I’m dreaming of a White… Scotland!

VisitScotland’s new winter promotion has gone live with a great new website that’s well worth a look. Not only are there great value accommodation deals on offer across the country and lots of suggestions for what to do this winter, you’ll also have the chance to win the ultimate Edinburgh Hogmanay – 5-star accommodation, cocktails at The Balmoral and dinner at the uber-cool Le Monde before heading out to welcome in the bells at midnight at the Party in the Gardens.

Check it out – you know it’s the ‘White’ thing to do!

Brave new world

The big news last week, apart from the keys of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue changing hands, was that VisitScotland has agreed in principle to take full control of the VisitScotland.com operation.

Now, if you’re amongst our many users who aren’t actually aware that VisitScotland.com and VisitScotland are actually separate (albeit closely related) entities, this may not seem such a major development. In fact, VisitScotland is currently the largest shareholder in eTourism Ltd (the public-private partnership which trades as VisitScotland.com) and, in buying out its other partners in the joint venture, will bring VisitScotland.com into full public ownership for the first time. The transition is expected to be complete by the end of the year.

Every business has to be able to adapt to market conditions and the merger of  VisitScotland.com’s online expertise with VisitScotland’s marketing excellence will allow us to present Scotland more effectively and more efficiently as the world-class visitor destination it is.

At the moment, it’s very much business as usual but watch this space…

VisitScotland.com on Facebook

As part of a broad strategy to use social networking sites to advertise the best of Scotland to the world, we’ve created a Facebook group which you can access here or via the Facebook button in the right-hand column. There are some really great pictures of Scotland on the Facebook page, as well as the excellent Perfect Day video – if you haven’t already seen it, go check it out. We’ll shortly be creating similar profiles for VisitScotland.com on Twitter and Squidoo so if you’re a user of either of those, be sure to sign up.

Navigation widget added

In order to improve customer access to and navigation between VisitScotland’s special-interest microsites (golf, cycling, walking, etc.), we’ve introduced a new navigation ‘widget’ which sits in the top header area of each microsite and on the main VisitScotland.com site itself.

Clicking on the ‘Explore Scotland’ tab opens up a panel containing links through to the main microsites, to current promotions and to important areas on VisitScotland.com, such as the Online Travel Shop. The links in the widget will change seasonally or if there is a special promotion running.

Improved provider mapping

We have added a new ‘what’s nearby’ functionality to the Google mapping page on all accommodation providers’ listings. On each listing, users will now be able to select to show visitor attractions and/or activity/leisure providers in the vicinity of the accommodation being viewed.

Another really useful feature that we’ve added is the option to have all accommodation search returns displayed on a single map, showing where they are in relation to each other.

Edinburgh illustrated podcasts

We have been working closely with Edinburgh World Heritage and Edinburgh City of Literature to provide them with a platform for their new series of illustrated podcasts.

Each of the ten Stories in Stone podcasts showcases areas of the capital whose literary and built heritage combined to played key roles in the securing the coveted UNESCO awards for these themes.

New interactive transport map

In response to feedback from our regional offices, we’ve restyled the popular interactive ‘Explore Scotland’ map featured on the Visitors’ Guide landing page and added a new ‘Transport’ section, which is accessed via a new tab.

This new section provides quick and easy access to the detailed road, rail, ferry and airport information on the site aimed at users looking to travel throughout Scotland.