Comment posted Argyll and the Isles at EXPO: Summary of the last day by Daniel MacIntyre.
Grant, not sure that this was/is an Argyll & the Isles initiative as per the rest of this thread. It would appear to be a private venture but I may be mistaken (as it needs clarified). Another point would be that I’m not 100% sure its a local app developer, unlike others we have with the skillset in our region. On the positive, it is really encouraging development as publicly funded organisations & projects such as Argyll & Isles Tourism should stimulate investment from private sector, esp in improving the quality of product and the marketing of a product. They should not displace such activity, so lets hope this is an Argyll & Isles development and we don’t end up with another mobile optimised website or app etc. Well done to Catriona and anyone else that has supported this.
Recent comments by Daniel MacIntyre
- A83 closed due to another landslide – now reopened
Mike….it was spot on, as you say, the message needs to start M6/M74/M8. Businesses are justified in their frustration due to disruption but we all need to work together to ensure all business services are maintained, to get visitors in, and product out!!! - A83 closed due to another landslide – now reopened
well done to Mike Story for his excellent interview with Radio Scotland yesterday. Great to have a rapid response to the negative coverage that is repeatedly used when this occurs. We should all get busy turning negative into a positive……..visitors take the ferry!! - A genius event to market Argyll and the Isles in the winter season
“gallingly little attention” isn’t exactly accurate newsroom and I’m confident that your opinion isn’t drawn from informed conversation with members of SFD from within Argyll. SFD had myself based in Oban and supporting many of the clients that you regularly feature in good news stories such as that of MacMillan Foods. Many have also been Excellence award winners and some gained extra supermarket listings via SFD activity. Over and above this, many Argyll companies will have contributed to F&D exports & growth stats during a deep recession which helped prop up Scottish economy. Finally, Our past chief exec also visited the first “Stronger Together” summit and sought further engagement with companies.
Unfortunately, SFD priorities are with companies that can grow in UK and export markets, including the much maligned multiple retailers. When doing so, the “readiness” has to be established as there are factors to consider and lots of work for many of the primary producers and micro biz’s before they can benefit from SFD activity.
SFD is be held up as an exemplar of how to cooperate as a sector. Just look at the recently launched Scottish Tourism Alliance strategy document and you’ll notice how they have used it as a model of best practice. In a similar comparison, your positive view of Argyll & Isles Tourism has also benefited from adopting such a model.
With the exception of large international brands (salmon, whisky) Argyll doesn’t have a huge number of tier 2 businesses. We do have a series of very exciting businesses in the meat, bakery, beer and seafood categories but all will require time & support to achieve the growth and market penetration. All whilst, they still have to overcome major challenges that hinder their ability to remain competitive such as connectivity (transport, ferries charges), skills shortages and profitability so they can invest for the future.so…….SFD is only been in existence for 4-5 years, so give them a chance and get behind them and seek their involvement. Argyll & Isles Tourism and Food from Argyll aren’t the magic bullets in isolation but events such as this where all the positive businesses come together will certainly help the region get noticed. Working in partnership and aligning with strategic bodies will help accelerate growth aspirations if all “buy-in” with cash and energy and pull in the same direction
- Misleading instructions to voters: is Duncan Macintyre trawling for 4th preference votes?
cmon larry, think you’ve got a typo there!! - New chair for area tourist body
maybe the post and comments should be deleted?
powered by SEO Super Comments
Big thanks to For Argyll for traveling down to Edinburgh to see us.
To all the marketing associations who helped fund this , their unpaid, but brilliant volunteers who turned up, and all the agencies involved….on behalf of Argyll and the Isles…Thanks heaps..what a show!
The only down side was the clutch on my car blowing up at Lochearnhead on the way home!!
See you in Glasgow next year!
Mike
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Sounds as if everything went even better than you could have hoped for. Pity about the clutch – was this Mad Max having his final comment on proceedings?!!!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Congratulations on what appears to have been a positive experience, but without further ado straight on to serious business.
How will the performance of the show be measured, how will we know how many of the 200 buyers have actually converted to a sale? (I cant help with wonderful technology like the internet that Expo seems an expensive proposition, particularly for just 200 potential clients) How will this be reported and how will conversion values be ascertained. Where are the buyers from, what markets, and what areas are likely to benefit from the 200 contacts, I estimate it will be Inveraray and Oban AGAIN this year with Kintyre and Knapdale well and truly left out of the visitor agenda, if not avoided altogether. What representation did Kintyre and Knapdale have at Expo please?
Success isn’t measured in feel good factor and smiles, if that’s a measure of success, we have much to be worried about.
It might look good on paper, but when these 200 clients come to Argyll and see half the place up for sale, no jobs, no opportunities, no business support, boarded up buildings, severe states of disrepair such as appalling roads, and activities businesses closed or inaccessible, I can guarantee they wont be back again – i bet you didnt tell your potential clients that (trade descriptions act still applies Mike by the way! I do hope the product you were pitching was accurate.)
