Comment posted New chair for area tourist body by Daniel MacIntyre.
forget my comments above….it wasn’t an AGM as reported.
Daniel MacIntyre also commented
- maybe the post and comments should be deleted?
- cheers mike….maybe I’ll get an apology from newsroom. paranoia!!! only commenting on the initial rant plus the content is now inaccurate!….can’t believe I got a lecture for asking q’s
- I’m fully aware of the machinations (positive and negative) including similar “spygate” matters. I’ve been fully supportive of AISTP as I was involved in AILST and pressed for the leadership that we have today!.
I’m just passing comment on your posts. firstly…your claim that AITSP is the first of its kind and a “pilot” for Scotland and secondly, your rant about AILST.
I’m merely pointing out that, in order to represent an industry, you need to communicate with them! I also seriously doubt you have no idea of the structure or membership, so was asking pertinent q’s. What’s the issue in communicating basic matters such as important events: AGM….list of directors, beyond chair and Duchess and finally…membership details! No paranoia, just keen to learn more as its not forthcoming - hmm, not sure about that, your rant about aillst could be interpreted as you didn’t know how aistp actually came into being. the fact you published it….would lead me to believe that lot more folk out there don’t know about the changes.
AGM…when/where was it? I believe I’m a member via my membership of marketing group. Maybe not!….could you find out the membership details of AISTP and share with everyone please? - nice edit, newsroom….just shows you that there is a bit more communication required. even you guys got mixed up.
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
- Argyll and the Isles at EXPO: Summary of the last day
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. - Misleading instructions to voters: is Duncan Macintyre trawling for 4th preference votes?
cmon larry, think you’ve got a typo there!!
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nice edit, newsroom….just shows you that there is a bit more communication required. even you guys got mixed up.
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At the end of a long day, AISTP sounded like AILLST – to which we admit having a red flag and bull response, for very good reason.
There was nothing wrong with the communication. We were cloth eared.
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hmm, not sure about that, your rant about aillst could be interpreted as you didn’t know how aistp actually came into being. the fact you published it….would lead me to believe that lot more folk out there don’t know about the changes.
AGM…when/where was it? I believe I’m a member via my membership of marketing group. Maybe not!….could you find out the membership details of AISTP and share with everyone please?
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Signs of advanced paranoia here, Daniel and God knows why.
We admit to going off on one at what we thought was the very mention of AILLST – and surely you cannot prefer that dead end to what we now have?
We have no idea of the membership details or structure of membership at AISPT and will ask Mike Story – an utterly transparent person who has no time to spare for conspiracies in the light of the real work to be done – to talk about that here.
If a lot of folk out there don’t know about the changes it may well be because they were less than fully aware of what didn’t happen before and had switched off.
Be realistic. This is an initiative for the good of Argyll and the Isles, with a branding that has an immediately obvious story to tell and that folk and businesses here and visitors can all buy in to – and are.
It’s been developed by a degree of effort which is fully epic and which could never be paid for.
With the sheer scale of what has to be done and the need to get cracking – as with the immediate presence at EXPO this year – it is inevitable that there will be some areas of catch up to be done. There are bound to be gaps in communication.
From our viewpoint, we would prefer an outfit driven by the need to make something positive happen, working all hours on a shoestring and dropping a few stitches on the way – to one that was fatly resourced and great at keeping the world and his wife informed of what wasn’t going on.
We are not slow to be critical – nor to be positive – and we can see no conspiracies in the Argyll and the Isles set up, just back breaking work and the imperative of impetus. Argyll is not great at impetus.
If you can’t see that this is the first real chance we’ve had to get Argyll and the Isles to the point of the wide scale recognition it merits (and has to believe in), then you’ve been stricken by myopia.
And what else is there, exactly?
It really is time to stop the whinging from the sidelines and roll up the sleeves. From what we can see, Argyll and The Isles tourism is an open door that needs and will welcome all stout shoulders to the wheel.
Anything like this runs largely on voluntary effort – and has to, until is has earned the revenue and the reserves to move to a different model.
And if I sound impatient, frankly I am. There is a time for action and this is it. EXPO is on Wednesday and Thursday THIS WEEK.
Lynda
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I’m fully aware of the machinations (positive and negative) including similar “spygate” matters. I’ve been fully supportive of AISTP as I was involved in AILST and pressed for the leadership that we have today!.
I’m just passing comment on your posts. firstly…your claim that AITSP is the first of its kind and a “pilot” for Scotland and secondly, your rant about AILST.
I’m merely pointing out that, in order to represent an industry, you need to communicate with them! I also seriously doubt you have no idea of the structure or membership, so was asking pertinent q’s. What’s the issue in communicating basic matters such as important events: AGM….list of directors, beyond chair and Duchess and finally…membership details! No paranoia, just keen to learn more as its not forthcoming
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HI Dan, if I could interject here.
As communications director I may be gulity of briefing For Argyll on this subject and confusing Lynda with too many As Is and Ts…not to mention a couple of Ss and a P on the end.
Calum Ross was elected at a bog standard quarterly Argyll and The Isles Strategic Tourism Partnership(AISTP) meeting. It just happened to occur on the month that Provist Petrie was standing down. Her Grace also joined the board in order to represent Historic Houses, and become a roving Argyll and The Isles Ambassador.
The AGM we are starting to work on will be for AIT (Argyll and The Isles Tourism Cooperative LTD.
This will set out the details of memberships, directorships etc. Everyone who is involved in tourism groups in Argyll and The Isles will be entitled to become a member.
AISTP and AIT will be fully seperate from eachother. The former will act as a strategy board, and the latter as a working cooperative company.
Once we get the mammoth task of EXPO out the way, we will be looking at timings and venues for the first AIT AGM.
I would ask everyone to bear with us, we are all giving hundreds of hours of our time to EXPO, which frankly is very difficult given most of us are well into our busy season.
As soon as Expo is over, we will get to work on this important matter, so you can all engage and get behind AIT.
Thanks
Mike
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Everyone who is involved in tourism groups in Argyll and The Isles will be entitled to become a member.
Mike, could I please ask who this includes? My company has previously been refused membership of the local tourism association although we obviously provide services to the tourism industry in Argyll.
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forget my comments above….it wasn’t an AGM as reported.
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no worries
Things are frantic and my briefings are getting faster..plus. AISTP AILLST AIT…and my accent!
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cheers mike….maybe I’ll get an apology from newsroom. paranoia!!! only commenting on the initial rant plus the content is now inaccurate!….can’t believe I got a lecture for asking q’s
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maybe the post and comments should be deleted?
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Come and meet our new chairman Calum Ross at Expo.
He and I can be found on the Argyll and The Isles Stands L2 to L8…..we are the haggard looking ones with sleep deprivation.
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