What's included in this update?
Over the last couple of weeks, we have definitely seen the season shift from summer to autumn, and with it a change of pace in terms of visitors to the region. It has been fantastic to see visitor footfall continue to increase in Dundee and Angus over the summer including at our Dundee iCentre which celebrated its first summer within the V&A Dundee on the city’s waterfront.
A personal highlight was Dundee Summer (Bash) Street Festival in July which transformed the city into Beanotown - quite literally - with a Hollywood-esque sign on top of Dundee Law! We have also seen new experiences being launched in the region including Arbikie Distillery visitor centre, Xplore Discover Dundee bus tour and 360-degree Discovery Dome at Discovery Point.
As we head into the autumn and winter months, our focus is to continue to drive bookings and demand through our ongoing marketing, PR and travel trade activity. In the short term we are encouraging visits during our traditionally quieter seasons of autumn and winter and ensure Scotland and our region remain front of mind for potential visitors.
While visitor concerns around COVID-19 may have lessened, we know that many visitors are concerned about rising costs. This is, of course, a serious concern for businesses as well, who are having to adapt their operations to manage growing cost challenges. To help businesses access the latest advice and support, we have created a cost of doing business resource. A link to this guide is provided in this update.
Over the last couple of years, so many businesses have shown incredible resilience, agility and creativity, and this month the industry will celebrate the local finalists in the Central, Fife and Tayside regional finals of the Scottish Thistle Awards. A number of businesses from Dundee and Angus have been shortlisted and I would like to wish them the very best of luck!
I hope you find the following update helpful and informative.
Part of our Scotland is Calling activity, we've launched the latest phase of our Expedia partnership running across both the UK and US markets with the aim of boosting bookings through autumn and winter then into spring 2023. Activity includes a bookable landing page on Expedia.co.uk and Hotels.com with a focus on Scotland's cities featuring Dundee.
We're working with the Guardian on a series of articles, combined with further social media promotion of the content. V&A Dundee, Dundee publisher DC Thomson and Frankenstein author, Mary Shelley, are all featured in the article "Exploring Scotland’s great cities: festivals, folklore and a love for the written word"
Find out how we created an online buzz for museums across Scotland’s cities - including the RRS Discovery and The McManus Galleries in Dundee.
Scotland’s UNESCO Trail is being promoted with the launch of a dedicated VisitScotland marketing campaign. The campaign, aimed at potential visitors from the UK & Ireland, Germany and France, will encourage them to discover more about the country’s 13 place-based designations included in the trail. Dundee, City of Design is one of the 13 designations included in the Trail.
Our corporate PR team work closely with Scottish and UK media to raise awareness of our work to promote Scotland and Dundee and Angus to visitors and support for industry.
Some of the highlights include:
We announced the shortlist for the regional finals in the Scottish Thistle Awards.
Knowledge and insights of our staff at Dundee iCentre with a press release on the unique tales and hidden gems to explore in the region as part of Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022.
Congratulations to the 9 businesses across Dundee and Angus that have been shortlisted in the regional Finals of the Scottish Thistle Awards.
Good luck to everyone!
Browse the 2022 / 2023 Regional Finalists by region on the Scottish Thistles website.
The iCentre have had their first summer season in V&A Dundee and footfall has been higher than in previous years. The Michael Clark exhibition brought in a lot of visitors and many stopped at the iCentre desk for more information on Dundee and Angus. There have been many coaches of international visitors visiting the iCentre which has helped the footfall numbers, similiar to pre covid peak season.
In a recent TripAdvisor review, the team had been titled "helpful angels" for the information and inspiration they provided.
Well done to The WeeCOOK Kitchen in Carnoustie on receiving a Taste our Best award and Arbikie Distillery, Montrose on receiving a 4 Star Visitor Attraction award.
If you’re a restaurant, pub or takeaway, you can sign up to be part of Taste Our Best.
Achieving this award can help demonstrate your responsible tourism ethos, showing that you support your local community and that you "love local" – meeting the needs of today’s visitors.
Find out more about how to apply for Taste Our Best.
Find out more about Quality Assurance and let us help you shine!
New Scottish legislation for short-term lets came into effect on 1 March 2022. Learn what the legal requirements for letting a holiday property are, and how the new licensing laws in Scotland will work. Some useful resources:
1. Read more about what this means for you in our advice and guidance page.
2. Find out about Dundee Council's short-term lets licensing on their website.
3. Find out about Angus Council's short term lets licensing on their website.
