Scottish tourism innovates its way to success

Three new innovative Scottish tourism project ideas will benefit from dedicated business support and match-funding of up to £30,000 from Scottish Enterprise. The projects are the latest successful applicants to Scottish Enterprise’s Tourism Innovation Fund.

Recipients this year include a Glasgow whisky history tour, an adventure mountain biking safari and a unique business English language course at the home of golf for international business people. All of the projects have been chosen for their innovative business ideas with strong commercial potential for the Scottish economy.

The projects focus on proactively maximising opportunities in Scotland’s tourism sector, which generates nearly £4.1 billion for Scotland’s economy every year and supports nearly 204,000 jobs both directly and indirectly.

Designed to encourage tourism operators in Scotland to develop new and creative business ideas, the fund aims to achieve growth by delivering innovative, exciting and enhanced experiences for Scotland’s visitors.

Individual companies or groups of companies working together can submit their business ideas to help them commercialise new tourism projects that will build on Scotland’s distinctive strengths. Successful applicants receive match-funding of up to £30,000 as well as one-to-one professional business support.

Julie Franchetti, Scottish Enterprise’s tourism innovation manager, commented: “The Tourism Innovation Fund is one of the key tools we use to stimulate innovation in the tourism sector.

“Scotland has world-class tourism assets but with an increasingly competitive marketplace and greater consumer choice, it is vital that we continue to explore new ways of working. It’s crucial that we work hard to proactively create new reasons for visitors to come to Scotland and more ways for them to increase spend during their stay.

“By working together and encouraging higher levels of innovation, we can continue to improve Scotland’s tourism experience, attract more visitors in new, cutting-edge ways and in doing so, ultimately boost the Scottish economy.

“These three new awards are all based on a thorough understanding of the tourism market and have the potential to lead to increased profitability and improved competitiveness for each of the companies.”

The projects set to benefit are:

English at St Andrews’ at The Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort & Spa - Lauren McQuade

English at St Andrews’ (EASA) offers current and aspiring international executives an exclusive opportunity to improve their business English at the home of golf, St Andrews. EASA has partnered with The Old Course Hotel, St Andrews to provide the highest quality learning experience in a truly unique Scottish setting. EASA differentiates itself from other training providers by aiming exclusively at the high-end of the market, serving primarily top level company executives. The combination of first-class business English training with a full cultural, social and sporting programme aims to provide a new and attractive offering for this market. Clients will have the opportunity to play on some of Scotland’s world-class golf courses and will be introduced to the best cultural assets that Scotland has to offer.

Glasgow Whisky Tours - Victor Brierly

Glasgow Whisky Tours will offer a live and entertaining travelogue of Glasgow’s whisky history based in six of Glasgow’s most unique whisky bars. As the gateway to the distilleries of the Highlands & Islands, Glasgow hosts a huge number of whisky tourists. Despite this, Glasgow has never had a designated whisky tour to explain the history and importance of Scotch whisky to Scotland. This tour will cater to all from the absolute beginner or non-whisky drinker to the most knowledgeable and informed whisky drinker, offering a unique, entertaining and high quality experience.

Scottish Mountain Biking Skills Safari

Dirt School Ltd, Edinburgh - Chris Ball and Go Where Scotland, Peebles - Andy McKenna

Scottish Mountain biking Skills safari will offer a new and exciting week long experience which combines adventure, rider development and exploration. This is a collaborative project between Dirt School and Go Where. Dirt School currently provides mountain biking coaching and development programmes for private customers throughout the UK. Working with the best and most proven athletes in the country, Dirt School has a strong presence within the UK market for one day training courses. Go where are experts in mountain biking tourism breaks. Working together this new experience will help attract riders to stay for longer, get more from their trip to Scotland and secure the Scottish reputation of World Class mountain biking and tourism. Customers will have the opportunity to explore a variety of off-road tracks while receiving tuition as they ride.

This is the sixth round of the Tourism Innovation Fund awards. There are three competitive rounds in 2011, with winners chosen by a panel of judges. The Fund has attracted significant interest since being launched last year – receiving 140 applications in the first six rounds. The closing date for Round 7 is 30^th September 2011.