Scottish Inbound Tour Operators Fund
What is the Scottish Inbound Tour Operators Fund?
The Scottish Government have recently announced a £6 million fund delivered on behalf of the Scottish Government by VisitScotland with input from the Scottish Tourism Alliance, the Scottish Destination Management Association, the Scottish Incoming Golf Tour Operators Association and UK Inbound.
The fund is available for inbound tour operators and/or DMCs operating in Scotland who promote and sell packaged product (holidays in Scotland) to international markets and who are facing financial problems due to the impact of COVID-19.
The amount awarded to each applicant will be determined by the eligibility criteria and supporting information provided.
Who can apply?
To be eligible for this fund you must:
– be a Scotland inbound tour operator and/or Destination Management Company (DMC), promoting and selling packaged product (holidays in Scotland) to international markets.
– have a permanent place of business in Scotland (registered business address or premises).
– have been established and operating as an inbound tour operator and/or DMC for at least two full financial years prior to 31 December 2020.
– be fully compliant with The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018, if selling direct to the consumers (B2C).
– have been negatively impacted by COVID-19 which has resulted in revenue decreasing by at least 75% in the 12 month period to 31 December 2020 compared to the 12 month period to 31 December 2019.
– confirm that at least 75% of the revenue recorded in your last set of annual accounts is derived from outside of the UK and/or revenues derived from outside of the UK exceed £500,000.
– confirm that at least 75% of the revenue recorded in your last set of annual accounts relates to product delivered in Scotland and/or your revenues relating to product delivered in Scotland exceed £500,000.
– confirm your business employs at least one full time employee (FTE) in Scotland.
– confirm that your business has not been in financial difficulty as at 31 December 2019. If you’re a SME or Large organisation, please see the Subsidy Control section in the Guidance for more information.
How to apply
The application process for this fund is in two parts – Expression of Interest and application stage.
The online Expressions of Interest (EOI) form is available from Friday 22 January until 5pm on Friday 29 January.
You will receive an email following your EOI submission to confirm that we have received your online form. If you don’t receive this via your mailbox, please check your other folders to ensure you get confirmation. Businesses must have completed an EOI to be eligible to submit a full application and successful applicants will be invited via email to apply for the fund.
Before submitting an EOI, please review the full guidance document including eligibility criteria to establish whether your business is eligible to apply. As part of the guidance, we have detailed the information you will need to provide to complete the EOI form.
You can complete an EOI form by following this link to the online form
Please note businesses who have already submitted an unsuccessful EOI will not be eligible to re-submit an EOI form and applications will NOT be assessed on a first come first serve basis.
