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Chris Foy: North-east is no distant Treasure Island for travellers

Our team works hard to dispel myths about journey times to the region.

Robert Louis Stevenson once said: “I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.”

Edinburgh’s literary son did, of course, stop moving from time to time.

His links with the north-east are well documented, with the famed author scribing the first 16 chapters of Treasure Island while holidaying in Braemar in 1881 .

Without travel there would not be much of a tourism industry

Travel is the golden thread that weaves through the north-east’s economy and business community. Whether it is for leisure or the meeting of minds to crack the energy sector’s next move, the way people move around is vital.

Quite simply, without travel there would not be much of a tourism industry.

Recent enhancements to gateways and modes of transport are great news for our destination. Port of Aberdeen’s gargantuan south harbour has facilitated a new wave of visitors to the region.

Cruise ships from northern Europe have been a welcome sight for local businesses this summer. Arriving passengers have been warmly greeted by VisitAberdeenshire’s quayside volunteers , who have encouraged deeper exploration of the city and surrounding areas.

Elsewhere, Loganair’s route network, upgrades to Aberdeen’s railway station, electric and hydrogen buses, the introduction of The Big Issue e-bikes and Hoppa airport hotel bus service all combine to make the visitor experience smoother and greener.

Now in its sixth year, the AWPR (Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route) has opened up the Banffshire coast to visitors from the south, with shorter, more predictable journey times.

Innovation and investment will continue to improve connectivity, reduce carbon emissions and make journeys more accessible for travellers with specific needs.

The obstacles are often perceptions rather than realities.

We are no more than one stop from the world

Our team works hard to dispel myths about journey times to the north-east. The mantra to conference organisers is that we are no more than one stop from the world. Likewise, a London-based travel writer can be surprised to discover the journey from Hounslow to Huntly can be comfortably achieved within a morning.

VisitAberdeenshire is taking great strides to raise the destination’s profile among national media, landing top spots in glossy magazines’ “top UK staycations for 2023”.

ℹ️ @GHmagazine – #Aberdeenshire "best holiday destination in the UK for 2023" Delighted #Aberdeenshire included in the hot list. 'Wellness travel' & 'mindful movement' focuses on the smells & noises whilst you exercise & the positive mental health impact 😎 https://t.co/1CPNQKFTMv pic.twitter.com/Tt523o9mCK — AberdeenshireEconDev (@EconDevAbshire) December 12, 2022

These span Good Housekeeping , Country Living and a recent feature in National Geographic Traveller magazine. The region is triggering the curiosity of journalists with a nose for a story about a less-discovered area.

We know the degree of travel tolerance time our targeted audiences are amenable to.

More than four-fifths (83%) of those surveyed would be willing to travel three to four hours for a short break and 97% for a longer break.

This tells us people who live in the rest of Scotland and northern England, as well as those within striking distance of a regional airport are primed for an Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire adventure.

While VisitAberdeenshire’s targeted marketing campaigns and PR helps to bolster demand, the reality of supply-side trading conditions cannot be ignored. From the costs of labour, energy and food to uncertainty over the impact of new legislation, the current environment is a challenge for hundreds of tourism small and medium-sized enterprises across the country.

There is no silver bullet but VisitAberdeenshire’s work – specifically its tourism development programme for 2023-24 – aims to equip businesses with some of the skills and customer insights that can help improve efficiency.

It’s not just visitors themselves who need reassuring about access options and travel times. Travel trade intermediaries, from coach operators in Wigan to travel agents in Wiesbaden need to know they can do business in the north-east of Scotland.

Trade events a great opportunity to bang the drum for north-east tourism

It is encouraging that VisitScotland Connect , Scotland’s premier travel trade event will return to P&J Live, Aberdeen, in 2024 and 2025 following a successful premiere in 2023. The previous event came hot on the heels of UKInbound’s convention in the Granite City during 2022.

These are great opportunities to highlight the very best of the north-east tourism sector to trade buyers – and to secure future business.

The same goes for other major business events. As the dust settles after Offshore Europe at P&J Live, we are reminded of the value and significance of hosting big conferences. This is a market expected to be worth an estimated £27.6 billion to the UK economy by 2026 , according to research by Tourism Economics .

Data from VisitBritain indicates that for every international conference hosted in Scotland, each delegate will contribute an estimated £1,021 to the local economy .

And for every national conference, each delegate will bring in an estimated £448.

Conference organisers heading to Aberdeen for big annual awards date

The Aberdeen Convention Bureau , part of VisitAberdeenshire, and P&J Live look forward to hosting the Association of Professional Conference Organisers in December.

