THE Kelpies visit to Kirkcudbright, the successful Wigtown Book Festival and the Tour of Britain coming to the region are some of the highlights of a busy season for tourism in Dumfries & Galloway.
As 2016 draws to a close, the man in charge of tourism in the South of Scotland looks back on a memorable year for tourism in the region.
VisitScotland Regional Director Doug Wilson said these events helped draw people to the region in 2016.
He said: “When I speak to businesses across Dumfries & Galloway, they tell me that they have experienced a successful summer season. It is great to see the continued success of long-established events like the Wigtown Book Festival which has a worldwide reputation. Major sporting events like the Tour of Britain, which travelled to Castle Douglas this year, helped shine the spotlight on the region, beaming our breathtaking scenery to millions of viewers globally and provided a boost to businesses and accommodation providers.
2016 also saw the launch of VisitScotland’s first ever global campaign – the Spirit of Scotland – which aims to create a social movement to help promote the country to the world. Attractions and scenery in Dumfries & Galloway have been catapulted into the global spotlight as a result of the campaign with images of Loch Ken and the Galloway Forest Dark Sky Park attracting massive amounts of engagement on our social media channels in the summer. Posts about Dumfries & Galloway attracted more than 164,000 likes, shares, retweets and comments across all VisitScotland media channels.
Doug added: “The way that visitors access information about Scotland has changed dramatically over the past five years and our ambition is to reach more people than ever before with inspirational and exciting information about Scotland. We are delighted that almost 60 businesses in Dumfries & Galloway are now part of the Visitor Information Partner (VIP) programme, part of the Spirit of Scotland campaign, harnessing the local knowledge and enthusiasm, of staff at attractions to help visitors make the most of their trip to the region. “
“We hope that many more people will continue to share their own treasured stories and images of Dumfries & Galloway with us through our social media channels and through the iKnow community to ensure that we continue to let people know about the hidden gems to be discovered in the region.
“There is a lot to look forward to in the coming year. There have been major developments in Stranraer with the re-development of Agnew Park which achieved a 3 Star Visitor Attraction in VisitScotland’s Quality Assurance Award Scheme. Next year gets off to a great start with the Big Burns Supper and looking ahead we have exciting developments planned across the region including the Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust and further development at Laggan Outdoor.
“As we approach the New Year, I would like to take the opportunity to remind people that 2017 is the Year of History, Heritage and Archeology. We have a region rich in historic attractions, unique abbeys and stunning big houses, not to mention some amazing events and festivals, and I am excited about the many opportunities that the year ahead will bring. “
