Committee
European and External Relations Committee 31 January 2012
31 Jan 2012 · S4 · European and External Relations Committee
Item of business
International Representation and Scottish Government Country Plans
Denise Hill
Watch on SPTV
On your last point, a webinar is indeed a seminar over the web. We are increasingly using that approach so that the travel trade experts who are based in our team in Edinburgh can go online and speak face to face with the 200 SCOTS—specialist counsellor on travel to Scotland—agents that we have in Canada or the 500 that we have in China, for instance. It is an easy way for us to keep our finger on the pulse and to convey information to them face to face.Languages are very important for my team. I head up the international marketing team and at least half of the staff in that team are foreign nationals. However, it is not always only the language that is important; what comes with their being nationals is cultural empathy, which is critical. We have Scots who have trained up in foreign languages and spent a lot of time overseas, which allows them to have a better understanding of the consumers whom we target. It is down to the idea of insight that I mentioned earlier. Cultural empathy and experience of a market bring a deepened insight of what is most likely to motivate a particular individual or set of individuals and the best way to approach them.VisitBritain’s 25 offices overseas are unquestionably an important resource for us. They complement the work that we do at VisitScotland. We have specialists in consumer marketing, trade marketing, public relations, insights and research. VisitBritain’s work does not replace that, but it complements it.If that resource did not exist, we would need to consider what to do. We might not look to replicate it in every market in which VisitBritain is currently present, but it is important to have a foothold overseas to a certain degree. However, digital is important in achieving that and would play a big part in deciding what was or was not necessary.The specialist resource that VisitBritain represents for us is important, but we have other options for the additionality that we can generate overseas. Members have already heard about how we are working with SDI, which has offices overseas, and a number of other partners. We have options overseas to work with other agencies, and we need to decide in due course whether specialist resources need to be brought in in all those markets or just in those that we would want to focus on.14:30
In the same item of business
The Convener
SNP
Item 2 is a round-table discussion on Scottish representation abroad and the Scottish Government’s country plans. I welcome all our guests. I hope that we ca...
Denise Hill (VisitScotland)
I am head of international marketing at VisitScotland.
Anne MacColl (Scottish Development International)
I am chief executive of Scottish Development International.
Amanda Catto (Creative Scotland)
I am a portfolio manager for international, cultural export and visual arts at Creative Scotland.
Annabelle Ewing (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP)
SNP
I am a member of the committee.
Dr Lloyd Anderson (British Council Scotland)
I am director of the British Council Scotland.
Dr Katherine Trebeck (Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations)
I am from Oxfam Scotland, but I am here to represent the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations policy committee.
Aileen McLeod (South Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
I am a member of the committee.
Gillian Wilson (Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations and Network of International Development Organisations in Scotland)
I am the co-ordinator of the Network of International Development Organisations in Scotland and I am also a representative of the SCVO policy committee.
Serafin Pazos-Vidal (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities)
I am the European policy manager at the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and head of its Brussels office.
Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
I am a member of the committee.
Bill Kidd (Glasgow Anniesland) (SNP)
SNP
I am a member of the committee. I was keen to see whether you had started without me but, fortunately, you had not.
The Convener
SNP
We had not started without you, Bill—we waited for you specially.I have a general question to open up the discussion. The written evidence that we received w...
Denise Hill
VisitScotland is the lead agency for the development and promotion of tourism. We support the Government’s economic strategy and the ambition to have a major...
Anne MacColl
Scottish Development International is a joint venture—we are the international trade and investment arm of the Government, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands ...
Amanda Catto
Creative Scotland is a relatively new organisation that brought together the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen. Our mandate is to invest in arts, cre...
Dr Anderson
The British Council’s mission is to build long-term international relationships and trust for Scotland, as a nation within the United Kingdom state. We do th...
Dr Trebeck
Oxfam’s mandate around the world and in the UK is to work with others to overcome poverty and suffering. As I said earlier, I am also here with my SCVO polic...
Gillian Wilson
I am the co-ordinator of NIDOS. We are an umbrella body for just over 90 charitable international organisations. The main focus of our members’ work is to do...
Serafin Pazos-Vidal
I assure members that we do not intend to make our presence a constant feature in this committee; it just so happened that today’s subject matter suggested m...
The Convener
SNP
We will move on to open questions. Aileen McLeod will start.
Aileen McLeod
SNP
Thank you, convener. I thank everybody for coming along to our discussion.In the written evidence that we have received and during the first round of discuss...
Gillian Wilson
I think so. I am not as experienced as the major stakeholders in terms of the commercial side of the issue, but there has certainly been some movement within...
Dr Trebeck
I have a small practical example of that. Last week, Oxfam launched the small enterprise impact investment fund—that is not a very useful name, and we call i...
Dr Anderson
That relates to the point about the team Scotland approach.Publishing an international strategy that sets out a broad framework of priorities is the right th...
Anne MacColl
It is clear from what is being said round the table that this forum is an interesting way of uncovering some of the collaboration on which we are working. Fo...
Jamie McGrigor
Con
My questions are for Denise Hill of VisitScotland. You point out that“VisitScotland does not have any offices overseas”but utilises“specialist in-country sup...
Denise Hill
On your last point, a webinar is indeed a seminar over the web. We are increasingly using that approach so that the travel trade experts who are based in our...
Jamie McGrigor
Con
Later, your submission says:“There are more than 5,000 SCOTS agents worldwide promoting Scotland as a leading destination”.Just for clarification, who employ...
Denise Hill
VisitScotland created the SCOTS—specialist counsellor on travel to Scotland—education programme many years ago. The programme used to be in paper format, but...