VisitScotland Meeting

[Mark Cameron]

I emailed VisitScotland to ask whether they had Porty on their radar and if not whether there was an opportunity for them to consider it when promoting Edinburgh.

I got this reply:


"Thank you for your email, which has made its way to me. I would be very happy to meet up with you to discuss the matter of Portobello further, but in the meantime I will speak to my colleagues at the Edinburgh Tourism Action Group - this public-private body looks at Edinburgh as a tourism destination and is currently undertaking work to refresh the Edinburgh Tourism Strategy. As part of this project, there is a work stream that looks at the Waterfront, but this is currently focusing on Leith. I will however, raise the issue again as I have also been approached by South Queensferry, who would also like to see their destination more linked up and ultimately further promoted.

I also think that it might be a good idea for you to make contact with Marketing Edinburgh, which is the new city promotion body, but it might be an idea if we could get together first.

Things are somewhat hectic for the next couple of weeks, but may be you could give me some dates/times when you are available. Happy to meet you here at our office in Leith or in Portobello.

Kind regards,

Manuela Calchini

Regional Partnerships Director - South of Scotland
VisitScotland
Ocean Point One
94 Ocean Drive
Edinburgh
EH6 6JH

In the spirit of ensuring wider community involvement in discussions I wanted to find out whether anyone else with a desire to promote Porty would like to join me in meeting with Manuela. Is this something PCC would like to be involved in (or have they already tried)?

I think the more we do to get ourselves in the thoughts of these organisations the more likely they are to feature Portobello as an alternative to the city centre.

[Bob Jefferson]

Sure, count me in and well done for using some initiative and doing something positive.

[Epykat]

I'd be happy to get involved too.

[Porty]

10/10 for initiative . Not sure I have much to bring at the moment . Best of luck and well done.

[Mark Cameron]

Quick update - the meeting is planned for 21st in Porty.

I want to hear what Visit Scotland have to say about including Portobello in their promotional material (web, brochures etc) and whether there is anything they suggest we can do as a community to help further our own cause to get us on their radar.

Does anyone have anything they'd like me to raise (time allowing)?