Smart Talking: Scottish Tourism Stories

It’s been a great first year for our Smart Talking interviews with tourism businesses and individuals.

We’ve really enjoyed learning from our contributors, gaining insight into their recipes for success and their inspiring approaches to customer service; as they continue to drive their businesses forward. We hope you have enjoyed reading our contributors’ posts as much as we have.

This year we kicked off with Freda Newton of award-winning Highland cruise and tour operator @jacobitecruises who told us about the company’s exciting plans for a brand new visitor centre on the banks of Loch Ness. Later in the year, Jennifer Fraser revealed plans for a new boat, the Jacobite Warrior, and Jacobite’s participation in Social Media Week Glasgow.

Julie Trevisan-Hunter of the @scotchwhiskyexp shared this vibrant Edinburgh visitor attraction’s whisky expertise with us, providing  an insight into how the marketing team use social media and business trends in a creative and innovative way.

David Cowan of The Tall Ship at Glasgow Harbour shared this unique maritime attraction’s history with us; while Jane Young of Inveraray Castle in Argyll gave us an insight into the castle not only as a visitor attraction but as a unique venue too – with the added bonus of  a ghost story.

Our appetite for whisky was fuelled by Blair Bowman, organiser of the global event @worldwhiskyday – the date for our diaries is 27th March 2012.

E-Marketing expert Sam Weston of @apexhotels shared his passion for social media and let us into a few secrets about the famous Apex ducks while Sophie Fraser of @scotfoodfort whetted our appetites for the great Scottish produce  on offer across the country during Scottish Food Fortnight.

Carina Svensen of @hotelmissoniedi emphasised the significance of staff training in the delivery of excellent customer service, while Gaelic-speaking Blue Badge and @S_T_G_A Guide Coinneach MacLean reflected on seeing Scotland from a tour guide’s perspective.

Robin Worsnop of award-winning small-group tour operator @Rabbies_Travel highlighted the importance of customer feedback in developing and innovating a business and the real value of word of mouth from customers, a view also shared by Euan Wilson and Catherine Shearer of @HandIAdventures – a great example being their new “Tastes and Trails of Scotland” tour.

Tourism and marketing student Natalie Rowan @_NatStar offered an interesting take on life as a student in Scotland and what working in a Scottish visitor attraction has taught her so far;  inspiring us with her passion for Scotland. Chris Kennedy of Oban seafood restaurant @EeuskOban was equally passionate about the importance of consistently delivering high quality and excellent customer service.

Innovation featured highly in our chat with Maureen McKenna of @tastearran, a truly inspiring collective of local businesses on the Isle of Arran who came together to enable the marketing and effective distribution of high quality locally produced food and drink, as well as acting as ambassadors for Arran as a destination.

The creative use of social media was a significant factor in the destination development of @visitstandrews, generously shared by Aileen Lamb and Morvern Connolly, together with some great examples of collaborative working with the wider community.

It was heartening to hear from new tourism businesses in Scotland too. Gary Brown of  @studenttourssco highlighted the importance of customer feedback in shaping product development and keeping customers happy pre and post tour, while John and Hilary Connelly of @katherine_53 shared their passion for sailing, introducing us to the original  idea of celebrating business meetings, team-building and days away on the luxury yacht Katherine 53.

The businesses already mentioned hold potential as candidates for @verygoodservice, an initiative developed by Gilles Bonvarlet, to celebrate and promote the best examples of customer service across a whole range of UK business sectors, including tourism and travel.

In celebration of St. Andrew’s Day in Scotland we participated in @scotlandhour – an engaging Twitter chat started by Douglas Baird of @Bairdstravel – and with a bit of help from his Twitter friends including @AileenLamb, Susan McNaughton of @2edinburgh and Mark Calpin of @HIEHamilton the St. Andrews Day Scotland Hour achieved a reach of over 31,000 people and yielded around 4000 tweets, the majority of those from Scottish tourism businesses and individuals passionate about Scottish tourism – a fantastic achievement.

Last but by no means least, Eilidh Smith of @pitmilly provided one of the most inspiring stories of all – with 75% of Morton of Pitmilly’s business coming from repeat customers, the owners and staff of Pitmilly, and their creative approach to engaging with their customers and acting on customer feedback offered fantastic examples for us all.

So we’d like to say a big “Thank You” to all our contributors for providing Smart Talking with such great Scottish tourism stories so far. We hope that our tourism industry continues to inspire us in 2012, offering more food for thought.

If you think you have an interesting Scottish tourism story worth featuring in our Smart Talking blog interview series for 2012, email us at info@smart-tourism.co.uk and tell us why.

We look forward to hearing from you.