VisitScotland is upping its efforts to market Scotland as a destination for european visitors, by hosting its first ever pan-European travel trade mission.

The Scotland workshop will bring together 40 Scottish suppliers and up to 40 representatives of key travel organisations from different European markets.

Organised by VisitScotland the mission is taking place in Amsterdam, Netherlands, this week (from 23 to 24 October) and will incorporate market awareness sessions, networking opportunities and one-to-one appointments between Scottish suppliers and European travel trade representatives.

The mission has been designed to build relationships and strengthen Scotland’s tourism individual development in the European market ahead of Brexit.

Europe remains an important international market for Scotland and in 2017 accounted for 1.9 million visits to Scotland – a 17 per cent increase on 2016 numbers.

Spending by European visitors increased by 36 per cent – to £1.1bn – in 2017.

The workshop will allow Scottish businesses to travel in-market to gain greater visibility for their companies and expand their market reach.

They are given an opportunity of receiving first-hand feedback from the European travel trade which will help shape their offers to better match European visitor expectations and develop sought-after tourism products in Scotland.

“Our first pan-European travel trade mission will give Scottish suppliers an ideal opportunity to engage one-to-one with Scotland’s key European markets all at the same time," said Riddell Graham, VisitScotland Director of Industry and Destination Development.

"Everything we do is about creating a passion for Scotland – building an army of advocates through innovative marketing, partnership, events and business excellence to create a destination and customer experience worth talking about. Innovative new approaches such as this workshop will help to strengthen our tourism development in Europe.”