Activity to support tourism in Edinburgh and the Lothians from January to March 2023
In this update:
2023 UCI Cycling World Championships
Article published 01/05/2023
Introduction from Regional Director, Neil Christison
Welcome to our latest regional update of the year where we look back at our key activity for the first quarter of 2023 between January and March. There are many challenges still facing our industry but at the start of our traditional tourism season in Scotland, we want to remind those in tourism and events of how far we have come, and the opportunities that lie ahead.
It was fantastic to be able to celebrate the hard work, passion and commitment within tourism and events at the National Final of the Scottish Thistle Awards in February. And with the countdown to the UCI Cycling World Championships taking place this summer firmly on, we launched a cycling industry toolkit to help support businesses to make the most of the opportunity and further develop Scottish cycling tourism.
Scottish Tourism Month in March presented the opportunity to celebrate our achievements and for the industry to come together at events throughout the region to share learnings, best practice and ideas for future collaboration. Here’s a round-up of some of our activity in Edinburgh and the Lothians in recent months.
Regional Director, Neil Christison attending the Scottish Thistle Award Final
Corporate press activity - Edinburgh and the Lothians
Edinburgh's vibrant city centre, aerial shot
Our corporate PR team work closely with Scottish and UK media to raise awareness of our work to promote Edinburgh and the Lothians to visitors, and how we offer support for the industry.
Some of the most recent highlights include:
- We celebrated the very best of Scotland’s tourism and events industry at the National Final of the Scottish Thistle Awards, including winners from Edinburgh and the Lothians.
Winners from 'A Toast to Gaia', Edinburgh Science who won in the Working Together for Tourism category, sponsored by Historic Environment Scotland.
- We issued an opinion editorial from Regional Director Neil Christison ahead of the traditional start of the tourism season which was picked up by the regional press, including the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and Midlothian View.
- We provided a supporting quote to Dundas Castle to celebrate their recent 5-Star Quality Assurance Award on social media.
- We encouraged tourism businesses across Scotland to take part in VisitScotland Connect, our global travel trade workshop which took place in Aberdeen.
Read about the successes at VisitScotland Connect 2023
2023 UCI Cycling World Championships
The 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships come to Glasgow and venues across Scotland in August this year. Edinburgh is one of the host regions of this flagship event.
It will be the single biggest cycling event in history, bringing together for the first time 13 existing UCI World Championships into one mega event. Partners and tourism businesses are encouraged to help promote both the event as well as celebrate the #PowerOfTheBike
With Edinburgh being a host region for the championships dedicated information webpages have been created. These pages are a great resource for visitors whether they are spectators to the events or taking part. It’s a great resource to share on your channels.
We’ve developed a toolkit which has been created to help you maximise the opportunity through a range of assets and ready-to-use content.
Take a look at our cycling toolkit
Watch the UCI Cycling World Championships promo film!
Social media stats - January to March
3.08million
No Edinburgh & Lothians specific content reached people across the last three month
279,600
No of reactions, likes, comments, shares and saves on Edinburgh and the Lothians posts
Over 469,400
Top performing post was on Instagram and was an image of Edinburgh Castle framed by cherry blossom
Recent blogs and content on visitscotland.com
We can reach potential visitors to Edinburgh and the Lothians through targeted online content. Blogs are one way in which we can really focus on specific topics that we know, from our research, that our visitors are searching for, or interested in.
And we can use this type of content to showcase all that the tourism industry offers across East, West and Midlothian – all year round.
You can share our blogs which are available on visitscotland.com. Here are some examples of our latest blogs which feature Edinburgh and the Lothians:
- 35 things to do this Easter with the family
- Scotland's newest whisky distilleries
- 10 Quirky Museums You Must Visit in Scotland
- 10 Things to Do on a Holiday in Scotland in April
- 9 Scottish islands to visit for the day
- 18 Hotels with Good Food & Drink in Scotland
A new version of visitscotland.com launched in the week of 13 February with brand new regional and destination pages, here are a few examples of the new regional content created:
- Food & drink Festivals (Scottish Vegan Festival, Edinburgh Food Festival)
- Wildlife webcams (Bass Rock, Fidra, Craigleith, Isle of May, Edinburgh Zoo)
- Birds & birdwatching (Isle of May, Scottish Seabird Centre)
- Galleries (Portrait Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art, City Art Centre, Fruitmarket Gallery)
- 15 stunning golf hotels in Scotland (Archerfield)
Exhibits at The Writers' Museum in Edinburgh
Scottish Thistle Awards - The final
A total of 17 businesses and individuals were honoured at Scotland’s premier tourism and events awards in January. Congratulations to the finalists and winners!