Members will gather in the Granite City for the association’s Excellence Awards 2023 event. It will be a wonderful occasion for influential industry figures to not only explore new horizons, but also experience the ease of access to the north-east by train, plane or automobile.

With so many options to arrive in style, I expect RL Stevenson would have been minded to stop by once again.

Chris Foy is chief executive of north-east tourism body VisitAberdeenshire.

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VisitAberdeenshire appoints Chris Foy as new CEO

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VisitAberdeenshire has confirmed the appointment of Chris Foy as its new chief executive officer.

Foy joins the the destination management organisation for Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire after leaving his post as Head of Business Events at VisitBritain, where he recently oversaw the re-launch of a separate business events function within the national tourism agency.

Foy brings over 25 years of tourism industry experience to the position, having also held positions at the former London Tourist Board, London Development Agency, and in the heritage attractions sector.

He visited Glasgow in December last year where he spoke at a Business Tourism conference in the city. At the conference he outlined VisitBritain’s renewed focus on bringing business events to the country.

In this role, Foy has created and implemented a strategy to sell the UK as a business event destination, primarily to American and European markets and has dealt with a range of business events across Scotland.

Foy also led the implementation of a strategy to spread the tourism benefits of the London Olympics to the whole of the UK as head of Visit Britain’s 2012 Games unit; after the Olympics, he led Visit Britain’s overseas network operations, before moving to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office to work on the UK Government’s GREAT Britain campaign. Returning to Visit Britain in 2015 as head of nations and regions, his brief included leadership of the GREAT Inverness Loch Ness Fund.

Colin Crosby, VisitAberdeenshire chairman, said: “Chris brings a wealth of tourism experience to the role from both a strategic and operational focus, which is vital if VisitAberdeenshire is to continue to position the region as a top leisure and business tourism destination.

“Chris’s excellent leadership skills, and his credentials as a high-level tourism strategist, will further strengthen the VisitAberdeenshire team. I am delighted with Chris’s appointment and look forward to him leading the team at VisitAberdeenshire in his new role as the chief executive officer.”

Foy, who had worked at the heart of the Government’s tourism operation in Number 10 Downing Street, will take up the chief executive officer post at the beginning of August 2017.

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AWPR - VisitAberdeenshire and Aberdeen International Airport back GoNorthEast campaign

VisitAberdeenshire and Aberdeen International Airport are today (DATE) announcing their support for the #GoNorthEast campaign, with both organisations stating the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route/Balmedie to Tipperty (AWPR/B-T) project is crucial for attracting more business and visitors to the North-east.   Chris Foy, chief executive officer of VisitAberdeenshire, and Carol Benzie, Aberdeen International Airport’s managing director, have both backed the project which is due to fully open in late Autumn 2018, stating it will support their organisations’ ambitions to significantly boost visitor levels to the North-east.   VisitAberdeenshire, which promotes visitor experiences across North East Scotland, has hailed the project as “the golden thread which connects the region.”   Chris Foy, who recently outlined VisitAberdeenshire’s target to raise visitor spend in the North-east to one billion pounds each year by 2023, said the project will help make the destination more accessible to visitors. He said:   “We have significant capacity to grow our tourism industry and the AWPR project will play a crucial part in enabling the renaissance of region. It’s the golden thread which runs between other major infrastructure projects in the city, such as the harbour and the AECC. It will help build confidence in the region and make us more attractive for business and leisure visitors.   “As well as offering increased connection opportunities in and around the city, the project also brings good news for smaller tourism operators in the north of region, like the Banffshire coast, which will benefit from easier access from the south.   “The AWPR is much more than a road project. It’s a strong part of the welcome we are offering to visitors, conference delegates and organisers across the world; to bring their business into Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.”   Carol Benzie said the route will make it easier for those travelling through Aberdeen International Airport.  She said:   “The most exciting thing about the AWPR is the fact that staff and passengers from the south of the city will be able to get to the airport very easily without having to sit in congestion in the city centre. They can bypass all of that and be here almost half an hour quicker than they did previously.   “This is one of the top infrastructure projects currently underway in the UK and it really puts Aberdeen on the map. We have so many assets to show off and this road will make it easier for people to fly into Aberdeen and see some of the most beautiful sights in the world.”   Following extensive upgrades to the airport’s retail and security search facilities as part of a multi-million-pound Terminal Transformation project, there’s hope the AWPR project could lead to more routes for passengers.   Michael Matheson, Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity, said:   “I warmly welcome the support of Visit Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen Airport for the GoNorthEast campaign. Infrastructure is vital to growing the economy but when a project of the sheer scale of the AWPR is built and comes online, it also connects existing infrastructure together and to businesses and exponential benefits are realised.   “I’m pleased that in my first few weeks in this role people are using the newly opened Parkhill to Goval section and starting to experience some of these benefits as early as possible. But naturally I share the region’s – and Scotland’s – anticipation and enthusiasm for when the full scheme opens by the late autumn.”   Carol added: “If we can evidence to airlines that the AWPR is allowing more people to come to this airport, rather than travel to other airports, because of ease of access, then it will definitely strengthen the business case for new airlines to operate here.”   Aberdeen City Council Co-Leader Councillor Jenny Laing said   " I welcome the support of Visit Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen International Airport for the GoNorthEast campaign. Aberdeen City Council has invested over £75m in the new AWPR and we remain committed to investing in other major infrastructure projects around the airport and beyond in order to ensure Aberdeen remains a go to destination for both residents of the north-east and tourists.”   Leader of Aberdeenshire Council Cllr Jim Gifford said: “I am pleased to see the support being shown by VisitAberdeenshire and Aberdeen International Airport for the campaign.    “These are great examples of how the completed route will benefit major organisations in the area, making it easier for people to access services and get from A to B. The north-east of Scotland is already a desirable destination for a range of travellers, and the improved connectivity brought by the AWPR/B-T can only help to boost visitor numbers.”    

