Responsible Tourism: visitor guide for businesses

As we look to coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions being eased and tourism reopening, we’ve come together with organisations across Scotland to develop a Scotland-wide approach to visitor management.

Activity will initially target those who live in Scotland, with the aim of influencing them to enjoy our outdoor spaces more and in a respectful way. We have a unique opportunity to positively engage audiences, helping them to enjoy the outdoors responsibly and enabling them to aid the recovery of our rural economy.

We want to work with businesses, destinations and communities to ensure that visitors and locals can have a fantastic experience as / when tourism starts to rebuild itself.

Tourism is a force for good – creating economic and social value in every corner of Scotland and enhancing the well-being of everyone who experiences it. Tourism makes Scotland richer, economically and socially, and without it Scotland would be a much poorer place.

We need you to help spread the message and share content with your visitors and in your communities, helping them to enjoy the outdoors responsibly. The more we talk about it; the more people will hear about it.

What can you do to get involved?

You can start by using #RespectProtectEnjoy across your social media channels. And remember to use #VisitScotland and #OnlyinScotland to make your posts more discoverable and add our handle @VisitScotland to your tweets for us to see them.

We also have many tools available for you to take inspiration from and be part of the activity. There are films, images, content and more – available for you to communicate widely across your social and marketing.

In this section, you can find out more about: 

• Our Let's keep Scotland special film
• The visitor promise
• Sharing content
• Responsible motorhome, caravan and camping trips
• Getting social
• Reassuring your visitors
• Useful links

We've produced a film that gives a strong message to communicate to visitors. Damaging our natural environment or littering is not acceptable and we’re calling on everyone to care for Scotland and respect the areas they are visiting.

The film encourages those that live in and visit Scotland to make the most of our outdoors, but to take responsibility for caring for it. And you can easily access it from YouTube to share with your visitors.

We’re asking visitors to show their commitment to preserving Scotland’s natural assets and beauty for now and generations to come. The Responsible Tourism Promise asks visitors to make just a few simple ‘promises’ on how they’ll enjoy Scotland, responsibly.

My promise – pass it on #RespectProtectEnjoy

Visitors are asked to commit to their promise and share it with others, using #RespectProtectEnjoy on Twitter and encouraging friends and family to do the same and get involved.

You can encourage your audience to make their own promise, which covers:

• I promise to care for Scotland's nature.
• I promise to care for Scotland's communities.
• I promise to care for Scotland and the world's tomorrow.

People have consumed more content than ever in response to COVID-19, with more time at home browsing the internet. We have a range of content ideas to support your business and to inspire our potential visitors to plan a responsible break to Scotland.

Find everything from a responsible tourism toolkit featuring posters and social media images to share on your own channels, to outdoor access guidelines and responsible travel trade itineraries, all available for you to share with your visitors.

Looking for more? If you'd like imagery and content to enhance your marketing material, we can help by giving you access to a range of pictures of Scotland and campaign resources such as videos and infographics, which you can download and use free of charge.

Take a look at our new visitor management collection within our Digital Media Library. Simply register to our Digital Media Library for free, login and search "responsible tourism" to access the assets.

Campers, campervan and motorhome rental operators attract adventure-seeking visitors and encourage them to explore Scotland and support local businesses. The vast majority are responsible individuals who love the countryside and the communities they are visiting.

Share our films which provide a guide to responsible motorhome / caravan and camping trips, encouraging everyone to enjoy Scotland’s countryside and communities responsibly. 

Social media is a quick way to reach your audience and potential customers with messaging. Remember to use #RespectProtectEnjoy across your social media activity.

We’ve partnered with social media influencers The Hebridean Baker and On the Road Again Travels to produce inspirational information to reach a wider audience across social media and TikTok. This will be excellent content to share with your audience.

Share messages of support, compassion and community spirit in light of the current situation – consider what might resonate best with your audience.

And make sure you follow our channels so that you can share our content directly or tag us in a post that you put up:

View our six top tips for social media to help you build your social media presence and reach more potential customers visiting Scotland.

One of the ways you can reassure visitors of the steps you’ve taken to provide a safe experience for your customers is by displaying the We’re Good to Go mark.

Businesses who have the We’re Good to Go industry standard scheme can now be automatically issued with the international Safe Travels stamp from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).

Any business not already part of We’re Good to Go can apply to the free scheme and indicate within that application their wish to use the additional global WTTC stamp.

And remember to add it to your VisitScotland.com web listing.

VisitScotland, along with partner organisations Cairngorms Business Partnership, Cairngorms National Park Authority, Forestry & Land Scotland, Keep Scotland Beautiful, Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park, Lochaber Chamber, National Park Authorities, NatureScot, Scottish Tourism Alliance (STA), Wild Scotland and Zero Waste Scotland to educate outdoor adventurers and visitors on how to enjoy the outdoors responsibly across marketing, media and social media.

To maintain our stunning landscapes, we must ensure we protect, respect and enjoy our countryside, towns and cities responsibly by asking people to leave no physical trace of their visit. 

Join us.