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DRAFT 21/01/04 CAIRNGORMS TOURISM DEVELOPMENT GROUP Meeting held on Tuesday 9th December 2003 at 10.30am At the Boat Hotel, Boat of Garten Present Bruce Luffman (Chair) Auld Cummerton, Strathdon Neil Black Visitscotland Sally Dowden Speyside Wildlife Ruathy Donald Cairngorms National Park Authority Ian Dunlop Aberdeen and Grampian Tourist Board Roger Edwards MBSE John Grant Rothiemurchus Estate Paul Higson ECAP Project Co-ordinator Bob Kinnaird Cairngorm Mountain Andrew Kirk The Cairn Hotel, Carrbridge Caroline Mitchell Aberlour Distillery James MacFarlane Muckrach House Hotel, Dulnain Bridge Fiona McLauglin Scottish Executive Tourism Unit Elma McMenemy Royal Deeside and Mearns Tourism Forum David Noble Highlands of Scotland Tourist Board Bob Severn National Park Board member Debbie Strang Cairngorms National Park Authority Bill Taylor Scottish Natural Heritage Bob Wilson Aberdeen & Grampian Tourist Board Andrew Bruce Wootton Atholl Estates Apologies Patricia Eccles Nethy House, Nethy Bridge Jane Hope Cairngorms National Park Authority Gary Marsden Balmoral Estate Meg Mearns Brandy Burn Hotel, Glen Clova James Milne Kinross House, Grantown Christine Morrison Rothiemurchus Estate Douglas Ritchie Perth and Kinross Tourist Board Syd Smardon Speyside Highland Leisure Park, Aviemore Colin Smith Angus and Dundee Tourist Board Sean Sullivan Aviemore Mountain Resort Elizabeth Thompson Dalwhinnie Distillery Ken Thomson Craigendarroch Hotel, Ballater Tim Walker Sportscotland Glenmore Lodge Andy Wells Glenlivet Estate, Tomintoul In attendance Yvonne Crook View Marketing Consultants Welcome and Apologies Action 1. Bruce Luffman welcomed everyone to the meeting and the apologies were noted Minutes of the Meeting of 30th October 2. The minutes of the last meeting of the Working Group were considered and approved. Matters Arising: 3. Cairngorms Visitor Guide: The progression of the forthcoming Cairngorms Visitor Guide was discussed. The Guide is an area guide to inform visitors on what is available to do, visit etc in the area once they are here. It is not a prearrival planning guide and is not an accommodation guide. Local businesses had been invited to advertise in the Guide, however some of those present at the meeting were unaware of this. It was agreed that this needed be addressed and relevant businesses given the opportunity to advertise. 4. The Guide will be able to be downloaded from the HOST website when it is ready and some consideration should also be given to making the Guide downloadable from the CNPA website. 5. Further discussion followed on the broader question of all print material for the Cairngorms. It was suggested that the needs to be a discussion on what the future literature requirements are likely to be, based on the principles of quality and sustainability and including an evaluation of what is done in 2004. Action ALL Cairngorms Marketing Strategy 6. Yvonne Crook of View Marketing gave a presentation on the draft Marketing Strategy for the Cairngorms. She explained that the Strategy must be consumer facing and market led and highlighted what she felt some of the key market demands were, namely the development of a strong Brand for the area, the delivery of a sense of arrival and improved information on the significance of the area in natural and cultural terms. She went on to outline the proposed Action Plan to implement the Marketing Strategy. 7. Discussion followed on the general content of the draft and it was agreed in essence that although this was a worthwhile first draft, it required redrafting to create a tighter, shorter more focused document to deliver what is needed in the area. Working Group members were asked to comment on the draft document in more detail, via e-mail to Ruathy Donald, who would then liase with the consultant on redrafting. Action ALL/RD 8. It was agreed that a sub group of members/ organisations on the Working Group should be formed to consider and comment on the redraft of the Marketing Strategy. Ruathy Donald agreed to contact members to arrange this. Action RD Progress on the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism 9. Debbie Strang, the CNPA Sustainable Tourism Officer gave a presentation on the Sustainable Tourism European Charter, following a visit to the Mourne Mountains in November. A copy of her presentation and the report from the visit to the area is attached Annex 1. 10. Discussion followed on the Charter and it was agreed that the CNPA should take this forward and report back on progress and developments to the next meeting of the Working Group. Action RD Key Issues for Tourism in the Cairngorms 11. A draft paper on the key issues for tourism had been prepared by Ruathy Donald & Debbie Strang for comment and approval by the Working Group. Discussion on this followed and broadly speaking members were in agreement with the content of the paper, detailed comments were also received at the meeting. Working Group members were requested to submit any further comments on the paper by Monday 15th December, these would then be incorporated in the final paper which would be presented to the National Park Board at their January meeting. Action ALL/RD ABSC Update 12. It was reported that developments on this are continuing although there is nothing specific to update the Working Group on at this stage. National Park Welcome Training 13. Ruathy Donald reported that the first two training courses on National Park Welcome had been held. Following feedback received where participants were looking for more information on the National Park in the course content, all further courses have been postponed in order to improve the training course and incorporate this information. Sam Ham Interpretive Workshop Programme 14. Ruathy Donald reported that the programme for Sam Ham’s visit was in the process of being finalised and invitations to three thematic workshops to be held in the area would be sent out in the near future. In addition, it was proposed to hold a workshop focusing on strategic interpretation, involving the Tourism Development Working Group, to be held on Wednesday 21st January and it was agreed that this would be a good opportunity for TDWG members to consider the role interpretation can play in addressing some of the key issues for National Parks. Date of Next Meeting 15. The date of the next meeting was agreed as Tuesday 10th February at 10.30am at a venue to be confirmed.