VS usually shoots itself in the foot. Will it do so again with this new idea?

Visit Scotland is going to tie itself more to Trip Advisor and customer reviews for their grading systems.
Is this going to cause big trouble for them or is this going to cause very big trouble?

We are not in membership of VisitScotland and we are so pleased not to be, so we have no axe to grind. VS membership is expensive and it is bureaucratic. A survey of self catering guests shows that only 30% know of VisitScotland and their grading system, but very few people use it for their self catering accommodation.  Those who do, use it as a small part of their decision process.

I am the first to acknowledge that VS in its early days set quality standards for accommodation and hospitality which are exemplary, the envy of the English and Welsh Tourist Boards. We have very high tourism standards in Scotland, and this is due in no small part to the work done by the early organisation, and its management not by the present lot. VS has seen its best days.

Yes, there are visitors who are devotees of the Grades, mostly they are Hotel and B+B guests, and some people will not book anywhere without a 4 star grade. But owners of 3 star properties are leaving VS, in droves.

OUTGOING CHAIRMAN WHINGES ABOUT THE INDUSTRY WHINGEING.
Here is their recently departed part-time Chairman on the subject of accommodation providers (having just received. £150,000 in bonuses on a basic salary of £24,000)

He wrote, "I have been frustrated by sections of the industry not taking a lead and taking things forward themselves. It still feels like a large part of the tourism industry is living in a dependency culture. In fact, it is one of the most supported ­industries in Scotland at national and local level, and yet ­Government ­agencies can never do enough to please. Isn’t it time ­businesses asked themselves if they deserve support? Why should they get help when the butcher down the road does not? Are they doing their bit to support growth in tourism by investing in quality, and ensuring they understand and meet their customers’ needs?

Whole regions of Scotland are resigning from VS Mr. ex-Chairman and taking matters into their own hands. Was Glencoe whingeing, when it set about revising its local infomation website - to be published later this month - at a cost of £thousands and with help from many people, plus subscriptions and special payments from all members? The industry whinges, Mr. ex-Chairman, when your web site does not produce enquiries as promised and when your inspectors seem to have their own private agendas for grades. It costs a forune to join you and the benefits are iffy. Yes, it is ok for 4 star and above, but worth little for the majority of owners.

The VS problems are two-fold - the failed booking system - everyone moans because they do not get enough VS enquiries; together with the cumbersome and picky quality control system. "You can't get 4 stars, you haven't got all wool carpets in every room" "You have not been putting parsley on the scrambled eggs" "Your walls are not perpendicular" "No we cannot make allowance for your wonderful view, and your architect designed house" "It does not matter if it is in the slum area of Arbroath. If it meets the standards it can get 4 stars" All of these are true examples.


VS PUBLISHES ITS VIEWS ABOUT TRIP ADVISOR.
The Trip Advisor idea link up idea started in England.
“In response to overwhelming demand from both the industry and the consumer, VistEngland will combine the best of the existing star rating schemes with the best of user review generated content to provide the visitor with a better and more comprehensive picture of what’s on offer.”

The VS study had a 2,000 strong samples of providers and guests. Neither a breakdown of the sample, nor an indication which company carried out the research are provided. These are basic requirements. It was probably Taylor Nelson, so that would be ok. I suspect that the best slant has been put upon the results, and a lot of negatives left out. Behind all of this is a drive to slash costs.

80% of the industry want a combined system (of Star gradings and Trip Advisor)
75% of the industry believe user reviews improve their business. (Yeah right, as long as the reviews are good.)
40% of consumers are sceptical of user reviews.
Half still look at user reviews and Trip Advisor is by far the most popular. (Look, even I look at Trip Advisor when we go away but only casually and only because Google maps always include it).
Put another way, when reminded about review sites, nearly half of customers would never use one anyway.

The VS study is a sales document. It is full of stuff from providers about how their bookings improved with the use of Trip Advisor. Many of the questions are of the "What if..." variety, being virtually useless as a guide to actual behaviour, as anyone in the market research profession will tell you.

