New South of Scotland Food and Tourism Leadership Group Launched

Representatives from the tourism and food & drink sectors in Dumfries & Galloway and the Scottish Borders have held an inaugural meeting to establish a new South of Scotland Food and Tourism Leadership Group.

Initiated by industry organisations Visit South West Scotland, DG Food and Drink, Scottish Borders Tourism Partnership and Scottish Borders Food and Drink Network, and enabled with support from VisitScotland, the meeting established an agreement to work collaboratively on a shared vision to maximise the emerging opportunities within these two industries across the south of Scotland.

The first meeting, which was held in Moffat, was facilitated by tourism destination development expert Carron Tobin who has supported regions across Scotland in unlocking tourism and place based development potential.  Carron welcomed the establishment of the group, commenting:

“We know from past experience that destination development works best when the businesses working within an area are empowered to determine their own needs.  For rural areas in particular it is important that the voice of local businesses and communities is heard before deciding what the marketing narrative or place based brand should be.

“This meeting is an exciting development in the south of Scotland becoming empowered to determine how the area should be marketed.  The collaboration between both the tourism and the food and drink industries in this meeting was an innovative approach, reflecting how these important sectors are intertwined across the south of Scotland economy.  The four organisations who initiated this meeting should be congratulated for recognising their common opportunity, for quickly reaching a consensus on what needs to happen next and starting to work together for the benefit of the south of Scotland.”

The group also included:

• Ian McAndrew, Chair of Visit South West Scotland and Chef Patron of Blackaddie Country House Hotel in Sanquhar

• John Henderson, Vice Chair of Scottish Borders Tourism Partnership, Chair of Scottish Borders Food and Drink Network and owner of Born in the Borders in Jedburgh

• Paula Ward, Region Leadership Director for the south of Scotland

The next stage is to compile a shared response to the Scottish Government’s Consultation on a new Enterprise Agency for the South of Scotland and will begin working on an outline of activity. 

For more information or to arrange interviews with any of the participants contact:

Lorna Young on lorna@indigowords.co.uk or 01387 263886.