The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Aberdeen to host travel trade
Hundreds of tourism buyers from across the globe will come to Aberdeen next month for a showcase of Scotland’s leading attractions.
The first ever VisitScotland Connect travel trade workshop is to be held in the Granite City in April.
Travel professionals from more than 23 countries will come to Aberdeen in what will be the first major Scottish tourism showcase since before the pandemic.
The event will take place at P&J Live on April 19 and 20 and replaces VisitScotland Expo, the previous annual travel trade exhibition.
Scottish tourism businesses will once again have the opportunity, after a four year absence, to get face-to-face with more than 200 global tour operators, travel advisors and destination management companies.
Representatives of 23 countries to Scotland, including the UK, USA, Canada, Europe, China and Asia Pacific will gather at the event.
VisitScotland chief executive Malcolm Roughead said: “The challenges of the pandemic have given us the opportunity to reconsider the way we deliver events.
“We’re committed to making it as easy as possible for businesses to do business in the current economic climate and have designed VisitScotland Connect with direct input from industry.
“VisitScotland Connect gives Scottish tourism businesses the chance to showcase their products and services to tour operators and travel agents from all over the world – all under one roof.”
Nearly 180 trade-ready Scottish businesses and destination management organisations have already registered to attend but extra spaces have been made available.
The event had been originally due to take place in Aberdeen in April 2020 but had to be cancelled due to the Covid pandemic.
Visit Aberdeenshire chief executive Chris Foy said the new exhibition is coming hot on the heels of another recent travel trade event hosted in Aberdeen.
He said: “Hosting VisitScotland Connect is a further demonstration of Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire’s capacity to host business events and to welcome delegates from around the world.
“Being a tourism event adds even more value to the region, following our hosting of the UKInbound Annual Convention in autumn 2022.
“VisitAberdeenshire has been preparing local tourism and hospitality businesses to become ‘travel-trade ready’ for many years and VisitScotland Connect provides an opportunity to develop new business on their doorsteps.”