Firms fly the flag for Falkirk and Forth Valley during American tourism mission

The one day appointment-based workshop, followed by an evening networking reception at Scotland House, was designed to facilitate face-to-face meetings between

Scottish tourism suppliers and international tour operators from the North American market.  

Organised by VisitScotland, the VisitAberdeenshire-sponsored event was also attended by the National Trust for Scotland, as well as a variety of Scottish restaurants,

attractions and accommodation providers, including Camelon’s Ian Macleod Distillers (Rosebank), Old Leckie Farm, Stirling Distillery, National Wallace Monument and The Haggis Experience.

The North American market is hugely important to Scottish tourism businesses. In 2022, the US was once again Scotland’s largest international source market

measured by number of visits, nights and spend.

Canada was Scotland’s sixth largest international source market measured by number of visits and third by expenditure and number of nights.

US visitors accounted for 21 per cent of all overseas trips to Scotland in 2022 and 38 per cent of all overseas spend here. Canadian visitors accounted for four per cent

of all overseas visits to Scotland and six per cent of all overseas spend here.

The BDM provided a platform to support Scottish tourism businesses to increase their presence to a wider customer base internationally, learn more about the North

American market and how to work with travel trade, with the aim of establishing new business relationships.

Each supplier had an opportunity to present their unique product offerings and services to a selection of North American tour operators that VisitScotland works closely

with and who were looking to develop new and/or extend existing programmes in Scotland, with a focus on aligning to our responsible tourism objectives.

The 35 Scottish tourism suppliers and 26 North American buyers included tour operators organising both group and individual/small tours, destination management

companies, wholesalers and online platforms, all of which are an integral part of the North American distribution system.

A total of around 550 appointments were held during the event.

Gwen Raez, VisitScotland’s senior market development manager, said: “This event aims to connect North American tour operators looking to extend their programmes

with tourism businesses in Scotland that are offering what the US and Canadian visitor is looking for.

“We carefully matched the appointments, so hopefully we will see even more North American visitors enjoying these experiences and accommodation in the near

future. Initial feedback from the tour operators was that they were delighted with the tourism product we were sharing with them.”

Liz Gunn, head of sales and marketing at Ian Macleod Distillers said: “North America is a key market for us, and even more so with the opening of our two new distilleries in 2024.

"This event was a valuable opportunity for us to engage with tour operators who bring visitors from the USA and Canada to Scotland, and there was a lot of enthusiasm

for the breadth and quality of destinations on show.

"The discussions were focused on Scotland’s new offerings, and this allowed us to put a spotlight on Rosebank whisky distillery located in Falkirk. We are grateful for the support from VisitScotland.

"This was a well organised event and a great boost for the industry.”