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CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK ViSIT FORUM Meeting held on Wednesday 20th April at 10.30am Duke of Gordon Hotel, Kingussie Present: Bruce Luffman (Chair) Auld Cummerton, Strathdon Elaine Booth Scottish Enterprise Grampian Ruathy Donald Cairngorms National Park Authority Sally Dowden Speyside Wildlife Ian Dunlop VisitScotland Patricia Eccles Nethy House, Nethy Bridge Murray Ferguson Cairngorms National Park Authority Heather Galbraith Cairngorms National Park Authority Jim Gillies Forestry Commission John Grant Rothiemurchus Estate Alistair Gronbach VisitScotland Andrew Harper Cairngorms National Park Authority Paul Higson ECAP Steve Hunt Scottish Natural Heritage Bob Kinnaird CairnGorm Mountain Ltd Louise Mackie Aberdeenshire Council Rita Marks Moray Tourism Forum Alastair MacLennan Balliefurth Farm / B&B Elma McMenemy Royal Deeside and Mearns Tourism Forum Ann Napier Association of Cairngorms Community Councils Andy Rockall SNH Debbie Strang Cairngorms National Park Authority Deborah Tait MBSE Apologies: Anne Angus MBSE Scott Armstrong VisitScotland Neil Black VisitScotland Simon Blackett Braemar Tourist Association Sandy Dear Tourism and the Environment Forum Andrew Coleman UDAT Fred Gordon Aberdeenshire Council Ranger Service Paul Higson ECAP Project Co-ordinator Andrew Kirk Cairn Hotel James Macfarlane Muckrach Lodge Hotel, Dulnain Bridge Garry Marsden Balmoral Estate Pierre Masson Moray Council Mick Pawley Angus Council James Rattray Blair Atholl Tourism Group Ian Reynolds Scottish Enterprise Tayside Neil Sutherland Cairngorms Local Outdoor Access Forum (LOAF) Elizabeth Thompson Dalwhinnie Distillery Tim Walker Sportscotland Glenmore Lodge Drennan Watson/Jim Conroy Scottish LINK Welcome and Apologies 1. The Chair welcomed all attendees and noted the apologies received. Minutes of the Last Meeting and Matters Arising 2. VisitScotland have decided not to offer the CNPA post of Tourism and Economic Development Manager to staff as a secondment opportunity as had previously been agreed. The Chair expressed regret that this was the case and advised that the post will now be subject to internal recruitment before being more widely advertised if neccesary. 3. The CNPA will be allocated a single point of contact within VisitScotland at Area Director level. This is likely to be Ian Dunlop, but a final decision has not yet been made. 4. Andrew Harper confirmed that the Place Names Leaflet being produced by the CNPA would include place names of Doric origin as well as Gaelic. Elma McMenemy confirmed that she had been contacted by Rita Callander in connection with this. 5. The CNPA plan to produce a visitor information website and are liaising with other website providers to ensure that there are clear remits for each site. It was noted that the Cairngorms Chamber of Commerce are developing a new site, funded by Leader +, CNPA and the Highland Council. They will have a listing for every business in the Park. 6. Debbie Strang advised that Sandy Dear had reviewed the CNP Marketing Strategy in light of the Sustainable Tourism Strategy. The two strategies do fit together but the Marketing Strategy will be amended to refer to the Sustainable Tourism Strategy and will be included as an annex to the Sustainable Tourism Strategy. 7. The Sustainable Tourism Strategy and Cairngorms Visitor Survey summary booklet will be sent to all businesses within the park and will advise that the full documents are available on request. 8. The CNPA have started holding meetings with partners to progress the actions contained within the Sustainable Tourism Strategy, and this is also feeding into the Park Plan. Debbie Strang also confirmed that she had met with the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute to discuss the monitoring framework for the Sustainable Tourism Strategy. Brand Management Committee 9. Heather Galbraith updated on the decisions made so far by the Brand Management Committee, as detailed in Paper 1. Use of the brand by tourism businesses will be subject to membership of a quality assurance scheme and green tourism business scheme. Concerns were expressed that the VisitScotland Green Tourism Business Scheme is too expensive for small tourism operators. Alistair Gronbach advised that membership of the scheme starts at around £50 and that the VisitScotland scheme was the largest in Europe with 700 members. He added that the CNPA were in a position to influence development of the scheme. VisitScotland are also planning a marketing campaign to raise awareness of the scheme with consumers. Bob Kinnaird advised that CairnGorm Mountain had found the GTBS audit process really useful. 10. The Brand Management Committee decided that Tourism Associations and Community groups could display the brand on websites and literature alongside a short note of explanation of the Europarc Assessment 10. Debbie Strang updated on the recent Euorparc assessment visit. The visit had gone well and Richard Partington had been particularly interested in the idea of directly-elected board members. The feedback from him during the visit was largely positive. Sustainable Tourism Conference 11. AOCB Date of Next Meeting 24. The next meeting will be held on 9th June The meeting finished at 1.15pm Heather Galbraith June 2005