Smart Talking with Douglas Baird’s Scotland Hour

In this week’s Smart Talking we are delighted to chat to Dougie Baird, the man behind Baird’s Travel website, West End Walks, and the founder of Scotland Hour.

Our Smart Talking special with Dougie Baird this week is in celebration and anticipation of the next Scotland Hour chat on Twitter, which takes place on St. Andrew’s Day, Wednesday 30th November, between 9 and 10 pm GMT.  Tweeters @VisitStAndrews are co-hosting this special Twitter chat for the evening and the hashtag to use is #ScotlandHour.

Hi Dougie, welcome to Smart Talking. Firstly, please tell us more about your website Baird’s Travel and about the ideas behind it.

Dougie: My sites really come from a love of travel. I did the Great Wall of China for the Aberlour Child Trust and backpacked across the USA amongst other trips – I love talking about travel and getting tips from other travellers; and also giving this back if I can, advising people on what to do in Scotland.  My Baird’s Travel site currently gets around 10,000 hits a month and I like to think of it as helping other travellers.  Another passion of mine is walking: I organise and offer walks and tours of Glasgow on my site, West End Walks.

You’re the founder of the regular Scottish tourism chat, #ScotlandHour, on Twitter – what was the idea behind this and can you tell us how it works?

Dougie: Before the idea came for Scotland Hour, on a Saturday morning I used to try to answer people’s travel queries on Twitter – so if someone was interested in taking a day trip to Loch Lomond for example, I’d tweet suggestions on where to go and what to see, with links. This was about a year and a half ago. I then started joining in with travel chats on Twitter, such as #TTOT organised by @traveldudes, which I love, using the #Scotland hashtag.

It occurred to me that there wasn’t really a specific travel chat on Twitter for Scotland, and so, about six months ago the idea for #ScotlandHour was born – we could focus on Scotland, tweeting about things to do in Scotland, at a regular time each month; to use it as a kind of “tourism tool”, to help give travellers advice and info.  We use the hashtag #ScotlandHour and tweet about Scotland on the last Wednesday of every month, between 9 and 10pm, GMT.

I’ve had great help and support from others on Twitter, particularly Susan McNaughton (@2edinburgh), Aileen Lamb (@AileenLamb), Fiona Drane (@BrightLightMkg) and also from Mark Calpin (@HIEHamilton). With more people in Scottish tourism getting involved, the idea has grown and the support for the idea has been tremendous.

How would you and your fellow tourism tweeters like to see Scotland Hour develop?

Dougie: The most important thing is that we keep the fun element in it and that it doesn’t become just a ‘broadcast’ or a “hard sell” – we want to try to keep it as a conversation and keep it fun for people to take part. Personally, I would love #ScotlandHour to get to the stage that it can be used as a regular reference for and by travellers on Twitter – instead of using a guidebook, travellers could click on the Scotland Hour hashtag on the last Wednesday of the month for travel suggestions on Scotland! If it is to develop then we need more people involved, and if tourism businesses or destinations manage to get increased interest out of participating, that’s a great benefit too.

How can people take part in Scotland Hour – what can they share about Scotland on Twitter?

Dougie: Tweeters can share their tips, suggestions and recommendations by joining in the Twitter conversation on the last Wednesday of every month, between 9 and 10pm GMT, and don’t forget to use the hashtag #ScotlandHour. We’d love to have a great mix on what to see and do in Scotland not only in the East and West, but also in the Highlands and Islands, the South, the Scottish Borders, all across Scotland. It could be what monuments to visit, where to eat, the best place for a walk, a dram, a great visitor attraction or where to stay.

As someone who is passionate about Scotland and Scottish tourism, how do social media channels help you to share this passion and to promote what you do?

Dougie: Social media channels are really important to me to be able to interact with other travellers and share my travel interests. I use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and a new channel called Chime.in. I also have a travel channel on Moviecom.tv. I think I probably enjoy using Twitter the most, because for me it’s the most immediate and I can decide who I want to follow and when. Twitter lets me interact with people from anywhere in the world – for example, when I have a free moment, I can tweet on my phone, see who’s talking travel and ask people what the weather’s like in Australia, for example. I still get a buzz out of that.

Is there any news you would like to share with us about Scotland Hour?

Dougie: At present we have lots of ideas and plans for Scotland Hour and we would love to develop it enough to be able to perhaps organise related tweet-up style events in Edinburgh or Glasgow or St. Andrews, for example, or organise themed #ScotlandHour events in future, such as Christmas in Scotland or Easter in Scotland.

The most important thing however, is to keep the spirit of #ScotlandHour special, fun and as a conversation for people who share a passion for travel to share information and ideas.

Many thanks for Smart Talking with us, Dougie – we look forward to the next Scotland Hour and to many more to come!

Sign up for Scotland Hour on Twitter on Twitvite or for more information visit the Scotland Hour blog.

For more information on Baird’s Travel visit www.bairdstravel.com or check out  Moviecom.tv

For more information on Glasgow Walking Tours visit www.toursofglasgow.com