North Highland business tourism initiative getting under way

A NEW business-based tourism initiative for the north Highlands will get under way today (Friday) in Sutherland.

Coldbackie-based entrepreneur Toby Eve is launching his latest enterprise, Business Leaflet Exchange Advertising Tourism (Bleat), in Durness Village Hall between noon and 3pm. A series of 11 further events around Sutherland and Caithness and onwards via Inverness to Ullapool will follow by the end of March.

The venture is an offshoot of Beyond Nessie, a trip planner and local directory for the Highlands designed and produced by Toby which, in addition to online interactive maps, gives direct contact to businesses, potentially with links to their booking, reservation and ticketing platforms. Accessed through a desktop or mobile internet browser, and further enhanced when on the move with an iOS or Android app, Beyond Nessie offers something new for a growing clientele, some now visiting the far north and west for the second or even third time and looking for additional reasons to linger.

"Whether we are operating in the digital or the more traditional marketing world, our mission remains clear," Toby said. "We aim to help hospitality and service providers to further develop, improve and promote the services they are offering in the expanding Highland tourist market."

To achieve this, Bleat will offer a cheap and effective way for local businesses, including accommodation providers, pubs, restaurants, cafés, activity and hospitality providers and event organisers to share a range of business information around the route so that, whichever their direction of travel, visitors will have an increased opportunity to access whatever is coming up ahead.

Participants in the Bleat meetings are asked to bring along their promotional material for sharing on the day of the first event and to hear how Toby’s innovative plan to distribute these will work.

For further details of Bleat and of the planned meetings, call Toby on 07553 177030, email bleat@beyondnessie.com or see Facebook at www.facebook.com/pg/highlandbleat/events

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