Business development | a pipeline approach - News

Creating authentic, sustainable visitor experiences

Driving visitors to Scotland doesn’t start and end with traditional marketing channels. In fact, it starts with Scotland’s tourism businesses, the creation of the right products and experiences, and carries on through to the distribution and sale of these in market.

The provision of the right product offering through the right channels is key to converting consumers’ interest into visits to Scotland.

Ensuring that Scotland offers authentic, sustainable experiences with a strong sense of place is key to continuing to evolve how Scotland is perceived as a destination by our target visitors and how they go on to enjoy it.

Collaboration with our innovative tourism and events industry is therefore central to our activity, working with businesses to ensure an effective pipeline of new product development through market introduction and conversion to delivering memorable experience and relationship building.

Tow people in a farm looking at a lamb

Solsgirth Home Farm in Clackmannanshire. Credit VisitScotland / Mat Hay

Business Support Programme

In order to support the sector in welcoming and providing a world class visitor experience, and to deliver on our core purpose of driving the visitor economy, we launched our Business Support Programme.

Our year-round programme of free-to-access events, advice content and support, has been designed to help businesses to grow, develop and connect with new audiences. At the heart of this approach is our new Business Support Hub website.

This new site is packed with tailored tourism and events advice and support. It hosts tools and resources to help businesses improve and grow in a sustainable way.

Business Support Hub highlights:

“How to” videos

We’ve created a series of short handy videos which talk you through exactly what you need to know to grow your business through travel distribution. From understanding how customers research, find and book a trip or experience, preparing a pitch and setting your prices, to selling via a travel distribution partner.

Take a look at our "How to" videos on our Business Support website.
Case studies

These are a great way to learn from, or be inspired by, other Scottish tourism businesses that are following a similar journey to your business.

We’ve worked with a range of businesses who’ve shared valuable insights and best practice tips across lots of sectors and topics.

Take a look at our range of case studies on our Business Support Hub.
VisitScotland Business Essentials: Bitesize Webinars

The title says exactly what they are. Bitesize.

This year-long webinar series covers a host of topics and information to help improve and grow tourism and events businesses.

If you can't make the live webinar, 15-minute recordings are available – and signpost to further advice and support on our Business Support Hub.

Check out our upcoming webinars and recordings availabe on our Business Suport Hub.
Climate action planning

We’ve developed an easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide to help businesses on their climate action journey to net zero. With a wealth of resources and information from video case studies, webinars, planning guidance and support – our website is tailored to help your business create sustainable tourism experiences while driving towards net zero.

Find all these resources available on our Business Support Hub.

Taking your product to market: working with travel intermediaries

Working with the travel trade is one way to manage the distribution of your offering into market. Travel intermediaries take various forms – whether that’s tour operators or DMCs, traditional retail, online travel agents, wholesalers or travel advisors - and they can operate very differently in different markets.

We work year-round to understand that complicated intermediary landscape, and to identify those operators, who have the best fit for Scotland and Scottish tourism businesses.

Central to working with intermediaries is developing and maintaining strong relationships and key account management, across both our emerging and core markets.

These partnerships help us to develop Scotland experiences and itineraries that meet their customers’ expectations and market demand. With over 60% of international visitors to Scotland using one or more type of intermediary to plan and book their trip, they can form an important part of your pipeline to market.

We use our relationships and the insights gained to help connect tourism businesses with opportunities presented by working with intermediaries, and provide a range of different events and platforms to introduce you to these. This includes participation on our travel trade website, workshops, webinars, missions and our annual flagship travel trade event, VisitScotland Connect, which welcomes over 200 tour operators from around the globe.

A large group of people sitting having smaller meetings in a large venue with a backdrop of colourful destination images on banners

VisitScotland Connect 2025. Credit VisitScotland.

Developing and promoting sustainable tourism

Encouraging the development of responsible tourism is an integral part of what we do, helping businesses move towards our shared goal of Scotland being recognised as a responsible destination.

Partnership working is key and we continue to work with leaders in sustainable practices and climate action such as the members of Tourism Cares, operators like The Travel Corporation (TTC) and the Travel Foundation to encourage and promote responsible tourism experiences in Scotland. Introducing businesses to these opportunities is an important focus of our Business Support activity.

We want Scotland to be a leader in 21st century tourism with a thriving, responsible visitor economy, and working with these partners helps us to fulfil the ambitions set out within “Scotland Outlook 2030: Responsible Tourism for a Sustainable Future”.

Find out how we support the tourism and events industry to meet Scotland's net zero ambitions