Tourism

The Jim Clark Motorsport Museum in Duns has been awarded 5-Star status by VisitScotland, the first museum in the Scottish Borders to receive the accolade.

Following a £1.6 million partnership project the museum opened to the public on 11 July 2019 and welcomed 13,000 visitors in its first six months. 

Funding to develop tourism in North Ayrshire.

North Ayrshire Council has been awarded £400,000 from the Scottish Government to develop tourism across Ayrshire’s island and coastal destinations.

The Coig (Scots Gaelic for five) touring route initiative will provide the west coast of Scotland, the Firth of Clyde and islands with a new opportunity to brand and promote itself to national and international visitors.

Tourism businesses in the Scottish Borders and Midlothian are embarking on a new marketing campaign designed to revolutionise the area’s visitor economy.

Scotland Starts Here, a travel inspiration website has been created to raise the area’s profile as a year-round tourism destination as well as encouraging more visitors to the Scottish Borders and Midlothian. The website will be supported by a digital marketing campaign including mobile app, podcasts, eBooks, videos, blogs and social media advertising.

There is still time to submit a proposal to take forward the Scottish Wild Food Festival from 2021. 

Forth Valley and Lomond LEADER developed and funded the first-ever Scottish Wild Food Festival, with the first event being held at Cardross Estate on 14 September 2019. The second festival will run on 9 May at the same venue. The festival is an opportunity to celebrate all that foraging and wild food has to offer the region, and they hope it will continue to grow and prosper in the future. 

The Scottish Government has started early engagement on the development of Scotland's fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4).

The National Planning Framework is a long term plan for development and investment across Scotland.

An upcoming Scottish Rural Action conference will kick start a 'rural movement' to make rural Scotland's voice heard.

Representatives from rural Scotland's communities, businesses and organisations are invited to attend the free event taking place from 26 to 27 February at New Lanark Visitor Centre, the renowned world heritage site.

A new podcast dedicated to rural Scotland and it's various industries has launched today, Monday 13 January.

The OnFARM – Food, Agriculture and Rural Matters podcast has been launched by Scene & Herd PR and Marketing and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and a new dedicated website.

Scene & Herd PR and Marketing are working with industry experts, successful business owners and key organisations to increase public and inter-industry awareness of Scottish rural enterprise and its stories.

Strathnaver Museum has been announced as a recipient of £650,000 in grant funding from the Natural and Cultural Heritage Fund. The Redevelopment of Strathnaver Museum as a heritage hub for north west Sutherland project will improve the visitor experience, secure the existing museum collections, conserve the historic church building and improve access to its heritage resources.

Next month, local tourism businesses around Loch Awe, and those interested in starting a business, can share ideas on new ways to promote the area at meetings run by the Argyll Isles Tourism Cooperative.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) are supporting the Argyll Isles Tourism Cooperative (AITC) to review sustainable, nature-based tourism businesses around Loch Awe, encouraging exciting new enterprises, and marketing that encourages more people to explore the outstanding natural beauty of Loch Awe.

The third round of the Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund (RTIF) is now open for applications.

Tourists sites in rural Scotland are being encouraged to apply for a share of £3 million funding. RTIF aims to help tourist attractions and their communities deal with the impact of increased visitor numbers on local infrastructure by helping with improvements like parking areas, visitor facilities and recycling points.