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Podcast series
Tune into Tourism - Road to Recovery 2021
EPISODES
Episode 13
Mental health and wellbeing in tourism
After a year which has challenged our mental health like never before, we are joined by Gordon McIntyre from ‘Hospitality Health’ to talk about how to take better care of our staff, the signs to look out for, how to improve communication, and most importantly look after your own wellbeing too.
Episode 14
How to attract and keep a great team
In this episode, aimed at helping your tourism business emerge from a global pandemic, we are joined by David Cochrane from ‘Hospitality Industry Trust Scotland’ to discuss how to find, attract and keep great team members. From new pools of people to be looking at, to changing the work environment to appeal in what will be an employee’s market, as well as re-thinking some of the fundamentals of how you run your business in a world that has been forever changed.
Episode 15
THE BUSINESS OF RE-OPENING
In this episode, we are joined by Andrew Scott from Victus Consultancy, as well as Jo De Sylva, Chair of Visit Inverness Loch Ness and owner of MacGregors Bars and Bogbain Farm. We discuss how to re-think your offering and tackle concerns around pricing, creating packages, working with other businesses within your communities, and more!
Episode 16
GETTING TO KNOW THE NEW CUSTOMER
Join us as we discuss new trends in customer behaviour along with Simon Calder, Travel Journalist, and Irene Roberts, Director at Expedia. We identify what customers are looking for, how they are booking, and how to turn ‘lookers into bookers’. From pricing, through booking windows, to managing expectations, we talk about the opportunity that exists this year to create new loyal domestic customers who will keep coming back.
Episode 17
RE-CONNECTION
In this podcast we are joined by Nick Hall, Digital Tourism Think Tank, to talk about an unsurprising trend for 2021 - Reunion travel. People are desperate to get together with friends and family they haven’t seen for so long. But not being able to connect in person for the last year has driven all of our relationships online, so re-thinking how we communicate and interact with visitors in this new digital first era will be crucial. We discuss how to embrace change, cater to these guests and their new needs, plus collaboration and partnerships.
Episode 18
EVENTS – GOING HYBRID AND EMBRACING CHANGE
In this episode, we’re joined by Judith Wilson of eventsbase.co.uk and eventit.org.uk. As events start to return in Scotland, albeit many in a hybrid form, we find out what that could mean for your business and how to embrace the change, as well as opportunities to collaborate to create new events or festivals in your own community.
Episode 19
RESPONSIBLE TOURISM
Consumers are looking for more information, openness & options around sustainability. In this episode, we are joined by Dr Harold Goodwin from the Responsible Tourism Partnership, as well as Paul Easto, Co-Founder of Wilderness Scotland, to discuss what the increasingly popular term ‘responsible tourism’ really means, the new challenges we face in a post-covid world, and discover some of the changes you could start to make within your tourism business.
Episode 20
RURAL AND COMMUNITY TOURISM
After a year where everyone's world shrank dramatically, visitors are now desperate to escape urban locations for the freedom of a rural environment and have a meaningful experience, really connecting with the locals, drinking in the history, culture and traditions. The Highlands and Islands of Scotland couldn’t be better placed to tap into this desire. In the final episode of this tranche of Road to Recovery podcasts, we’re joined by Peter Syme, Adventure Specialist and Strategic Advisor, as well as Joan Bishop, Chair of the Dornoch Community Interest Company, to look at how things have changed post-covid, and how to tackle the new challenges rural destinations face in the coming season and beyond.
About the 2021 series
Our Road to Recovery podcast series continues for 2021 with 8 new episodes aimed at helping your tourism business emerge from the global pandemic, we look at the most important aspect of any business – the people.
You can also catch up on the 12 episodes that took place throughout 2020.