Fife industry update

Scotland’s UNESCO Trail

Following our Scotland UNESCO trail marketing campaign in October 2022, which features Fife, a series of webinars took place over summer / autumn with Scottish Government, designation site representations and the UK UNESCO Commission to present the results of this activity.

We also presented to a meeting of the Nordic UNESCO delegates who were keen to learn more about the development and success of the trail. Our insights team are continuing work on an economic impact report which will be published in 2024.

The campaign has now been completed, you can read the full news article, and we've pulled together the key highlights below.

"Blam to the max" days out in Fife

Fife featured in our recent marketing activity with ScotRail and the Beano to promote sustainable days out for all the family.

• Aberdour and Fife Coastal Path featured in Edinburgh Live. 
• Dunfermline featured in print and online for both The Scottish Daily Express and The Daily Record, and on digital display ads. 

All this promotional activity was designed to captivate our family audience and signpost to a dedicated webpage on visitscotland.com.

Fife "in the news" highlights

• We created a pitch around beaches in Scotland to visit over the summer, which included Tentsmuir Beach in Fife and The HideAway at Cambo as a local place to stay. Coverage featured Tentsmuir in the Mail online (reach: 24.9 million). 

• Around the release of the new Barbie film, we compiled a list of pink places to visit in Scotland which included Abbot House in Dunfermline as well as Pittenweem. Coverage appeared in the Sunday Post, the Daily Record online, as well as video content on the YouTube Channel of the Daily Record (with over 45,000 subscribers). 

•  The Dundonald Guest House & Cottage in Culross appeared in an article for budget-conscious travellers in I newspaper,  print and online. Take a look.

• We supported the editor of The Points Guy with itinerary ideas and suggestions for a road trip to Fife. The resulting article highlighted how easy and pleasant it is to drive from Edinburgh to Fife and showcased St Andrews as a golf destination. The Points Guy publishes travel advice and how to maximise any trip.  

• In October, Scotland featured in Condé Nast Traveler in a roundup of where The Crown TV show was filmed. The Scotland element focused on St Andrews, particularly St Andrews University, and highlighted its historic golf course and beautiful beaches, its foodie opportunities and further TV links in Chariots of Fire.  Condé Nast Traveler is a luxury and lifestyle travel magazine with a digital reach of over 5,000,000 unique views per month. 

• And again, in November, the Condé Nast Traveler featured a roundup of the 16 best hotels in Scotland, which included Rusacks St Andrews in the list. The feature highlights the hotel as the ideal accommodation for golf enthusiasts as well as those interested in history, with visitors able to visit the St Andrews Cathedral, harbour, and pier. 

• Press trip activity for a luxury magazine included The Peat Inn with the journalist exploring St Andrews, Crail, Anstruther, Pittenweem and Elie. This feature is expected to publish in spring 2024. 

• Brigitte, Germany’s most widely read women’s magazine, published a fantastic multi-page spread on Scotland at the end of 2023 as a result of a trip the PR team worked on in 2022. The article features the driving range in St Andrews – with a round of golf there being described as a must-do activity on a trip to Scotland. 

• We supported German women’s magazine Frau von Heute with suggestions and images for a Scotland feature which highlighted St Andrews for its rich history. The article was also published across a range of similar women’s magazines belonging to the same group.

• We supported the Scotland edition of Geo magazine which included an article on “The favourite places of our Scottish reporter” Mike MacEacheran. He covered The East Neuk as a food & drink hidden gem, promoting locally caught crabs, lobsters and razor clams and personally recommends the smoked langoustine roll at The Cellar in Anstruther.

• In partnership with VisitBritain, freelancer writer Steve McKenna visited Dunfermline and Limeklins last year. Resulting coverage highlighted his visit to Scotland’s newest city exploring major attractions, Limeklins and The Ship Inn, with call-to-action to visitscotland.com. The article featured in The Sunday Times (circulation: 146,000) and The West Australian (circulation: 130,000) and online thewest.com.au (monthly unique visitors: 1.83 million). 

• An article featuring St Andrews through the royal lens was published by Woman’s Day magazine (circulation: 320, 000) in August 2023.  The article featured St Andrews following the footsteps of Prince William and Kate, and included St Andrews University, Hotel du Vin, St Andrews Castle and Cathedral, West Port Bar and Kitchen and St Andrews West Sands. 

• Australian journalist, Melissa Mason, commissioned by Pedestrian TV (monthly audience 1.3 million) visited Fife in October 2023 on an Outlander themed story, coverage expected early 2024. 

• South China Morning Post published an article in August featuring The Gleneagles Hotel, outdoor experiences including falconry, fine dining with fresh local produce, golf and surrounding scenery.

• St Andrews featured in a print article published by Al Khaleej (circulation: 115,000) in September and highlighted the town’s coastline, castles and golf.

•  Condé Nast - Traveller Middle East published an online article in September on the best places to visit in Scotland, which included Fife. The article highlighted the regions coastal treasures, castles, villages in East Neuk, golf in St Andrews and the culinary delights in the region.

Take a look at our selection of news coverage in the gallery following.

Fife Tourism Conference

With the theme of "Developing New Markets", the Fife Tourism Conference will take place on Tuesday 27 February in the newly redeveloped Adam Smith Theatre in Kirkcaldy.

The day will consist of networking opportunities and presentations on the topics of digital innovation, working with online travel agents, developing your travel trade offering, and sustainability in the visitor economy. There will also be a "Pecha Kucha" style session with presentations covering different aspects of the local tourism sector.

Tickets remain at the 2022 price of £25 per person and includes lunch.