Now that we’ve marked a fresh new year, we also mark 100 days in post for our Chief Executive, Vicki Miller. Let’s hear about her first days in the role, upcoming opportunities for tourism and events businesses in 2025, our upcoming priorities, and more.
Vicki Miller, CEO of VisitScotland
The first 100 days have been a whirlwind of activity, learning and engagement. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a wide range of stakeholders across the industry and government and speaking at a number of industry events where I’ve also got to hear from many passionate businesses across a range of sectors and destinations about their challenges and opportunities. The insight I’ve gathered is really valuable in helping to shape our priorities in the coming year.
Within the organisation I’ve been finalising my senior structure and, along with our Board, looking at our priorities for the new financial year. We’ve also been developing our new three year corporate plan which we’ll launch in March.
I’m delighted that we‘ve confirmed Jill Walker as Director of Marketing and Digital and Cat Leaver as Director of Strategy and Competitive Intelligence. A key priority for me is to build on our insight and data programme – it’s key to informing our market investment and priorities as well as helping us all within the sector to make informed decisions that support our sustainable growth ambitions.
Our new Industry and Events directorate, led by Rob Dickson, will focus on working with destination and sector partners to realise the unique opportunities of each place and sector. This also ensures that our work supports the delivery of individual region and sector growth ambitions. Our Director of Corporate Services, Ken Neilson, and his teams will continue to provide valuable guidance and expertise to the rest of the organisation, helping to ensure its smooth running.
As a senior team, we’ve also been developing our business support programme for 2025/26 and overseeing the development of our new digital Business Support Hub.
One of the most memorable moments was celebrating with all of the regional Scottish Thistle Award finalists at the National Thistle Awards in December. It was a fantastic evening of celebration. Despite the challenging business environment it was great to recognise the many businesses across the country that are committed to continual improvement and delivering quality memorable experiences.
One of the key learnings from that evening was the passion businesses have for sharing best practice with each other – and that’s something that I’m keen we look to do more of through our networking events and business support activity. We’re all working to make Scotland a must visit destination, so it’s in our collective interest to share experiences and learning.
For me personally, my learnings are about pace and patience… the saying Rome wasn’t built in a day is true! There’s only so much you can take on at any one time. I’m very fortunate though to be surrounded by a great team who share my ambitions for Scotland and VisitScotland.
Scottish Thistle Awards 2024
It’s tough at the moment with the combined pressures of the cost of doing business and the cost of living crisis, so taking time to look at what customers and channels are delivering the best return is crucial. We’re also doing this same analysis, at a Scotland level, to ensure we make the right market and channel investments. We’ll be sharing market overviews in the coming months and there will be opportunities to join market webinars, if you’re looking at tapping into new markets.
Looking at your environmental sustainability is also key, not just in helping you to review where you can make valuable savings – but also sharing with your customers the important steps you’re making.
Travellers are increasingly conscious of the impact of their travel and want to be reassured that the destination and businesses they’re booking with are taking the necessary steps to reduce their environmental impact. Take a look at our helpful resources, which includes advice on reducing your climate impact.
Globally, travel is back at pre-pandemic levels and set to grow. Consumers are also choosing to spend on experiences over more general consumption. This presents opportunities to think about continuing to grow our share of higher spending international visitors, continuing to develop unique Scottish experiences linked to our strengths of nature, history, culture, food and drink. Wellness, wellbeing, and connection with nature are all trends that are here to stay. With greater flexible working we are also seeing business travellers combining business and leisure.
Wilderness Scotland
For VisitScotland, our priorities are focused on the key areas of market development, place development and business and experience development to drive sustainable economic growth. What that means is:
ensuring that we’re present in our core, growth and opportunity markets
developing our own digital and social channels aligned to the channel insight we have so that they have the greatest reach and impact
supporting tourism and event businesses by continuing to connect them with the latest market and consumer insight, audiences and markets
and importantly, partnership working at a local, regional and national level to ensure that all our tourism and event partners are both informing our work and that we explore opportunities where we can work together
As we enter 2025, I’m looking forward to continuing our journey towards a more sustainable, inclusive and award-winning tourism and events industry. In 2024, Scotland and its regions has been recognised with a number of global awards, including:
Baleshare Beach on North Uist Outer Hebrides.
All of these awards recognise the work we (VisitScotland and the industry) are collectively doing to deliver on our responsible tourism ambitions and be a leader in 21st century tourism and the Perfect Stage for Events.
I’m excited about the opportunities to continue to collaborate with our partners and stakeholders to create memorable experiences for visitors and continue to drive sustainable economic growth.
Today, we also launch our brand-new PR campaign to encourage winter breaks in Scotland, showcasing things to see and do at this time of year.
Do you remember our campaign that famously featured Shetland ponies in sweaters to promote Scotland’s natural beauty? It became a worldwide hit and has since inspired our latest campaign working with Julie the loveable Highland Cow from Newton Farm Holidays & Tours in Angus.
Find out more and get to know our moo-del!