Fife Tourism and Business Conference

The Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort and Spa is the venue for Fife’s annual tourism trade event on Tuesday 31st March.

Titled “Seizing Opportunities, Today and Tomorrow”, the conference is open to delegates located in Fife, or elsewhere, and has attracted an impressive array of speakers, each of whom will inspire delegates with ways to give their businesses every chance of success in these challenging times. In addition to the headline presentations there will also be a series of workshops, a networking lunch and a range of exhibitors. Aimed at business owners, managers, team leaders and supervisors—in fact, anyone who offers a service to customers – the event is organised by Springboard Scotland on behalf of St Andrews World Class Initiative, Scottish Enterprise, Fife Council, VisitScotland and Skills Development Scotland.

Stephen Carter, the former General Manager of St Andrews Bay Resort and now the GM at Cameron House Hotel at Loch Lomond will be the conference chairman. In his 35-year career, he has become recognised as an hotelier with a remarkable passion for the industry and the people within it.

Bob Downie is Chief Executive of the Royal Yacht Britannia in Leith, a position he has held since 1998, since when Britannia has become a five-star visitor attraction, achieving VisitScotland’s highest ever grading percentage mark and recently gaining the 2009 Conde Nast Award for Most Excellent Venue in the UK for corporate events.

Debbie Taylor is General Manager of the Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort and Spa. She arrived in St Andrews in 2007, having formerly held the post of GM at The Balmoral in Edinburgh, and is currently overseeing a major expansion programme at the resort. Debbie is recognised as one of the country’s leading hoteliers and is well-known for her dynamic leadership qualities.

Robin Worsnop is the founder and Managing Director of Rabbie’s Trail Burners, based in Edinburgh. The company, set up in 1993, now operates tours from both Edinburgh and Glasgow, and employs over 30 people. RTB has won two Thistle Awards, is a Gold Award holder in the Green Tourism Business Scheme, and is classed as a five-star tour company by VisitScotland.

Other speakers and workshop leaders at the event will include Russell Ferguson, a Chartered Marketer who advises businesses on profitable and effective marketing techniques; Sarah Grant, VisitScotland’s Growth Fund Adviser for North and Central Scotland; Jenny Lambie, founder of the Lambie Gilchrist Consultancy, which specialises in helping companies deliver the best possible customer service; and Alan Rankin, who is the Chief Executive of Aviemore and the Cairngorms Destination Marketing Organisation.

The event will commence at 9.30 am (registration from 8.45 am) and conclude at 4.00 pm. The delegate fee (which includes lunch) is £30 inclusive of VAT. To obtain a booking form simply telephone 07724 112954 or e-mail your name and organisation to joanna.parker@scotent.co.uk.

New Business Club - Ryder Cup Opportunity?

One of the more taxing issues facing some members of GTS in recent years has been the Ryder Cup and the lack of opportunity to package the event due to restrictions on ticketing distribution. Well The Ryder Cup was certainly mentioned in despatches by the First Minister - whether it will open up new opportunities for tour operators and accommodation providers would be impossible to say but it may still be worth signing up to their newsletter. The website describes the aims as thus:
"BusinessClub Scotland is a new initiative designed to ensure that Scotland’s business community capitalises on the country’s ambitious events programme in the run up to the 2014 Commonwealth Games and beyond.
The Club will:

• Improve Business Competitiveness
• Build Supply Chain Networks
• Facilitate procurement around events
• Extend reach of existing networks
• Provide direct business engagement and targeted networking at events to win business
• Develop expertise in event management and delivery

Utilising the strength of Scotland's leading business organisations and supported by the Scottish Government the club aims to engage with businesses across Scotland to maximise the commercial opportunities generated by major events - both at home and abroad.

Based on the experience of other clubs in Australia, the Caribbean and North West England, the club is open to any organisation across Scotland and is free to register

Refresh Design Offer

Refresh Design, http://www.refreshdesign.co.uk/ developers of Kingsbarns, Executive Golf & Leisure, GTS and most recently Castle Stuart web sites are now offering fellow GTS members up to 15% discount on any graphic or web design work. Initial consultations are free of charge so please contact Alan Seath on 01383 629948 or email alan@refreshdesign.co.uk

Golf Tourism Monitor Report

Whilst the full report has been available on the Golf Monitor website for a few weeks we thought another highlighting of the trends for last year wouldn't go amiss.

April and October are clearly the shoulder months of the main golf tourism season,
with around 500-600 visitor rounds per course on average. Visitor rounds effectively
double to around 1,000 or more per course for the core months of May to September
inclusive.

A similar pattern is apparent in the visitor revenue figures, with average revenue per
course of around £20,000 in April and October, rising to £40-£45,000 from May to
September.

Visitor rounds were 4% down overall for April to October for the 30-40 courses where
direct comparisons with 2007 can be made at this stage. Visitor numbers held up
best in May and September – the two main when rainfall in Scotland as a whole was
below average in what was otherwise a very wet season.

Looking further back, April to October visitor rounds were 29% down for the 23
courses for which direct comparisons can be made with 2005, so this season’s
decline is clearly part of a trend extending over several years.

As shown below, there were wide variations in levels of visitor business among
courses of different types and in different parts of the country over the April to
October period.

For more detail on all of the 2008 reports and schedules for 2009 please visit the Golf Monitor Website