Changes to VisitScotland.com booking facility

6th November 2012

When the online booking system on VisitScotland.com was developed ten years ago, for the majority of smaller tourism businesses this was the sole channel for consumers to book directly online with accommodation establishments. Over the last decade there have been a number of changes in the online booking landscape and there are now many more providers of this service.

Working with the European Commission and the other National Tourist Boards, VisitScotland will look at the way in which they work with tourism businesses around provision of online booking facilities via their websites. We have decided to accelerate our longer term strategy, which was to provide a website with a more direct connection between the visitor and the business.

As a result, VisitScotland will no longer be offering its own online booking facility. This means, from mid December 2012, to make a booking, visitors will have the following options:
1. Call or email the business directly to make a reservation
2. Contact the business directly via their own website
3. Click on a 'book' button - a new button will be introduced which can provide a link to the businesses online booking website.
4. Use the VisitScotland Contact Centre or a VisitScotland Information Centre to make a booking, as is currently the case.
Visitors will still be able to find accommodation businesses through the search function on VisitScotland.com and it is vital that businesses continue to keep this up to date, accurate and have a description that best portrays the products and services on offer.

From June 2013, visitors will be able to book online via a third party provider. To assist businesses in identifying the systems that will be linking to the VisitScotland website, a regularly updated list will be published from the end of November on visitscotland.org.

Our priority is to do what we can to help the industry find the most suitable booking option against individual business needs, by providing support and advice on our industry website visitscotland.org, through face to face contact with our Quality and Tourism Advisors and via the telephone with our contact centre.

A letter has been sent to all accommodation businesses that appear on VisitScotland.com on 5 November; therefore they should receive it in the mail tomorrow.

VisitScotland.com is, and remains, a showcase for Scotland, boasting a rich source of information for visitors and reaching out to some 14 million internet users. Our international and UK & Ireland marketing will continue to drive visitors to the site using a range of print and online communications, websites and campaigns all year round.