GCU and Crear make wedding tourism vow

Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) has teamed up with one of Scotland's most successful wedding venues in a bid to encourage international guests to explore the rest of the country during their stay.

Researchers will work with staff from Crear House, at Kilberry in Argyll, to develop the country's wedding tourism market as part of a £187,000 academic and business partnership.

Crear, on the west coast, hosts many weddings each year with around 70% of the 5000 guests travelling from outside Scotland.

The Knowledge Transfer Partnership will see a qualified graduate, employed by GCU, based within the business for two years, supported by an academic research team, made up of Professor John Harris, Associate Dean Research at Glasgow School for Business and Society, Dr Julie Thomson, an expert in management innovation, and Professor John Lennon, GSBS Dean and Director of the Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism.

Crear will also be able to access market research produced by the Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism.

Dr Thomson, senior lecturer of Innovation & Creativity and Operations Management at GCU, said: "A Crear wedding trip lasts an average of four days but guests are often looking to stay in Scotland for longer due to the distance travelled.

"The wedding tourism market is developing and is an area with huge potential as more businesses look at ways to be innovative to deal head-on with the current challenges facing the hospitality industry."

The KTP employee will build partnerships with tourism boards across Scotland, produce research publications, and disseminate their work at international conferences and in journals.

Kate Lithgow, Director of Crear, said: "This gives us a fantastic opportunity to encourage our customers to participate in a wide range of activities throughout the country. There are opportunities for research to demonstrate tourism opportunities for businesses across rural Scotland.

"Our key challenge is to extend our clients stay in Scotland, extending a four-day wedding into a two-week holiday.

"The Moffat Centre is the UK’s largest centre for tourism and travel market research and business development. When combined with the academic expertise available through the wider business school, the expertise on offer at GCU is simply not available anywhere else."