“If you are always stuck in the aspirational space, you may never get your business to a place where you can really make a difference.”

Wilderness Scotland is a specialist adventure travel company offering tours in Scotland and the North of England. Established in 2001, Wilderness Scotland started operating both inbound and outbound business. They had 14 staff in 2008.

Wilderness Scotland joined the Adventure Travel Trade Association in 2008 with the primary objective of better understanding the North American Market. Quite soon, they began to benefit in particular from media exposure via the ATTA Member Journalist Alerts and gaining access to the ATTA network.

Wilderness Scotland attended the Adventure Travel World Summits in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013. By investing in these events, they identified strengths and opportunities to hone their business model and connected with partners and industry experts.

Outcomes

• Gained confidence to focus on developing its strengths as an inbound tour operator to UK & Ireland
• Committed to developing the highest quality operations as its value proposition
• Guide training program inspired by ATWS2009 discussions
• Major advocate and partner in bringing the Summit to Scotland in 2010
• Valued B2B, Media and Industry Relationships

Tangible Results

• Increased from 14 staff in 2008 to 26 full time employees in 2013
• Concentrated on high quality inbound operations
• Valued partnerships with the North American Trade and Media
• Award-winning guide training program
• Named ‘No. 1 Adventure Travel Company in Europe’ by National Geographic Adventure in 2009
• Consistent revenue growth each year combined with a 99% customer satisfaction score
• Outside Magazine & National Geographic Trips of the Year
• Launched new Irish-based business

"We are now in our 7th year of membership of the ATTA and I can say with confidence that membership has made a significant contribution to our business growth during that time. Some of the best trade partnerships we have established are a direct result of attendance at the Summits and related ATTA activity. Our team has also taken significant inspiration from being part of the ATTA community and being energized with ideas on how to become a smarter and more meaningful business. We are grateful for the ATTA's support and look forward to being active members in the years ahead."

Future Vision

• To continue setting the standard for high quality adventure travel in UK & Ireland
• To work with Failte Ireland to develop the destination’s profile and reputation for sustainable adventure travel
• To consider opportunities for developing the Wilderness Scotland business model elsewhere in Europe
• To support the ATTA in developing industry standards, with a particular focus on guide training, development and life-long learning

Tools Used

• Journalist Alerts
• The HUB Member Community
• Adventure Travel World Summit
• Access to the ATWS MARKETPLACE
• Annual Industry Snapshot Report
• QuickPolls
• AdventureConnect Events