Our digital owned channels play a vital role throughout the travel planning cycle of prospective visitors. These channels include visitscotland.com, email marketing, and our social media channels.
We ensure people engage with our owned channels during the quieter months (October until May) with seasonal content. This content aims to inspire travel both in the short (within weeks) and longer term (within months).
Users follow seasonal trends on each individual channel. The combined result is a sustained level of engagement during the quieter half of the year equal in size to what we see during the busier summer months.
As we approached the tail end of 2023 the curated content on our owned channels began to change. We positioned Scotland as an inclusive, year-round destination for powerfully enriching personal experiences.
We prioritised key markets and audiences to grow Scotland's share of global travel in a sustainable way. This also increased the value per visit.
To achieve this during the autumn and winter months, our owned channels shone a spotlight on the following key areas.
During the autumn and winter, we promoted quieter, alternative destinations. We also highlighted some spectacular landscapes on our social channels.
We featured the influencer Chris Lawlor’s personal account of a scenic winter trip to the Cairngorms National Park.
Browse Chris Lawlor's video of the Cairngorms on instagram.com.
The influencer Slow Traveler visited the Scottish Borders. There, she highlighted many local businesses and enjoyed a farm-to-table meal at Wilson’s Farm and Kitchen.
Check out Slow Traveler's post about her visit to the Scottish Borders on instagram.com.
We shared user-generated content (UGC) imagery from visitors and businesses of cosy places to eat and stay. We also further promoted our articles on visitscotland.com around places to stay in cities, and quirky farm stays.
We promoted 10 independent coffee spots across nine regions of Scotland in a reel on our social channels. For this, we were building on a trend for saveable guides on social media. Pumpkin picking and even afternoon tea with sheep featured on our channels too.
We also began sharing an easy-to-read guide with small businesses. In these, we outlined how they can feature in similar upcoming promotions.
Discover more information about how we choose content to share on social media.
Dark skies footage featured on our social media and email marketing. It featured footage from Shetland, Fife, Angus, Dumfries & Galloway, and the Cairngorms National Park. The footage targeted both UK and international audiences.
As the festive season rolled in, we highlighted:
Paisley’s Halloween Festival
the Enchanted Forest in Perthshire
Christmas in Aberdeen
a variety of other fun things to do in Scotland in December
View our post on Paisley's Halloween Festival on instagram.com.
At the end of December, we live-streamed the Edinburgh Hogmanay Torchlight procession. We asked the influencer traveltwo_ to create a summary of the past 12 months to showcase Scotland throughout the year.
Early in the autumn, we highlighted the ease of visiting places near Inverness without a car. We also promoted city rail journeys to our international audiences.
More recently, we created a saveable social guide of 10 Things to See & Do in Glasgow. We also asked the influencer Lavena Back to share her family trip to V&A Dundee. Indoor winter attractions and low-cost attractions featured on our social and email channels.
As 2024 extends, our owned channels will begin to shift focus. We'll highlight Scotland’s attractions, picturesque landscapes, charming villages, and rich heritage.
The following experiences will find themselves in the spotlight on our channels over the coming months.
