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Scotland may be a small country but it’s packed with a diverse offering of exceptional venues, from purpose-built convention and exhibition centres to 21st century hotels and ancient castles, unusual venues and stately homes and universities of academic excellence. Add to this the renowned hospitality of its people and the best golf in the world and Scotland offers a dynamic and distinctive conference choice. 

Keeping costs down
As with many sectors, the year ahead will undoubtedly be a testing time for business tourism in Scotland. Most businesses will now be readdressing the type of business events they attend and the value of them. However, Scotland is entering this global recession in a very positive competitive position. This is particularly pertinent to the UK conference market where there is a diverse array of venues on its doorstep. An added advantage is venues encouraging people to extend their stay and tourism providers offering good value for money with travel, hotel and activity offers for delegates and partners. 
 
Transport costs for delegates can be much lower than for international destination travel and Scotland is eminently accessible from across the UK with extensive road and rail links and regional flights into and out of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Prestwick, Aberdeen, Dundee and Inverness.
 
Catriona Anderson, VisitScotland Business Tourism Unit’s marketing manager for Associations, comments: “Scotland’s reputation as a centre of excellence in fields such as medicine, life sciences, electronics, software and energy help it to continue to attract high calibre association meetings. A high proportion of all association and government sector conferences attracted to Scotland come as a direct result of an invitation from a local member of an organisation or professional body. 
 
“The VisitScotland Ambassador Programme, which operates out with the main cities own ambassador programmes, will continue to work with professionals at the top of their fields to encourage their professional associations to bring their conferences to Scotland in future years. Our success in Scotland in this field is borne out of the fact that 25 per cent of international association meetings hosted in the UK take place in Scotland.”
 
The ever increasing number of new investments and developments taking place means that, whether it is a conference for thousands of delegates or a more informal event, there is a melting pot of old and new, historic and modern, large and exclusive locations to choose from. 

Capital glory
Edinburgh, the country’s capital which boasts many prestigious and unique meetings venues such as Edinburgh Castle, Dynamic Earth and the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, will see numerous developments take place this year. This spring has already seen Edinburgh-based Apex Hotels open its fourth contemporary four-star hotel in the city’s Waterloo Place where the £35million hotel features 187 contemporary bedrooms, a large theatre-style conference suite and five additional meeting rooms. Apex Hotels is very environmentally conscious, which has led to it winning numerous environmental awards including a Gold award in the Green Tourism Business Scheme.
 
The Caledonian Hilton Hotel, one of Edinburgh’s most famous landmarks, completed phase one of its extensive refurbishment early this year, restoring the hotel’s historic façade and refurbishing 86 bedrooms, heralding a new era for this historic hotel. Its multi-million pound investments are continuing with a phased bedroom refurbishment and the transformation of the hotel’s public areas. 
 
The construction of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh’s new biodiversity and visitor information centre is also well under way by the old West Gate. The John Hope Gateway will offer visitors an unrivalled all-weather interpretive facility. The Gateway will be one of the most sought after venues in Edinburgh. 

New developments
In Glasgow, the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC) is set to become one of the world’s first complete exhibition, conference and entertainment venues with the addition of a £62million purpose-built arena. This year will also see work begin on the new Blythswood Square Hotel, one of the city centre’s most famous historical buildings – formerly Royal Scottish Automobile Club set to open this September following a £17 million investment. The hotel will have 88 bedrooms and complete conference facilities. 
 
Many developments are also taking place outside the major cities. A short drive from both Edinburgh and Glasgow sits the Victorian style Hilton Doubletree Dunblane Hotel. With views of the Trossachs and Campsie Fells, the hotel is currently undergoing a £10million refurbishment, due for completion summer 2009. With conference facilities for up to 650 delegates this 206 bedroom hotel is in a great location for meeting planners.
 
Heading north to Inverness is Eden Court, the premier venue in the city playing a vital role in hosting political party conferences and other key government sector events. Following a £23 million redevelopment, Eden Court re-opened at the end of 2007 and now boasts two state-of-the-art auditoria, with the main auditorium seating up to 800 delegates. Inverness airport is easily accessible from throughout the UK with flights from cities such as London, Manchester, Birmingham, Belfast and Edinburgh. This summer will see the launch of new flight routes for Inverness with the addition of Dublin, Jersey and Düsseldorf in Germany.

Academic venues
Scotland’s many universities also feature high quality conference and meeting facilities, with universities such as the University of Edinburgh and the University of Glasgow boasting theatre style capacity of over 1,000 delegates. 
 
The University of St Andrew’s, Scotland’s first university and the third oldest in the English speaking world, has established a reputation as one of Europe’s leading and most distinctive centres for teaching and research. The university is undertaking one of the most ambitious projects in international medical teaching and research with the construction of a new medical school at the heart of its science campus. This is a unique model designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration between medics and scientists and create significant advances in medical research. This project, which will cost £45 million, is commissioning in September 2010 and will lead the university into its 600th Anniversary celebrations.
 
