A team of professionals from VisitEngland, lead by Pam Foden Head of Industry Development, is heading to Scilly from 6th to 9th October to offer Islands’ Partnership members a series of presentations and workshops over three days.  

The programme of events, entitled “Helping our Tourism Businesses to Thrive”, offers a range of practical advice and site visits looking at Future Trends in Tourism, Taking Better Photos, Managing Online Reputations, Online Booking Options, Upgrading and Restyling Properties, and Quality Inspections & Assessments.

All the workshops are free to attend, but places are limited, so they must be booked in advance and will be offered on a first come, first served basis.

VisitEngland will also have two experienced assessors out and about during the whole week commencing 6th October who will be available to call into any business interested in re-joining the VisitEngland star rating scheme, or joining for the first time.  They will be able to talk members through the benefits of an official star rating and how to go about it, as well as discussing websites and marketing options in general.

“This programme has come about following the visit to Scilly of VisitEngland’s Chief Executive, James Berresford back in May. An offer was made then by VisitEngland to run a series of workshops for tourism businesses and professionals,” says Amanda Pender, Tourism Coordinator for the Islands’ Partnership.  “We talked to members about what would be most helpful and have come up with a series of workshops that are both practical and informative, and designed to help their businesses thrive.  The VisitEngland team is highly experienced and we are delighted that they are taking the time to share their expertise and enthusiasm with us here on Scilly.”

Read more about the workshops here.  

BBC Radio Cornwall has reported throughout its breakfast programme today (11th September) that the Isles of Scilly has experienced a big boost in tourism in 2014 halting the decline of previous years.  The Islands’ Partnership was praised for its approach to marketing – with businesses coming together as one to promote the islands and draw in new visitors as well encourage repeat visitors to return.

You can listen to the show here. The story formed part of the news agenda – but the main chunks to listen to are from 1hr 5 mins for 7 minutes with interviews from Sam Mallon, Jon May and James Francis (as well as an interview with Malcolm Bell from Visit Cornwall), and then from 2 hrs 2 mins for about 10 minutes when Chief Executive of Isles of Scilly Steamship Company Rob Goldsmith also spoke live.

The Isles of Scilly Visitor Survey for 2014 is still live (until 31st October) so we are reminding all IP Members and in particular accommodation providers to request all visitors and guests who have stayed on the islands this year to complete the survey.  Any that do complete the survey could win a two tickets to return to Scilly next year, courtesy of Isles of Scilly Travel. The survey takes between 10 and 15 minutes to complete and we want to hear all views from a wide range of visitors so that we can look to improve the overall visitor experiences on Scilly. We have had a good online response to date but, of course, the more completed surveys we get, the more the data we can collect, and the more robust the analysis. Here is the link to share the Isles of Scilly Visitor Survey 2014. We also have posters in the office if you’d like to display one in your business.

The Isles of Scilly has made it to the Top 100 of hottest experiences in the world according to International Traveller, Australia’s best-selling outbound travel magazine.

On sale today, the special collectors’ edition of the magazine, supported by Expedia.com.au reveals the 100 Ultimate Travel Experiences of a Lifetime. In 100^th place is “Be amazed by the Isles of Scilly”.

The Top 100 was selected by a panel of 10 travel experts, among them Lonely Planet’s Richard l’Anson, Sally Webb and award-winning travel writers John Borthwick and Andrew Bain, who spent hours analysing nominations from globe-trotting Australians to reveal the ultimate list of the top 100 travel experiences you must have on your bucket list.

The Top 10 of the Top 100 in the World are:

• An epic African Safari, Africa
• Hike in Torres del Paine National Park, Chile
• Trek to see the Mountain Gorilla, Africa
• Explore the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
• See the Amazon rainforest, South America
• The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, Peru
• Taj Mahal at sunrise, India
• Great Wall of China, China
• The beauty of Petra, Jordan
• A week in New York, USA

“We are obviously delighted to make this list and honoured that such a little place like Scilly is in such elite company,” says Amanda Pender, Tourism Co-ordinator. “Australians clearly appreciate natural beauty and amazing landscapes – both of which Scilly is blessed with in spades – and it’s fantastic to know that there is a growing awareness of our islands as far away as Australia.”