Visit Moray Speyside (VMS) has hailed the success of its five-year marketing campaign to promote the region as a world-class destination despite business members voting not to extend the organisation’s tenure to 2030.
Formed in 2020, Visit Moray Speyside was the Destination Marketing Organisation and Tourism Business Improvement District (BID) Company providing a much-needed voice for the region.
During this time, tourism in Moray Speyside is now worth a record £187m a year to the local economy and supports around 3,000 full time equivalent jobs locally.
However, following a 42-day ballot of its business members, VMS has been unable to obtain enough votes to secure its future.
The result of the ballot was announced on Friday 21st March, revealing 203 votes not in favour and 69 votes in favour of the Business Improvement District proposals for the areas within Visit Moray Speyside.
As one of just three tourism Business Improvement District companies currently operational in Scotland, VMS has highlighted its significant contribution to the region over the last five years.
Visitor numbers have leapt by around a quarter, boosted by the organisation’s ‘Your Next Adventure Starts Here’ national marketing campaign to promote Moray Speyside as the ultimate destination for Scottish adventure.
Other VMS achievements include linking up members with Glasgow-based business utilities specialist, Eyebright, to help reduce their bills and improve efficiency, resulting in a total of £20,000 savings across the region.
VMS Chief Executive Gemma Cruickshank, said:
“We’ve worked tirelessly to benefit all our business members and this incredible region of Scotland as a whole and are really proud of the significant contribution we’ve made over the last five years.
“We’ve helped tourism skyrocket to become worth a record £187m a year to the local economy – and we believed this could grow to £200m by 2027.
“We’ve also helped business members with crucial emotional support as they navigated the constantly challenging economic environment, including the unprecedented impact of Covid.”
Gemma continued:
“I made it a priority as CEO to take a collaborative approach, and to talk to as many businesses as possible, in person whenever I could, to listen to their concerns and priorities, and see how VMS could help.
“We often signposted them to helpful initiatives, and also made a point of being a voice for the region, for example with the proposed visitor levy.
“In addition, we felt we offered good value to levy payers.
“VMS was a small team, but we feel we made a big difference, with a transparent approach to our crucial role as the only organisation in the world with the sole focus of raising the profile of this incredible region and positioning Moray Speyside as the world-class destination that we all know it is.
“I was honoured to lead VMS, which was focused on enhancing the area’s appeal through targeted marketing efforts, empowering local businesses with essential support and resources, and continually refining the visitor experience from start to finish.”
Gemma added:
“We cannot deny how genuinely disappointed we are not to be able to continue the momentum we’ve built over the next five years to help the area really unleash its full potential.
“I now hope to see its varied spectrum of collaborative, innovative, and resilient tourism businesses, and indeed the entire Moray Speyside region, continue to thrive.”
VMS had been planning to increase its membership from 366 to around 500 over the next five years.
The organisation was also planning to move to charging members a percentage of their rateable value rather than a flat fee dependent on business size.
Following the no vote, discussions are currently taking place on what will happen with the VMS assets.
For more information on the ballot result, see https://morayspeyside.com and www.moray.gov.uk
