Kintyre.org

Ambassa

2011-06-15T07:46:00.000-07:00

We're promoting Scotland and this area nationally, investing in us for the future is key to our areas sustainability and business success in the future with our distance selling and marketing.

Check out the Great Exhibition 2012 - Me and my brand - North West Tourism ( www.northwesttourism.co.uk ) are AMBASSADOR OF THE DAY promoting such items nationwide as Kintyre, Loch Fyne, Tarbert and even Haggis!!

Take A Look Today Only - http://www.thegreatexhibition2012.co.uk/ and check out what were promoting here all the time - http://www.thegreatexhibition2012.co.uk/users/nick-0

Important News For Kintyre Businesses

2011-02-05T08:05:00.000-08:00

Kintyre is a superb part of Scotland, and one of the best places for a relaxing holiday and experience the great outdoors, it's main disadvantage is being quite distant from Glasgow at around 3 hours drive to North Kintyre, although its still accessible by plane to Campbeltown, bus and coach, and also ferries from Ayrshire to Arran so the infrastructure is quite good.

If you're reading this you're probably familiar with the area or would like to visit, and you should, at least once in your lifetime, but if you are a local business reading this you should know something really important.

Kintyre Does Not Have A Dedicated Marketing Group

Despite attempts to revive the Kintyre Marketing Group in 2010 unfortunately this became dormant due to a lack of interest at that time, we're all busy of course and so much is already done voluntarily by so many, but we need to do something as you'll soon see.

Recent communication with the Highlands and Islands Enterprise highlighted something incredibly important, and that was Kintyre is one of the only areas in Argyll that does not have a dedicated marketing organisation. We do however have the Kintyre Way (Long and Winding Way Ltd) which has and still continues to do some proactive work to attract visitors, and individual business also market themselves individually.

You should know that part of Mid Argyll has the Dalriada project (Kilmartin and surrounding area), Cowal has the Cowal Marketing Group, Cairndow has the Loch Fyne Head Group, Portavadie and Tighnabruaich has the Argyll's Secret Coast Initiative, Islay and Jura has the Islay and Jura Marketing Group, Oban and Lorn has the Oban and Lorn Tourism Association, and Arran has the Taste of Arran and other initiatives, in fact Arran is one of the most visited places in Scotland in a recent study.

The indentified areas that do not have pro-active dedicated marketing organisations and coverage are Kintyre, Gigha, Ardrishaig, Lochgilphead and areas of Knapdale. This is problematic for us and needs to be addressed in a way which will increase tourism here, but also allow a synchronous pasage of trade to those other marketed areas and initiatives.

The Good News

The good news for Kintyre businesses is that it is well served with websites, although it is noticed that local businesses and accommodation have been incredibly slow at making use of and adopting Kintyre.org which exists to market your business. If you have you ask yourself 'why should I be on Kintyre.org' then perhaps running your own business isn't for you!

But this is not really enough, with all the good work that is done in Kintyre and surrounding areas we need a brand and develop platform to carry this forward and compete with other main tourism areas and initiatives in and out of Argyll.

A New Beginning

In November 2010 a brand new organisation (public limited not for profit) was formed to link up with other surrounding marketing groups for a synchronous sharing of tourism, and include pro-active marketing of Kintyre. Work continues on the aims and guidelines of what is likely to be one of the most important initiatives for us.

Loch Fyne Enterprise has been formed to create Loch Fyne as a premium tourist destination competing with other national destinations such as Loch Ness with a uniform strong brand and working with important stakeholders and businesses to maximise marketing and tourism for the benefit of all.

The Enterprise also would take unmarketed areas of Loch Fyne and market these areas, aswell as overlapping the coverage of marketing to seamlessly integrate with other working group areas thus providing a central connected initiative.

With that in mind I would really like to see Kintyre businesses coming forward and be excited about being a part of Kintyre.org, and to think about the future of sustaining tourism, no-ones going to do it for us!

