Visit Scotland | Alba
Article published 30/08/2024

Inspire, inform and connect

Perthshire Talks Tourism is a programme of webinars and events, which focuses on a range of issues or topics specifically tailored for tourism, events and hospitality businesses.

The series aims to inspire, inform and connect tourism businesses across the region. 

This latest series will be hosted and delivered in partnership with VisitScotland and Perth & Kinross Council, on behalf of the Perthshire Tourism Partnership. In this new webinar series, we'll focus on responsible tourism, exploring inclusive tourism and taking climate action, which are identified as opportunities within the Perth & Kinross Tourism Action Plan.

People sitting in a crowd at an event

Inclusive tourism

Did you know…? 

  • one in four people in the UK have a disability or health impairment 
  • £274 billion is the spending power of disabled people to the UK economy 
  • senior travellers have a 35% higher spend on leisure and hospitality than other age groups 

Inclusive tourism is about providing a warm welcome and quality experience for all our visitors, without barriers - a visit that’s memorable for all the right reasons. 

These webinars will promote the value and importance of inclusive tourism, and help businesses improve the experience they offer to customers who may need specific adjustments or facilities. These include disabled people, senior travellers, families with young children, and those with a temporary or long-term medical condition.

Climate action 

Tourism is a clear contributor to the global climate crisis, but also stands to suffer its consequences.

It’s now more important than ever for tourism to step up and show how the sector can be part of the solution. 

Climate change and extreme weather events have already harmed many aspects of our natural environment. And these adverse effects trickle down to our communities and businesses as well. 

Our climate action webinars will take you through our climate impact guide highlighting six quick actions for businesses starting out on their climate action journey.

For those already on that climate action journey, we’ll also be exploring the different climate action themes and what they mean for your business.

Browse our upcoming webinars and events

  • 17 September | Perthshire Talks Responsible Tourism: unlock the potential of accessible tourism

    In this introduction to accessible and inclusive tourism, hear from VisitScotland’s Inclusive Tourism Manager about the value of the accessible tourism market, the barriers that some consumers face and how best to attract these extremely loyal customers.  
     
    The session will also include practical advice and top tips to implement in your business, guidance on a range of helpful resources, and key insights into this valuable market.  

    Date: Tuesday 17 September 2024 
    Time: 11:00am – 12.00pm 
    Format: online via Teams 

    Register today.

  • 26 September | Perthshire Talks Responsible Tourism: climate action planning

    Understand how your business can reduce emissions with our simple climate impact guide that includes our easy-to-use, free climate action workbook. 

    Our new guide has been designed to help tourism businesses starting out on their climate action journey. Businesses further along in their climate action journey may still find it useful to incorporate elements of this guide into their current plans by developing more advanced actions.  

    Taking responsibility for your business emissions and activities is a big first step on the road to net zero.  

    The session will look at why taking climate action is important and cover our new beginner workbook and calculator along with six quick actions to get you started in your first 12 months.   

    Date: Thursday 26 September 2024 
    Time: 11:00am - 12:00pm 
    Format: online via Teams 

    Register today.

  • 2 October | Perthshire Talks Responsible Tourism: accessibility information to promote your business

    Do you have accessibility facilities, such as accessible bedroom(s) or a quiet space, or has your venue been designed to cater for wheelchair users or visitors with hearing or sight impairments? 

    Do these facilities appeal to your current customer base? Do you provide detailed information about these facilities on your website? 

    If the answer to any of these questions is yes, this session will be of interest to you.   

    This webinar will provide practical advice, top tips and guidance on how to use detailed access guides to market your business to new customers.  

    We’ll be joined by industry experts including Marina Di Duca, VisitScotland Inclusive Tourism Manager, Carrie-Ann Lightley, Head of Marketing at AccessAble, an accessibility guide specialist and Pippa Stacey, an award-winning writer, speaker and charity sector communication consultant.

    Date: Wednesday 2 October 2024 
    Time: 11:00am – 12.00pm
    Format: online via Teams and being recorded 

    Register today.

  • 23 October | Perthshire Talks Responsible Tourism: welcoming all customers – save the date

    Our final inclusive tourism session, as part of the Perthshire Talks Tourism events, will be a full day Welcoming All Customers training event, part of the Welcome to Excellence training series. 

    This free in-person event will take place on 23 October at Perth Concert Hall, from 9.15am, finishing at 4.00pm.   

    This event will provide businesses with tips and advice on how to improve customer service for disabled customers, which we know also benefits other customer groups.  

    This course will include activities, exercises, and discussions. Each participant will receive a guide containing practical tips and a jointly branded VisitScotland / Welcoming All Customers course certificate. 

    Businesses will learn about:

    • adopting a positive attitude to all customers and anticipating accessibility requirements
    • successful communication styles to identify customer needs
    • legal obligations and types of discrimination 


    *Please note this training event is available to businesses who attended either of the following webinars: 

    • Perthshire Talks Tourism: unlock the potential of accessible tourism
    • Perthshire Talks Tourism: access information to promote your business 

    The registration for the event will go live on 3 October 2024. 

    This event has limited places and will be on a first come, first serve basis. To allow more businesses the opportunity to be trained, only one person from each business can attend.

  • 5 November | Perthshire Talks Responsible Tourism: exploring different climate action themes

    Energy, transport, and waste comprise a substantial amount of global greenhouse gas emissions and will usually make up a considerable part of your footprint. Reducing these will be an essential step on your road to net zero.  

    However, measurement and reduction are only one part of the picture. Developing climate action around communicating, influencing your customers or suppliers, and adapting to climate change are equally as crucial on the road to net zero.  

    In this webinar, we will explain the different climate action themes in our guide and what they mean for you and your business. 

    *It’s recommended you attend the first climate action session: climate action planning, if you plan on using our climate action workbook, but not mandatory.

    Date: Tuesday 5 November 2024 
    Time: 11:00am - 12:00pm 
    Format: online via Teams 

    Register today.

Related links

Reduce your climate impact guide

Understand how your business can reduce emissions with our simple climate impact guide that includes our easy-to-use, free climate action workbook.