Tour operators from more than 30 countries travelled to St Andrews this week to meet with Scottish suppliers as Scottish Tourism Week (SGTW) returned. It was opened yesterday (2 March) by Ivan McKee, the Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise.
The three-day event is currently taking place at the Fairmont Hotel in St Andrews and is a partnership between DC Thomson, VisitScotland and Scottish Enterprise. It's the country’s biggest golf industry conference, giving Scottish suppliers the opportunity to meet tour operators from around the world with the aim of bringing golf tourists to Scotland.
Mr McKee met with businesses showcasing the best in Scottish golf tourism, and found out how suppliers are capitalising on one of the busiest ever summers of golf in Scotland. This year six championship events take place over five weeks including The Open Championship, The Senior Open, AIG Women's British Open and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
The event began in 2016 and took place annually until 2019. The pandemic caused the cancellation of SGTW in 2020, and the 2021 event was postponed until now making it the fifth time the conference has been held.
Over 80 Scottish golf businesses and 80 international tour operators are taking part, comprising around 4,000 meetings and multiple networking sessions, ending with the Scottish Golf Tourism Awards. It's estimated that the tour operators in attendance will be responsible for bringing approximately 50,000 golf tourists into Scotland.