You are Argyll and the Isles Tourism. Every one of the area’s individual local marketing groups are your members. The philosopher’s stone for anyone in the tourism industry in rural Scotland is selling the winter season.
So what does the young umbrella marketing organisation for Argyll and the Isles come up with?
Are you sitting comfortably? You could be. In Argyll. In this fabled winter season. And you’ll be able to try it for size and pleasure at Inveraray Castle at the Best of the West event in mid-September.
Scenic Scotland – and particularly in the winter season – is for active decadence, meaning activity and decadence actively sought out and supplied.
What Argyll and the Isles can deliver in rich variety at these times of the year are outdoor activities of all kinds – on land, in glens and hills; on, in and below the water – and indoor comfort and entertainment of one kind: big fires, music, dance, first class locally sourced food, the best whiskies in the world and locally brewed beers. And that’s before you get to the tall tales.
So the Best of the West will be just that – a suck-it-and-see taste of Argyll and the Isles at the time of the year when the winter season is on the near horizon.
The concept is inspirational.
They’re not going to tell folk about it, They going to show them.
First there’s the castle.
One way and another you cannot separate Scotland from its castles, whether they’re the doughty defenders like Dunstaffnage or the endlessly romantics like Eilean Donan, making Loch Duich its own moat.
But if there’s a prettier, more utterly charming castle than Inveraray, show it to me. This event will be no empty Best of the West. This will be the business.
All 22 west coast whisky distillers will be there – and some, like Bruichladdich, distil more than whisky. (Ugly Betty has a tale to tell.) Alongside them will be renowned specialist retailers like Loch Fyne Whiskies.
All the catering will be by Food From Argyll, the collective of top class local food producers who put stomach into revellers at T-in the Park and other music festivals. They opened a multitude of eyes at the Argyll and the Isles aisle at VisitScotland’s 2012 Tourism Expo in Edinburgh, with game, beef, pork, lamb,oysters, seafood, smokery pokery…
No fewer than 15 bands will be there, headlined on Saturday by Skerryvore and on Sunday by the Red Hot Chilli Pipers – who won’t be the only pipers either.
There will be horse rides from Argyll Adventure; abseiling (from the castle turrets), kayaking, archery and survival skills from Stramash; and the unique World Top 100 Machrihanish Dunes golf course is sending a putting course.
Children are not sidelined. Argyll and the Isles is arguably the best place in Scotland for families and the entertainment for them includes The Drakes of Hazzard – of which no more should be said here.
And if the west coast whisky distillers thought their presence alone was enough to woo – it’s time ‘tae think again’.
They’ll be competing, nose to nose – and may the best malt win.
But the Best of the West Malt Whisky Challenge, pitting all 22 of them against each other is no po-faced sniff, twirl and spill wastefulness adjudicated by the rarified. It’s a light hearted ‘peoples tasting’, where the malts will almost certainly be swallowed with relish after they’ve made their first mark on the palate – and where it will be the votes of the whisky drinking public who decide which distiller gets the inaugural Duke’s Trophy.
The strongest possible proof of the extent to which the focus and calibre of the event has caught the imagination is the scale and nature of the buy-in – including Argyll and Bute Council.
The major national and regional businesses with an interest in the tourism sector will be there and are direct sponsors of the event. Think hotels, golf courses, transport providers, activity and experience companies and many others, amongst them the best and most inventive
The event is built around a special winter offer developed by Argyll and the Isles tourism with west coast ferry operator, CalMac and with the national tourism agency, VisitScotland.
Visitors at the event, from travel and tourism operators to interested and curious individuals, will hear about it and experience almost every aspect of it on the spot.
There will be someone there representing the best of what anyone really wants to find out about.
