Thanks, But No Thanks

Archive Sections
	General News
	Local Groups' Activities
	Business & Finance
	Property Pointers
	Travel & Getaway
	Health & Wellbeing
	Art, Media & Craft
	Music / Performance
	Event Reviews
	Wildlife/Environment
	Sporting Activities
	Horticulture
	Hoots and Havers
	Guest Columns
	Useful Links
	Comment Online

Thanks, But No Thanks

Visit Scotland Award returned by Blair Atholl Tourism Association

AN AWARD from Visit Scotland’s much-heralded Challenge Fund is being returned by first round award winners, Blair Atholl Area Tourism Association. The unknown quid pro quo at the time of applying and receiving the award is that Visit Scotland requires that all leaflets and web sites produced as a result of the 40% European funding give prominent promotion to Visit Scotland’s controversial accommodation agency and web site.

The Visit Scotland Branding requirement, that subsequently accompanied the award of Challenge Funding, stipulates that leaflets must prominently display on their front cover, the inside and the back cover, specific captions promoting visitscotland.com and their booking agency.

In addition to this, the criteria state that web sites, whether or not constructed using the 40% Challenge Funding, must have on the main or home page, an animated GIF button promoting the Visit Scotland web site and booking agency, including a direct link to Visit Scotland’s web site.

James Rattray, Secretary of the Blair Atholl Area Tourism Association said: “We took up the challenge offered by Visit Scotland to help promote our area of Scotland with the assistance of its Fund. We were one of the few applications to be awarded funding in the first round and were rightly very proud of this award.”

He continued, “We subsequently discovered that Visit Scotland is stipulating that we have to prominently advertise its controversial booking agency all over our leaflets. Also we have to promote its web site with links from the front page of our web site, which we constructed some 5 years ago with no help from Visit Scotland.

“We do not object to carrying logos, as is the custom and practice with public funding. But to have to carry prominent advertisements for Visit Scotland and its accommodation agency is unacceptable. We have our own members, many of whom are accommodation providers. Why should accommodation traffic be siphoned from our leaflets and web site to Visit Scotland? I think everyone making applications for this funding should be made aware of this unusual criterion.”

Blair Atholl AreaTourism Association was set up in 1992, as a fully independent, self-financing tourism association because of the failures of the old tourist boards adequately to promote the Blair Atholl area. This is the first time that Blair Atholl

Area Tourism Association has participated in a government-led tourism initiative.

Blair Atholl Area Tourism Association Chairperson, Kirstie Crerar said, “It is very disappointing, it takes a lot of time and effort completing the paperwork required by the Challenge Fund, time none of us can easily afford. I feel that Visit Scotland should have made it clearer at the very start that the European-sourced money is given on the condition that we prominently promote its accommodation agency, at the expense of our own accommodation provider members. Had it done so, we would not have applied in the first place, saving us all a lot of time and effort.”