The latest VisitScotland activity to support Outer Hebrides' tourism industry.
Article published 21/10/2022
Introduction from Victoria Harvey, Development Manager
It has been fantastic to see the return of domestic and international visitors to our region over the summer months with events like Seanachas celebrating Scotland's Year of Stories 2022 in Stornoway.
As we enter 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 the Outer Hebrides remain 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.
It is 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 Lewis Longhouse – nominated in the Best Self-Catering Accommodation Experience category and wish everyone involved the best of luck.
Marketing the Outer Hebrides to visitors
Something witchy this way comes
In September, we launched a brand new trail and map exploring Scotland's tales of witchcraft to mark our Year of Stories 2022.
The downloadable guide features 15 locations and can be found on VisitScotland.com alongside a blog taking a deeper dive on the subject and offering even more witch-craft themed visitor experiences.
Experiences on the map include the Calanais Standing Stones on the Isle of Lewis, spotlighted for their rich culture of magical folklore.
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New UNESCO marketing campaign
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. St. Kilda on the Isle of Lewis is one of the 13 designations included in the Trail.
Inspiring visitors with new content on VisitScotland.com
VisitScotland.com is our website for visitors to find inspiration for their next trip to Scotland. Check out some of the newest content featuring the Outer Hebrides:
- 16 amazing Scottish island restaurants includes Uig Sands Restaurant and Wobbly Dog of Lewis, both on Lewis.
- 12 tales of Scotland's most famous stories and tales features the Calanais Standing Stones on Lewis.
- 18 fantastic Scottish islands attractions for the whole family has a whole section on the Outer Herbrides and features attractions including Crossapol Beach, Clearwater Paddling, Harris Distillery and Eorpie Dunes Park.
- 14 best autumn photography spots to visit in Scotland features the Outer Hebrides for its white sands and clear blue waters.
- 27 hidden gems of secret Scotland hightlights St Kilda in its Heritage Sites section
Outer Hebrides in the press
Between July and September, our consumer PR team promoted the Outer Hebrides to audiences in the UK, Europe and North America:
- In UK media, the region was includes in a number of publications on Scotland's beaches, with the Telegraph placing a spotlight on the Outer Hebrides; and Uist was featured within The Telegraph as an off the beaten track destination.
- In European coverage, a TV crew from France 2 filmed in Harris and Lewis to showcase the islands as a lesser known tourist destination and the our team hosted a journalist from German newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau in Uist to highlight these islands as hidden gems for visitors in Scotland with the coverage due shortly.
- For the North American audience, Skye and the Hebrides were included in the Travel + Leisure's World's Best Awards, based on a survey of its readers best experiences from around the world; and as a result of ongoing conversations with our team, Luskentyre Sands on Harris was included in a round-up of the 25 best beaches in Europe in CondeNast Traveler.
Scotland's Year of Stories 2022
Celebrating Scotland's rich and diverse oral storytelling heritage
In September, Map of Stories was announced as a unique celebration of Scotland's rich and diverse oral storytelling hertitage as part of Scotland's Year of Stories 2022. Supported by EventScotland, a series of live 'film ceileih' performances have been planned as well as the launch of a brand new, interactive website. One of the five regional 'film ceilidh' events will take place in Lochmaddy in Uist in the Outer Hebrides. The event in October will be led by Hebridean storyteller and poet Ian Stephen with music from Kenneth Linklater.
Learn more about the new Map of Stories project.
The Brilliant and Forever at An Lanntair
As part of Seanachas, the Outer Hebrides event for our themed year, the annual Brilliant and Forever short story festival took place in August in the Lews Castle Grounds on Stornoway. This year, the festival was brought to life with a short-story writing competition where 13 shortlisted writers presented their stories.
Watch our Scotland's Year of Stories 2022 video and visit the An Lanntair website for their full Seanachas schedule.
Catch up with our Stornoway iCentre team
We've really benefitted from having Victoria Harvey as our Development Manager. Working with Victoria, we've built some really positive links with Outer Hebrides Tourism and businesses across the islands. Through these connections, we've been able to provide visitors both here in Scotland and around the world with amazing information on what's happening across the region. We're also lucky to have Jess who responds to online instant messages via VisitScotland.com helping to share up-to-date information about the Outer Hebrides with prospective visitors.
Definitely! After the last two years, this has definitely felt like we're getting closer to normal with visitor numbers up and the return of international visitors. We have faced a few staffing issues as a result but in a weird way it's been fun to be back going at 100 miles an hour. We are however looking forward to catching our breath as the peak season winds down!
We've had a lot of feedback from visitors and often have the benefit of hearing about their experiences across the islands - and of course there have been some frustrations about transport within that. But a lot of people who’ve come in have been waiting and planning for their trip for years, and the overriding message we get from them is that the Outer Hebrides have more than lived up to their expectations and they’re already thinking about when they’ll be coming back!
We also wanted to highlight a TripAdvisor review:
"Best Tourist Information Office ever. Excellent staff that sorted out a timetable for us to tour Lewis by bus taking in the places we wanted to see. Very informative, knowledgeable, helpful and friendly. Well worth visiting."
During the summer season, we were visited by a lovely lady – it was her first time in the Outer Hebrides, and she was super excited as she knew she had some family connections on Lewis. One of the main reasons she was visiting was to find the grave of a family member who died a long time ago but didn’t have much information and wasn’t very hopeful that she’d be able to find it. We passed on the details of the various Comunn Eachdraidhs (Historical Societies) we have situated on the islands, and after some strong encouragement from us, she took the details and went on her way.
She returned a few days later with the biggest smile on her face – she had contacted one of the Comunn Eachdraidhs and was left more than delighted. The excellent staff and volunteers not only knew the name of her family member, but knew exactly where the grave was located. They personally took her to visit the resting place, as well as giving her a wealth of information on her family history, before taking her to lunch and giving her a tour of the island! She could not believe what had happened and was so extremely grateful, saying that without us providing her with the information, reassurance and encouragement, she would not have thought that getting in touch with someone would be worth it.
The lady left with an even stronger bond with the Outer Hebrides and said that she's already planning her next trip, not only just to visit the beautiful islands where her family once lived, but to visit new friends.
Hebcelt is obviously a big one and we’re always pleased to do everything we can to support the organisers and visitors with any queries – accommodation usually being the biggest one! However there are a number of great events across all of the islands and I think the key message from us is that we’re here to help and promote everyone as best we can… so if you’ve got an event planned please let us know and we’ll be happy to help.
We try not to think of this as the end of 2022 but the start of 2023 – we’re all looking forward to the festivities, but now is the time that we’ll start to work on our information and planning for next year.
We also love bringing a bit of festive sparkle to the iCentre. We’re very fortunate to have so many locals who regularly make use of the iCentre, and we get a lot of positive feedback about the number of local and unusual suppliers we have so we want to make sure it feels a little bit special if they’re in for some Christmas shopping.
We're also looking forward having a little celebration together in our small team to mark the end of a tough but rewarding year!
In case you missed it...
Some other new activity and updates from across the region include:
- Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar received funding from the latest round of the Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund to develop motorhome sites around the main village or ferry port at Tarbert on Harris.
- Funding was awarded to six islands local authorities including Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar to assist critical projects on climate change, population retention and tourism. The funding will support two projects on Lewis and Eriskay.
- HebCelt returned in July, enjoying a record attendance to the music festival and bring a £4.2 million boost to the Lewis economy according to the festival website.
Related links
22/09/2022