To truly grow Scotland’s visitor economy, we must work together with partners across the industry and communities. Through collaboration we can help to lead, influence, and support destination development.
We’ve been speaking to Liz Young, the Business Development Co-ordinator for Midlothian Tourism Forum. She told us about their latest digital developments and content created to promote Midlothian as a destination. Hear how we've supported them to develop and grow.
Midlothian Tourism Forum (MTF) is a tourism association established in 2005 that brings together a range of businesses making up Midlothian’s vibrant tourism sector. With an active growing membership of over 35 businesses, they’re focused on building their membership further.
Liz works with businesses to collaborate on strategic initiatives and marketing efforts. “We’re driven by a steering group comprising representatives of local businesses, Midlothian Council Economic Development team and VisitScotland."
“By working together we have developed a stronger destination promotion message, can explore new commercial partnerships and are supported by VisitScotland and Midlothian Council.”
Our Inclusive Tourism Manager, Marina Di Duca at a Midlothian Tourism Forum workshop
“VisitScotland is a collaborative partner of ours."
"They help us by sharing key consumer trend data as well as the latest on responsible and accessible tourism standards. Over the last year, we've had a series of sessions with them where we have benefited from VisitScotland intelligence from their Insights team."
"We’ve also worked with Marina Di Duca, who is the Accessibility Manager, and we've taken their Accessible tourism leadership and marketing campaign and PR approach business advice."
Our Regional Director, Neil Christison works with partners in the region to support regional economic strategies and developing destinations. "Neil sits on MTF’s steering group and works closely with their team to develop new initiatives and build new partnerships. It gives him the opportunity to join members events and listen to local issues, initiatives and hear about new products. Neil also connects MTF with the relevant teams across VisitScotland."
Midlothian Tourism Forum meet at Stewarts Brewery for a tour and networking
It’s a pleasure to work with Midlothian Tourism Forum. Their passion for the region really comes through in the content they’re creating, and it’s exciting to see Midlothian featured as part of our Days Out campaign.
Partnerships like this are so important in promoting Midlothian's tourism offering. This new collection brings many of these experiences together, tapping into growing trends such as outdoor therapy and film tourism.
MTF’s consumer website visitmidlothian has content aimed at visitors looking for things to see and do, places to stay and places to eat and drink. It also includes inspiration for themed days out, such as dog walks, active adventures, walks, cycle routes, family fun as well as tours. Plus information on accessibility, transport and responsible tourism.
Liz believes that these new resources will inspire people to discover “the richness and variety of Midlothian”. She told us that “People are often surprised by how much Midlothian has to offer and we hope that this website is a valuable guide, helping both visitors and local businesses, especially as we go through the busy summer months. We play to Midlothian ‘s strengths and we believe those strengths meet the growing trends and travel habits of visitors locally and from overseas.”
“We also play on our useful proximity to Edinburgh with our “Surprisingly Close to adventure” and “Surprisingly close to history” and “Surprisingly Close to nature” straplines. Behind those straplines, we have strong content and positive messaging.”
The Restoration Yard at Dalkeith Country Park. The Park now features a downloadable treasure trail app.
Midlothian Tourism Forum has launched a new collection of itineraries and trails. The new collection, now available on visitmidlothian.co.uk, is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and administered via Midlothian Council.
Liz told us. “Trails and itineraries are a great way to inspire visitors to stay longer and explore further. This helps to support local businesses, which in turn creates a thriving visitor economy benefiting other sectors and surrounding communities.”
Arniston House in Midlothian featured in Outlander series four
A fun and interactive treasure trail app. The route can take around two hours with plenty of cafes and shops along the way.
Discover more about the town from Dalkeith Palace to the Corn Exchange, Dalkeith Museum and the WaterTower and Ironmills Park.
Capitalising on Midlothian’s growing popularity as a filming location they've launched a dedicated itinerary planner.
Locations include Arniston House, Rosslyn Chapel and Newhall Estate and feature the celebrated Outlander series and the Da Vinci Code.
For outdoor enthusiasts there are a selection of scenic walking routes. Midlothian Tourism has created a list of ten walks all of which begin from Gorebridge Station - mostly circular routes and accessible by public transport.
Building on the success of previous years, our Great Days Out campaign made a return in 2025. Aimed at a domestic audience, the campaign focused on the message that taking a day trip or short break in Scotland is up "good for the soul". Our goal was to inspire visitors to discover more of what Scotland has to offer this spring and summer.
We promoted fun, affordable, and memorable experiences, delivering the message through carefully selected channels such as social media, print and radio tailored to each audience.
We work with tourism businesses and groups, including Midlothian Tourism Forum, to promote experiences which feature on our dedicated pages on visitscotland.com.
Look at the Midlothian page on visitscotland.com