Today (25 March) sees us take the next steps in our business support journey with the launch of our Business Support Hub website and VisitScotland Business Essentials: Bitesize Webinars.
Both are part of our Business Support Programme, which takes a digital-first approach to providing tourism and event businesses with valuable insights and advice. This focus will help us ensure that Scotland continues to deliver high-quality, unique experiences across all sectors of the visitor economy.
Through a year-round programme of free support, we’ll reach more businesses, helping them to grow and keep up to date with the latest consumer, market and sector insight. The programme includes digital advice, webinars and workshops, networking and peer-to-peer learning, and marketing opportunities.
The Business Support Hub is a central resource hub for the tourism and events industry with valuable, actionable insights in a user-friendly structure.
The website is packed with tailored tourism and events advice and support. It hosts tools and resources to help businesses, with steps to start, improve and grow your tourism or events business in a sustainable way.
The Business Support Hub you view today is just the beginning. We recognise that there’s still work to be done, and we want businesses to play a key role in shaping its development.
We’ll be continuously improving the website, with ongoing updates and enhancements. Over the next few months, we’ll be adding more tailored content and collaborating with businesses and partners to ensure it meets their needs.
That’s where you come in. We’re excited for you to explore the new Business Support Hub website. Please use the feedback form on the top of each page on the website to share your thoughts with us.
Go to the Business Support Hub
Business Support Hub on a users laptop
As part of our business support programme, we offer a variety of webinars, workshops, networking opportunities, and peer-to-peer learning sessions.
This year, we’re launching a new annual series of concise, informative webinars on key topics designed to help businesses to thrive. Topics will include:
Each webinar is designed to help businesses strengthen their resilience and navigate potential challenges. You’ll gain valuable insights into industry trends, best practices, and pressing issues relevant to your business.
Our webinars will be brief and to the point, allowing your business to absorb key knowledge without disrupting your daily operations and will signpost to further sources of information.
All sessions will be recorded and made available on the Business Support Hub within the relevant topic area, so businesses can access them at any time.
Live webinars will include an interactive Q&A session (not recorded), where you can ask questions in real-time and engage directly with speakers.
Starting in April, these webinars will be available throughout the year. Be sure to sign up for the upcoming VisitScotland Business Essentials: Bitesize Webinars when registration opens in April.
Scotland's tourism and events industry play a vital role in our economy, drawing visitors through our landscapes, culture, and memorable experiences.
To support this, our approach to business support, focuses on helping tourism and event businesses to grow and connect with new audiences. Hear what our Chief Executive, Vicki Miller, has to say in her latest blog.
Read Vicki’s LinkedIn blog
Vicki Miller, Chief Executive, VisitScotland
Throughout the development of the business support programme, we’ve been working closely with our partners, destination teams, and sector and industry groups.
We conducted user testing of the new website with tourism and event businesses, as well as industry and sector groups, to ensure we’re addressing the needs of the industry.
The creation of the Business Support Hub website is also a direct response to the feedback collected during Scotland’s National Events Strategy consultation. This too highlighted the need for relevant resources like toolkits, case studies, and access to specialist support, advice, and research.
We’ll continue engaging in conversations and providing opportunities for businesses to share their feedback. This will ensure that we’re developing content and support that truly meets the needs of the tourism and event sectors.