Aims for Moray’s Tourism Future
The brief for the project called for a shared, place-specific vision that:
- • Prioritises community benefit — ensuring tourism strengthens local cohesion and resilience, and supports quality of life.
- • Protects and enhances the environment — supporting low-impact travel, protecting biodiversity, and promoting sustainable use of Moray’s outstanding natural landscapes
- • Supports business viability — creating conditions for locally rooted enterprises to thrive.
- • Celebrates Moray’s distinct identity — attracting visitors who share its values and respect its character.
Developing tourism with the people of Moray, not simply for them.
SCOTO’s Press Pause® approach guided the process — creating space for inclusive conversations that asked: What is and isn’t working? What could be done better or differently? We worked with stakeholders to explore:
- •What kind of tourism Moray wants to nurture.
- •How to balance visitor opportunity with community and business needs and environmental stewardship.
- •Practical steps that ensure tourism is a contributor, not a competitor, to the region’s wider ambitions.
By asking the communities and businesses of Moray to slow down and pause, a strategy was built on what is realistic, resilient, and rooted in the values of the place. Of note this strategy was developed in the absence of a Destination Management and Marketing Organisation so the what and the how had to be key considerations.
What ‘Community’ Means to SCOTO
In SCOTO terms, “community” is the whole living system of a place:
- •The people who live, work, and volunteer there year-round.
- •The enterprises that provide goods, services, and experiences, with profits and jobs kept local.
- •The shared assets — from woodlands and walking trails to heritage buildings and village halls.
- •The connections — the trust, collaboration, and shared knowledge that underpin a healthy local economy.