HOW TO GET FAVOURBLE REVIEWS IN TRIP ADVISOR

Vs are going to slash the costs of grading, of that there is no doubt. The Trip Advisor idea is an attempt to boost the apparent quality of the scheme. But the potential flaws are massive.

It is going to use Trip Advisor, with or without a sharply modified quality grading system. Trip Advisor? I've just looked up "hotels in Glencoe Scottish Highlands". We know every hotel very well. First of all the Trip Advisor search facility does not show any at all. None.Zilch.

But if you put the hotel name into the search then they come up with reviews. The reviews are all over the place - for every hotel. Louisa Legg at the Glencoe hotel has the habit of replying to every single Trip Advisor review and I think this will become standard practice. What a bore, though.

When people have a moan they can be truly viscious, but people who are happy tend not to put in comments. With 1,000 bednights a week, one big hotel will not be able to make every guest totally happy. It cannot be done.

The biggest problem is that small properties can load favourable reviews into the Trip Advisor comments, through using friends and family. It is standard practice in small businesses if they can be bothered. We can't, by the way, be bothered, that is.

But for big properties, a big danger comes from deadly rivals, sticking in horrible write ups deliberately to downgrade the competitor's hotel. What hotels have to do then, if they can be bothered, is to "cover" the write up with favourable ones from their friends, so the bad review goes down the list.  You can also influence results by asking your guests deliberately to write a review once you've seen what they write in your guest book.

Well, good luck to Dr. Michael Cantlay, convenor of the Loch Lomond national park. Deputy chairman of VS, he has stepped up into the top job now.

What he should concentrate on is the Advertising and PR campaign to get visitors to Scotland. It is excellent and should not be cut. It needs the money from the government for this, because the results are gained by all. However it is wrongly slanted. He can forget about the market in the USA. The biggest market by far is in England, 90% of it then we get down to about 10% of visitors from overseas, the strongest contingent being from Germany. Don't ask me, I don't know.

John
Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland
Last minute, late availability Glencoe, self catering cottage
20 brilliant walks around our cottage area
Spectacular wild life around our cottage

LOCAL REFERRAL SITES.
Top professional photographs of Glencoe and the area
The Clachaig Inn
The Glencoe and Loch Leven Association with 40 B+Bs
Email 14 properties with one click
The Friends of Glencoe network site
The new Glencoe Skiing centre information website
News of the local area
Golf in the Scottish highlands, Dragons tooth golf course, Glencoe
Weather in the mountains of Glencoe
Weather month by month in the area
Scotlands weather misconceptions
The Viking battle in Glencoe
The true story of the Glencoe massacre
Spring breaks, March April May Glencoe
Honeymoon cottages in Scotland
Find the best Scottish holiday cottages on the internet
Cut the costs of your holidays
Cheap travel in scotland
The Clachaig Inn - great atmosphere in this world famous climbers pub
The Glencoe and Loch Leven Association with 40 B+Bs
Email 14 properties with one click
The new Glencoe Skiing centre information website
Essential information for holidaymakers in Scotland, in one page
Video. Skiing on Glencoe mountain

How the McDonalds won Glencoe about 700 years ago

Inverlochy Castle, given to the Campbells by Robert the Bruce around 1314

It started with a knife fight in a Church

Around 700 years ago the Chief of the Clan Donald, Angus Og, was awarded the "lands of Durro' and Glenco" by the King of Scotland.

