Scotland’s Tay Country continues to help tourism businesses across Perthshire, Fife, Angus and Dundee reach new markets and grow through the travel trade.
From becoming the largest represented destination at VisitScotland Connect 2026 to supporting the development of more than 130 travel trade-ready products and experiences over the past five years, Scotland’s Tay Country continues to demonstrate the power of collaboration in growing the visitor economy across Perthshire, Fife, Angus and Dundee.
Established by Angus Council, Dundee City Council, Fife Council and Perth & Kinross Council, Scotland’s Tay Country is the region’s dedicated travel trade and business development programme. Through a dedicated Travel Trade Project Manager, specialist business support and the dedicated travel trade website, the programme works alongside tourism businesses to become travel trade ready, develop bookable products and experiences, and connect with domestic and international buyers.
Part-funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), the programme has become a catalyst for collaboration, helping businesses of every size unlock opportunities that would often be difficult to achieve independently.
VisitBritain forecasts that overseas visitors will spend £35.7 billion across the UK in 2026, with inbound tourism continuing to be one of the UK’s most valuable export industries. At the same time, both domestic and international tour operators are increasingly looking to create longer more sustainable itineraries that encourage visitors to spend more time and more money within destinations rather than simply passing through. Scotland’s Tay Country is perfectly positioned to meet that demand.
Over the past year, Scotland’s Tay Country has continued to work alongside businesses to develop new travel trade-ready products and experiences, from unforgettable wildlife encounters at Bowbridge Alpacas, coastal foraging with East Neuk Seaweed, luxury farm stays at Newton Farm Holidays, and immersive rural experiences at Lunan Bay Farm, to heritage and cultural experiences at Perth Museum, Dundee Heritage Trust and The Wemyss School of Needlework. Visitors can also discover exceptional food and drink experiences at businesses including The Old Manse of Blair, 71 Brewing and Campbell’s Bakery, alongside unique stories such as Stories of Stone, helping create richer itineraries that highlight the incredible diversity of Scotland’s Tay Country.
Over the past 12 months alone, the programme has supported the development of more than 30 new travel trade-ready products and experiences. Dedicated one-to-one mentoring, masterclasses, advanced workshops, and pre VisitScotland Connect sales training continue to build confidence within the industry, helping businesses understand how to package, price, and promote their experiences for domestic and international markets.
Alongside this, Scotland’s Tay Country has expanded the Regional Travel Trade Directory to feature 250 travel trade-ready businesses, alongside multiple itineraries spanning a wide variety of regional themes. Specialist Golf and Coach Operator Toolkits promote hundreds more experiences directly to buyers. Ultimately, the programme’s core role is to make it as easy as possible for the travel trade to work with the region by providing them with vital, practical tools and commercial inspiration. Encouragingly, businesses that have engaged with the programme are now actively working with the travel trade and reporting increasing levels of group bookings, contracted business, and year-round enquiries, helping to build stronger future booking pipelines.
One of the most encouraging trends emerging from regular dialogue with the international industry is that operator demands are fundamentally changing. Buyers are increasingly telling the team that their clients want to step off the beaten track and experience other parts of Scotland away from the traditional, overcrowded tourism hotspots.
While key hooks elsewhere in the country will always remain a draw for first-time visitors, tour operators are designing programmes that actively prioritise regional depth. This shift is clearly reflected in a significant increase in contracted bookings across the region, as well as in the growing number of multi-day itineraries and travel programmes published by international operators featuring the area. By offering a diverse, cohesive regional product, Scotland’s Tay Country is successfully encouraging operators to increase visitor dwell time, ensuring travellers stay longer, explore deeper, and spend more money within local communities rather than simply passing through.
Crucially, this shift supports a much more sustainable model of tourism. By aggregating four regions into a single, cohesive itinerary framework, operators can offer their clients an immersive, multi-day experience that keeps them rooted in one place. This localised geographical focus drastically reduces the environmental footprint of the holiday while vastly maximising the quality of the visitor experience, allowing travellers to spend far less time on the road and much more time enjoying the authentic heart of Scotland.
One of the year’s biggest highlights came at VisitScotland Connect 2026, where Scotland’s Tay Country recorded its strongest ever presence. More than 53 businesses from across Perthshire, Fife, Angus, and Dundee attended the event, making Scotland’s Tay Country the largest represented destination and accounting for almost 20% of all supplier businesses in attendance.
Throughout the year, the programme continued to strengthen relationships with buyers across domestic and international markets, generating over 150 one-to-one appointments at VisitScotland Connect, meeting more than 40 operators at the Britain & Ireland Marketplace (BIM) in London, and engaging with 60 coach operators through Coach Tourism Association (CTA) events. Presentations were also delivered to VisitScotland staff, UKinbound members, tour operators, and DMCs to showcase the breadth of regional experiences available.
This systematic trade outreach has fundamentally expanded the region’s industry reach:
• Database Expansion: The core travel trade database has grown from 320 industry contacts to more than 650 – an increase of over 100%.
• Targeted Communications: The programme now communicates directly with more than 420 travel trade professional subscribers.
• International Digital Traffic: The dedicated trade website continues to attract growing international audiences, with 28% of unique user traffic coming from China, 26% from the UK, 13% from the USA, and 12.5% from Singapore.
As Scotland’s Tay Country prepares for exciting opportunities ahead, including The Open in 2027, the focus remains the same: to continue supporting businesses, strengthening partnerships and showcasing Perthshire, Fife, Angus and Dundee as one connected destination.
Looking to the year ahead, the programme will continue expanding its capacity-building efforts, delivering new training frameworks, and creating direct pipelines to international buyers. Crucially, Scotland’s Tay Country is actively encouraging more regional tourism businesses to engage with the initiative. Whether an operator is completely new to the travel trade or looking to expand their existing international contracts, the programme provides the vital resources, expert mentoring, and trade platforms necessary to scale their business globally.
The programme’s success over the past five years has shown what can be achieved through collaboration. More businesses are engaging with the travel trade, more operators are building itineraries across the region, and more visitors are discovering that Scotland’s Tay Country offers everything they are looking for in one remarkable destination.
For more information on Scotland’s Tay Country, click here.
