Ed Forrest

Galloway Southern Ayrshire

UNESCO Biosphere

UNESCO Trail

• Scotland is home to 35 UNESCO sites and projects

• 13 of these are physical sites that can be visited – 6 World Heritage Sites, 2

UNESCO Global Geoparks, 2 Biospheres and 3 Creative Cities

• International Value of UNESCO Badge

• Idea originated in 2016

• Steering group formed in 2018

• Chair - CEO SNH Franesca Osowska

• UK National Commission for UNESCO

• Visit Scotland

• Representatives from the 13 UNESCO Designated Sites

UNESCO Trail Sites in Scotland

Biosphere Reserves

• Galloway & Southern Ayrshire

• Wester Ross

Creative Cities

• Dundee UNESCO City of Design

• Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature

• Glasgow UNESCO City of Music

Global Geoparks

• Geopark Shetland

• North West Highlands

World Heritage Sites

• The Forth Bridge

• Frontiers of the Roman Empire: Antonine

Wall

• Heart of Neolithic Orkney

• New Lanark

• Old and New Towns of Edinburgh

• St Kilda

UNESCO Trail Proposal

• Digital Trail linking together the 13 UNESCO sites

• Web page for each UNESCO Trail Site

• Focused on Sustainable Tourism

• Promoting “World Class Scotland”

• Association with other iconic Scottish sites

• Part of a National and International Marketing Campaign

The UNESCO Trail Offer….

Challenges

• What is the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere Offer ?

• Where can you visit to get a genuine Biosphere Experience?

• Which businesses are acknowledging that they are in a UNESCO Biosphere?

• Are there staff who have some understanding of the Biosphere designation?

Explore the Biosphere

Biosphere Experiences

Biosphere Communities

Biosphere Breaks

UNESCO Trail

• Questions….???

Networking

• What are the USPs of the UNESCO Biosphere – our region – what do your

customers rave about when they come to you?

• Q1 – 15min

Networking

• So we have all these fantastic USPs how can we put them together to create a

truly memorable day or multi day experience that will give visitors a real taste

of what our UNESCO Biosphere represents?

• Q2 – 15min