After a hugely successful first year, the South of Scotland’s regional Thistle Awards are back for 2024, showcasing the finest in Scottish tourism and hospitality across the region, with nominations open from 1 March and a dedicated online session on offer to help businesses craft a winning entry. Spearheaded at national level by VisitScotland, in…
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Join our CEO David Hope-Jones OBE as he walks you through all the latest news from the SSDA from the past month – it sure has been busy! This newsletter focuses on: SSDA’s Conference News – Speakers and Programme Upcoming Events and Webinars Current Destination Development Activities Support on Working with the Travel Trade Update…
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Speakers at the 2024 South of Scotland Destination Alliance Conference include clockwise from top left: Richard Lochhead MSP; Mary Jane Brett, Johnnie Walker Princes Street Experience ; Dr Martin Valenti, Director of Net Zero, SOSE; Paul Ralph, Partners in Access; Bruce Fummey, Comedian and Tour Guide; Carron Tobin, Executive Director with SCOTO SSDA Annual Conference…
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Scotland’s National Poet braved the winter storms to revisit some of his favourite Dumfries haunts before Burns Night this Thursday. His visit marks the start of a new joint campaign to establish Dumfries as The Bard’s Town. The Burns Tourism Partnership aims to celebrate Dumfriesshire’s unparalleled connections to Robert Burns, as the region where the…
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Join our CEO David Hope-Jones as he walks you through all the latest news from the SSDA from the past month – it sure has been busy! This newsletter focuses on: SSDA’s Updated Membership Proposition Upcoming Events and Webinars Destination Development Plans for 2024 Our Recent and Upcoming Marketing and Media Activities Regional News for the…
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Following the South of Scotland’s remarkable successes in 2023, the SSDA is excited to announce an evolution in its membership proposition for 2024. The SSDA is keen to become the largest, most inclusive, energetic and impactful destination management and marketing organisation in Scotland. We want our consumer-facing destination brand, ‘Scotland Starts Here’ to be…
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Campaigners in Dumfries call for the town to be recognised as the place where Robert Burns lived, loved, worked and died As revellers link arms around the world to welcome 2024 with a rendition of Auld Lang Syne, a new action group in the South of Scotland has launched a campaign to celebrate Dumfriesshire’s unparalleled…
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The Galloway & Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere has achieved its second international travel accolade in as many months as Scotland’s UNESCO Trail is named on Rough Guides’ much anticipated list of the ’24 best destinations to visit in 2024’. Globally recognised as world class for people and nature, the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere…
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As we look back on 2023 there is much to celebrate, with five fantastic wins for the South of Scotland as a leading tourism destination. Thistle Awards records smashed: For the first time ever, the South of Scotland won more national Thistle Awards than any other region. In total we took home six prestigious…
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The corks were popping as the region celebrated its best ever performance at the national Scottish Thistle Awards for the tourism and hospitality sector – businesses from Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders scooped six national awards at the glitzy ceremony in Glasgow, smashing the previous regional record of three and making the South of…
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