Experts gathering in city for tourism summit

NEARLY 150 experts from across Scotland’s tourism community are set to gather in Glasgow for a major industry event.

The Big Tourism Conversation will take place tomorrow and comes after the launch of the city’s new Tourism and Visitor Plan to 2023.

Being held at the Drygate Brewery in the city’s east end, Glasgow’s Big Tourism Conversation will be chaired by Amanda McMillan, managing director of Glasgow Airport.

It will feature a keynote address from Danish travel and technology expert, Emil Spangenberg who was formerly director of digital marketing and communications with Visit Copenhagen.

Ms McMillan said: “I’m very much looking forward to hosting Glasgow’s Big Tourism Conversation and working with our partners.

“This event presents us with the perfect platform to share our thoughts and ideas on how best we can ensure Glasgow continues to shine and is recognised not only as a first-class destination in its own right, but that the city is also recognised on the international stage as the gateway to Scotland.

“To achieve this we must look at the success stories of other cities too, so I’m looking forward to hearing from Emil Spangenberg,” she added.

The new tourism plan hopes to achieve three million overnight visits per year by 2023 to deliver an economic boost of £771 million and an extra 6,600 jobs.