First for Highlands as marine conference comes
FORT WILLIAM played host to the Scottish Marine Tourism Conference 2018 last week as industry experts came together to focus on how marine tourism can benefit Scotland’s rural economy.
The conference, which was brought to the Highlands and Islands for the first time, provided a unique opportunity to bring the sector together to encourage new ideas, partnerships and increased collaboration.
A team of student volunteers from West Highland College UHI worked with the Sail Scotland to help organise the conference at the Moorings Hotel and gained a valuable backstage view of what it takes to run such a prestigious event.
On the day, students got to hear from sector leaders, and chat with future employers and major stakeholders, such as VisitScotland, Scottish Canals, and the Scottish Tourism Alliance, as well as many small business owners.
The college’s marine and coastal tourism lecturers and students also had the opportunity to meet Fiona Hyslop MSP, cabinet secretary for culture, tourism and external affairs.
The cabinet secretary asked with interest about students’ future plans, before speaking to the conference about the government support for the sector.
The BA (Hons) marine and coastal tourism course at the college in Fort William was showcased through a stand and a speaker slot, which explained the college’s on-going involvement in a range of current projects in the area such as welcoming cruise ships to Fort William and the Thomas Telford Corpach Marina development.
These were very well received, and the students hope this will result in more potential collaborations with industry.
A formal twinning agreement between Sail Scotland and The Swedish Guest Harbour’s Association was also announced at the conference, while double Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson OBE was also announced on the day as Sail Scotland’s inaugural honorary ambassador. Mrs Hyslop said: ‘With extensive coastlines and beautiful scenery, it is little surprise that tourism is one of Scotland’s key industries and biggest success stories – and marine tourism is fast becoming one of the driving forces behind that success.
‘With the right infrastructure in place, community engagement and work of the public and private sector, future growth of marine tourism is sure to continue – and as this conference has demonstrated, there is no shortage of ideas about how we continue to move the sector forward.’
Organised by Sail Scotland, the national sailing tourism marketing organisation, Scottish Marine Tourism Conference was supported by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and Caledonian MacBrayne.