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VisitScotland.com defends its loss
VisitScotland.com, the website selling accommodation in the country, has posted losses of over £2 million for the past year.
But business development director, Philip Chalmers defended the company saying that the website was expected to make a loss in its initial years because it is a new venture and that in fact it is ahead of expectations. Mr Chalmers told TravelMole that he hopes to get into the black in the next two years.
VisitScotland.com is run by a private firm called Etourism.com, which licensed the name from the tourist board.
It raises revenues by taking the 10% deposit paid by holidaymakers that book using the site. In the first few months of launch VisitScotland.com experienced difficulties when B&B owners boycotted the website because they didn’t want to pay the commission.
However, Mr Chalmers told TravelMole that this was down to confusion on the part of accommodation owners who thought the site was operated by the tourist board, an organisation that they already pay to be a member of.
Losses for VisitScotland.com reached £2.3 million for the year, compared to £1.2 million the previous year. Mr Chalmers says he expects a smaller loss next year, then hopes to start breaking even after that.
Report by Ginny McGrath
Ginny McGrath
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