Let's Talk Travel Trade: Edition 18

Welcome to Edition 18 of our ‘Let’s Talk Travel Trade’ newsletter. Autumn is certainly here, with some beautiful colours for us to enjoy. It takes the edge off those shorter days now the clocks have changed.

This month some of the team had the chance to enjoy those colours with a visit to Perthshire. It is true that being out in nature really is good for the soul, and we certainly felt that from our visit. ?Also we sampled one of the new National Museum of Scotland guided tours in collaboration with Mercat Tours and hopefully helped some new to travel trade folks learn more about working with DMCs.

In news we hear about awards of different kinds and how travel helps to save some of Ireland’s heritage.

The Outer Hebrides wins National Geographic Award

The Outer Hebrides has been named as one of the Best of the World destinations for 2025 by National Geographic, the only UK destination to be included in this prestigious list, due to the area’s landscapes and unique heritage. A BBC drama due to be broadcast in 2025 will again shine a spotlight on the area with several locations and experiences being highlighted by National Geographic including? the Hebridean Way, The Hebridean Celtic Festival and the island’s unique wildlife.

Commonwealth Games – Glasgow 2026

Glasgow has officially been confirmed as host city for the 2026 Commonwealth Games. The search was on for a replacement city after the Australian state of Victoria pulled out. Glasgow hosted the Games in 2014 so are no stranger to this, however the 2026 Games will have a reduced programme of events between Thursday 23rd July thru Sunday 2nd August, 2026.

Tourism Lighting the way for future of iconic Irish Lighthouses

Tourism Ireland has partnered with Great Lighthouses of Ireland, the tourism partnership led by Irish Lights, to secure a future for many of these iconic buildings which are being regenerated as heritage buildings with a tourism focus. Some of the buildings are visitor attractions while others are offering a unique place to stay. ?As part of the project a series of short videos and new images are being created to showcase these unique offerings. Check in with Tourism Ireland to view these videos.

National Museum of Scotland / Mercat Tours Travel Trade Evening

An excellent travel trade evening was held recently showcasing the collaboration between the National Museum of Scotland (NMS) and Mercat Tours. NMS is the most visited attraction in the UK, outside of London, and has the added bonus of being free to visit. Joining forces with Mercat Tours to provide 5 different guided tour options through the museum, we found that the tour really added value to our visit as various exhibits were explained in more detail and stories were shared. NMS has also added bespoke tours with pre-opening and VIP after-hours options for groups.

Perthshire FAM trip

BOSH’s Travel Coordinator Pauline Fisher, along with Sales and Marketing Director, Kirsten Laing headed North and up to Perthshire to check out some of our existing accommodation suppliers and a new product offering. The visit started with a trip to the beautiful Dunkeld House Hotel, which given the time of year was surrounded by glorious colours from all the trees. After a super show round it was north again to see The Old Manse of Blair – a boutique hotel giving the experience of being welcomed into the owner's home and being looked after incredibly well. A visit then on to Fonab Castle, offering 5 Star luxury in the country with amazing views across the River Tay. Our final stop was a visit to the recently opened Scotland Shop, in Crieff. A visit here can see you not only heading off with an array of high-quality tartan and tweed items, many of which can also be personalised on-site due to the in-house expertise, but more than likely better knowledge and fascinating facts about the local history or indeed your Clan connections. It is always great to get out and see how our clients are looked after and to see some of the folks behind the scenes who help make these lasting memories.

Visit Aberdeenshire Travel Trade Masterclass

Kirsten was delighted to be asked to be part of the recent Visit Aberdeenshire Travel Trade Masterclass training day, where she gave a presentation on Working with DMCs to attendees. A mixture of suppliers who are in the process of developing products for the travel trade and those who are looking to develop existing experiences and work more with travel trade. The key message to share was all about developing relationships with the travel intermediaries, particularly given 55% of international visitors to Britain book via this method. For DMCs having a relationship with our product suppliers is important, so we know our clients are in great hands when visiting.

Best of Scotland Holidays are a highly knowledgeable destination management company covering the UK and Ireland with over 40 years’ experience in the travel trade. Our clients are at the forefront of everything we do, and we are committed to creating travel experiences of a lifetime!

Learn more about what we do and how we do it below.

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