LIMITLESS DISCOVERIES

WILD ABOUT ARGYLL

CARRON TOBIN

FREELANCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

ARGYLL & THE ISLES TOURISM COOPERATIVE

ARGYLL & THE ISLES THE DESTINATION

ARGYLL & THE ISLES –

THE DESTINATION

• 6,900 sq km - 9% of the Scottish Landmass

• Only 2% of the Scottish population

• Argyll’s coastline is greater than 3700km

• 23 inhabited islands

• 14.9% of employee jobs are in tourism

compared to the Scottish average of 8.9%

• Tourism GVA in Argyll is 93% of the

Scottish Average

ARGYLL & THE ISLES

VISITOR PROFILE

• 2 million overnight visits

• 86% domestic visits

• 14% overseas visits

• Top overseas markets: Germany, USA, France,

Netherlands, Australia

• £495m total visitor spend

IN THE

BEGINNING • 2011: first ever Argyll & The Isles

Tourism Summit held in Oban led by AISTP

• 150 business delegates agreed to

• To create an A&I umbrella brand

• To collaborate, communicate and engage

• To have a strategic presence at EXPO

• 2012: Argyll & The Isles Tourism Co-op set up

• 2012-13: AITC ’Stronger Together’ campaign implemented by AITC

ARGYLL & THE ISLES DESTINATION MANAGEMENT

AITC

Oban & Lorn

Tourism Alliance

Marketing Mull & Iona

Inveraray Marketing

Group

ARGYLL & THE ISLES DESTINATION MANAGEMENT

AITC

Oban & Lorn

Tourism Alliance Marketing

Mull & Iona

Heart of Argyll

Tourism Alliance

Inveraray Marketing

Group

Explore Kintyre &

Gigha

Islay & Jura Tourism

Marketing Group

Colonsay Marketing

Group

Cowal Marketing

Group

Kyles Marketing

Group

Visit Bute

Coll Dev Trust

AITC

GLORIOUS GARDENS

OF ARGYLL & BUTE

ARGYLL & THE ISLES COAST &

COUNTRY-SIDE TRUST

ARTMAP ARGYLL

FOOD FROM

ARGYLL

ARGYLL & BUTE

MUSEUMS AND

HERITAGE FORUM

ARGYLL & THE ISLES

LONG DISTANCE ROUTES

ARGYLL & THE ISLES DESTINATION MANAGEMENT

AITC

Oban & Lorn

Tourism Alliance Marketing

Mull & Iona

Heart of Argyll

Tourism Alliance

Inveraray Marketing

Group

Explore Kintyre &

Gigha

Islay & Jura Tourism

Marketing Group

Colonsay Marketing

Group

Cowal Marketing

Group

Kyles Marketing

Group

Visit Bute

Coll Dev Trust

BUILDING AN UMBRELLA BRAND

VISITOR

INFORMATION

& PRINT

AN ONLINE PRESENCE

WWW.EXPLOREARGYLL.CO.UK

ENGAGING WITH THE TRAVEL TRADE

VISITSCOTLAND EXPO

INDUSTRY COMMS & ENGAGEMENT

ANNUAL TOURISM SUMMIT

A STRATEGY FOR GROWTH – TAI 2020

TAI 2020… A SENSE OF PRIORITY

ADVENTURE TOURISM WALKING/CLIMBING CYCLING/BIKING

MARINE/WATER WILDLIFE/NATURE

FOOD & DRINK

TOURISM EVENTS &

FESTIVALS

DIGITAL TOURISM

ARGYLL WORLD HOST

ARGYLL

GROWING THE BRAND: STRATEGIC MARKETING OF ARGYLL & THE ISLES

assets into experiences

capabilities

Leadership &

collaboration TAI 2020 & DESTINATION LEADERSHIP

BUSINESS

DEVELOPMENT MEMBER

SERVICES

COMMS

& PR

BRAND

PERFORMANCE

THE HALO EFFECT

11 local marketing group

members

More than 1000 businesses

represented across the region

AITC

Oban & Lorn

Tourism Alliance Marketing

Mull & Iona

Heart of Argyll

Tourism Alliance

Inveraray Marketing

Group

Explore Kintyre &

Gigha

Islay & Jura

Tourism Marketing

Group

Colonsay Marketing

Group

Cowal Marketing

Group

Kyles Marketing

Group

Visit Bute

Coll Dev Trust

IMPROVED BRAND PERFOMANCE

AITC

Oban & Lorn Tourism

Association

Holiday Mull & Iona

Heart of Argyll Tourism Alliance

Inveraray Marketing

Group

Explore Kintyre &

Gigha

Islay & Jura Tourism

Marketing Group

Colonsay Marketing

Group

Cowal Marketing

Group

Kyles Marketing

Group

Visit Bute

Visit Helens-burgh

Better content

Improved search visibility

Improved brand performance

Halo effect = more leads = more visitors

ARGYLL & THE ISLES – CONTENT CURATION

TAI 2020… ADVENTURE TOURISM

ADVENTURE TOURISM WALKING/CLIMBING CYCLING/BIKING

MARINE/WATER WILDLIFE/NATURE

FOOD & DRINK

TOURISM EVENTS &

FESTIVALS

DIGITAL TOURISM

ARGYLL WORLD HOST

ARGYLL

GROWING THE BRAND: STRATEGIC MARKETING OF ARGYLL & THE ISLES

Assets into experiences

Capabilities

Leadership &

collaboration TAI 2020 & DESTINATION LEADERSHIP

BUSINESS

DEVELOPMENT MEMBER

SERVICES

COMMS

& PR

ARGYLL &

THE ISLES

ADVENTURE

TOURISM

Assess Assess our adventure tourism credentials

Curate Curate new adventure content

Engage Engage the industry

ARGYLL & THE ISLES ADVENTURE TOURISM AUDIT

Facilities and Infrastructure

Operators and providers

Clubs

Events and Festivals

MARK BEAUMONT

ADVENTURER AND ENDURANCE ATHLETE

1 MAN

3 FILM-MAKERS

12 DAYS

32 CHALLENGES

ARGYLL & THE ISLES OUR ADVENTURE TOURISM CREDENTIALS?

