Tay Cities conference welcomes international speakers

This year’s Tay Cities Regional Tourism Conference 2020 will welcome keynote speakers Dieter Hardt-Stremayr, Managing Director at Graz Tourist Office, Austria, and Esther Dobbin, Responsible Tourism Manager at The Giant’s Causeway and Carrick A Rede in Northern Ireland, both of whom will share their experiences and thoughts on growing a sustainable destinations through collaborative working.

Taking place on Thursday 26 March at Perth Concert Hall the conference will be delivered by Angus, Dundee City, Fife and Perth & Kinross local authorities in partnership with VisitScotland and Scottish Enterprise as part of this year’s Scottish Tourism Month.

Dieter, who is also former President of European Cities Marketing, and Esther head up an inspiring line-up of industry leaders and local tourism businesses who will share their expertise and experience with delegates.

This year’s speaker line-up and topics includes: 

• Developing the Destination of Graz: a UNESCO City of Design – Dieter Hardt-Stremayr, Managing Director, Graz Tourist Office
• Northern Ireland Causeway Coast - Esther Dobbins, Responsible Tourism Manager, National Trust
• Selling Scotland - Rebecca Brooks, Managing Director, Abbey UK & Ireland

• Dale Simpson, Malmaison, Dundee
• Tara Wainwright, V&A Dundee
• Owen Hazel, Jannettas Gelateria, St Andrews, Fife
• Stuart Clark and Alison Elliott, Flourishing Destinations, Angus
• Mike Benson, Scottish Crannog Centre, Perthshire
• Ross Dempster, Beyond Adventure, Perthshire

“We have a fantastic line-up of speakers from near and far at this year’s conference with two excellent keynote speakers, Dieter Hardt-Stremayr and Esther Dobbin opening the event. I’m looking forward to an inspiring morning and gathering new insight on how the industry can foster greater collaboration. In turn I hope this will help us to collectively develop and grow the tourism offering across the four regions, creating more opportunities to encourage visitors to come and stay longer in the area.

 “This summer, the region will party with Radio One’s Big Weekend in Dundee and mark the 700th anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath in Angus. And the spotlight on the area will continue next year as Fife welcomes The 150th Open and Perth plays host to The Royal National Mòd 2021. 

“So there’s lots to get excited about and I hope tourism businesses and industry leaders will come together to help us ensure tourism continues to create jobs, sustain communities and drive the economy across the Tay Cities regions.”

The Tay Cities regions have so much to offer visitors, from the abundance of our natural larder to world-class exhibitions and some of the most breath-taking views in Scotland. 

The opening of V&A Dundee and the best-ever delivered Solheim Cup hosted at Gleneagles catapulted the region into the limelight across the globe. Businesses across the regions will be looking to capitalize and continue that momentum in 2020 and beyond.