Visit Scotland

We're working with everyone in the industry (businesses, the Scottish Government and sister agencies) to grow tourism revenues by 50% by 2015. We prioritise our activities so as to focus our resources on those markets most likely to offer the best possible return on our investment. To achieve this return we use targeted strategies and innovative campaigns in-market to promote Scotland and its assets to visitors around the world.

Brand Scotland

We've carried out substantial research over the past few years to define the Scotland brand and what it means in different markets. We've developed an individual brand strapline for each of our three markets - UK, Business and International. In the UK we use 'Live it. Visit Scotland'.

This ongoing research helps us better understand our customers' needs and expectations. We also keep a regular eye on what the competition is doing and monitor travel trends and other influences. Technology, too, plays a key role in the decision making process enabling visitors to research online and check out travel blogs.

Higher disposable incomes and changing lifestyles mean that many people take more than one holiday per year. Scotland is a perfect destination for a short trip like a city break where an urban and rural experience can be combined over 3-4 days. We tap into this market by offering 'products' - activities that we know that visitors are seeking out in their leisure time.

Product Portfolio

Our research tells us that most people want to go on holiday to do or see something - i.e. the activity is what is important and the location is secondary. We want potential UK visitors to be aware of the range of experiences available.

These are the product areas:

Outdoor Activities	Adventure, cycling, fishing, golf, snow sports, walking
Freedom of Scotland	All types of touring, wildlife/nature
Business Tourism	Conferences, meetings, incentives, exhibitions
City Breaks	Attractions, shopping, nightlife, restaurants
Culture and Heritage	Festivals, history/heritage, traditional, arts, genealogy, museums/galleries

Customer Journey

The insights generated by this research have also led us to look at the decision-making cycle. This is essentially the stages of the customer's journey in a visit to Scotland. The five steps are - look, book, travel, stay and keep in touch. We work hard to have contact with customers at all stages of the journey with a number of communication channels including dynamic websites, e-newsletters, direct mail, poster campaigns, TV ads.

Our Biggest Market

Our biggest market is also our nearest - the UK. It offers an enormous challenge but also a great opportunity. Our research also shows that around 50% of people living in England and Wales have still to experience Scotland.

In the current breakdown 90% of our visitors are from the UK. Visitors from England and Wales make around 47% of all tourism trips and Scots themselves make around 44% trips. The majority of these visitors are in a group of more mature, well travelled consumers. They're as happy to travel overseas as to come to Scotland. We have to work harder on our marketing activities to attract these consumers than we do for consumers from less mature marketing groups.

Our UK marketing strategy aims to:

• market Scotland as a year-round, premium, must-visit, must-return destination
• focus on high value customers, where our research shows interest can be converted to visits
• engage with the tourism industry to provide specialist marketing advice
• work with partners to develop and implement local marketing campaigns

Segmentation

In 2006, we completed a significant research programme to identify ten consumer 'segments'. This research has given us greater insight into the level of knowledge that visitors and potential visitors have about Scotland. It aims to push people up the 'loyalty ladder' by creating a relationship with them, by rewarding repeat visits and by encouraging them to become advocates for Scotland.

Some of the ten consumer segments are currently 'cold' in their behaviour towards Scotland and some are already 'warm'. We're concentrating on the six segments that offer the best potential for increasing the volume of domestic tourism to Scotland:

• Warm 1 - Affluent Southern Explorers
• Warm 2 - Younger Domestic Explorers
• Warm 3 - Mature Devotees
• Warm 4 - Affluent Active Devotees
• Cold 1 - Southern Travel Junkies
• Cold 5 - Northern Sometimers

[More information on our marketing strategy is available at www.visitscotland.org]