Introducing our new approach to business support

People come to Scotland for many reasons, our breathtaking landscapes, rich history, and vibrant culture.

While these assets may initially draw visitors, it is often the activities they engage in, the people they meet, and the experiences they share that stay with them long after they leave.

Our innovative, passionate, and driven tourism and events industry lies at the centre of this.

Without them, Scotland would not be able to compete on the world stage and an extremely valuable cornerstone of the economy would suffer.

It is because of their integral role in the visitor experience that we have been reviewing how we deliver our business and experience development activity. 

We want to make sure we are supporting those who are on the frontline of welcoming visitors to create and deliver quality, memorable experiences that make Scotland a must-visit, must-return, year-round destination.

I have spoken about our evolution as an organisation, and how that has required us to consider how we best use our expertise, knowledge, and resources to deliver our core purpose of driving the visitor economy, growing its value to Scotland.

Today, I’m proud to share a new chapter in our business support journey. Our year-round programme of free-to-access support, which will help businesses to grow, develop and connect with new audiences.

At the heart of this approach is our new Business Support Hub website, a curated service that will be the go-to place for tailored tourism and event advice and support.

This dedicated digital platform will provide access to free advice and resources, as well as accurate, current, and relevant information, guidance, and best practice across the sector, including training and development opportunities.

In addition to our new digital provision, we will continue to hold a programme of webinars and workshops and facilitate networking and peer-to-peer learning, with one-to-one advice available where it adds most value. This will include a new annual series of concise, informative webinars on key topics.

This new support programme sees us using our strengths, expertise, and skills to provide more targeted interventions aligned to what businesses value most.

It will complement existing activity such as VisitScotland Connect, which returns on 9-10 April at P&J Live in Aberdeen and brings together Scottish businesses with 220 international buyers with the aim of helping them develop and grow by reaching new markets and visitors.

While our approach to business support may have changed, the fundamentals behind it have not. We are committed to supporting, developing, and growing tourism and event businesses so that Scotland’s offering adapts and evolves to fit the changing needs of our visitors. This is vital for Scotland’s future success as a destination and our vision to create a better place to live, visit and work.

Our business support programme has been an ambitious but necessary project, and I’m immensely grateful to our talented staff for the consideration, hard work, and creativity they have demonstrated when creating this valuable resource.

My thanks must also go to our partners, sector and industry groups, and our user panel. Throughout the development of the website and wider business support programme, we’ve been liaising directly with them to ensure we’re complementing the work that they do and developing content and support that’s right for tourism and event businesses.

Their input, alongside our own insight into the advice businesses are looking for, and feedback from the National Event Strategy consultation has helped informed a range of new content covering topics such as advice on pricing strategies, quality event planning and delivery, and travel distribution how to video guides.

The work highlighted today is just the beginning. We are committed to listening and learning from the industry to ensure our resources help even more businesses across Scotland capitalise on the growing demand for our world-class offering.

Vicki Miller, Chief Executive, VisitScotland