About the Explore Scotland Network
Explore Scotland Ltd, was launched in October 2004 building on concepts James and Kathleen Rattray had developed. In 1996 they ran a Scenic Maps Scotland Franchise, which concentrated on town map boards.
In 2004 they formed Explore Scotland Ltd which focused on printed tourism guides and web sites. They developed six areas of Scotland themselves; a further area was developed as a Franchise using the various Operation Manuals and support from Explore Scotland Ltd. This demonstrated that the system was replicable by others.
In 2007 Explore Scotland Ltd franchised three of the initial six areas, making a total of four of seven areas run by Franchisees in Scotland.
The Explore Scotland network specialises on area specific information via the following means of communication:-
- 700,000 area specific printed guides/brochures.
- Network of area specific web sites each being managed locally.
- Social media in the form of FaceBook, Twitter, Flickr and You Tube.
Explore Scotland Printed Guides.
The Explore Scotland visitor guides are updated annually and distributed directly to the hotels, guest houses, B&Bs, and participating restaurants, shops and attractions. In addition a copy is available as a PDF from each of the area web sites.
Explore Scotland network of web sites.
The current design of the Explore Scotland web suites was pioneered during 2010 and launched in 2011.The new web sites include a number of new features that make use of the latest Internet technology. Such as Google Maps, Street view, Direction finder to help you get to your destination. Other features include:-
“Your Trip Planner – this allows you to go round each area web site and add details to “Your Trip” Planner. Once you have collected all the items of interest together you can then “View Your Trip” and you will see all the details in one place linked to Google Maps, these can be printed off and brought with you or e-mailed to yourself or friends.
“Daily Newspaper” – The ability of being able to create your own daily newspaper is available to accommodation providers. This allows each business to have their own newspaper for their guests at breakfast. They can have their own business name at the top, a brief introduction followed by:-
- The daily weather forecast.
- News headlines from their chosen web site e.g. BBC UK or BBC World or USA news etc.
- The daily events for the area
- PLUS a couple of items added by the accommodation provider about their business or information for their guests.
Explore Scotland Social Media.
Explore Scotland has a number of location specific Social Media sites, namely FaceBook and Twitter, to keep in touch with those who are interested in the area. It has been found to be useful to help communicate activities and events as well as local business news.