Three Capital businesses aiming to make Euro connections

Three Edinburgh businesses are taking part in a pan-European travel trade mission later this month.

Crerar Hotels, Holyrood Distillery and Mercat Tours are involved in the the Scotland workshop, organised by VisitScotland, which brings together 40 Scottish suppliers and up to 40 representatives of key travel organisations from different European markets.

The event is in Frankfurt, Germany, from 26 to 28 November and will incorporate market awareness sessions, networking opportunities and one-to-one appointments between Scottish suppliers and European travel trade representatives.

The initiative is to build relationships and strengthen Scotland’s tourism development in the European market which is the largest single market area for international visitors to Scotland.

Figures show that Europe provided 2.2 million visitors in 2018 and Scotland’s international market share of 64 per cent grew by five per cent compared to 2017.

Last year’s development mission took place in Amsterdam with 720 appointments made and 50 per cent of businesses saying it met expectations while the other 50 per cent said it exceeded their expectations.

Most recent figures from the International Passenger Survey rank Germany and France as the biggest European inbound markets to Scotland in terms of holiday spend.

They are followed by Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands and in terms of numbers of trips to Scotland, Germany ranks highest, followed by France, Italy and Spain.