Venture North’s Talking Tourism webinars attract record numbers
Record numbers from across Caithness and Sutherland took part in Venture North’s 2023/24 Talking Tourism webinar series.
Seven sessions were held online from September 2023 to April 2024, covering a range of tourism-related topics. The webinars had higher numbers than ever, with 82 attending in total from across the region, an average 25 per cent increase on sign-ups from 2022/23.
New topics were covered by industry experts, including community tourism with Carron Tobin, executive director of SCOTO Scottish Community Tourism, and Sarah Lamb, project officer at Wick Development Trust, who spoke about the Wick River Campsite and the trust’s positive experience of community tourism.
Venture North also delivered a session on using social media for business marketing.
Some topics that had been popular in the past were revisited, including an annual update from the Highland Council access rangers on visitor behaviour, as well as VisitScotland on key industry trends.
Venture North is calling for the reintroduction of access rangers to Caithness and Sutherland following recent Highland Council funding cuts.
Those attending included tourism businesses and neighbouring destination management organisations, local development trusts, charities, the University of the Highlands and Islands, local press and councillors.
Ben Makin, owner of the Lighthouse Keeper’s Cottage at Noss Head, near Wick, said: “As a sole trader with just one holiday cottage, it can be hard to get facts, not rumour. I love the Talking Tourism webinars because of the insights into what’s happening here.
“So many other webinars try to sell things or tell me about the market in the UK as a whole, so it’s great to have webinars that focus on Caithness and Sutherland. We share some of our problems with other areas, but some of our issues are unique to us.
“It’s a really useful way for me to know something isn’t ‘just me’, and what is happening in the area.”
Communities and businesses from across the region were able to attend Venture North’s Talking Tourism webinars free of charge. This was thanks to funding for the three-year (2021-2024) Destination Tourism Recovery Strategy provided by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and NRS Dounreay.
Venture North launched Talking Tourism as a pilot series in March 2022 to encourage inclusion of all rural areas and minimise time away from business. The first full autumn/winter series was launched in September that year.
The 2023/24 Talking Tourism series concluded with Venture North’s annual tourism gathering in March in Mackays Hotel, Wick, giving businesses and organisations an opportunity for networking and to receive updates from a regional and national tourism perspective. This year the gathering was sponsored by Developing the Young Workforce North Highland and attracted more than 70 people.
Cathy Earnshaw, Venture North’s destination strategy manager, said: “Our aim over the last three years has been to build and encourage a sense of regional tourism partnership and a representative voice of tourism for the north Highlands, of which Talking Tourism has played a key part.
“Venture North covers locations where businesses are often sole traders or have minimal staffing, making it difficult for many to take time to travel and meet face to face. Talking Tourism was developed by the Venture North team to increase accessibility to all, with short online sessions during the quieter times of the year.
“We are encouraged by the increased attendance this year in addition to the questions, conversations and connections made between businesses during these sessions, as well as fostering a collective voice on the future of tourism for the region.”
Anyone wishing to be updated on plans for the 2024/25 Talking Tourism series can email info@venture north.co.uk
