Hawick to host 2016 tourism conference

The Scottish Borders Tourism Conference 2016 will be held at Heart of Hawick’s Tower Mill - a redeveloped former spinning mill. Funded jointly by national tourism organisation VisitScotland and Scottish Borders Council, the event is in partnership with the Scottish Borders Tourism Partnership (SBTP).

The conference - which takes place on Friday, March 11, marks the start of Scottish Tourism Week, a yearly programme of tourism business events organised by the Scottish Tourism Alliance (STA).

The annual industry conference is the most anticipated event in the Scottish Borders tourism calendar and always generates a great level of interest from tourism and hospitality businesses the length and breadth of the region. Invitations were distributed across many VisitScotland and SBTP channels and all of the places for the event were snapped up within weeks of being made available. There is now a waiting list for cancellations.

Attendees will represent all areas of the tourism and hospitality sectors, ranging from accommodation providers and tour operators, to food and drink businesses, visitor attractions and events’ organisers. The main theme of this year’s conference is the Year of Innovation, Architecture & Design 2016 so the event will focus on inspiring and encouraging the industry to engage with the objectives of this themed year and capitalise on the business growth opportunities it offers.

The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design builds on momentum generated by the 2015 Year of Food and Drink, Homecoming Scotland 2014 and other themed years.

The conference also aims to provide attendees with a valuable opportunity to network with colleagues and make new connections which will be mutually beneficial to their businesses and will in turn, benefit the industry and the region’s economy.