Activity to support tourism in Edinburgh and the Lothians from October – December 2022
Introduction from Neil Christison, Regional Director
Article published 07/02/2023
Introduction
Welcome to the first regional update of the year. In this update, we look back at our key activity in the last quarter of 2022. Our industry continues to adjust to tough new financial circumstances and it's clear that these will continue to impact in the year ahead.
But there is much to build on and we remain committed to doing what we can to support the industry, whether that’s bringing people to Scotland, offering support and guidance to businesses, or creating opportunities for growth and investment.
Our marketing, funding and business support activities are all aimed at building on these shoots of recovery to support the responsible growth of our industry.
It has been a busy period in Edinburgh and the Lothians. We had the launch of our film guide for example, a 52-page guide featuring more than 150 films which have been shot entirely or partially in Scotland.
Find out more in this regional update on how all our work is helping to support the ambitions of the national tourism strategy, Scotland Outlook 2030, for Scotland to be a world leader in 21st century tourism.
Update from Edinburgh iCentre
Staff and visitors at Edinburgh iCentre
Edinburgh iCentre had a strong end to the year, thanks in part to the return of the Edinburgh Christmas markets which were a big draw for visitors we spoke to. The end of the year ended with a bang in Edinburgh, 27 December saw one of our busiest days of the year with nearly 600 visitors!
We also took the opportunity to promote the Great Days Out campaign to visitors and encouraged them to get out and try different attractions.
Between November and December, we had a few visitors to the iCentre. First year pupils from Broughton High School who came into the iCentre to learn more about what we do at VisitScotland and practice their Spanish language skills with Ester and Luke, our Spanish-speaking Visitor Services Advisors.
The school pupils are involved in a project to encourage Spanish school pupils to come and study in Edinburgh and have to produce a PowerPoint presentation at the end of term. Great to see young pupils engaged with tourism.
Kim Kjaerside from Dovecot Studios came in to visit us in the iCentre and tell us more about what the Dovecot has to offer visitors. Staff found Kim’s presentation informative and can now pass this information onto visitors.
We were also lucky to attend a couple of events outside of the iCentre. Penny and Lesley attended a networking event at Real Mary Kings Close on 13 October which coincided with the launch of ‘Close Secrets’ by Jayne-Leigh Thomas who previously worked at The Real Mary King’s Close.
It was a great opportunity to network with different organisations and attractions and we were treated to a short reading of the novel in the Close itself!
Lesley and Caitlin also attended an Edinburgh Tourism Action Group (ETAG) briefing on the St James Quarter at the Everyman Cinema. It was great to hear from Nick Peel, the Managing Director about all the new openings planned for the Quarter and an update on the W Hotel. Lots of exciting things to come for St James Quarter.
It was a busy but enjoyable end to the year. As an iCentre we are just so happy to be able to welcome back visitors properly and show them all that Edinburgh and Scotland have to offer.
Global PR highlights
Our Witch Trail activity, which was launched in the lead-up to Halloween, generated over 80 pieces of coverage across markets to date. This included locations in Edinburgh (Invisible Cities Tours and The Witchery by the Castle).
As part of the promotion for the trail, we organised a pan-market group press trip, taking in a number of locations in Edinburgh from the witch trail itself and beyond.
Example coverage from across all markets:
- Hexen-Trail: Schottland - mystisch, magisch, heilsam | omnibusrevue.de
- VisitScotland Launches New Witch Trail | Travel Agent Central
- Insider Travel Report
- Quand l’Ecosse vous ensorcèle – SeniorVoyageur
- Top-parents.fr : Quelque chose de sorcier se trame en Ecosse ! | Voyages | Actualité
In November 2022, the Global PR Team issued the What’s New Release covering news, updates and openings from across Scotland including west Edinburgh, 100 Princes Street and Scottish National Gallery.
- The UK team have had some great coverage on Edinburgh Christmas markets and Christmas events in publications such as The Week, Woman’s Weekly, Best , Daily Mail , Scottish Sun, Stylist and the Guardian , on the back of pitching / proactive comms / media enquiries.
- North Berwick coastal loop included in a round-up of the best cycle routes in the Times.
- Team Europe achieved a stunning city feature on Edinburgh in Germany’s largest women’s magazine Brigitte after hosting a journalist and photographer on an individual press trip earlier this year. The piece has a focus on vintage shopping, but also highlights what to see and do, best places to eat (both in the city centre and neighbourhoods of Portobello and Stockbridge) as well as a range of accommodation options – all accompanied by inspiring photography
- The team welcomed radio journalist Cornelia Böcker in Edinburgh, where we helped arrange tours / interview partners for two travel pieces. One was on Wild Wellness featuring the owner of WanderWomen (Edinburgh & East Lothian). The other one was about Outlander locations with Mary’s Meanders (featuring locations in West Lothian such as Linlithgow and Blackness Castle). Both have since been aired on WDR Radio.
- Edinburgh also featured in two pieces in Germany’s national newspaper Die Welt (online). One includes Edinburgh in a round-up of value city trip destinations, highlighting free attractions. The other, a city portrait, focuses on literary links.
- In October, AFAR released their “10 Best Places to Go in January” and Scotland was included at number four. The feature claimed that Scotland was the ideal place to travel in January for “adventurous eaters with a fondness for folk dancing”, referring to Burns Night celebrations and spotlighting The Fife Arms as a place to stay.
- In November, Travel and Leisure announced that the United Kingdom was their “Destination of the Year 2023”, with Scotland being a key component. The cover feature for the print edition was Edinburgh. The piece was as a result of a press trip that our North America PR team supported in June 2022, which had been more than two years in the making.
