(TAN): Scotland’s national tourism agency, VisitScotland recently hosted its annual business development mission in China after the East Asian country was declared an important market by the organisation last year.
China has emerged as one of the fastest growing outbound tourism markets globally in recent years. Scotland too witnessed a steady development in the Chinese visitor market – the country recorded a 300% growth in Chinese visitors within the past decade.
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Chief Executive of VisitScotland, Malcolm Roughead said the continuing goal was “to continue to raise awareness of our country as a destination in China”.
“VisitScotland has been working closely with businesses across Scotland to help them to access this key opportunity. Trade missions such as this allow the sector to engage with the market directly, to forge new networks and help them grow their business on the international stage. Tourism is more than a holiday experience – it is the heartbeat of the Scottish economy and touches every community, generating income, jobs and social change,” he added.
Around 17 Scottish tourism businesses joined Visit Scotland in the Chinese cities of Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing to build new business networks and relationships in China. Through the platform, Scottish suppliers were directly put in touch with over 190 Chinese buyers so that it can help them design their products for the specific market. Scotland’s national tourism body also organised destination and product training for the buyers.
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Visit Scotland also rolled out its first solo social media campaign in China, featuring short videos set in Aberdeen, Glasgow and Loch Lomond, North Berwick and Moray Speyside, the tagline of which read “Only in Scotland does a single visit become a lifelong love affair”. The campaign has been shared across the Chinese microblogging website, Weibo.
Earlier this month, Ireland was declared one of the top ten most promising overseas destinations for Chinese travellers at China’s Golden Footprint Cultural Tourism Summit. The island in the North Atlantic won the award for Tourism Ireland’s efforts on Weibo to increase its followers and promoteIreland among Chinese tourists in 2019. Tourism Ireland’s efforts have raised its followers by 54% since the beginning of 2019 to 330,000 on Weibo.
The Scottish tourism body conducted a consumer research among travellers, aged 25 to 45 from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, to understand the impression Chinese visitors formed after visiting Scotland. Data showed 87% Chinese visiting Scotland said they wanted to come back to the country because of its “beautiful landscapes”, while others were drawn to its culture, friendliness and calming atmosphere.
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One of the aims of the event that VisitScotland called “one of its biggest travel trade missions to date” was to promote Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters 2020 that will celebrate Scottish culture and landscapes through year-long events and activities.
Business to business travel trade event, VisitScotland Expo had already hosted 42 Chinese buyers earlier this year.
