A different starting point for tourism

What happens when a tourism strategy breaks the mould; shifting the focus from targets for growth, to the place itself and the people who know it best?

 

That was the starting point for Moray Tourism 2036 - People, Places and Purpose: Connected, Supported, Promoted, the new ten-year strategy developed by SCOTO Consulting with Moray Council and communities, businesses and partners across the region.

 

Tourism already makes an important contribution to Moray. It supports around 2,900 jobs and generates an estimated £189 million each year. Moray also has assets with international reach: Speyside whisky, a luxury global cashmere brand, outstanding golf, a distinctive coastline, rich heritage, culture and landscapes made for walking, cycling and wildlife experiences.

 

But a place is more than the sum of its visitor assets. Tourism touches local services, infrastructure, housing, transport, town centres, the environment and everyday community life. The question, therefore, was not simply how Moray could attract more visitors. It was how tourism could work better for Moray, strengthening local livelihoods and community wellbeing, caring for the places people value, and creating better experiences for residents and visitors alike.

 

A journey built on trust

Moray Council commissioned SCOTO at a significant moment for the region. With no destination management organisation in place, there was an opportunity and a need to build a shared direction for tourism: one that could connect public agencies, businesses, communities and local enterprises around a clear, shared purpose.

 

From the outset, Moray Council gave space for a genuinely participative process. Our role was to create the conditions for people to speak honestly about what was working, what was getting in the way and what needed to happen next.

 

 

SCOTO’s team of Carron Tobin, Melanie Allen and Di Smith was supported by David McCubbin and the wider SCOTO Board. The team brought experience in community-led development, destination strategy, tourism delivery and facilitation, underpinned by SCOTO’s belief that tourism can be a force for good, generating social, cultural and environmental wealth alongside economic benefit.

 

Press Pause®: listening before prescribing

We used SCOTO’s Press Pause® approach to slow the process down at the point where many strategies tend to speed up. Before drafting priorities or delivery structures, we listened.

 

Seven place-based workshops were held across Forres and Findhorn, Lossiemouth, Aberlour, Elgin, Keith and Fochabers, Buckie and Cullen, and Tomintoul followed by a regional synthesis. Six online forums brought together perspectives from events and experiences, land and environment, communities, culture, infrastructure and public services, and tourism businesses. These were complemented by stakeholder interviews and an  in-depth online survey completed by 117 people.

 

Altogether, more than 300 people contributed over 480 hours of lived experience, professional knowledge and local insight. Community and business voices formed a foundation of the evidence base from the beginning, considered alongside visitor data, economic analysis, policy, investment plans and national tourism priorities.

 

We asked straightforward questions: What is working? What is not? What do people want to protect? Where could tourism make a positive difference? And what must be in place before Moray is promoted more widely?

 

The answers were clear and often remarkably consistent. People value Moray’s quiet excellence, its coast and countryside, whisky heritage, culture and creativity, distinctive communities and warm welcome. They also described fragmentation, inconsistent visitor information and a lack of coordination. Infrastructure came through strongly: 78% of survey respondents prioritised issues such as toilets, parking, signage and transport. 73% recognised tourism’s positive impact, whilst 74% saw destination leadership as important, with 45% who rated it extremely important.

 

One message became a touchstone for the work: “Infrastructure first.” Others were equally direct: “Please promote Moray as the place we know and love", "Please balance residents needs with tourist needs” and "focus on what Moray is good for". These were not arguments against tourism. They were a call to develop it with care, confidence and a stronger connection to place.

 

Turning many voices into a shared framework

The task then was to honour the richness of what we had heard without producing a strategy so broad that nobody could act on it. The result is built around six connected priorities: leadership and coordination; identity, brand and promotion; enterprise and investment; community benefit and resilience; visitor experience and dispersal; and environment and infrastructure.

 

Together they move Moray beyond a narrow destination-marketing model. The strategy recognises that promotion matters, but it must sit alongside the less visible work of coordination, product development, business support, skills, community capacity, visitor management and investment in the basics.  It also responds to an important tension in how the destination is understood. Speyside enjoys strong international recognition, particularly in whisky. Moray speaks more inclusively to the whole region and its communities. The strategy therefore proposes one region with many stories: Moray as the shared identity, with Speyside celebrated as a distinctive and valuable strand alongside coast, heritage, culture, nature and community.

 

The approach is place-led and market-aware. It recognises Moray’s strong domestic appeal for short breaks, families, older couples and active or nature-focused visitors, while also identifying opportunities in business travel and premium international markets connected to whisky, golf and heritage. Unlike other tourism strategies, growth is not treated as an end in itself; the emphasis is on the right development, in the right places, with meaningful benefits that can be seen and felt locally.

 

From strategy to stewardship

Following a six-week public consultation, feedback sharpened the final strategy, including across delivery, governance, infrastructure, culture, coastal communities and heritage. Approved by Moray Council in June 2026, it aligns with local place plans, the Moray Economic Strategy and relevant local and national policy, providing a practical route to support their delivery.

 

The next stage matters as much as the Strategy. Early actions include an interim Tourism Leadership Group, coordinated delivery, local awareness raising of the strategy intent and targeted business support. Phased delivery will build relationships, confidence and capacity. Environmental stewardship runs throughout, connecting climate-aware growth, visitor management, biodiversity, infrastructure and community care for Moray’s natural and cultural assets.

 

For SCOTO, the Moray journey reinforces something communities across Scotland already know: people are the place. Their knowledge, enterprise, care and ambition are essential to making tourism more resilient and more useful to the communities that host it.

 

Across Scotland, communities have long run museums, heritage centres, festivals, cafés, campsites, toilets, trails and visitor hubs. What is changing is the scale of their role and the need for public policy, destination planning and investment to recognise that contribution. Moray shows what can happen when that understanding shapes a strategy from the ground up.

 

For other destinations, Moray offers an inspiring model: Press Pause®; listen across places and sectors; combine lived experience with robust data; be honest about infrastructure and capacity; and create a shared framework that communities, businesses and public partners can see themselves in.

 

What makes this strategy different is where it began: with the people who live, work and care for Moray. It connects Moray from within and beyond, bringing people and places together so the region can stand proud, supported and promoted with purpose as a great place to live and a memorable place to visit.

 

Moray isn’t loud. It whispers. And if you listen closely, it tells the kind of story that’s stays with you.

 

 

With thanks

SCOTO thanks Moray Council for the trust and partnership that made this work possible, and every resident, community organisation, heritage and cultural group, business and public partner who contributed.

 

One-to-one engagement included VisitScotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Moray Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Small Businesses, Business Gateway Moray, tsiMORAY, Cairngorms National Park Authority, the Moray Growth Deal, UHI Moray and representatives connected with the former Visit Moray Speyside organisation.

 

Find out more

Moray Tourism Strategy – SCOTO

Moray Council: new ten-year vision for tourism

SCOTO – Scotland’s Community Tourism Network