Additionally, the cover image for the print issue and lead image on the Travel and Leisure website is Dean Village. So, while this accolade is for the UK, Scotland takes centre stage. The print reach for Travel and Leisure is 962,011 and the online reach is 2,005,222. Read the article and share on your channels.
- Following distribution of our Year Ahead press release, Edinburgh was included in Conde Nast Traveler’s (US) list of the 13 Best Places to Go in the UK in 2023. The round-up mentioned a variety of key stories highlighting Bonnie and Wild, Duck and Waffle, W Edinburgh, 100 Princes Street, Gleneagles Townhouse as well as describing the appeal of the annual Edinburgh Festivals.
- In November, our North America PR team supported a journalist writing for trade publication Travel Weekly on a visit Edinburgh. The resulting coverage was published in December and highlighted various key offerings in the city, including Virgin Hotels Edinburgh, Fruitmarket Gallery, St James Quarter, W Hotel, Port of Leith Distillery, Fingal, and included a direct quote from Regional Director Neil Christison. The piece ran online and in print.
In the VisitScotland.org news
Here's an overview of some of latest news stories we've published, which features Edinburgh and the Lothians:
- The 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships, taking place from 3 to 13 August, will be the first time 13 World Championships come together in one place at one time to compete.
The Cycling World Championships, hosted in Glasgow with events taking place across Scotland, with the men’s and women’s road races taking in Edinburgh Castle and Arthur’s Seat. We will see cyclists compete for more than 200 coveted UCI Cycling World Championship rainbow jerseys.
World Cycling Championships image
- In partnership with Visit East Lothian, we hosted the regions tourism industry at an in-person networking event at Glenkinchie Distillery and Visitor Centre in Pencaitland, East Lothian. We welcomed over 30 tourism businesses from across East Lothian to get together to share new developments and innovations.
Delegates were given the opportunity to network, have a tour of the venue, hear from key speakers. Read on for the full story.
- Johnnie Walker Princes Street, the eight-floor whisky attraction in the heart of Edinburgh's West End, celebrated another major tourism milestone, having achieved our 5 Star Quality Assurance attraction accreditation.
The award was presented by our Director of Industry and Destination Development, Rob Dickson.
A picture of Rob Maxwell, Head of Johnnie Walker Princes Street, Barbara Smith, Managing Director, Johnnie Walker Princes Street and Rob Dickson, Director of Industry and Destination Development, VisitScotland.
- We published a case study on the Royal Yacht Britannia, it focused on its 5 Star award and its efforts to become sustainable and accessible to all.
Read their accessibility statement and the full article.
Corporate PR latest activity
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Set in Scotland film guide
Our press release about the launch of our Set in Scotland film guide gained media coverage across the region. The guide was launched by actor James Cosmo at Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway.
Wicked will return to the Edinburgh Playhouse for a run of shows next year from 7 December 2023 to 14 January 2024. We provided a supporting quote to promote the return of Wicked to Edinburgh which received extensive online coverage
The full story is available on the Edinburgh Evening news website.
Opinion editorial from Neil Christison
An editorial from Neil Christison was issued to regional media at the end of the year, highlighting the tourism industry’s resilience during these challenging operating times. This was picked up by the Linlithgow Gazette, Edinburgh Reporter and Midlothian Advertiser.
The Forth Bridges Trail
A new visitor trail highlighting Scotland’s iconic Forth Bridges and the distinctive historic communities of North and South Queensferry has been launched. The new Forth Bridges Trail was launched by Tourism Minister Ivan McKee.
You can find out more aboout the trail and activity at our media centre.
We promoted Scotland’s UNESCO Trail – which includes Edinburgh designations – receiving an international award in recognition of its sustainable development.
Scotland’s UNESCO trail encourages visitors to experience our UNESCO designations, these include six world heritage sites, two biosphere reserves, two global geoparks and three creative cities.
You can visit the website to find out more about the UNESCO designations.
Year of Stories
The Year of Stories launch image
The end of 2022 has closed the book on the Year of Stories, however there’s a wealth of resources and information here on VisitScotland.org to continue the legacy of the Year.
In case you missed it, Edinburgh-based Mercat Tours featured within a story on new initiatives and campaigns created by tour operators and attractions across Scotland. Take a look.
Regional marketing for Year of Stories
Publishing partnerships with News UK (The Sun) and Reach Media (Daily Record, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeenlive.co.uk) and 17 regional titles across Scotland including the West Lothian Courier was part of the Year of Stories supported promotion of the Great Days Out campaign.
It focused on storytelling related attractions, those with a great story to tell and free attractions. The Scottish Storytelling Centre, Rosslyn Chapel and National Museum of Flight all feature.
The final piece of paid promotion activity for the Year of Stories focused on a content partnership with Reach Media (Daily Record, edinburghlive.co.uk and glasgow.live.co.uk) highlighting the interesting stories behind a number of visitor attractions, hospitality venues and accommodation providers across Scotland. Rosslyn Chapel featured in the Edinburgh article.
Edinburgh and the Lothians on our social media
5.73 million
Social reach for Edinburgh & the Lothians
317,700
Number of reactions, likes, comments, shares and saves for Edinburgh
401,000
Top performing post by reach on Facebook was a post featuring Edinburgh’s Tolbooth Tavern
Regional marketing
Couple at North Berwick beach
Inspire your visitors, refresh your website and social media by sharing our blogs. Our regional marketing team create new blogs regularly which feature on visitscotland.com. We've included Edinburgh and the Lothians in these latest articles:
- 7 Amazing accommodation ideas in East Lothian
- 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships: Everything you need to know
- 9 Free UNESCO attractions to experience in Scotland
- Scotland's UNESCO trail in pictures
Related links