For more information about advertising on Kintyre.org and to receive information about the Loch Fyne Enterprise please email webmaster@kintyre.org

Why Should You Include Your Accommodation?

2011-01-31T09:54:00.000-08:00

Kintyre.org is going to be the first port of call for web users and consumers looking for somewhere to say in Kintyre, that's a certainty.

But if you want to know why you should be included and support Kintyre.org view the PDF document at www.kintyre.org/documents/launchletter2011.pdf

A Year In Kintyre | Week 2

2011-01-25T00:15:00.000-08:00

Each week we are giving you ideas about what you can see and do in Kintyre, this week's entry is all about Skipness and Skipness Castle.

It's just a general overview, but hopefully gives you an idea of how long it will take to get to Skipness from other parts of Kintyre, and little bits of useful information that inspires you to visit.

Remember also if you are perhaps having a holiday on Arran, if you have bicyles why not jump on the ferry to Claonaig and then cycle the flat 20 minutes to Skipness Castle for lunch, do something different!

For more information please visit A Day At Skipness, Kintyre

A Great Start To 2011

2011-01-21T04:41:00.000-08:00

We're only 3 weeks into 2011 and the popularity of Kintyre.org is being demonstrated with the significant numbers of visitors.

For those who are considering a holiday in Kintyre and Argyll this year, we encourage you to reserve your accommodation early and snap up those sea view properties for your Argyll family holiday.

We can report, already this year in those 3 weeks over 800 people have visited the accommodation section, which means that during the course of the year over 13,500 visitors will view the accommodation pages of the website (and that doesnt include the peak summer increase and additional marketing!).

To put that into monetary terms, if each visit was a unique visitor and spend only 1 night in Kintyre at a modest priced Kintyre B&B, that would be worth £405,000 of business!

If that wasn't incentive enough, here are a few reasons why you might want to include your accommodation on the website;

Kintyre.org ranks at the top of most of the main search engines.

Kintyre.org receives over 3,000 visits per calendar month (unmarketed!)

Kintyre.org is seen as the authoratitive website in the region for tourism.

Starting prices are only £75.00 + VAT for 12 months

Kintyre.org is being professionally developed, managed and marketed

As a final incentive, for a further limited time Kintyre.org is offering a free additional home page advert to the next 6 premium page subscribers if ordered before the end of January 2011.

Please contact Net Visuals with your advertising enquiry or for additional information and we can arrange for your Kintyre Accommodation to be included at the earliest opportunity. Listings are on a first come first served basis so dont delay.

Mull Of Kintyre Self Catering Or B&B

2011-01-14T01:23:00.000-08:00

Fancy a family holiday or romantic break to the Mull Of Kintyre ? Pennyland Farm, situated only a few minutes from Dunaverty and Southend offers either Self Catering or Bed and Breakfast accommodation in one of the most tranquil and beautiful parts of Argyll and Kintyre.

The accommodation can be viewed on Kintyre.org at the following URLs;

Pennyland Farm Self Catering >

Pennyland Farmhouse B&B >

A Year In Kintyre Now Available

2011-01-10T15:55:00.000-08:00

The first entry in our Year In Kintyre has been uploaded and available in full on our website featuring a nice photo of Arran with snow on the mountains taken from Skipness.

The first week introduces Kintyre to walkers, and if you're in the area for a festive break there is no better way to walk off those heavy christmas dinners and puddings!

Pop over to the Kintyre website for full details of the first installment.

Why Go Anywhere Else Than Kintyre?

2011-01-05T01:59:00.000-08:00

However we look at it this year there are going to be some difficulties for many families and businesses as the government and councils start their staff and expenditure reduction plans, but it's not all bad news!

If you are one of the thousands of people that think about a family holiday in Scotland but are always seduced by the mediterranean, now might be the time to take the plunge and find out what Scotland has to offer.

You might be surprised to know that during the summer the temperature is hot (but bearable), the country has some fantastic beaches, stunning landscapes that you cannot help but fall in love with, and to top it all off there is the combination of fresh seafood and island malts!

