This week sees the launch of Business Tourism for Scotland, an industry group that seeks to facilitate industry growth in Scotland through to 2020. Delivering on the business tourism strand of Scotland’s tourism strategy (Tourism Scotland 2020) the group aims to contribute to the target of £1bn growth in the overnight visitor economy.
BTfS has come about to identify the big picture opportunities that can best be exploited at the national level, and by industry itself. There are currently 15 members of BTfS, representing all corners of Scotland and its industries: hotels, venues, universities, PCOs, DMCs and city convention bureaux. BTfS will be concentrating on 3 projects: building a better understanding of the scale and nature of the industry and demonstrating its economic contribution; developing various communications platforms so that industry can find relevant intelligence, useful tools and be inspired by case studies to learn from their peers, and developing initiatives to capture untapped opportunities.
How is BTfS different from other business tourism organisations? We are an industry group, commercially driven and working collaboratively for Scotland nationwide at a strategic level, but with the active support of the public sector agencies. For more information have a look at www.businesstourismforscotland.com, follow them on Twitter @biztourismscot or contact the Project Manager, Sue Crossman on 07985 967755 or sue.crossman@stalliance.co.uk