On 10th February in 1306, before the altar of a monastery in Dumfries, one of the two most powerful nobles in Scotland, John Comyn, was killed after a knife fight between him and his rival Robert the Bruce, later King of Scotland. The motive for the fight was clear - Comyn had reported the Bruce's "treason" to Edward 1st of England meaning a certain, and horrible death for the Bruce if caught. Bruce' friends finished off the Red Comyn in the church, a dreadful crime in what was a very religious country. Excommunication followed for all of them.
What is not clear is why Comyn was there at all, he would have known the danger he faced. What is also not clear is why the Comyn had no friends with him, when his deadly rival for the Scottish Crown had his family seat just 5 miles up the road at Lochmaben Castle. Why was the Comyn alone in his enemy's territory?
For some years, Scotland had been on the edge of civil war between these two great families, each claiming the throne. Of the two, the claim by the Comyns, backed by their many friends including the McDougalls of Lorne was the slightly stronger. In those days, civil war was very violent. No prisoners were taken except nobles for their ransom value. This is how winners of battles were paid out.
The knife fight, and Comyns death, settled the issue. Bruce had no option but to go directly for the Scottish Crown. Six weeks later it was placed upon Bruce's head on the famous Stone of Scone.
Instantly he was a renegade and went into hiding from the powerful and brutal Edward 1st. Half of Scotland's noble families were against the Bruce and most of the other half kept switching sides. But two families remained loyal to Bruce, the Campbells of Argyll, and the Clan Donald who reigned over the Western Isles from their base in Islay.
Why these two families? Well, Bruce was half a Highland man, a Gael, from his mother's side. The other half was from a Norman family brought over to England by William 1st in 1066. Bruce spoke Gaelic, while the clansmen could barely understand the language of the other Scottish noblemen. But they understood the Bruce. He was almost one of them, and these clans reigned totally over their lands and the subordinate families on their lands. They could raise armies which were expert in guerilla fighting and raiding, and they did. It was their way of life.
Angus Og hid the Bruce, while Edward's forces were looking for him. Some say this was at Castle Tioram, on Ardnamurchan a remote hideout almost impossible for Edwards galleys to raid even if they could find it. The Castle belonged to cousins of Clan Donald, also descendants of Somerled, the MacRuarie. A romantic tale has the Bruce and Christina MacRuarie as lovers.
Their problem was the opposition to Bruce by the McDougalls, a big powerful family based upon Dunstaffnage Castle near Oban. They were just as warlike as the Clan Donald their distant cousins, descended as they both were, from a common ancestor the great warlord Somerled, himself half a Viking.
The decisive battle between the three clans probably in 1308, was the famous one fought at the Pass of Brander, by Cruachan at the head of Loch Awe. This is the narrow gorge along the river, where the road past the power station runs to-day. A clever and skilful movement on the hillside above by the Bruce supporters led the MacDougalls into a trap. Their leader, John, escaped while his father gave up Dunstaffnage Castle to the Bruce after a short siege in 1309.
The Comyn Castle at Inverlochy by Fort William was given to the Campbells by the King, as was Dunstaffnage Castle. The Clan Donald were more sea-going clansmen and Glencoe and Ardnamurchan were closest to their Island home. Both of the castles are well worth a visit, as is Castle Tioram. The three ruins are kept in good order. You'll have to find Tioram first. The exact dates of all these gifts is uncertain, but the period of 1310 to 1314 would cover it.
Later, the two clans fought beside The Bruce at the famous Battle of Bannockburn in June 1314. The Scots won, despite being outnumbered by possibly 5 to 1.

The Battle has reverberated in Scottish history ever since. I cut my teeth on the story at Glasgow High School in 1944.

John
Some data you might find interesting relating to this story.

The MacDonalds, one of Scotlan'd greatest clans
Was there a "Scottish parliament" at Ardchattan Priory, by Loch Etive?
Did Knights Templar help Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn?
Appin, Land of the Stewart Kings
plus links below to the Glencoe Massacre, the Viking story;
Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland
Last minute, late availability Glencoe, self catering cottage
20 brilliant walks around our cottage area
Spectacular wild life around our cottage
Golf in the Scottish highlands, Dragons tooth golf course, Glencoe
Weather in the mountains of Glencoe
Weather month by month in the area
Scotlands weather misconceptions
The Viking battle in Glencoe
The true story of the Glencoe massacre
Spring breaks, March April May Glencoe
Honeymoon cottages in Scotland
Find the best Scottish holiday cottages on the internet
Cut the costs of your holidays
Cheap travel in scotland
The Clachaig Inn - great atmosphere in this world famous climbers pub
The Glencoe and Loch Leven Association with 40 B&Bs
Email 14 properties with one click
The new Glencoe Skiing centre information website
Essential information for holidaymakers in Scotland, in one page
Video. Skiing on Glencoe mountain