Visit Scotland | Alba
Article published 31/08/2023

Join us at VisitScotland Connect 2024

Our flagship travel trade event, VisitScotland Connect, is set to return to the P&J Live, Aberdeen on 17 - 18 April 2024. 

Eligible and trade-ready businesses are invited to register their attendance from today (31 August 2023). 

The event is open to Scottish tourism businesses that are offering a tourism product that can be contracted at trade rates and based in Scotland or have a Scottish office. They will also need to have staff experienced in working with UK and international trade buyers and have a listing on our travel trade website. 

To find out more about our 2024 event, and to register your interest, please visit our EventsAir site. 

Register today for VisitScotland Connect 2024


Meeting at VisitScotland Connect 2023

Making international connections

Held for the first time in April 2023, the event aims to grow Scotland's share of global travel in a sustainable way. Tour operators and travel buyers meet with local tourism businesses and attractions, in person, under one roof. 

More than half of international visitors plan and book their travel through the travel trade. International visitors stay longer and spend more in local communities in every part of Scotland. 

International visitors account for approximately a fifth (20%) of total inbound visits but account for 43% of total spending. 

Last year was the first time we held a workshop style event, offering a more targeted opportunity to conduct 1-2-1 meetings between trade-ready Scottish suppliers and international buyers. 

Over 250 international buyers representing 23 countries travelled to Aberdeen. Over two days, more than 6,000 meetings were held with trade-ready Scottish businesses. 

The event has been praised for its importance in establishing connections, supporting businesses in their ambitions to internationalise, and the subsequent business potential it brings to Scotland’s valuable tourism industry. 

Feedback from our 2023 event

  • Generating sales

    91% of Scottish businesses said they anticipated generating sales from attending VisitScotland Connect. 

  • Broadening horizons and product knowledge

    Almost two-thirds of tour operators and travel agents stated the event helped introduce more possible destinations in Scotland to their programmes and products. 

  • Experience Scotland first-hand

    More than 100 tour operators and travel agents were given the opportunity to enjoy first-hand experience of Scotland’s tourism offering. We curated a programme of familiarisation trips, covering 20 regions during the week of the event, which highlighted Scotland’s responsible tourism offering.

Hear the experience of attendees at VisitScotland 2023

Demand for Scotland grows

There has been a real appetite again for global travel, with Scotland benefiting. The International Passenger (IPS) tourism statistics revealed there were new record periods in both July to September 2022 and October to December 2022 for spend by international visitors. This resulted in a new January – December record of £3.2 billion spend, up by almost quarter on 2019 (24%). 

Working with the travel trade

Many consumers rely on an intermediary booking channel as trusted source. Because of this, it’s important to understand how your potential customers are planning and booking their holidays.

Discover your eligibility to work with the travel trade, and how it can benefit your tourism business within our travel distribution advice section.

Working with online and traditional travel trade

Related links

21/08/2023

Connect 2023 welcomed by delegates

Post event research of VisitScotland Connect travel trade event highlighted the events importance for businesses to generate future income.