VisitAberdeenshire Update - 10 April 2024

Forget daffodils and the clocks going forward, the new sign that summer is on its way is the arrival of a large cruise ship in Aberdeen. This week, the North-east – and specifically the Welcome to Aberdeenshire volunteers - greeted hundreds of passengers from the AidaSol, the first of 58 scheduled calls for summer 2024. These day visitors deliver important business for many local traders, adding a new – sea borne - element into the region’s tourism mix alongside those who arrive by air, road and rail. The train has taken the strain since Queen Victoria frequented Deeside and continues to do so to this day. Read on to discover how our recent partnership with Caledonian Sleeper made its mark last year, and how you can benefit from future business from the travel trade. It might be spring 2024, but minds are already on the autumn, summer 2025, and beyond.

Chris Foy

Last chance to complete the Tourism Quarterly Business Monitor – Survey closes at 8pm!

The January – March Tourism Quarterly Business Monitor closes at 8pm tonight. Please take five minutes to provide your thoughts on the past quarter, together with a look ahead to the next few months. The more businesses that take part, the richer and more accurate a picture we will have. Once you have completed the survey, please share with your network either via email or on LinkedIn to encourage them to participate also.

Click here to complete the survey

VisitAberdeenshire and Caledonian Sleeper Autumn 2023 Campaign Results

As part of our Autumn 2023 campaign, we partnered with Caledonian Sleeper and targeted those living in the London area with our Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire autumn offering.

This campaign was impactful, resulting in very strong recall and visitation. Our core questions, for example, around words/phrases respondents associate with the region, and what would encourage visitation really help us to understand (mis)perceptions and directly inform our medium and longer-term activity.

Our factsheet, summarising the main campaign findings, together with a detailed slide deck can now be found on our industry website, here.

For any insights query, do get in touch: insights@visitabdn.com

VA at VisitScotland Connect 2024 - PLUS Travel Distribution workshop– P&J Live, Aberdeen

VisitScotland’s flagship travel trade event, VisitScotland Connect, returns to P&J Live 17 & 18 April. With trade buyers travelling to the region from all around the world, local businesses have the chance to make connections and showcase their products and services. Alanna Fowler and Rachel Smith will be attending the event, meeting with buyers and representing VisitAberdeenshire.

The two-day event is now on a waitlist for suppliers. However, if you would be interested in finding out more about the world of Travel Trade and what the event entails, VisitScotland are hosting a workshop the day prior to the trade show, to help businesses understand what to expect. With VisitScotland Connect returning to P&J Live in 2025, this is an excellent opportunity to gain invaluable insight to the event and help to decide if this is a potential route for your business.

To find out more about the Travel Distribution Day on Tuesday 16 April, click here.

New digital marketing videos

VisitAberdeenshire has recently commissioned NSDesign to create four bitesize training videos, tailored to help tourism and hospitality businesses in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire with their digital Marketing.  Each video is between 30 and 50 minutes and cover topics such as AI tools, Content creation, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Blogging. Click here to access the videos.

VisitAberdeenshire Advertising Opportunities

We are excited to share some new advertising opportunities for your business with the launch of our new brochure. With opportunities to appear on our consumer website homepage, on our social media channels and in consumer newsletters, local businesses have the chance to put the spotlight on their business and reach a wider audience.

Click here to view our new Advertising Opportunities Brochure or contact Gemma Laing, Partnerships Executive on gemma.laing@visitabdn.com.

Join us at our Monday Morning briefing

Every Monday at 10am, the VisitAberdeenshire team meet online to provide an update on activity. We would like to invite you to join us at one of these briefings. If you have any new projects on the horizon, special events coming up or any changes to the way you operate, we want to hear from you.

The briefing would last around 20 minutes (10 minute presentation followed by Q&A) and you can book your slot by clicking here.

Simply click through the calendar, select your chosen Monday and enter your contact details. Available dates will be in black and the Zoom link will be emailed to you separately. If you have any questions, please contact industry@visitabdn.com.

NEWS FROM OTHER ORGANISATIONS

Aberdeen City and Shire Thistle Awards – Applications close 28 April

There is still time to apply for the regional Thistle awards. With fifteen categories ranging from Best Bar & Pub to Best Outdoor or Adventure Experience to Best Hotel Experience to Best B&B and Guest House Experience and much more, the Thistle Awards recognise and reward excellence across the Tourism and Hospitality industry. The Aberdeen City and Shire Thistle Awards celebrate the best of Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, with winners going on to complete in the national Scottish Thistle Awards Final.

To find out more about the categories and to apply, click here.

For advice on submitting your application, catch up on last months webinar ‘Make your Thistle Awards application stand out from the rest’.

Association of Scottish Self Caterers. Upcoming Events

Maximising Efficiency and Customer Satisfaction with Touch Stay - Tuesday 16th at 11am. Click here to register.

Is your Agritourism businesses on the GoRural Map?

Scottish Agritourism will be reprinting their GoRural Map featuring all member businesses. 50,000 copies will be printed and distributed to member businesses and VisitScotland iCentres. Businesses must be Go Rural members by 15 April 2024 to guarantee a space on the map. To find out more about memberships, click here.

You can view the current Go Rural Map here.

VisitScotland - Promoting Meaningful Travel Experiences

VisitScotland has recently partnered with Tourism Cares to highlight travel trade-ready, responsible tourism experiences in Scotland. Via an interactive Meaningful Travel Map, global tour operators can source responsible tourism businesses and enhance their Scotland itineraries with experiences with positive local impact. To read more and find out how your business can get involved, click here.