visitors who travel to Fort William to see the highly anticipated events such as the Mountain Bike World Cup, The Six Days Trails and The Ben Race.
If you’re in the area, the Fort William iCentre Team will look forward to giving you a warm welcome in our new location (23 - 31 High St, Fort William PH33 6DH) the next time you stop by.
It’s been lovely seeing visitors back closer to normal numbers through the summer, but as we move into the autumn and winter there are still plenty of visitors (particularly from overseas) around.
The Victorian Market refurbishment has progressed well. The central space is now open and features a new café by the very popular Bad Girl Bakery, it’s a fantastic centerpiece for the Historic Old Town and anyone exploring it.
We give all our visitors a warm welcome… but we particularly like the four-legged variety! Therefore, we were delighted that, as part of the celebrations for the Shop Local scheme’s 5th Anniversary, we welcomed Skye Tails to the centre. They handmake dog treats here on the island and have been an amazing success story – although to make sure there was something for the owners, Skye Sea Salt Company were also in attendance.
It’s great to be able to showcase fantastic local businesses like these, and our visitors really value the range of quality local products we can offer along with information and inspiration.
From the start of November we will be closed on Sundays, but we're still here Monday to Saturday so please do pop in and say hello!
After the iCentre receiving a refurbishment this March, we've enjoyed giving our traditional Ullapool welcome to visitors from all over the world in a fresh and modern iCentre. Ullapool might seem like a small fishing village on the NC500, but there is always a buzz around town.
From book and guitar festivals to weekly live music, from water sports to award winning coffee shops, Ullapool and surrounding area has it all. It also functions as the gateway to the NW Highlands Geopark featuring the oldest rocks in the world!
As we're now moving into the dark winter months, the Ullapool iCentre team will continue to provide every visitor with a warm, bright welcome. When you or your visitors are in the area, please stop by and say hello. We guarantee you'll leave with inspiration on what to see and do for years to come!
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. UNESCO Biosphere Wester Ross is one of the 13 designations included in the Trail.
We recently launched a £270,000 UK marketing campaign to mark the next phase of Scotland is Calling, which has been promoted on Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest and Teads (a global media platform). Highland locations such as Dunrobin Castle, Eilean Donan Castle, Glenfinnan Viaduct, Glencoe, Mallaig and the Isle of Skye feature in our hero film and campaign video assets.
In September, we worked with Go Pro content creator activity, which included inviting influencers The Adventure Addicts to explore Glencoe and the Isle of Skye.
As part of this themed year, the Highland's featured in our publishing partnership with The Guardian. In our partnership article on Film and TV locations, we featured the Highlands Folk Museum and Inverness.
Within the Year of Stories, we also partnered with Bauer Media to promote events across the Highlands through Moray Firth Radio (MFR). Events promoted included the Nairn Book and Arts Festival, An Tinne, and Northern Stories Festival.
As part of our campaign with The List, we featured:
UK
Our UK focused activity included:
EUROPE
Our European activity included:
China
Our Emerging markets coverage included:
Over the past three months, the Highlands have featured in nine articles pitched to the Chinese market. Some of these articles include:
SOUTH KOREA
Our Emerging markets coverage included:
It's been a busy quarter for our corporate press team covering the Highlands. Some of the highlights include: