Issue - meetings

There was no report.

Ishabel Bremner reported on the following:-

“The Argyll and the Isles Strategic Tourism Partnership (AISTP) has established a new trading arm, Argyll & Isles Ltd (AIT), a co-operative that will be open to any business or organisation with an interest in tourism. 

The AIT is currently implementing a two year £164,000 marketing programme to raise the profile of Argyll and the Isles to the domestic and international tourism trade.

The primary outputs from this programme relates to the following;

• a joined up Argyll & Isles presence at tourism expositions;
• Argyll & Isles branding, which is now complete;
• the continued development of an ‘umbrella’ organisation (Argyll & Isles Ltd) for all local tourism marketing associations in and around Argyll to ensure the inclusion of Loch Lomond;
• the redevelopment and relaunch of  its adopted website www.argyllandtheisles.com; and
• the employment of short term contractors to co-ordinate the above activities.

It should be noted that the Council is a key stakeholder in both the AISTP and the marketing programme which is now well underway after an excellent showing at the VisitScotland Expo in April 2012 which resulted in over 180 business leads with trade buyers from the UK, USA, Canada, India, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Russia, Japan, China, Spain, Italy, France, Finland and New Zealand.  The stand was managed by representatives from local tourism marketing associations and the programme is funded by the Council, HIE, Argyll and the Islands LEADER, the VisitScotland Growth Fund, and local marketing associations. These activities are the outputs of excellent partnership working between the public and private sectors”. 

There was no representative from the Argyll and the Isles Strategic Tourism Partnerhsip.

It was agreed that Theresa McLetchie would forward a further invitation for the next meeting scheduled for June.