GROWING YOUR TOURISM BUSINESS INTERNATIONALLY

Abigail Coia - Development Officer, Ayrshire & Arran Tourism

Welcome

Dark skies observatory, Dalmellington

Culzean Castle and Ailsa Craig

The visitor journey

Dream

Plan

BookExperience

Share

INTERNATIONAL MARKETS RANKINGS – MARKET SHARE & SPEND

Trips Nights Spend

Market 000s % 000s % 000s %

USA 566 25% 4,949 20% 556 9%

Germany 372 5% 2,609 -4% 285 34%

France 206 36% 1,764 52% 106 41%

Australia 157 19% 3,058 126% 135 32%

Netherlands 157 37% 3,422 287% 93 51%

Irish Republic 128 33% 405 37% 35 36%

Norway 123 50% 892 122% 68 57%

Spain 122 38% 602 -13% 109 174%

Italy 121 -2% 779 -14% 74 -19%

Canada 115 -23% 1,063 -22% 90 -31%

Poland 104 -25% 487 -45% 21 6%

Switzerland 86 57% 622 75% 75 39%

Rest of World 954 18% 7,937 30% 630 30%

Total 3,210 17% 28,590 35% 2,276 23%Source: Top 12 Inbound Countries to Scotland (all visits), IPS 2017 vs 2016

International markets (besides UK)• Overseas tourists +16.9% and

expenditure +23% vs LY

• Driven by European visitors: +17% and expenditure +36% vs LY

Europe•

•

•

•

Why target international visitors?

NUMBER OF TRIPS 2.8M

VALUE OF SPEND £1,850M

INTERNATIONAL INBOUND TOURISMSCOTLAND

2 ½ TIMES DOMESTIC VISITOR SPEND PER TRIP

AVERAGE SPEND PER INTERNATIONAL VISITOR £550

10.5

£1,130

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4.7 Average number of regions visited• Touring the country

• City & Attractions, City • Based in countryside

location30

Average days paid holiday (exc. Public holidays!)

Relaxation

Have fun

Be close to nature

Local food & drink

Enjoy the scenery

Walking & Hiking

Scotland Visit Numbers 372,000

Nights 2.61m

Spend £285m

10.8 Average nights per stay

£1,218 Average spend per visit

• Cultural Explorers with core segment 35+• 55% Female / 45% Male• Above median income• Most affluent European market• Employed or retired

30% Take Domestic holidays

70% Take international holidays

Seeing the country

Museums

Shopping

4.4 Average number of regions visited

Walking/ Scenery

Museums/ Castles

Food & Drink

Touring / Cities / Cities+

30Average days paid holiday (exc. Public holidays!)

• Baby Boomers & Gen X• 53% Female / 47% Male• Above median income• Employed or retired

Scotland Visit Numbers 206,000

Nights 1.76m

Spend £106m

7.7 Average nights per stay

£496 Average spend per visit

88% Take Domestic holidays

12% Take international holidays

Intermediary Marketing

Inspire a National

Movement

Enable & Empower Industry

Publish National Content

Visitscotland marketing strategy Intermediary Marketing OBJECTIVES

DRIVE Seasonal spread

DRIVE Regional growth

ENABLE Growth

Intermediary MarketingENABLERS

KEY ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT

TRAVEL TRADE EVENTS

PRODUCT & PARTNERSHIP MARKETING

Wholesalers

These organisations have global reach; eg Abbey, JAC, China Holidays, TUI. They have their own brand campaigns and partner with destinations. Often have in house product development and contracting teams.

Niche Tour Operators

Nice operators provide Scotland with clear product development opportunities which often provide suppliers with geographic spread. Product purchase is direct or via an incoming specialist.

OTAs (Online Travel Agents)

OTAs are now seeing a period of stabilisation after unprecedented growth and consolidation –the purchase of niche, specialist online brands by the mega OTAs is a common expansion strategy, recently seen by acquisitions in the tours and activities sector.

Travel agents/smaller operators

This channel still remains important in the emerging and long haul markets for some consumer segments. In recent years they have had to carefully consider how they reach and retain customers. For many, destination or theme specialisation provides a USP.

Who are the key intermediaries

How do they all fit together?

Scottish supplier: hotel/visitor

attraction/tour

Wholesaler/incoming tour operator/DMC

Edinburgh or London based

Tour operator

Retailer

Wholesaler (vertically integrated) eg TUI or Flight

Centre

Tour operator

Retailer – eg First Choice

Global Distribution System (GDS) such as Sabre or Galileo – mainly

chains and big brands

Retailer

Online Travel Agent (OTA) such as Expedia

40% of global sales

Consumer direct via phone/email/website/social

Walk-in

How do traditional operators work

Sept – Nov

New product development

Nov – May

Contract new product

July or Sept

Print brochures

Dec – Feb

Drive sales

Product development

Main product development between September and November, with some experiences planning continuing into April

Contracting

Contracting for the following year is done between November and May

Brochure print

Catalogues are published in July for wholesalers and September for tour operators

Drive sales

The big push for bookings is done after the holidays through to February

Visit

Scotland

VisitBritain

SDI

HIE

SE

ETOA

UK Inbound

SDMA

TAAI

USTOA

CETO

Inspire

SupportEducate

Driving product development

Trade Tools

TRADE EVENTS

Travel Trade Website

SCOTSagentDestination

Educational programme

Global e-comms & dedicated market news updates

VisitScotland Expo

VISITSCOTLAND EXPO 10-11 APRIL 2019

• 250 Scottish suppliers

• 570 buyers

• Dedicated Nature & Active aisle

• New introductory offer for SMEs

• Industry seminars

• Buyer fam trip programme