Inaugural Sail Scotland Conference part of Scottish Tourism Week 2016

Sail Scotland and tourism leaders highlighted the huge potential of marine tourism on Tuesday 15^th of March as tourism businesses from across Scotland gathered at The Chartroom Restaurant at Kip Marina for the first ever Sail Scotland Conference.

Delegates gather for the first Sail Scotland Conference.

Part of the Scottish Tourism Week (STW 2016) Programme and proudly sponsored by The Chartroom, Caledonian MacBrayne and Inverclyde Council, the inaugural Sail Scotland Conference focused on sharing best practice and encouraging strategic collaboration within sailing and marine tourism.

Opening the event Inverclyde’s Provost, Robert Moran, welcomed delegates to the Clyde on a glorious spring morning. Stuart McMillan MSP who convenes the Cross Party Group on Recreational Boating and Marine Tourism talked about the collaborative approach from government and industry in developing an agreed strategy, and congratulated Sail Scotland on bringing the industry together and picking up the Sailing Today Award as “World’s Best Sailing Destination” in 2015.

Sail Scotland Chief Executive outlined some of the strategic work Sail Scotland has led over the past two years achieve this accolade, including collaborative marketing campaigns involving Highlands & Islands Enterprise, Scottish Development International and VisitScotland, targeting key domestic and international markets. Targeted work spanning UK, German, and Scandinavian markets and brand partnership with Talisker and Musto contributed to a campaign which generated over £1.3 million additional economic impact for the Scottish economy.

Adding to the strategic nature of the event, Scottish Tourism Alliance Chief Executive Marc Crothall delivered a presentation on the national strategy review, highlighting how sailing and marine tourism has a key role to play in helping Scottish tourism to reach achieve the aspirational growth target of £5.5 billion, and inspiring delegates to achieve the Tourism 2020 vision, that ‘Scotland will be a destination of first choice for a high quality, value for money and memorable customer experience, delivered by skilled and passionate people.”