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Bridging the Tourism Gap

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A ‘surgery’ to support businesses in Lossiemouth who may be experiencing reduced visitor numbers following the closure of the town’s East Beach Footbridge has been organised by VisitScotland.The bridge – the only way visitors can access Lossiemouth’s stunning East Beach from the town – was closed by Moray Council last August due to safety concerns. Prior to its closure, as many as 4,000 people would use the bridge – the town’s main attraction - each day. The footbridge and beach were also part of the Moray Coastal Path - a route that is now disrupted.

VisitScotland has organised a business surgery, to take place from 10am to 3.30pm on Wednesday, 26 February, at The Harbour Lights restaurant in Lossiemouth. The event will consist of seven 30-minute business advice surgeries and will be run by VisitScotland staff.The closure also impacts on Lossiemouth beach’s status as a designated bathing water and the environmental protection this affords.

There is now no access to the beach from the town – this was one of the main attractions – and as a result, concerns have been raised about the impact on the local visitor economy and there are worries that businesses may be suffering due to the drop in visitor numbers.

The Scottish Government has pledged to fund the repair or replacement of the footbridge to protect safe access to the beach, recognising the importance of this tourism asset to the town’s economy. Moray Council, who are leading on this project, have established a steering group to support taking this work forward.

Jo Robinson, VisitScotland Regional Director, said:“VisitScotland already works with a number of tourism businesses is Lossiemouth and our priority is supporting them whilst the bridge is closed. A business surgery open day in the town will hopefully encourage businesses to utilise our promotional channels as well as getting 1-2-1 business advice from our Industry Relationship Manager, Cassie McEwan.”She can help them understand things like the booking behaviour of visitors and explain more about how they can use our promotional channels to maximise their business’s exposure to potential visitors.”Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, said:“When the bridge does reopen, all eyes will be on Lossie and I’ve no doubt that the town will benefit from unprecedented focus and attention. “The local community and the town’s businesses deserve huge credit for all the work they do to promote the area, which does depend on tourism and attracting visitors to Lossie.”

For more information about the business surgery, or to sign up, please contact Cassie McEwan, VisitScotland Industry Relationship Manager, on (01463) 244171 / 07780 954914 or e-mail cassie.mcewan@visitscotland.com

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Bridging the Tourism Gap

Business surgery for Lossiemouth

Asset type post
ID 111262
Word count 553 words

Licence

Licence Editorial A Licence to use assets for editorial purposes, which is, to illustrate an event or story in an article but not commercially such as marketing a product or print ad. An Editorial asset may show a brand, a trademarked logo or product, a public personality, or recognisable people, without a signed release or with limited releases. When you use VisitScotland Editorial content you do so to illustrate Scottish tourism in a positive way.
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Usage Editorial content can be published in a variety of formats ranging from print or digital to online. In print content can be featured in *newspapers *magazines *brochures. Online content can be published in a *blog *website *article or *social media. Regardless of the format this content should always promote Scotland’s tourism in a positive way.

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