TOPOSOPHY PARTNERS WITH SCOTLAND's TAY CITIES REGION WITH A STRATEGY TO CAPITALISE ON A NEW CULTURAL ICON

The new V&A Dundee, a major new landmark on the UK cultural scene has drawn global attention to Dundee, on the banks of Scotland’s River Tay. Now the surrounding areas of Angus, Fife, Perth and Kinross – which together with Dundee make up the Tay Cities Region have partnered with TOPOSOPHY to create a five-year Regional Tourism Strategy to encourage visitors to stay in the region and explore further.  

 With outstanding castles, beautiful scenery and a wide range of activities and new attractions that show the best of what Scotland has to offer, there are many reasons to stay and explore the areas that line the River Tay. Now the V&A Dundee, a stunning modern museum dedicated to design, opened in September 2018 and which attracted more than 100,000 visits in its first month, has provided yet another compelling reason for people to come and stay longer. 

 However, this is not necessarily an automatic process, and the area councils of Angus, Dundee, Fife Perth and Kinross have agreed that it is time to capitalise on the region’s full potential with a Regional Tourism Strategy. The strategy, in development by TOPOSOPHY, will set out a vision of the destination development and marketing actions that can best be addressed at regional level – across the four council areas- in order to boost visitor stays and spending across the whole region. 

The project started in October 2018, and throughout December TOPOSOPHY will be hosting a series of workshops and individual consultations across the region to meet local tourism suppliers and hear their views on how they would like to see greater regional planning and cooperation.

“Scottish Enterprise is delighted to be part of a collaborative approach (with the four Local Authorities, and VisitScotland) to help the regions tourism economy grow. By attracting new markets to the region and helping businesses increase their profitability through innovation we anticipate more sustainable tourism jobs to be delivered across the Tay region”, explained Danny Cusick, Tourism Director at Scottish Enterprise. 

The new strategy is set to be presented at the region’s first tourism conference in March 2019.

Interested to know more about our work on strategy building and destination development? Find out more about our past work on these projects below: 

• Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire Destination Strategy 2018-2023
  
• European Cities Marketing: Manifest on the Future of DMOS
  
• European Cities Marketing: Toolbox on Tourism Growth in Europe 
  
• Wine Roads of Northern Greece: Marketing Plan for the Wine Roads of Northern Greece