7Wednesday 3 September 2008 | The Scotsman Special report | BUSINESS CLASS
or are undergoing major refurbish-
ments with new features, including
apartment style suites and executive
roomswhicharemoreequippedforthe
regular business traveller. Increasingly,
delegatescomingtoScotlandchooseto
lengthen their stay, perhaps bringing
their family with them, and apartment-
style suites can be more appealing to
themduringtheirextendedstay."
Business executives don't just want
comfort in terms of their accommoda-
tion�theyalsowantasmooth,easyand
hassle-free journey to and from the
airport. The Edinburgh Shuttle offers a
fleet of spacious seven-seater mini
coaches pick up
and drop off any-
where within the
city centre as well
as in some other
districts. Drivers
assist with lug-
gageandthereare
discounts for two or
more passengers travelling to the same
destination. There's also enough space
totakegolfequipmentandcycles.
Prices range from �9 for a one-way
journey to and from the airport for a
single passenger to �17 for two, and
thenjust�5foreachextrapassenger.
Figures show that at Edinburgh
Airport, the use of public transport has
goneupdramaticallyfrom16percentof
journeysin2002to24.2percentnow.
Theshuttleisseenasa"green"option
� paper tickets aren't needed when pas-
sengers pre-book. Companies such as
Apex, Jurys and the Edinburgh Inter-
national Conference Centre promote it
as part of their green tourism
values and the shuttle also
offersspecialratestoother
organisations that
support green
issues, such as Royal
Botanic Gardens
Edinburgh and
StandardLife.
TENSofthousandsofbusiness
travellerscometoScotland
everyyeartotakepartin
conferences.Thismarketisa
strongpartoftheScottish
economy,withhugepotential
togrow.
Servicedapartments
provideidealaccommodation
forconferencedelegates�
manyofwhomwantnotonlyto
attendtheeventitself,butalso
tospendextratimeseeing
somethingofthecountry.
Scotlandisideallyplacedto
winbusinessinthe
internationalconference
marketasithasastrong
internationalreputation,a
hugeanddiverserangeof
suitablevenuesofallsizes,a
goodtransportinfrastructure
andareputationforbeinga
beautifulcountrywhich
providesawarmwelcome.
Withbusinesstourismnow
beingworth�1bnayear,and
withmoreandmore
companiesandorganisations
lookingforqualityandvariety
intheirconferenceevents,itis
criticalthatScotland
continuestodevelopinthis
area.
Canitrisetothechallenge?
Thereseemslittlereasonwhy
not.Thediversityofvenues,
fromexclusiveandremote
castlestoworld-classurban
conferencecentres
throughoutthecountry,is
amazing,andmassive
investmentandthoughtis
goingintoensuringthatwe
stayaheadofthepack.One
areaintowhichweareputting
specialeffortisofferinggreen
optionstoconference
bookers,withVisitScotland
workinghardtopromote
initiativeswhichencourage
sustainabletourism.
The Scottish challenge
Venues in the
capital include
the castle,
top, and the
EICC, bottom
The capital can
offer an array of
accomodation
types. Fountain
Court, pictured
left and right,
offers luxurious
serviced
apartments,
while the
Edinburgh
Shuttle, below,
is ideal for the
business visitor
Main picture: Rob
McDougall

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