It’s a time of great change for tourism in West Lothian, and the Forum is playing a leading role in many initiatives that are currently underway. This quick note aims to keep everyone up to date in advance of our next newsletter.

At a well attended AGM several new members were welcomed onto the Forum committee; a full list can be found on the member’s page of our website.

Torquil MacLeod of Homecoming Scotland 2009 was guest speaker at the AGM, and sparked off a range of ideas on how West Lothian could benefit from the year-long celebration of Scotland’s extended global family. A range of subsequent meetings have developed the Forum’s ambitious plans for The Bonspiel, an inspiring week of activities exploiting Linlithgow’s curling traditions. This would provide a keystone event to the national Homecoming programme and attract large numbers of overseas visitors to our area. A case for grant funding is now being drawn up for submission before the end of February. A range of lower-key measures are also being considered that would provide additional reasons for homecoming Scots to visit West Lothian.

In response to the Forum’s frustrations at the current arrangements, West Lothian Council have commissioned a consultancy study to identify options for improving the delivery of visitor services and the support of tourism in West Lothian. The first stage of the study, undertaken by Douglas Ritchie, outlined controversial ideas that would radically change the way in which things are presently organised. A further round of consultation is now underway

The Forum is to be represented on the board of the new West Lothian Grapevine Twinning Association, which is to be formally established at public meeting to be held at West Lothian College on Thursday 7th February at 19.30. All are welcome to attend the meeting. Plans are well underway to welcome a small group of our Texan friends to West Lothian during April, and a much larger group, including a marching band, that will visit during June. It’s hoped that the partnership will provide the tourist trade in West Lothian with opportunities to share experiences and learn from Grapevine’s expertise in areas such as destination marketing and event management.

In early December the Forum took temporary possession of the former TIC in Linlithgow and, in association with a range of Linlithgow organisations, has operated the building as a Visitor Awareness Centre providing visitor information and offering a focus for the local community. It’s been remarkably popular and changed many perceptions.

The Forum will again represent West Lothian at VisitScotlandEXPO, Scotland’s national travel trade fair, which will be held this year in Aberdeen on April 16-17. With a much larger stand to fill and much further for members to travel than last year’s EXPO at Ingliston, an enormous amount of planning is required to ensure that we put on the best possible show and make best advantage of the contacts and opportunities that the exhibition provides.

The Forum is involved in design of a new marketing leaflet promoting visits to West Lothian that should be distributed in much greater numbers that the current “Discover West Lothian” leaflets. Our website www.visitwestlothian.com will get a facelift to match the new leaflet