| On March 10, 2006 ''What's Your Story?'' The Creative Tourism Conference offers a groundbreaking opportunity for collaboration between the tourism and creative industries.
Supported by Highlands & Islands Enterprise, the event aims to cultivate the next generation of tourism attractions by building stronger commercial links between Scotland's biggest industry and one of its most dynamic.
Participants will have a chance to pioneer inventive and compelling attractions for the Highlands & Islands tourism market. A sparkling line-up of facilitators has been put together to address the four key themes of content, technology, investment and revenue generation; and in doing so, help turn raw ideas into real commercial successes.
This event runs from 9:30am till 4:15pm at the Tulloch Castle Hotel (Dingwall), and is part sponsored by the European Union's Northern Periphery Program as part of the Integrate to Innovate project..
SPEAKERS INCLUDE:
Don Coutts is a film and television veteran of four decades, having worked with Channel4 as a director and producer since the channel's inception. One of Scotland and Britain's best known filmmakers, Don's recent feature film project is the BAFTA and Milan Film Festival winning American Cousins.
Graham Lean is the Managing Director of CIM Scotland Ltd., which works with companies in all fields of the Creative Industries – TV production, computer games, animation, software, design etc. He spent over 20 years working abroad, mainly in the Far East, mainly in development and venture capital in different sectors, including leisure and entertainment. He has an MBA from INSEAD, Europe's top ranked business school.
Professor John Lennon is the Moffat Chair in Travel and Tourism Business Development at Glasgow Caledonian University. The Moffat Centre, one of Scotland’s most exciting consultancy and research centres is responsible for the production of national research on visitor attractions both in Scotland (on behalf of VisitScotland) and in England (on behalf of the English Tourism Council).
Michael Russell is a writer, commentator and Herald columnist who lives in Argyll. A former front bench member of the Scottish Parliament he has worked in the media ,politics and culture for most of his life .
Norrie Maclaren has survived 25 years in an industry euphemistically called “Show Business”. First as assistant to Stanley Kubrick on Barry Lyndon and The Shining, then as a fashion photographer for many national style publications, and finally a Channel4 filmmaker producing all manner of arts, lifestyle, investigative documentaries and youth programmes, notably the ground breaking gardening series Dig, and the invention of Video Diaries.
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Something New – Technology Session: (1115-1200)
New technology offers new platforms (and revenue streams) for tourism content products. Rob Murray and Gordon Ross from Genuine Games survey new and future methods of content delivery for the tourism market, appraise the commercial viability, and looks at an example from our own peaty backyard.
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Something Old – Revenue Session: (1200-1245)
Modern buzzwords like content, technology and investments are great. But getting the tourist to part with his money is still the main and original aim of the game. In this session, Professor John Lennon introduces successful projects that have developed good income streams from creative content. Pricing, value, selling and distribution are key.
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Something Blue – Content Session: (1115-1200)
From Artic ice hotels to camel treks in the Sahara, it seems like everyone and her third cousin has a unique tourism experience to offer. How do we stand out in such a crowded field? Norrie MacLaren and media commentator Michael Russell applies techniques used by media such as photography, publishing and film to enhance your products’ appeal; and also explore some of Scotland's most neglected content attractions.
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Something Borrowed – Investment Session: (1200-1245)
What options for financing your brilliant ideas are there? What do you need to know about the different assessment criteria used by private sector investors and public sector funders? Julie Corbett from Highland 2007, Argyll and the Islands Enterprise manager Steven Dott, and venture capitalist Graham Lean discuss what makes a tourism project investment worthy, and analyses some of the common failings in unsuccessful proposals.
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