(TAN): VisitScotland has launched a new marketing strategy to help rebuild Scotland’s tourism sector even as businesses get ready to reopen on July 15.
The strategy will constitute broadcast and digital advertising targeted primarily at the Scottish domestic market. It will later expand to the rest of the United Kingdom and travel platforms such as TripAdvisor and Expedia.
Marketing will commence with a “restart” phase to take advantage of the school holiday months for the family market segment. Marketing activities will focus on the promotion of various holidays that are enjoyed across the country to encourage families to travel domestically.
VisitScotland’s Director of Marketing Vicki Miller said the organisation is working to create an approach so that tourists can return to the country.
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“The Covid19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the tourism and events industry so it’s vitally important that we work together to help restart the sector. Our teams have been putting together a marketing strategy that will support regions and sectors, by working with our partners across the country to create a collaborative approach to welcome visitors again,” she said.
The Scottish tourism body will use a “Hero” film with the message “You don’t have to travel far” and showcase attractions, activities, food and drink and accommodation to remind locals that they can explore a great deal within the country itself, making a difference to the sector in the process. VisitScotland will use a phased approach to ensure that the communities are not overwhelmed by an unexpected invasion of visitors. Future phases will promote Scotland across the United Kingdom and Ireland, and extend the tourism season beyond summer.
“We look forward to helping encourage Scots to rediscover their own country, supporting businesses as they prepare for the inevitable operational changes and ensure that communities feel comfortable and capable of welcoming visitors in a safe way. It won’t be one size fits all however, we need to move at a pace that will be right for each part of Scotland, depending on the demographic of each region and how they’ve been affected by the pandemic,” Miller added.
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“The campaign highlights the very many fantastic locations and attractions that lie close to home for so many of us. By taking our first small steps back out on Scotland’s tourism trail, we can again begin to enjoy all of the benefits that our wonderful country has to offer – knowing that we will be helping not only our own wellbeing, but the wellbeing of our tourism sector,” Tourism Secretary Fergus Ewing said.
Scotland’s tourism sector, which contributes over GBP 11.5 billion (USD 14.28 billion approximately) to the country’s economy, suffered huge losses because of the travel restrictions and lockdown caused by COVID-19. Scotland has reported over 15,800 cases of infection including 2,480 deaths, data from Johns Hopkins University showed.
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