Is it really two years since Katy Duncan of Haggis Adventures had the idea to start a Travel Massive Edinburgh chapter and Travel Massive founder Ian C (as we call him) luckily said yes?
It’s hard to believe, but from our first Travel Massive Edinburgh event on a rainy night at Jakes Bar, in Edinburgh on the 12th March 2015, when around 60 people came along to find out more and help us kick-start our new travel community, Travel Massive Edinburgh has grown to just under 400 travel insiders. (Our youngest, honorary Travel Massive Edinburgh member is the beautiful Isla Duncan, born to Katy and Pete in January 2017.)
Between us (Katy, Lesley, Julie, Susan and Natalie) we’ve planned and hosted some fun and interesting events over the last two years, thanks to our speakers and generous sponsors. It has also felt great to achieve things with our travel and tourism community, many of whom have donated prizes and support and sponsored venues for our Christmas event, two years running.
At our 2015 and 2016 Christmas events, Travel Massive Edinburgh raised a total of just under £4000.00 for charities Bloodwise, Maggies’ Centres and the Western General Hospital, in support of friends and colleagues Aileen Lamb and Julie Galante and Scott Roland, whose lives have been affected by Leukaemia. Our Christmas fundraiser has now become an annual event and a favourite in the calendar. We look forward to this year’s challenge to fundraise even more.
With themes so far including Youth and Luxury Travel, Scotland’s Year of Architecture, Innovation and Design, Food and Drink, “Local at Heart”, Welcoming the World to Edinburgh’s Festivals and Events, a #socialstroll, some good old-fashioned networking and drinks parties, and our popular Christmas fundraiser to date, this means we’ve congregated in a pub, bar and hotels, on a roof top, a (rather special) yacht, an historic building whose spire is the highest point in central Edinburgh, an office with a view of Edinburgh Castle, a former Church, a bus, and even inside a Kelpie. A massive thank you to our sponsors and supporters to date, and to you, our community for helping us grow.
Thank you also to everyone who made it along to our second birthday party on 16 March 2017 at Ghillie Dhu – as you can see from the tweets, Instagram posts and pics we had a great night as usual.
We ask the Travel Massive Edinburgh community for feedback and try to get a sense of what they like about it and why they attend our events. So far, we get a sense that being able to share and network in a community of like-minded people who have a passion for the travel industry, to join when you’ve just arrived to live in Edinburgh or you have returned after a break away, is a really valuable thing to have – it’s a great way to meet people. We’ve also found those in our community to date to be open, welcoming to others and supportive -hopefully something we can all continue to benefit from.
The Travel Massive community is about sharing: news, jobs, opportunities, skills – and about networking in a relaxed, informal way. It’s great for those working in tourism and travel to share information, get help, ideas and support from others, particularly travel start-ups.
If there are other types of events and activities you’d like to see, or if you have an idea for an event or interested in sponsoring an event in future, please get in touch with Lesley, Susan or Natalie.
Who knows what the rest of 2017 will bring in terms of events, but as we approach 400 travel insiders, the Travel Massive Edinburgh Chapter has plenty of ideas, a vibrant travel community, fantastic sponsors and venues in the pipeline : definitely worth celebrating. Here’s to many more birthdays.
Find out more about Travel Massive Edinburgh and join our travel community.
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