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Visit Scotland | Alba

This page is for tour operators. If you're a tourism businesses, have a look at our extranet user guide instead.

There's a three-step process to get started with the tours management system:

  1. register and create your account
  2. create an operator profile (afterwards we'll review your profile and activate it for you)
  3. start adding your tours (the listings of which will appear on visitscotland.com)

Please note that you can manage your operator profile and tour listings at any time via your dashboard. You can access this from the tool bar at the top of any page.

All fields marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory. Messages will appear in red at the top of any page if there are any issues or omissions with the information entered.

Our customer services team are available to help and support you with this system. You can reach them at customerservices@visitscotland.com.

1. How to register and create your account

Go to the tours Management system registration page and complete the following mandatory fields:

  • company name
  • full name
  • email address (this will also be your username)
  • password (must be at least nine characters long, contain one letter, and one number or special character)
  • password confirmation
Go to the tour management system registration page

 

After reading the terms and conditions, please:

  • tick the box to confirm that you're not a robot
  • tick the box to confirm the information provided is accurate
  • click the button "register with visitscotland tours"

Please note that by submitting the form you are agreeing to the working with visitscotland terms & conditions.

Read the working with visitscotland terms & conditions

2. How to create your operator profile

Once you've registered, you can login and complete your operator profile. The information entered in this profile will appear in each of your tour listings on the website once you have created and published the tour.

Start by clicking on the button that reads "login and complete your operator profile" in an email you receive from us. Alternatively, you can log in on the top right of the page of the tour management system.

Once you entered your registered email address and password, click "login". You will land on the operator profile page where you can complete the following four mandatory fields:

  • logo or profile image that you have copyright for (resolution between 240 x 120 pixels and 3200 x 2400, the maximum image file size is 10MB, you can upload either JPG or PNG image files)
  • company details and address
  • URL of your website or social media page
  • contact information

Please note that your contact information is private and for our internal systems only. It will not be visible on any of your tour listings on the website. Once you're done, please click "submit for review".

Next, your account will be reviewed by our customer services team. You will receive an email to advise when your account is active, allowing you to start adding your tour listings.

Go to the tours management system login page

3. How to add a tour listing

Once you have received an email confirming that your account is active, you can start to add your tour listings. You can add all relevant tours for your business. These will appear as individual listings on visitscotland.com.

Begin by going to your dashboard, where you can click on the button "add a tour". This will make you land on a "create a new tour page" where you can create your tour listing.

When you done, click the button "save and publish" to make your tour appear on visitscotland.com.

The following table provides information for completing each section on the tour page:

 

Section

How to

Notes

Header image

Select choose file to browse through your images and select the most appropriate one.

Add description, credit and location to the relevant fields.

  • you must have copyright for all images

  • this is the main image on the tour listing

  • minimum resolution: 1280 x 720 pixels

  • maximum resolution: 3200 x 2400 pixels

  • JPEG, maximum file size is 20MB

  • check out WikiHow to learn how to resize your image

  • the description, credit and location will appear in the bottom left corner of your header image

Tour information

Add tour name, a short description and a more detailed long description to the relevant fields

Format the text and add hyperlinks by highlighting the word you want to hyperlink, click the paperclip icon and add your URL

Select relevant tabs to enter the information in different languages if required

  • descriptions - be sure to include all tour highlights and relevant hyperlinks

  • languages - English will appear as the default language - the system does not translate any information. This needs to be added by you

Additional tour information

Complete all fields and tick boxes as relevant

Multiple options can be selected for:

  • starting points
  • languages
  • highlights: attractions and destinations
  • themes
  • transport
  • tour types
  • length of tour
  • prices are per person in GBP

  • price on request can be used for bespoke tours and you can indicate if this includes accommodation

  • tour URL should link to the specific tour information on your own website

  • booking URL should link to a booking page on your own website and not your homepage

  • starting points - this populates one of the search box fields on visitscotland.com, and so it is important to complete this in order to appear in the relevant visitor searches. Most locations are included in the drop-down menu. You can add others to your long description

  • highlights: attractions and destinations - this populates one of the search box fields on visitscotland.com, and so it is important to complete this in order to appear in the relevant visitor searches. The most popular attractions and destinations are included in the drop-down menu. You can include your full itinerary in your long description

  • themes - this populates one of the search box fields on visitscotland.com, and so it is important to complete this in order to appear in the relevant visitor searches

  • expiry date - tour listings will be automatically unpublished after this date - you will need to remember to update this expiry date the following year to publish your tour again

  • length of tour - select the tour length closest to what you offer. Please note, this populates tour length ranges on visitscotland.com so you will appear in the relevant range

  • days the tour departs - these are the specific days of the week your tour departs on

Offers

Under offers, select add an offer on the right-hand side of the screen.

Complete all fields as relevant.

Select relevant tabs to enter a description in different languages.

Select add an offer again to add more than one offer.

To remove an offer, select remove at the bottom of the offer box.

