Scottish Community Tourism Network, SCOTO, have announced they are launching a roadshow across Scotland to encourage communities to create grassroots-owned tourism facilities and services – with four events being held in the Highland Perthshire area.
The roadshow will begin on Monday, 6th of February and will run until March 2023. SCOTO say they hope the roadshow will help to raise the profile of community tourism across the country as well as promote networking and inspire more community-led tourism enterprises to open. The network was founded in 2022 and has quickly grown to have 100 members including, museums, outdoor experiences, information centres, glamping pods, cafes, as well as other tourism attractions and services which are owned and operated by local communities.
Director and founding member of SCOTO, Carron Tobin, said: “We are looking forward to engaging with potential new members across Scotland. The SCOTO network is diverse and continues to expand as more and more community run tourism enterprises see the advantage of working together. We would encourage anyone who is passionate about supporting local tourism to join our roadshow and meet others in the sector who are working hard to promote community owned tourism.”
Carron added: “At this time of year, many people are thinking about booking short breaks. We want more people to think about touring Scotland and enjoying the many wonderful attractions we have that are owned and run by local communities. Every pound spent in a local tourism facility is a pound that benefits that local community, and everything that’s spent is reinvested back into the local community, ensuring that some of our remote and rural facilities remain sustainable for the long term. These amazing places also give visitors the chance to experience being a ‘temporary local’ and get to the heart of individual communities across Scotland.”
The roadshow, which is supported through Inspiring Scotland by the Scottish Government Rural and Island Communities Idea into Action Fund, is open to all SCOTO members, social enterprises, community organisations delivering community tourism, local tourism groups, and community groups looking to set up a tourism offer.
As well as networking opportunities, the roadshow will also offer support to local community groups looking to set up a community-owned tourism experience.
There will be four events held across Highland Perthshire, these are:
- Monday, 6th of February at McLaren Leisure, Callander – 9:30 am to 1:30 pm
- Tuesday, 7th of February at Cambo Gardens, King barns – 9:30 am to 1:30 pm
- Wednesday, 8th of February at Brechin City Hall, Angus – 9:30 am to 1:30 pm
- Thursday, 9th of February at Birks Cinema, Aberfeldy – 9:30 am to 1:30 pm
For those unable to make it to these events there will be a virtual meeting on Thursday, 9th of February from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm.
Following the roadshow, there will be a two-day conference and learning exchange at the Duke of Gordon Hotel, Kingussie which will run from Thursday, 2nd of March to Friday, 3rd of March.
For more information and to book a place on the roadshow, visit www.scoto.co.uk/b2b.