Having grown up to become an athlete and

adventurer, I have travelled to well over 100

countries, only to return home to Scotland to

find that we have one of the best adventure

playgrounds in the World.

Argyll and the Isles has a unique share of

this glory, our adventure coast, with a

staggering array of experiences, whether you

are a wilderness adventurer or more of an

armchair adventurer!

ARGYLL & THE ISLES OUR ADVENTURE TOURISM CREDENTIALS

Scotland's Adventure Coast

Wild or Mild

Trails of Discovery

Events and Festivals

Collaborative Marketing

WILD ABOUT ARGYLL

CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVES 2017

POSITION

ARGYLL & THE ISLES

AS SCOTLAND’S

ADVENTURE COAST

APPEAL TO A MUCH

YOUNGER AND MORE

ACTIVE DEMOGRAPHIC –

ADVENTURE SEEKERS

HIGHLIGHT THE PROXIMITY

TO GLASGOW AND

SCOTLAND’S

CENTRAL BELT

WILD ABOUT

ARGYLL 2017

CAMPAIGN

LAUNCH IN ORAN MOR GLASGOW

WILD ABOUT

ARGYLL 2017

CAMPAIGN

LAUNCH IN ORAN MOR GLASGOW

WILD ABOUT ARGYLL CAMPAIGN 2017

WILD ABOUT ARGYLL

CAMPAIGN 2017

CAMPAIGN

AMBASSADORS

WILD

ABOUT

ARGYLL

EXPO 2017

197,000 central belt cinema goers viewed the WAA cinema ad

1.1M Glasgow subway users passed through when the WAA digital ads were on

display

15,000 passengers per day departing via Edinburgh Airport passed the WAA film

playing on a continuous loop

The online campaign has reached almost 2 million people and has driven more

than half a million engagements (likes, comments, shares)

In 2016 the majority of Facebook followers were over 45, now the majority are

under 45

The largest growth area year on year on Explore Argyll has been from under 34s

with a 79% increase in traffic

WILD ABOUT ARGYLL CAMPAIGN

THE NUMBERS

CITY

NATION

PLACE

AWARDS

2017

Being part of the Wild About

Argyll campaign and Mark’s

adventures on Islay has had

an impact. We have welcomed

new business and it has been

instrumental in giving us new

ideas and thinking about what

else we can offer. We have

felt inspired to expand our

business, to consider other

options and have felt re-

awoken to the stunning

location that we live in.

DAVE PROTHEROUGH,

KAYAK WILD ISLAY

The campaign has given the Quadmania business a sense of connection and importance to other tourism related businesses throughout Argyll. We have since developed exceptionally high quality video content for the business to utilise throughout social media and we are optimistic that many other Argyll based tourism businesses will share this content for a long time. It's exciting times with the WAA campaign for Argyll tourism.

DAVID MARSHALL, QUADMANIA

WILD ABOUT ARGYLL

CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVES 2017

POSITION

ARGYLL & THE ISLES

AS SCOTLAND’S

ADVENTURE COAST

APPEAL TO A MUCH

YOUNGER AND MORE

ACTIVE DEMOGRAPHIC –

ADVENTURE SEEKERS

HIGHLIGHT THE PROXIMITY

TO GLASGOW AND

SCOTLAND’S

CENTRAL BELT

PROXIMITY TO THE CITY

GLASGOW’S TOURISM AND VISITOR PLAN TO 2023

CITY & COAST

THE BEST OF BOTH

A twin centre campaign for The City

of Glasgow and Scotland’s Adventure

Coast

FUNDED BY

• Argyll & Bute Council, Glasgow Life,

AITC and its members,

• Scotrail, Calmac, Loganair,

Enterprise rent-a-car

• With VS Growth Fund grant

• supported by West Coast Motors

and Love Loch Lomond

INTRODUCING THE BEST OF BOTH 2018

Calum Ross & Carron Tobin BEST OF BOTH

TOP WAA

ADVENTURE

TOURISM

TAKEAWAYS

• COLLABORATIVE MARKETING

• ONLINE VISIBILITY & BOOKABILITY

• UNIQUE & JOINED UP EXPERIENCES

• PRIDE & PASSION

“Wild About Argyll was such an inspiring project to be at the

heart of, I was blown away by the pride and enthusiasm

from everyone in the region. It felt like this publicity

campaign had been crying out to happen, lifting the stone on

an untold treasure in Scotland. But this is easy to say in

hindsight, it took real insight, a huge amount of hard work and

logistics to pull off a campaign that looked brilliantly simple

and immediately inspiring, and yet was hugely ambitious and

collaborative behind the scenes.”

MARK BEAUMONT

“As soon as we read the proposal for the ‘Wild About Argyll’

campaign, we were excited, but it was a whole new market and

direction for the region and with that comes a good deal of risk.

That calculated risk has paid off immensely and we are

absolutely delighted that Argyll and the Isles Tourism

Cooperative has been recognised for its work in completely

revolutionising the place brand for the region.

MALCOLM ROUGHEAD OBE, VISITSCOTLAND

If you want something you’ve

never had, then you’ve got

to do something you’ve never

done.

DRINA REED

LIMITLESS DISCOVERIES

WILD ABOUT ARGYLL

CARRON TOBIN

FREELANCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

ARGYLL & THE ISLES TOURISM COOPERATIVE