Locally Led Destination Development
The SSDA is committed to a locally-led, bottom-up approach to developing the South of Scotland as a world class visitor destination.
We want to harness the power, impact and scale of a ‘pan-South’ approach as we market the South of Scotland to the world, but we also want to work at a local level within the South of Scotland, to really listen to, engage, support and represent businesses and communities in locally relevant ways.
To achieve this, we have divided the South of Scotland into 14 local areas and every six months we host meetings bringing together the local businesses and communities to listen to their priorities and engage them in regional decision-making.
2025 meetings
We meet with each of the 14 Locally Led Destination Development (LLDD) areas twice a year, in February and November. To be as inclusive as possible, each area has one in-person and one digital meeting a year.
Join us in February for 2025 for the next round of Locally Led Destination Development meetings, bringing together local tourism and hospitality businesses to drive forwards the local visitor economy.
The February meetings will include:
- What are the top priorities for local tourism in the next six months?
- Update on progress against key local priorities for tourism, as identified by local businesses at the last (Nov 2024) meeting.
- How businesses can get the most from ‘Scotland Starts Here’ and the SSDA.
- Using shoulder-season events to help businesses extend their season.
- Collaborating to inspire visitors to stay longer and spend more.
- Working together to solve workforce and skills challenges (the Deputy First Minister will be briefed at the Convention of the South of Scotland on what we hear from businesses in this section, and a working group will then be established bringing together industry with Skills Development Scotland, Scottish Borders College, D&G College, Developing the Young Workforce, SOSE, Springboard, VisitScotland and others, to find tangible solutions to these challenges).
** After our LLDD meetings in Annandale, The Solway Firth and The Heart of Galloway, we are delighted to announce that we will hold a morning workshop of tourism related taster sessions in conjunction with D&G Council. All are encouraged to join us for one or both of these events.
How we promote the 14 local areas
Through the recent LLDD meetings, we asked local businesses and communities how they want their local area represented on our consumer-facing visitor information website and app ‘Scotland Starts Here’.
Informed by this, we have created 14 dedicated landing pages and 14 local area promotional videos on ‘Scotland Starts Here’.”
How local input affects regional strategy
In addition to influencing how local areas are promoted internationally, the discussions at LLDD meetings have also directly influenced the ten-year all-agency Responsible Tourism Strategy for the South of Scotland.
Specific asks made in these meetings can be directly tracked through to lines in the 2024 – 27 Action Plan which is already now being delivered by the SSDA, VisitScotland, SOSE, DGC and SBC.
Previous Meetings - Including minutes of each meeting
Nov 2024 Locally Led Destination Development Meetings
Through November 2024, the SSDA hosted 14 Locally Led Destination Development meetings across the South of Scotland, half in-person and half digital.The meetings coveredStaying Connected with Your Local Area Landing Page:Check out your local landing page, and let us know if you have suggestions on content or tile ideas. Remember, our promotional video is for everyone’s…
Feb 2024 Locally Led Destination Development Meetings
Through February 2024, the SSDA hosted 14 Locally Led Destination Development meetings across the South of Scotland, half in-person and half digital. The meetings:Presented the South of Scotland Responsible Tourism Strategy, highlighting which specific points made locally had directly fed into the strategy, and discussed a local approach to work with and benefit from this new…
Aug/ Sept 2023 Locally Led Destination Development Meetings
Through August and September 2023, the SSDA hosted 14 in-person Locally Led Destination Development meetings across the South of ScotlandClick the below links to read the full notes from each of the 14 in-person meetings: Galashiels 9th Aug Loch Ken 10th Aug Dumfries 15th Aug Kelso 16th Aug Moffat 17th Aug Annan 17th Aug Duns 22nd…
