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HIE case study
Annabel Illingworth, founder of Vocalista, has spent her career immersed in the travel sector, from working as a seasonal employee to becoming a travel journalist and consultant for high-profile projects.
Her career has taken her across the globe, from researching responsible tourism in Antarctica for TIME magazine to consulting on an Indian Ocean atoll project. But it was Skye, her family home for 15 years, that provided the perfect testing ground for Vocalista.
"Skye is a microcosm of the global tourism challenge - over-tourism, environmental impact, and local development. If we can get the balance right here, we can replicate our model anywhere."
Annabel believes that destinations should be great places to visit, but not at the expense of people who live and work there. She identified a major gap to achieving the balance between social, cultural, environmental, and economic factors: the lack of an effective mechanism to understand how people on the ground truly feel about tourism and development.
Vocalista is a ground breaking platform designed to bridge this gap. It enables real-time gathering of local and community perspectives, as well as crowd-mapping of environmental data, feeding valuable insights to decision-makers at all levels - from individual businesses to national policymakers.
The platform functions as a "virtual town hall," using communication and collaboration tools combined with innovative data visualisations. The goal is to blend big data with human sentiment, ensuring that every voice counts.
As Annabel puts it: "We aim to empower people to influence matters that impact them while providing decision-makers with real-time evidence to guide their choices. Vocalista is about collective intelligence, action, and impact - helping stakeholders self-organise for the common good."
We want to provide users with an 'a-ha' moment—where data visualisations make it obvious what action needs to be taken. It’s like having a data analyst in your pocket.Annabel Illingworth, Vocalista
Vocalista’s development has been shaped by conversations with hundreds of stakeholders, including businesses, tourism boards, local authorities, national parks and global travel organisations such as the World Travel and Tourism Council.
Key support has come from:
Travel Tech for Scotland
Scottish Enterprise
Interface
InnovateUK
UK Intellectual Property Office
Strathclyde and Dundee Universities
Cairngorms National Park and Skye Beach Cleans
Marine Conservation Society and Scottish Islands Federation
Royal Geographical Society
"The support from the Highlands community has been incredible. We’ve learned so much from people on Skye and other communities working on sustainability challenges."
Annabel was an early participant in Techscaler, joining the first cohort of First Steps. She praises the programme for its workshops, peer support, and expert guidance.
"The Techscaler team immediately saw the potential of launching and refining our model in the Highlands before scaling globally."
Mentorship allowed Vocalista to refine its product roadmap and financial model. The Kickstart grant has been transformative, allowing the team to upgrade their User Interface (UI)/ User Experience (UX) from a prototype to a fully functional suite of tools, including a user directory, geospatial data collection, and discussion forums.
"The MVP grant is a game-changer. This final piece in the puzzle means we can go to market and roll out properly."
Vocalista is gearing up for an exciting year ahead, with many users eagerly awaiting onboarding. Future developments include:
Enhancing location-data capabilities
Improving data presentation tools
Developing a consensus-building tool
My advice to aspiring entrepreneurs: Make sure there’s a market for your idea before you jump in. Bring your customers along on the journey and build something of real value.Annabel Illingworth, Vocalista
Sustainability is at the heart of Vocalista’s mission. Annabel’s vision is to help communities self-organise around shared challenges and goals.
"A wise person once told me, ‘Think global, act local.’ That’s exactly what we’re trying to do - empower people to create positive change in their communities while contributing to larger sustainability efforts."
While Annabel’s background isn’t in tech development, her experience in creative direction and digital storytelling has been invaluable. Having a strong technical co-founder has also been key.
"The landscape for female tech founders is improving, with more support and role models than ever before. I encourage anyone interested in tech to look for female-focused opportunities and listen to the stories of those who have made it."
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