TV personality Lorraine Kelly is fronting a crowdfunding campaign for the new tourism venture VisitDundee.
Lorraine, who has close ties to the city, appears in a video urging local individuals and businesses to raise money to showcase the city as a unique and authentic short break destination.
With an initial crowdfunding target of £20,000, Lorraine has appealed to local businesses and individuals to donate to VisitDundee to "help tap the huge potential of this city and make it as successful as it deserves to be."
VisitDundee, formed by a group of private businesses and individuals, aims to harness Dundee's popularity as a tourist destination and turn increased footfall into short stays in the city. The idea is to spread the economic impact to bed nights, meals, transport, retail and visitor attractions - and to benefit the whole city and surrounding area.
VisitDundee has the support of Dundee Heritage Trust, Dundee Rep, accountancy firm Henderson Loggie, Dundee City Councillor Lynne Short, Leisure and Culture Dundee, Volpa, MTC Media, and Insights Learning & Development. Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, also gave the venture a thumbs-up. Its early financial backers include law firm Thorntons, Dundee & Angus Visitor Accommodation Association (DAVAA) and James Keiller Estates.
VisitDundee hopes to attract more financial backers to the venture to help convert the city's many day visits to the city into short breaks. In the video, Lorraine says:
"Dundee is on travel hot lists for good reason. There's tons to offer: great food, bars and music, fabulous places to stay, a buzzing arts scene, and excellent cultural attractions. VisitDundee takes all that Dundee has to offer and packages it for different tourist audiences, with an emphasis on short breaks.
"We've had some great pledges of support from local businesses and individuals. I'm asking you to join them and make your own donation to VisitDundee through this crowdfunding campaign. If, like me, you want to help tap the huge potential of this city, and make it as successful as it deserves to be, support VisitDundee now."
Paul Jennings, Chairman of the newly formed VisitDundee board and executive director of Dundee Heritage Trust, added:
"This is about celebrating Dundee, a city many of us are proud of and want to be successful. I believe everyone wants good things for Dundee and to see it portrayed in the best way possible. That's why we encourage people to support our crowdfunding efforts and VisitDundee's aim to encourage tourists to extend their stay and explore what Dundee has to offer."
For more information go to www.visitdundee.com
Visit the crowdfunding page here: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/visitdundee-making-tourism-everyones-business
Link to the video here: https://youtu.be/JaFFy5s731o
Cunningly Good Group
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Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre Limited
Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre Limited is rooted in making work for and with a diverse local audience while strengthening its national and international reputation. The theatre is a national cultural asset which the people of Dundee feel ownership over and in which they can take enormous pride.
Leisure & Culture Dundee
Leisure and Culture Dundee is a company based out of 50 North Lindsay Street, Dundee, Scotland
Henderson Loggie
Chartered Accountants, Tax and Business Advisors based in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Thorntons Law
Thorntons is a legal firm made up of individuals whose skills and knowledge encompass much more than the law.
James Keiller Property Holdings Limited
James Keiller Investments Limited is a privately owned property development company based in Dundee, Tayside, established in 1981. The company has steadily expanded since then to become one of the largest private industrial property development companies in Scotland.
Insights Learning & Development Ltd
Insights is a global learning and development company working in partnership with leading organisations across the world. Our transformational learning solutions are supported by our extensive portfolio of customisable products and services. This portfolio, delivered by Insights' world-wide team of exceptional and inspirational people enables our clients to experience inspiring learning solutions that enhance relationships, improve performance and change personal and professional lives forever. We have a presence in over 20 countries across the world and a suite of materials that are available in 30 different languages.
Dundee City Council
Dundee draws skilled workers from a 60-minute catchment population of 640,000 and has a local population of over 140,000. The availability of a large pool of highly skilled labour is a key feature in the Dundee economy. Flexibility in the labour force is currently more prevalent in Dundee than in Scotland as a whole. All forms of labour market flexibility - part-time, temporary employment, self-employment and shift work - are widely operational within the city. Labour force stability in the city is excellent, enabling companies to plan with confidence. Labour turnover levels are less than 5% and absenteeism averages 2%.