The creative energy at the heart of Argyll and the Isles Tourism, its Vice Chair, Mike Story, provides the last piece of strategic information on the thinking and planning behind this intensely focused blast of an event:
‘We picked Inveraray due to its proximity to the central belt where we will concentrate a lot of our winter season marketing; and because of the popularity of last years BOWfest. Huge thanks go to the Duke and Duchess (a committed director of the Argyll and the Isles Tourism Partnership) for giving this fantastic venue for free and for seriously getting their sleeves rolled up and stuck in at every level.’
How ironic that this wonderful marketing initiative should be displayed next to the report indicating that the main artery from Glasgow and the west to Inveraray is once again closed. When is the Scottish Government/Transport Scotland going to take decisive action to provide a long term solution to this problem?
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When hell freezes over, as things stand at the moment.
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Is it not a bit pessimistic to describe mid September as “winter”?
I smiled when I read that A&B was arguably the best place for families immediately followed by mention of a whisky event. I suppose it depends on how old your children are.
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There is to be Bungee Trampolines, Climbing Walls, Paintball Range, Pony Rides, Tea Cups, Bouncy Castle, Chainsaw Carving, Wild Birds, Face Painters, Sand Pits and a large Children Tent sponsored by Inveraray Jail and Argyll Adventure and much much more for children as well as the responsible drinking for adults. Last years event saw Music, Food, Drink and Activities all merge wonderfully, everyone including the children had a ball and this year promises even more. The weather last year was pretty good as I recall and the location is outstanding in front of the castle. Longer hours and the big name music acts add to what is already a well loved event in Argyll and one our visitors will be truly entertained at. It is a must for the diary and great event to highlight the start of the winter Visit Scotland marketing drive.
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Very interesting & certainly well worth a look. I must put the date on the calendar. Er, what is the date? Mid-September – do we assume that it’s the 15th/16th?
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Keith – we weren’t given a date or a website – so assumed the date was not yet entirely final and that the website was not yet ready.
Apologies.
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Hello Keith
yes indeed , the festival is on the 15th and 16th of September. Details are on http://www.bowfest.co.uk
Looking forwards to meeting you there
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Thanks for filling in the gaps & the link.
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Best wishes to the event .
Regarding Food from Argyll , there appeared to be a complete absence of Argyll businesses at the Royal Highland Show food hall this week , in contrast to the excellent stalls and displays from other areas .
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Food from Argyll is about feeding the masses at events, rather than marketing Argyll produce to the consumer. It must make a good living for the few involved, hard work tho it is, but that is not really changing the public perspective nor availability of what we produce in Argyll.
What a shame some of our great companies were not able to be at the RHS.
Maybe it is time to have a combined marketing initiative for more than the great burgers and sticky toffee puddings of FfA. That way the smaller companies can afford to go, and the public can learn more of the fabulous food of the county.
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They do get media coverage and word-of-mouth broadcasting for the food of the entire area in their visits to the music festivals.
But you have a sound point in the imperative for collective action.
Part of the problem is the usual parochial factionalism of separate groups refusing to merge and collaborate. Food From Argyll is a good brand, big enough territorially to make an impact to everyone’s benefit but not too big to start to get bland.
The uber brand is Scotland Food and Drink – which pays gallingly little attention to Argyll. This is largely because there is not a single body speaking and acting for the food producers of the entire area.
The growing success of Argyll and the Isles Tourism, as an umbrella marketing body with universal buy-in from the various local marketing groups, should have shown the way forward to our food producers.
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News room
The food hall ths year was packed out, Most of what was on display was from private companies from Scotland, not all big companies but a good range from small to very big. To be honest what we had was a very Scottish food fair and a very good one at that. Im not sure if a Argyll food theme would work or not as a lot of what we have in Argyll is duplicated else where in Scotland? The food show was just that, a very good show of Scottish produce from mostly anywhere in Scotland and presented very very well.
Maybe the same thing might just work very well in the Queens Hall during Cowal Games for Argyll and the Isles foodies?
BTW thats five years in a row that we have bought the very best of Curry sauce from that very food show, and that just about answers the question in that I can get everything else that was on show on my door step because I live in Argyll. mmmmmm
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“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
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