Cosiness and animosity in the tourism trade

Published on Saturday 4 August 2007 01:57

WHAT could have inspired Marion Oates, business development manager at Scottish Borders Council, to be so sniffy about the Borders Tourist Board, a voluntary local business website, rich in local content, and solely designed to boost Borders business?

After all, if tourists found the site "confusing", as she said, they wouldn't use it. And it appears that plenty of them are using it. These days such a stalwart external defence of VisitScotland.com is rare, even in the public sector.

Sure enough, an explanatory theory appeared on The Scotsman's always-interesting online message board: "The ex-director of Scottish Borders Tourist Board is now head of strategy for VisitScotland. His second-in-command was the very same Marion Oates, now employed as economic development officer by Scottish Borders Council."

"How nice and cosy!" said our contributor "de Soulis", adding rather cattily: "It's always good to get fresh ideas in Tourism."

Sarcasm aside, fresh ideas are indeed what the industry is demanding from our leaders, says Gary McLean, who heads the popular Scottish website HotelReview.com and who will join tourism minister Jim Mather's 27 August all-industry meeting. McLean says: "We're moving into the endgame for VisitScotland.com. The industry is so angry about its blatantly anti-competitive nature that the minister won't be allowed to pussyfoot around."

FACT OF THE DAY: 9.4bn

THE UK agricultural industry's total borrowing rose by 319 million in the quarter to June 2007, according to figures released by the Bank of England yesterday.

The national borrowing figure now stands at 9.441 billion, an all-time high, and an increase of 3 per cent from June 2006.

Nigel Parmenter of the Agricultural Mortgage Corporation said increasing costs and "appalling" weather had knocked confidence.

GOOD DAY

Duncan Bannatyne

THE Scottish entrepreneur has been named as the top Dragons' Den mentor by the bosses of Britain's small and medium-sized enterprises. According to research from Abbey Business, 24 per cent of respondents would choose Bannatyne if they got a lucrative offer on the BBC show.

BAD DAY

Samsung

AN ELECTRICAL problem at a Samsung Electronics factory in Seoul forced a partial halt in production at the world's largest memory chip maker, raising prospects of a temporary global shortage, though potentially benefiting rivals such as Toshiba.

KILLER QUOTE

MAKE no mistake, it will take some time for the sub-prime market to work through the excesses of the recent past."

Bob Diamond, head of investment banking business Barclays Capital, on the shock-waves running through the US housing market