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Visit Scotland | Alba
Article published 04/11/2022

Interim Regional Director, Annique Armstrong


It's been fantastic to see the return of domestic and international visitors to our region over the summer months, as well as live events and festivals taking place across the region.

As we move through the autumn and winter season, we'll continue to work with partners in our tourism and events industry on promoting activity that extends the season and ensuring Scotland and the South of Scotland remains front of mind for potential visitors.

We’re prioritising activities that will stimulate demand and new bookings for the industry to support its long-term recovery, with more details within this update.

We know that many businesses are facing difficult decisions and are having to consider how they adapt their operations to manage the cost challenges. We would encourage you to explore our website for all the latest industry advice, support and guidance and we'll bring you news on industry events taking place in the region.  

We also want to take the opportunity to celebrate our tourism and events industry who have worked tirelessly in the past two years. It was fantastic to come together once again for the Scottish Thistle Awards Lothian & Borders Regional Final last week and celebrate the very best in tourism and the excellence that is helping to rebuild this vital part of the economy.

Best regards,
Annique Armstrong

Scottish Thistle Awards regional final

Tourism businesses across Central, Fife and Tayside and the Lothians and Scottish Borders received recognition at Scotland’s premier tourism and events awards on 27 October at Prestonfield House Hotel in Edinburgh.  

We deliver the Scottish Thistle Awards, sponsored by Johnstons of Elgin. It included a media partnership with News Scotland for the first time this year. The awards celebrate the very best of tourism in Scotland and the excellence that is helping to rebuild this vital part of the Scottish economy in the last two years.

Congratulations to Scottish Borders winner Caroline Raeburn from Peebles Hydro. Caroline, who has over 30 years of hospitality experience, won in the Tourism & Hospitality Hero category, sponsored by HIT Scotland.

The regional final for Dumfries & Galloway will take place at Òran Mór, Glasgow, on Thursday 10 November.

You can see all the winners in our Thistles round-up story.

Corporate Press update

Our corporate PR team work closely with partners to raise awareness of our work to promote Scotland and the South of Scotland to visitors, and the support available for our industry in the Scottish and UK media.

Some of the highlights include:

Scotland's UNESCO trail regional marketing

Some of Scotland’s most iconic, diverse, and culturally significant sites are being promoted to domestic and international visitors with the launch of our dedicated marketing campaign, developed in collaboration with UNESCO and designation partners.

The campaign promotes Scotland’s UNESCO Trail to potential visitors from the UK & Ireland, Germany and France with the aim of encouraging them to discover more about the country’s 13 place-based designations included in the trail.

The trail features the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere. Take a look at the dedicated pages.

Find out more about the trail including the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere

Our iCentres | Jedburgh and Dumfries

We provide face-to-face information provision and inspiration to visitors through our network of iCentres (Information Centres).  

iCentres remain at the heart of information delivery and our knowledgeable and passionate staff provide a personalised service to visitors, making their visit even more memorable. They also help visitors to experience all that the local area and surrounding region have to offer.

We've been talking to our staff at our Jedburgh and Dumfries iCentres about what's been happening over the past few months. 

Hear from Jedburgh iCentre...

Hear from the staff at Dumfries iCentre

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