Business advice and support
Your Industry Relationship Manager (IRM) is part of the wider Destination Development Team. Their key focus is to help tourism businesses capitalise on opportunities for sustainable growth.
Your Industry Relationship Manager supports industry to deliver digital excellence, effective distribution and memorable experiences. Through our regional outreach, the team gathers insights into the local tourism offering. This allows them to develop a better understanding of how to help you develop and grow your business.
How can an Industry Relationship Manager support your business
Distribution
Attracting new customers to your tourism business is all about visibility. Today’s holidaymakers use a wide variety of channels to find and book trips.
For maximum impact online, your business needs to be discoverable and bookable.
Sector specific support
Some tourism sectors, such as accommodation, are well represented when it comes to being bookable online. This is less often the case in the tourism experiences sector.
To stay competitive, we can help experience businesses navigate online bookability. Sourcing a booking solution which works for your experience can turn "lookers" into "bookers".
Direct bookings
We understand that direct bookings will continue to be a priority for many tourism businesses. We can support you to achieve direct bookings by ensuring your online visibility.
Industry Relationship Managers offer digital reviews which provide you with actionable advice.
We look at online reviews, social media activity, website security, being mobile friendly as well as page speed. These factors all play a part in how, and where, your website appears in search engine results. We'll aim to direct traffic, improve your digital footprint and your online visibility.
We also work in partnership with Business Gateway to deliver in-depth, practical webinars. To further help with direct website traffic, view our recent webinars recordings.
You can also sign up to our newsletter to get updates on upcoming programs.
View our webinars on digital skills to help build and enhance your online presence.
Indirect bookings
Intermediaries are an important part of your distribution model. Whether that’s working with online travel agents (OTAs) or the travel trade, these intermediaries are far reaching. They can help boost your your sales revenue and profitability.
There are different methods and tactics to consider when working with intermediaries. We can guide you and help coach what that might look like for your tourism business.
Responsible tourism
Our approach to responsible tourism supports businesses to adopt, adapt and improve.
It's not just about the steps you can take to reduce carbon emissions. It's also about creating thriving communities and the protection of our natural and cultural heritage. It's about making our experiences inclusive.
We want to understand your current responsible practices and help you expand these. Providing a fuller and more responsible tourism offering, can lead you to new markets.
Product development
Within regions, we aim to increase the spread of tourism benefits from a seasonal and geographical perspective.
Developing new, responsible, bookable products will benefit tourism businesses and increase visitor choice. We can work with you to identify product development potential for certain markets.
Contacts
Claire Gaspar
Industry Relationship Manager - Forth Valley, Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, North & South Lanarkshire
Donald Hoy
Industry Relationship Manager - Argyll & Isles
Lee Inkster
Industry Relationship Manager - Orkney, Shetland
Craig Lawless
Industry Relationship Manager – Ayrshire & Arran, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire & Inverclyde, Glasgow City
Alasdair MacLauchlan
Industry Relationship Manager - Edinburgh, Midlothian & West Lothian
Alan Mackenzie
Industry Relationship Manager - Skye, Lochalsh, Outer Hebrides, Fort William & Lochaber
Cassie McEwan
Industry Relationship Manager - Inverness, Loch Ness, Badenoch & Strathspey, NC500
Hélène Sinclair
Industry Relationship Manager - East Lothian, Scottish Borders
James Sinclair
Industry Relationship Manager - Fife, Perthshire