An Introduction to the LTA

Thanks for having a look at the Lanarkshire Tourism Association (LTA), please allow us a few moments to give you a feel for what we are all about and what we do.

We are a non profit organisation which aims to:

• promote Lanarkshire as a visitor destination
• grow the Lanarkshire tourism & leisure product.
• increase visitor numbers and spend
• represent members at local, regional and national level
• promote quality standards and staff development,

and we are always looking to see what we can do to make things better – either for our members directly in their own business or their own development or hassling other organisations to do the right thing for our visitors and our teams.

Currently there are around 70 businesses who are members, representing a wide range of different tourism organisations across both North and South Lanarkshire. Members share the common goal of growing their business through an improvement in the tourism offering in Lanarkshire. We consider Lanarkshire as a whole rather than look at two distinct areas, and this mirrors the VisitLanarkshire product which we work closely with.

These businesses that are mentioned include accommodation providers in the area, from small B&B operators to large branded hotels such as Holiday Inn Express Hamilton, Westerwood Hotel and lots in between. There are also a number of visitor attractions such as M&D’s Theme Park, National Museum of Rural Life, New Lanark and Hamilton Park Racecourse among the membership and our members bring in hundreds of thousands of people to the area in the course of the year.

Four meetings are held annually in venues across the region, giving members the opportunity to not only get a decent lunch and have a couple of hours away from the work location but also to

• learn about industry news and information,
• hear of new developments and get first notice about new opportunities,
• take time to meet other operators in the tourism industry to share problems (and solutions!)
• develop partnerships and forge close working relationships.

The worth of these relationships can be seen in the award of the VisitScotland Thistle Award for Partnership in Tourism which was won by VisitLanarkshire in 2013 and is still retained by ourselves as the title has now changed!

We have a number of benefits to being a member of the LTA, and this includes Associate membership of The Scottish Tourism Alliance, the organisation who look to lead on industry matters. Not only do you get plenty of very useful information and insights from them, as a member of the LTA, you are also able to gain access to discounts, and who doesn’t love getting something that bit cheaper! There is a full piece on the STA in our business listing section.

The LTA, which is run by managers and senior personnel within tourism businesses in the area, feeds into the Lanarkshire Area Tourism Partnership, the strategic body which oversees the development of tourism in both North and South Lanarkshire and includes a partnership of North and South Lanarkshire Councils and Visit Scotland.

Seriously though, we all feel that it is so important to know about your area and who is also doing great things to bring people to the area, as the better that Lanarkshire is as a whole then the better for all of us, hence our desire for collaboration and partnership! Sure, there is a small fee for annual membership but it is all put back into the association and not just for the lunches!

If you are looking for assistance from either your local council, Visit Scotland or other organisations then please look at the Business Listing page.

If you want more information please fill out the contact form and we will get back in touch with you and hopefully see you soon.

Thanks for reading all the way down here, or perhaps you found this bit by mistake, either way, we would encourage businesses to get involved with the LTA as it is by working together that we can make Lanarkshire more appealing and increase demand for our own businesses.

Mark

Mark Calpin
Chair, Lanarkshire Tourism Association
General Manager, Holiday Inn Express Hamilton