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VisitAberdeenshire publishes annual review demonstrating impact of the organisation

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VISITABERDEENSHIRE today published its annual review, demonstrating the tourism organisation’s work to support the sector during the 2022/23 financial year. The review also highlights VisitAberdeenshire’s employee engagement results. 

For the first time, VisitAberdeenshire commissioned independent evaluation of the impact of its website, e-newsletter, and social media channels. The result showed that this work alone generated an additional £3.4 million in visitor spend in 2022, in addition to the return on investment from paid-for advertising.

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Chris Foy, CEO, VisitAberdeenshire, said: “We use tried and tested evaluation models to demonstrate the outcome of the work we do. Engaged audiences were surveyed as to whether VisitAberdeenshire’s work shifted perceptions and influenced a visit, from this we were able to apply visitor spend metrics to generate an impressive figure.”

Elsewhere, VisitAberdeenshire’s Convention Bureau worked with partners including P&J Live, to successfully win large scale conferences worth £3.5million, equating to nearly 10,000 bed nights.

Mr Foy said: “By working in collaboration with venue partners, our universities and academics, Aberdeen Convention Bureau demonstrated the calibre of the city as a conference destination, securing a pipeline of business benefiting Aberdeen and beyond.” 

VisitAberdeenshire’s Industry Development Programme supports tourism businesses to develop skills to scale up and meet consumer demand including development of bookable products to sell into the travel trade supply chain. 

Ramped up marketing and communications activity delivered vibrant promotional campaigns and landed high profile coverage in Good Housekeeping and Country Living magazines, and in national newspapers including The Guardian and The Telegraph. 

Mr Foy continued: “VisitAberdeenshire’s team of experts has encouraged local businesses to make changes to stimulate growth, worked with travel intermediaries to sell Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire to tour operators and secured national press coverage in travel and lifestyle titles. But we will not stand still.

“Our vision is to be the leading destination organisation in Scotland, increasingly recognised for growing the visitor economy through bold and dynamic initiatives. We look forward to another fruitful year supported by our talented team of industry experts.” 

VisitAberdeenshire is funded by Opportunity North East, Aberdeenshire Council and Aberdeen City Council.

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VisitAberdeenshire to boost volunteer programme ahead of cruise ships arriving in the city

27 March 2023

VisitAberdeenshire is looking to bolster its volunteer scheme, by recruiting new team members to welcome visitors to Aberdeen and beyond.

The Welcome to Aberdeenshire volunteer programme was originally launched in 2019, but with the imminent arrival of cruise liners into Port of Aberdeen’s South Harbour, VisitAberdeenshire is looking for further enthusiastic individuals who can welcome visitors off the ships, and also assist at business events and conferences in the city.

Chris Foy, CEO, VisitAberdeenshire said: ”First impressions really count, so we need positive, friendly people to help create long lasting, positive impressions of the region so that they return again.”

VisitAberdeenshire’s volunteers are ambassadors for the area, sharing local knowledge and helpful information to enrich the visitor experience for those arriving in the city for business events or leisure purposes.

Mr Foy continued: “As cruise vessels begin to arrive, our volunteers will be on the quayside welcoming passengers and directing them to where they are going, whether they’re heading on a planned excursion or are exploring the city.”

Volunteers should have availability throughout the week and weekends. New recruits will be provided with a uniform and given training to enhance their local knowledge and customer service skills.

To apply, please visit https://www.visitabdn.com/about-us/volunteers/ for more information and application forms.

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