The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Tourism body ready to capitalise on visitor influx
OPPORTUNITY: V&A museum and the Open a chance to shine for accommodation providers
A single voice for accommodation providers in Dundee and Angus is helping to attract new business to the region.
Karen Tocher, business tourism manager with Dundee and Angus Convention Bureau, said the establishment of Dundee and Angus Visitor Accommodation Association (DAVAA), which speaks for hotels, guest houses, B&Bs, the serviced apartment sector and holiday lets, had helped bring a more coherent approach to the tourism trade locally.
She said it had helped in securing the World Karate Championships for Dundee next year and in building a strategy to deal with the influx of visitors expected when the V&A Dundee design museum opens its doors next summer.
“Bringing major business events to Dundee and Angus, which in turn brings significant economic benefits for all, is a highly collaborative process,” she said.
“The project to bring the seventh WUKF World Karate Championships to the city involved many partners in both the private and public sectors and the support, enthusiasm and knowledge of DAVAA proved invaluable to this process and our success.
“The ability to consult with, and call on the support of, all accommodation providers in our area through the one voice of DAVAA enables us to develop competitive and comprehensive bids and working together we aim to target, and secure, many more international business events for Dundee and the surrounding areas.”
DAVAA was established in the spring of last year and its members have more than 2,600 bed spaces under their control across the region.
Group chairman Brett Davidge, who runs the Apex City Quay at Dundee, said a unique opportunity was opening up for the tourism trade locally as the V&A welcomes its first guests and the Open Championship returns to Carnoustie.
He said such opportunities have to be seized and DAVAA’s collective approach was designed to ensure the economic benefits of improving trading conditions were felt more widely.
“Now is a crucial time for DAVAA’s membership to offer a great service to their customers and work together to create a legacy that will keep visitors coming to stay in Dundee and Angus for many years to come,” Mr Davidge said.
Gordon Mackintosh, of Carnoustie Golf Hotel and Spa, said: “It’s an exciting time to be involved in the local accommodation sector with V&A Dundee and the Open at Carnoustie dramatically raising our profile internationally in 2018.
“Our DAVAA members will be working hard to make sure our businesses do their best to welcome our guests and let them know just what makes Dundee and Angus such a fantastic place to visit.”