By why enter the awards? Read our latest news story on "Seven reasons why your tourism business should enter for 2023"
The winners at the Scottish Thistle Awards final in Edinburgh
Here is a round up of our Global PR activity covering Edinburgh and the Lothians
- On the back of pitching around Burns Night, Stylist magazine (reach: 402,000) included the Wedgwood restaurant showcasing their cranachan recipe and linking to the restaurant’s website in the article.
- We arranged for writer Phoebe Taplin to travel across the central belt to explore the John Muir Way as a result the coverage reached in total over 1.8 million.
- The W Edinburgh was included in a round-up of the best new places to stay in the Times – online and print (reach: 600,000)
- After a group press trip promoting Scotland’s UNESCO Trail we received a piece in geo.de (a popular online travel magazine in Germany), featuring all UNESCO designations. This includes Edinburgh Old and New Town, Edinburgh City of Literature and the Forth Bridge.
- German travel magazine GEO Saison featured Edinburgh’s pub culture as well as Calton Hill as two of 13 experiences/locations not to be missed on a trip to Scotland.
- German TV/entertainment magazines Gong, Bild+Funk and Hörzu (with a combined reach of 5.2 million) included Edinburgh in a wider Scotland travel feature, highlighting the city’s history, architecture and literary links.
- A feature about vintage shopping in Edinburgh in Germany’s largest women’s magazine was published online in January. The also team hosted journalist and photographer in spring 2022.
- The team hosted a group of journalists in February to explore the east of Scotland starting in Edinburgh. A couple of articles were published in Nice Matin with great coverage on Edinburgh and in LonelyPlanet France, highlighting South Queensferry.
- A feature about vintage shopping in Edinburgh in Germany’s largest women’s magazine was published online in January. The also team hosted journalist and photographer in spring 2022.
- Edinburgh continues to perform well following our year ahead release/pitching new openings for 2023 and was listed in many where to go style roundups at the beginning of the year. Here are a few other articles that have been published recently:
- Travel + Leisure – 25 Most Beautiful Cities in the World featured Edinburgh – mentioning Festivals, food & drink, landscape and architecture: 25 Most Beautiful Cities in the World (travelandleisure.com)
- Architectural Digest's article titled "23 Places to Travel in 2023 – Edinburgh". It looked at new hotel openings such as the Gleneagles Townhouse, 100 Princes Street and W Hotel.
- Bloomberg Pursuits article titled "Where to go in 2023 – Edinburgh". It looked at new hotels Virgin Hotels Edinburgh, 100 Princes Street, W Hotel and St James Quarter.
- The Royal Yacht Britannia featured in The Washington Post’s story about royal locations across the UK, inspired by The Crown.
- Ongoing press trip activity included itinerary suggestions and ASVA pass support for a mix of journalists and content creators.
- Fantastic coverage achieved for Edinburgh in Australia – in January 2023, 21st Century Kilts in Edinburgh was featured together with the Scottish tartan history and culture on The Herald Sun and The Sunday Age, Fingal Edinburgh was featured on the Saturday Age.
In February, the Forth Bridge and Edinburgh were featured in The family fun in Scotland by Global Travel Media.com.au. Prestonfield House in Edinburgh was featured in the Herald Sun, Sunday Mail Adelaide, Sunday Mail Brisbane, Sunday Tasmanian and the Sunday Telegraph as one of the 14 most indulgent adults only escapes destinations.
- UAE: In February, the Forth Bridge and Edinburgh were featured in a The family fun article in Scotland by travelandmarkets.com.
- China: Edinburgh was featured by Traveler Magazine for the gorgeous sunset, toutiao.com for a weekend in Edinburgh, dy.163.com and cn.chinaculture.org for the Chinese New Year celebrations in the city.