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Article published 13/06/2025

Our Chief Executive Vicki Miller and Regional Director Lynsey Eckford spent two days visiting Ayrshire and Arran to meet with the tourism and events sector and see first hand how businesses continue to make Scotland a must-visit, must-return destination. 

Keen to get out and about and meet with industry in-person, Vicki joined businesses to share VisitScotland’s future direction, detailing how we will work in partnership with the sector to drive forward regional visitor economies.  

The visit gave Vicki the opportunity to hear directly from businesses and partners, listen to their current challenges and discuss how we can continue to work together to increase visitor numbers and spend.  

Hear more about the visit and key discussions across the two days. 

Visit overview

The first day of the visit included two business events, first in Ayrshire at Brig O’Doon Hotel in Alloway and then over on Arran at the Kinloch Hotel in Blackwaterfoot.  

Supported by Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce and VisitArran, businesses joined Vicki to hear more about VisitScotland’s future direction as an economic growth agency and how this will support industry, before discussions turned to the unique challenges they are currently facing in the region. 

The visit also included visits to three previous Scottish Thistle Award winners.  

  • At Auchrannie Resort, a tour round the resort showcased the recent investment in their new "Retreat" accommodation and upgrades to bedrooms in the spa hotel building. The resort is also working with VisitScotland and HIE to focus on upgrades to target more international visitors.  

  • At Trump Turnberry, General Manager Nic Oldham, hosted a tour of the 2024 National winner of Best Luxury Experience, highlighting the continued investment to the resort. The visit also reinforced Ayrshire’s reputation as a world-renowned golfing destination and highlighted the exceptional quality of the golf offering across Scotland’s west coast. 

  • Friends of Dundonald Castle were the final stop on the visit, proudly displaying their national trophy for "Celebrating Thriving Communities" in their visitor centre. With an experience that has visitors coming back time and time again, the next phase for the attraction is an expansion to their visitor centre to accommodate even more visitors and events for the community.  

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Next steps

The conversations provided some clear focuses and next steps to help drive the visitor economy in the region.  

Working together 

Working with both VisitArran for island businesses and Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce, who will now be taking a more central role in visitor economy delivery for Ayrshire, we're looking at a programme of business support to help businesses: 

  • understand and maximise online channels to make sure they are discoverable online and sharing content that will inspire and encourage potential visitors

  • use the network of tourism and events businesses in the region to promote each other and work together to reach more visitors

Attracting more international visitors 

There was also a clear ambition from Vicki to look at how to increase the number of international visitors coming to the region.

 

Ayrshire and Arran has a diverse range of high-quality tourism and events experiences that resonate strongly with international audiences. Data and insights show growing demand for exactly what the region offers, from outdoor wellness to authentic, community-led experiences. 

We will be looking both at marketing activity and travel trade activity to explore how to increase the number of international visitors who consider the region as part of their visit. This will include continuing to have an Ayrshire and Arran presence at future VisitScotland Connect events as well as more bespoke work with our travel trade and business support teams. 

The importance of connectivity  

It was encouraging to hear that the MV Caledonian Isles will return to service this month, meaning the Isle of Arran will have three routes serving the island on a daily basis. Businesses are keen to see a shift to a positive narrative for domestic visitors that there are reliable routes available to reach the island and stay with confidence.  

It has been a pleasure to spend time with businesses and partners in Ayrshire and Arran, speaking about the opportunities to drive more visitors to the region, hearing about the unique challenges they are facing, and also experiencing firsthand the tourism and events products available.

From accommodation to tours and activities, to food and drink and community-led initiatives, not only is there something for every type of visitor but the standard of service, the warm welcome and detailed knowledge of their businesses and local area was a privilege to experience.

Conversations during the visit were productive, identifying a few key focus areas where, working together with industry, we can continue to drive the visitor economy in the region, and importantly, grow the share of international visitors coming to this fantastic region of Scotland.

Vicki Miller, Chief Executive

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