BEST LUXURY EXPERIENCE
This award celebrates those businesses bringing luxury to the Scottish visitor experience. Luxury experiences are those bespoke offerings which showcase the best of Scotland and bring the ‘wow-factor’ to every step of the customer journey. This award recognises unique tour offerings or experience packages, with a focus on exclusivity and attention to detail.
Businesses working within the tourism and events sector providing luxury experiences, such as food and drink or accommodation providers offering specific luxury packages, or Scottish-based tour operators with bespoke luxury offerings. We would encourage you to focus your entry on a specific luxury experience or package, rather than your business as a whole.
Trump Turnberry, Girvan
2024 National Winner
Entry Questions
Executive Summary
The purpose of the Executive Summary is to give judges a general overview and better understanding of your business. Although not an exhaustive list, some examples of the type of information judges will be looking for are listed below. This question is not scored and is for background information only.
- Types of services on offer
- Size and purpose of your business
- How long you have been operating
- Any other information you feel is relevant
1. Please tell us how your luxury experience or package stands out, providing a wow-factor for your guests.
Do you go above and beyond in unique and innovative
ways to ensure your guests experience luxury during every moment? You should
provide clear evidence of your commitment to quality and how you gather and implement feedback
to ensure your full guest experience consistently delivers world class
standards, within the time period 1st May 2024 – 31st March
2025.
Please cover any areas you think are relevant although you may wish to include aspects such as:
- Examples of collaboration and partnership with other high-quality tourism providers to create a full luxury package for your visitors
- How your staff recruitment and training methods ensure the highest standards of hospitality and service
- The unique aspects of your experience on which your guests comment most positively
- The ways in which you bring a sense of place to your experience (using local produce, working with local producers, craftspeople and suppliers) and the storytelling experience your customers receive
- The attention to detail paid to all aspects of the guest experience – from pre-arrival (digital presence) through to post-visit
- Any luxury accreditation awarded, such as VisitScotland Quality Assurance Star ratings
2. What steps are you currently taking to develop your experience? What do you hope to achieve and how are you measuring success?
You should provide clear evidence of current developments and how benefits will be monitored / measured, eg. through visitor feedback, accolades/achievements, target market statistics. Please cover any areas you think are relevant although you may wish to include aspects such as:
- Intentionally benchmarking your provision against other businesses
- Obtaining an external assessment of quality and experience (eg awards schemes, customer ratings)
- Plans for new and innovative packages and way of keeping the experience fresh
- New collaboration and/or partnership working
Please cover any areas you think are relevant although you may wish to include aspects such as:
- Developing a climate action plan; achieving green awards; green champions within your business; promoting sustainable practices undertaken in your business; increasing energy efficiency; provision of electrical vehicle changing points; encouraging recycling; reducing food waste; reducing single-use plastic
- Ensuring that you are providing for visitors with access requirements; creating and promoting an access guide on your website; employee training; catering to visitors with various dietary preferences
- Engaging with your local community through community initiatives; hiring local staff; working with local businesses; use and promotion of local products and services
- Promoting the local area, including nearby businesses and attractions; delivery of any relevant events and packages that specifically promote Scottish culture and nature; sharing the history of your business, community and local area.
- Implementing nature-based solutions that protect, restore or create thriving natural habitats, such as protection of eco-systems, capturing carbon in nature, tree planting etc
Thank you to our 2025 Sponsors
CONTACT US
Scottish Thistle Awards
c/o VisitScotland
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8BG
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