  • languages - English will appear as the default language for your description - the system does not translate any information (this needs to be added by you)

  • start and end dates of your offer are mandatory. The offer will be removed after the end date passes

Gallery

Under gallery, select "add an image".

Select choose file to browse through your images and select the most appropriate one.

Select "add an image" again to add more than one image

To remove an image, select "remove".

 

Videos

Under videos, select "add a video".

Add the video URL to the relevant field.

Select "add a video" again to add more than one video.

To remove a video, select "remove".

  • videos need to be added one-by-one

  • video URL can only be YouTube videos

4. Save, preview, and publish your tour listings

  • 1. Save as draft

    You can click on the button "save as draft" to create a draft tour listing.

    Hereafter, you will be taken to your dashboard where a pop-up will appear at the top of the page that reads "tour successfully created".

    Your tour is now a draft and will remain in your dashboard, but it is not live on visitscotland.com until you press the button "save and publish".

  • 2. Preview

    You can preview your draft tour clicking on the button "preview" to see how it will look on visitscotland.com before you publish it.

    You can preview a tour in any of these two ways:

    1. on your tour page before you press the button "save as draft" or "save and publish"
    2. go to "saved draft tour" on your dashboard. There, you can find the tour you wish to preview. Click the button "actions" to select "preview"

  • 3. Save and publish

    Save and publish your tour listing to make it live on visitscotland.com. Listings will be live and visible on the website within 15 minutes.

    You can save and publish a tour in any of these three ways:

    1. on a new tour page - we highly recommend you preview your tour first
    2. from your dashboard - find the tour you wish to publish, click the button "actions" at the right-hand side of the tour listing, and select "publish"
    3. you can also publish expired or unpublished tours from your dashboard

    Afterwards, a bar with the text "tour was successfully updated with status published" will appear at the top of the page. Your dashboard status will change to published.

  • 4. Save and unpublish

    Save and unpublish your tour listing so it is no longer live on visitscotland.com. Saved and unpublished tour listings will remain in your dashboard and can be edited or published in the future.

    You can save and unpublish a tour in any of these two ways:

    1. on your tour page
    2. from your dashboard - find the tour you wish to unpublish, click the button "actions" on the tour listing, and select "unpublish"

    Your dashboard status will change to unpublished.

5. Manage your profile and tours - your dashboard

Your dashboard is your central hub to manage your operator profile and tour listings.

If you are not already in your dashboard you can access it by clicking on the button "dashboard" in the toolbar on the top right of any page.

All tours are in your dashboard, whether they are draft, published, or unpublished. The following table details how to use your dashboard to manage your profile and listings:

 

Dashboard option

How to

Edit your operator information

Click the button "edit" on your dashboard page.

Add a new tour

Read how to add a new tour.

View existing tours

Under "tours" on your dashboard, you will see the name, description, last updated date and status of all your tour listings.

Click on the button "actions" in any of your tour listing to edit, duplicate, publish, unpublish, or preview your tour listing.

Find a tour

Use the search box function to find specific tours

You can filter the list by "draft", "published", or "unpublished" tours

Edit a tour

You can edit any details of an existing tour at any time.

In the tours section find the tour you wish to edit, either click the name of the tour or click the button "actions" in your tour listing and select "edit tour".

Once you have edited your tour you will have four options, save as draft, preview, save and publish, and save and unpublish.

Preview a tour

Under "tours" on your dashboard, you will find the tour you wish to preview. Click the button "actions" in your tour listing, and select either "preview" or "view live tour".

Publish a tour

Under "tours" on your dashboard, you can find the tour you wish to publish. Either click on the button with the name of the tour or on the button "actions" in your tour listing, and click on "edit tour".

We highly recommend you preview your tour before you publish it on visitscotland.com.

You can also publish expired or unpublished tours. Status will change to published and your listing will be live and visible on visitscotland.com within 15 minutes.

Duplicate a tour

You can duplicate existing tours to save time when creating additional tours with similar information

Under "tours" on your dashboard, you can find the tour you wish to edit, click the button "actions" in your tour listing and select duplicate.

The duplicated tour will appear under "tours" on your dashboard with the same name as the original tour followed by the word "copy".

Click on the name of your tour to edit the duplicate tour in order to change the tour name and details as required.

Duplicated tours will automatically save as a draft tour, whether they were copied from a draft or a published tour.

Unpublish a tour

You can unpublish existing tours if you wish to remove a tour listing from visitscotland.com. Unpublished tours will remain on your dashboard and can be edited or published in the future.

There are three ways to unpublish a tour:

  1. Click the button "save and unpublish" on the tour page - find the tour you wish to unpublish, click the button "save and unpublish"

  2. Set an expiry date on your tour listing on the pages "add a tour" or "edit tour" - the listing will automatically be unpublished when the expiry date is reached

  3. Click the button "actions" to the right of the relevant tour, select "unpublish" - status will change to unpublished

6. Frequently asked questions

Related links