VisitScotland Connect 2026 - Aberdeenshire Council Grant Funding

Applications for this funding are now closed.

For a third consecutive year, Aberdeenshire Council is providing grant funding for SMEs to attend VisitScotland Connect 2026. The aim of this grant is to enable businesses to access new markets and enhance the travel trade experiences offering in Aberdeenshire.

VisitScotland’s flagship travel trade event, VisitScotland Connect, will take place at the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow on Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 April.

The event offers an opportunity to grow the North-east’s share of global travel, providing a platform for local tourism businesses to meet with tour operators and travel buyers in person, under one roof.

The grant from Aberdeenshire Council covered the cost of one day attendance at VisitScotland Connect as a supplier. Travel to/from, and accommodation in Glasgow is not included in the funding and it is the responsibility of the business attending to cover these costs.

If you would like to know more about attending VisitScotland Connect, please email the Tourism Development team at industry@visitabdn.com.

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VisitScotland Connect 2026

VisitScotland Connect is Scotland’s largest business-to-business travel trade event.

Tourism businesses with travel trade bookable products have the opportunity to connect and engage with international and UK travel trade buyers through a workshop-style event.

Read more about VisitScotland Connect 2026 below.

Supplier FAQs

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Travel Trade support programme

VisitAberdeenshire and VisitScotland will provide support with your application for VisitScotland Connect 2026 and help you prepare in the lead up to the event. The programme of support is designed to ensure that businesses are travel trade ready.

Being travel trade ready means that a business:

  • has an understanding of working with the travel trade
  • offers a tourism product that can be contracted at trade rates

The Travel Trade support programme will consist of the following:

  • VisitScotland Connect pre-event webinar
  • 1-2-1 support where required on:
    • Listing your product on VisitScotland's trade portal
    • Developing your product information sheet and trade pricing
    • Developing your sales pitch
    • Developing your Climate Action Plan
    • Managing your VisitScotland Connect meeting diary

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