Alastair Naughton

Alastair Naughton

Alastair Naughton

Alastair Naughton writes for the adven­ture and eco-lux­ury travel sec­tor at Adven­ture Travel Copy, Scot­land.

The human touch: Why Scotland should keep its visitor information centres open

October 16, 2024

VisitScotland's plan to close its visitor information centres (‘iCentres’) is a catastrophic move, according to Alastair Naughton who pens his fourth “Good Tourism” Insight. Mysterious stone circles by pexels (CC0) via Pixabay. Flag of Scotland by jorono (CC0) via Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/photos/stone-circles-mystery-cult-1853340/ https://pixabay.com/illustrations/international-banner-flag-scotland-2423877/

Vis­itScot­land’s plan to close its vis­it­or inform­a­tion centres (‘iCentres’) misses the mark, accord­ing to Alastair Naughton who pens his fourth “Good Tour­ism” Insight. [You too can write a “GT” Insight.] Vis­itScot­land’s pro­pos­al to close all its iCentres by 2026 is a mis­guided strategy that fails to recog­nise the diverse needs of tour­ists.  While it is true […]

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Posted in "GT" Destinations & Places, "Good Tourism" in Europe, "Good Tourism" in Scotland, "Good Tourism" in the United Kingdom, Insights & Best Practices
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Indigenous tourism’s interest-action disparity reflects sustainable tourism’s ‘say-do gap’

August 15, 2023

Indigenous tourism’s interest-action disparity reflects sustainable tourism’s ‘say-do gap’. Image by Scott Umstattd (CC0) via Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/trYLgKiDsR8

Indi­gen­ous tour­ism has enorm­ous poten­tial as trav­el­lers’ expect­a­tions evolve, accord­ing to Alastair Naughton. Per­haps the biggest chal­lenge now is turn­ing interest in indi­gen­ous tour­ism exper­i­ences into invest­ment and book­ings. It’s a “Good Tour­ism” Insight. (You too can write a “GT” Insight.)

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Posted in Insights & Best Practices
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Mountain biking in Scotland? Not if you’re dependent on public transport

July 11, 2023
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Mountain biking in Scotland? Not if you’re dependent on public transport ... Linn Of Dee waterfall image supplied by Alastair Naughton

Scot­land’s tour­ism author­it­ies have been keep­ing glob­al stake­hold­ers happy by declar­ing ‘cli­mate emer­gency’ and plan­ning ‘trans­form­a­tion­al tour­ism’, but have they lost touch with Scots? In his first “Good Tour­ism” Insight, Alastair Naughton ques­tioned the poor access­ib­il­ity of Scot­tish ski resorts. In this “GT” Insight he won­ders why pub­lic trans­port is mak­ing it more dif­fi­cult to go […]

Read More Mountain biking in Scotland? Not if you’re dependent on public transport
Posted in Insights & Best Practices, "Good Tourism" in Europe, "Good Tourism" in Scotland, "Good Tourism" in the United Kingdom, "GT" Destinations & Places
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Off-piste: Lack of public access to Scottish ski resorts reinforces divides

May 9, 2023
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Cannae go 'off-piste' to a Scottish ski resort

Scot­land’s ski resorts offer breath­tak­ing scenery and exhil­ar­at­ing out­door exper­i­ences. How­ever, they are dif­fi­cult to access for many Scots. Alastair Naughton, a con­cerned cit­izen and avid ski­er, believes that Vis­itScot­land should advoc­ate for invest­ment in access­ible, afford­able, and low-emis­­sion pub­lic trans­port infra­struc­ture.  I love ski­ing, although I have not been able to get up to […]

Read More Off-piste: Lack of public access to Scottish ski resorts reinforces divides
Posted in "GT" Destinations & Places, "Good Tourism" in Europe, "Good Tourism" in Scotland, "Good Tourism" in the United Kingdom, Insights & Best Practices
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