Kintyre has all this and more, sure it's a journey whichever way you travel, but it is a corner of Scotland that provides a rich outdoor experience.

Find out more by visiting our website about Kintyre.

A Very Happy New Year !

2011-01-05T01:56:00.000-08:00

As everyone reflects on the Christmas past and looks to the year ahead we would like to wish everyone a very happy and prosperous 2011.

Best Wishes from Kintyre.

Wishing You A Merry Christmas

2010-12-23T23:41:00.000-08:00

With only a day to go until Christmas like me I am sure you're in the clutches of the last minute rush to buy that forgotten gift, deliver those final few cards to friends and colleagues, and finish those business tasks before settling down in front of a roaring fire with a wee dram and a festive mince pie.

The beauty of Arran covered in snow as seen from Kintyre is in contrast to the UK as it struggles through the deep of winter and the heavy lingering snowfall of previous days and weeks. Although Kintyre remains largely snow free we would like to give you a quick reminder to watch out for reported ice and slippy sections of road and take care as you drive through Kintyre.

On behalf of Kintyre.org I would like to wish you a very happy and peaceful Christmas.

The New Kintyre.org NOW LIVE!

2010-12-06T17:05:00.000-08:00

Before I wind down this machine and cosy up into my bed for the night I wanted to just let you all know that the new Kintyre.org is now live, and only a week overdue!

What's New?
The whole website is new, from design right the way through to updated and new content, in fact there is so much that we havn't been able to add it all yet!

What's In The Pipeline?
Well, first of all there is going to be an important update to the Kintyre Way website which is urgent, then following on from that the business directory and photo galleries are going to be added to the website.

Once we have fulfilled these two updates, we will be providing full compatibility so that anyone can view the website on any device, mobile phone and mobile handset so that your business can be browsed by the millions of mobile users across the UK and abroad! It's a serious venture with serious technology and its for you.

Hopefully there will be a rush for accommodation providers, shops, businesses and restaurants desperate to secure the limited advertising space on the site and maximise business for 2011 and beyond so we can provide a great directory for the thousands of visitors each month!

This forthcoming year we'll also be travelling, mapping and gathering information from all around Kintyre including major events to make this website competitive and draw people to this fantastic place.

What Can We Do To Help?
Kintyre.org is a tool for you to use. If you have information you want to add that will benefit visitors, photos, feedback then we would love to have some content, particularly historical and build up the site. If you are in a part of Kintyre such as the Carradale Coast and Atlantic Seaboard, your area is being competitive to each other, so attract your own customers by selling yourself and your part of Kintyre!

Finally advertise. Your accommodation, business, event and eating place all deserve to be included and should be included. Lets shout about what we have here and have a prosperous 2011.

For more information about advertising please visit our advertising page at www.kintyre.org/advertise.php and contact us as soon as possible to discuss your advertising.

The team here at Net Visuals hope you enjoy the new improved Kintyre.org. Enjoy!

Latest Web Update

2010-12-05T05:46:00.000-08:00

Here at Net Visuals Bespoke Web Design we've been working day and night to put the finishing touches to the first release of the new Kintyre.org website which is now overdue by a few days and should be launched in the next day or two.

The website has been completely redesigned from the ground up with fantastic new features, articles and we hope it's going to showcase Kintyre to its best.

Kintyre.org and delivering tourism to Kintyre is a team effort, like anything, the more we put in together the better the results. So with that in mind why not get involved with Kintyre.org in the following ways;

1) Advertise
Advertising is hugely important to us because it pays for development, updates and marketing. Advertising is important to you because Kintyre.org presents the best opportunity online to deliver convertible consumers to your business. Fact!

Get your accommodation, business, event and restaurant featured on Kintyre.org for a small annual fee. Support your local Kintyre tourism initiative.