In addition to the numerous investments taking place to its array of venues, Scotland is flying the flag for green business tourism to ensure it is competitively positioned in this difficult market. Catriona continues: “In 2008 more than 130 hotels and conference centres across Scotland were recognised by the Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS). The GTBS is the national sustainable tourism certification scheme for the UK, originally developed in partnership with VisitScotland. It is now the only certification scheme validated by VisitBritain through the International Centre for Responsible Tourism. 
 
Around 20 per cent of venues gained a gold award with many more aspiring to climb the green ladder to gold accreditation. This is welcome news at a time when four out of five international conference organisers avoid booking events in destinations or venues with poor environmental records.”

Business & pleasure
Scotland knows the success of any conference doesn’t just depend upon the main event itself but that equally important are the extra range of things to ‘see and do’ on offer, which make the delegates’ visit a memorable one and encourage them to return. 
 
Catriona adds: “With its numerous castles, galleries, museums and historic buildings hosting any variety of receptions and gala dinners, delegates can experience a true taste of the friendly Scottish hospitality from being piped into dinner and treated to a traditional ceilidh to indulging in the finest of whisky tasting at one of the country’s many distilleries. 
 
“With its majestic scenery, enduring history and heritage, and world-famous visitor attractions, there couldn’t be a better time to experience the impressive business destination of Scotland.”
 
VisitScotland’s Business Tourism Unit is an excellent first point of contact when planning a conference or event in Scotland. Providing swift and easy access to information on meeting venues, facilities and services in Scotland, the BTU can also give impartial advice and assistance on all aspects of planning your next event.
 
Free services offered by the VisitScotland Business Tourism Unit include:

• An extensive online venue search
• Introductions to on-site destination management companies, professional conference organisers, and meeting planners
• Impartial advice and assistance to planners
• Site inspections and facility visits
• Scottish support materials for promotional mailings
• Provision of information booklets and guides, including a wide variety of VisitScotland publications.

Did You Know … about Scotland and Scottish Meeting Venues?

• Dolly the sheep became a scientific sensation when her birth was announced in 1997 as she was the first mammal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell, using the process of nuclear transfer. Dolly, who lived until the age of six, was cloned by Ian Wilmut, Keith Campbell and colleagues at the Roslin Institute of the University of Edinburgh. The Roslin Institute is a BBSRC Institute, associated with the Royal School of Veterinary Studies – the number one-ranked Veterinary School in the UK in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise. The University of Edinburgh can host conferences for up to 1,200 delegates.
• A quarter of a century ago Aberdeen scientists and clinicians became the first in the world to scan the body of a patient using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). For over 100 years, Aberdeen University has been host to some of the most significant regional, national and international events such as the opening of Scottish Parliament, the Aberdeen International Youth Festival, and key industry meetings such as the Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behaviour (AISB) annual convention.
• St Andrews, the home of golf, is Scotland’s first university and the third oldest in the English speaking world, founded in 1413. Over six centuries it has established a reputation as one of Europe’s leading and most distinctive centre’s for teaching and research.
• Researchers at the University of Stirling have a long track record of working with Industry and the private sector frequently participates in, and contributes to its research and expertise. The university’s Institute of Aquaculture has played a major role in the development of the Scottish Aquaculture industry for more than 30 years, while the Centre for River EcoSystem Science in the School of Biological and Environmental Science has been working with industry to help it meet the requirements of the Water Framework Directive.
• Sir Ranulph Fiennes, the first man to visit the north and south poles by surface means and the first man to completely cross Antarctica on foot, has recently become Patron of Discovery Point. As well as being an award winning visitor attraction, Discovery Point offers a unique venue for corporate events.
• Movies ‘Stardust’ and ‘Loch Ness’ were filmed at The Torridon Hotel, an exclusive use venue specialising in small executive meetings on the west coast of Scotland.
• The Royal Society of Edinburgh is a landmark building with state-of the-art conference facilities. It regularly attracts international academics and has a fellowship of around 1,500 fellows. Some of them you may have heard of; JK Rowling and Sir David Attenborough.
• Edinburgh is home to the Scottish Storytelling Centre, the world’s first purpose built centre for story telling. This city centre venue has a 99-seat auditorium for conference purposes and can hold banqueting events for up to 100 people.
• The film 'Greystoke' with Christopher Lambert was shot at Floors Castle in Kelso, the private home of the Duke and Duchess of Roxburghe. This exclusive use property has conference facilities for up to 150 people.

For more information
Find out more about the allure of Scotland by visiting ConventionScotland.com or contact VisitScotland’s Business Tourism Unit, Ocean Point One, 94 Ocean Drive, Edinburgh EH6 6JH. Tel: +44 (0)131 472 2355. Fax: +44 (0)131 472 2009
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