Seems to me like its easier for things like that to be ignored as inconsequential, but surely we should be dealing with the problems we face before we start trying to get thousands of people here to look at for sale signs, that to me says we have real problems, people can’t sell up quick enough (not everyone, but a large concerning number).
I’m sure this will probably get ignored or answered selectively, but I wouldn’t be gloating just yet, if Argyll cannot get big businesses to setup in Argyll without huge government incentives, it is unlikely that tourism operators will be any different being bunged all sorts in return for low value business.
Will it be show or no show… time will tell…
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Nick,
How about a good old fashioned dose of positivity and encouragement.
After all, many of the people who are part of this group, I believe, are unpaid and doing this out of their passion and drive for this area. Spending their own time and money to give their support.
There is a lot to promote in Argyll and the Isles. Can you really guarantee visitors who come to the area won’t come back again? They wouldn’t even come if the group were to highlight all the negative points you have mentioned.
Getting stuck into this group with your tirade is not beneficial and highlights the exact problems that can exist within many regions. It is true that in business, everything needs to be measured. I can bet with the level of industry leaders in this group, the ROI will be analysed to the extreme.
Not everyone in Argyll has your negative attitude. Some of us are delighted that a hugely influential group of industry leaders, with boundiful business experience have come together to ‘highlight’ and promote exactly what Argyll and the Isles has to offer.
Thank goodness people with your ‘black cloud’ thinking are not plentiful, otherwise initiatives like this would never have got off the ground.
Has anyone told you, in tourism, a smile goes a long way? Maybe you need to get out more and meet the people with the smiles and the healthy attitudes.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Thankyou for the character assessment, or should i say assassination.
On the contrary to the above assessment, i have a positive attitude, but i am a realist and to make positive change it is essential to identify the negatives. It just seems to me that Argyll doers have a habit of bathing in positivity regardless of results, this is one occasion where i believe that self praise has not been earnt yet.
Further to the offensive ‘black cloud’ remark, im sure that those who suffer from depression, mental illness, or perhaps people who have taken their own lives in Argyll, and other places would be deeply offended by your remark. Which adequately demonstrates my point, that once again issues that need addressing are overlooked because they do not fit in with the positive attitude of those influential people, i see the ‘black cloud’ way of thinking as a positive not a negative, after all it takes people like us to step in and sort out the mess that other positive thinkers leave behind.
Again in response to ‘tirade’, serious questions are being asked and continue to go unanswered , i would categorise it as being persistent, certainly not abusive, are they important? That is entirely irrelevant, if all of us are being asked to place our faith in people to do a job that i think some of us can do better then of course our queries should be answered, certainly it is a responsibility of the group to deliver information for public scrutiny.
Do you know what, im not even going to bother to continue responding, your words show politeness, but conceal offence, its clear Argyll and the AISTP cant accept criticism, thoughts or opinions that differ to their own…. Capitalist Dictatorship in action again…
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Are AISTP supporting the new transit marina for Oban? They obviously love Portavadie, but are they supporting the development of Oban’s waterfront?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Is anything being done for the equal opportunities and benefit of all Argyll areas? Perhaps thats why they are letting the roads get so bad, so that everyone has to come by boat!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
You’d better not say that in Kilcreggan, if you value your life.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Have i missed something? How do you mean? Is that a threat or are people there passionate about getting roads improved? Not sure i understand.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Have a look at ‘Kilcreggan ferry still off for 3rd May’
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Got it, thanks Robert, that’s definitely not an advert for relying on boat travel! I’ll take care not to offend with foul transport posts in future!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Hello Scots renewable!
Yes indeed, AISTP is a consultee on the Oban Chord discussions and have encouraged the development of step ashore marinas in Oban. We have also contributed to and encouraged the development of the waterfront and a transport hub, through any TIFF arrangements.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Hi Mike!
Thanks for being polite and answering my queries too, very much appreciated….
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I think a big ‘well done’ is due to the folks behind Argyll and the Isles for the launch of their smartfone App. I downloaded the Android version earlier this week thanks to a Google Alert popping something into my mailbox.
Finally, a unique and actually useful initiative designed for people visiting. I’m impressed.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Grant, not sure that this was/is an Argyll & the Isles initiative as per the rest of this thread. It would appear to be a private venture but I may be mistaken (as it needs clarified). Another point would be that I’m not 100% sure its a local app developer, unlike others we have with the skillset in our region. On the positive, it is really encouraging development as publicly funded organisations & projects such as Argyll & Isles Tourism should stimulate investment from private sector, esp in improving the quality of product and the marketing of a product. They should not displace such activity, so lets hope this is an Argyll & Isles development and we don’t end up with another mobile optimised website or app etc. Well done to Catriona and anyone else that has supported this.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Daniel
A story yesterday in the local Dunoon paper clarified it.
The APP was developed by MarineBlast, a company based in Dunoon. They’re the same folk responsible for the successful Apps for the leisure marine industry in the UK.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0