2) Correct Mistakes
There are going to be errors and mistakes from time to time, if there are errors or mistakes please email and let us know, these might be spelling or historic inaccuracies, but don't hesitate to drop us an email.

3) Proof Read
The content to the best of our knowledge is accurate. You may have alternate information, additional information or content which will enhance the website, if you have then why not contact us and contribute, your credits can be added.

4) Link To Us
As you know inbound links are important for search engine placement. If you have your own website add a text link to your website titled Kintyre Tourist Information Website and link to us!

A number of link images can also be supplied if you would rather use one of them.

So keep a look out over the next day or two for the new Kintyre website and contact us with your feedback.

Accommodation Update Notice

2010-11-12T03:58:00.001-08:00

Thank you for the initial response regarding accommodation listings and advertising which has been positive and adds great value to the aims of Kintyre.org.

Before everyone puts every property they own spread across the Peninsula on one accommodation page I should advise of the rule regarding the page listings!

One Type & One Footprint
Each accommodation page can only contain one accommodation type e.g. (self catering, b&b, camping and touring, hotel, harbour berths) and all the accommodation listed must be on the same site footprint or unbroken land ownership boundary between the properties.

If you have a business that covers more than one site which is not on the same unbroken land boundary you must have a separate page for each site, this is beneficial to you in terms of multiple listings, and beneficial to us in additional content.

No Limit On Properties For Each Footprint
There will be no additional fees for the number of properties on the site however for large providers we would recommend reserving a home page advert and a premium accommodation page to reflect the status and size of business.

Additional Suggestions
The following are suggestions on how you can maximise the exposure of your business and accommodation on the new Kintyre.org;

1)If you have multiple sites or multiple business types you can advertise all the individual properties or accommodation sites on the same page under the same business. You may find that you may get less views and this is an additional recommendation rather than a suggestion to replace your accommodation page.

2)Subscribe to a premium web page for the highest exposure for your accommodation type and you may at the bottom add a footnote that says "we have additional sites on Kintyre" or "we have additional properties available" and you may link either to additional pages in Kintyre.org or alternatively link to your website where you should have all your properties and sites.

3)Instead of a premium listing, subscribing to a basic page and taking out a front page advert may be more beneficial than just subscribing to a premium page, remember that the home page generally gets over 90% of all traffic that visits a website from search engines before viewing any pages!

4)If you have multiple accommodation types, or multiple site footprints why not take out a basic accommodation listing, and then add a selection of adverts later on, then you can be visible on some of the most popular pages (a subscription to the Kintyre.org analytics data will be required so you can analyse the best performing pages or we can advise from January 2011 onwards.)

5)We will be implementing a full search feature that indexes both business directories and accommodation when people make searches which will be integrated after the website is launched to assist people find you by name, by type or by area. Using both directories may deliver additional traffic and customers to your site.

6)Searches when implemented will be keyword sensitive and indexed regularly to return the best results from the website so when you write your content please use keywords which apply to your business. Please also note that the searches will not give you a higher place if you repeat keywords, the use of one keyword will be sufficient to trigger a search inclusion.

If you have any additional questions or queries please do not hesitate to contact us and we will do our best to help. We hope that the way we have implemented the system offers various options and keeps the listings fair.

A Warm Welcome

2010-11-08T03:38:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the official Kintyre.org blog.

If you have never heard of Kintyre, it's a wonderful peninsula set between Scottish Islands on the west coast of Scotland. Arran sits to the east, and Gigha to the west with Islay just beyond, and it is packed full of interest and beauty, deserted beaches, castles, seafood restaurants and stunning sunsets.

I know it's a cliche, but Kintyre really is Scotland's 'Best Kept Secret' and only a few hours from Glasgow by car along some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world, I hope you decide to share this stunning place with your family and friends.

If you haven't visited our website before, pop over to Kintyre.org and browse the information on what you can see and do, and of course where you can eat and stay.

You will be able to keep up to date with news, events and more through our blog here, or alternatively follow us on Twitter here or on Facebook here.