Dusty Shelves

Staggering out of a big name supermarket on the less well heeled side of Glasgow today, I had a rummage around a big carousel they have positioned at the exit, and which is loaded with leaflets for dozens of attractions and locations around Scotland. It’s quite handy if I happen to be passing, as it saves trundling into tourist centres and museum to gather these up.

I’d assumed it would just have been loaded with the newest goodies, in readiness for the Easter rush, but was disappointed when I finally got home and unpacked the goodies to see what I had collected. I knew it had the Bute – Scotland’s Unexplored Isle booklet from Visit Scotland in it, but I hadn’t expected to open it and be faced with Bute: official visitor guide 2007 inside.

I don’t know how often they update or produce these guides, but after having a flick through to remind myself of the content, reckon there probably will/should be a new one for each season, as there’s no doubt that the content is, at least ina part, out of date.

Not really something that anyone is to blame for (everything doesn’t have to be reduced to that sort of level), but it is an example of how something simple can torpedo a good idea if a watchful eye is not kept on it.

Update!

Maybe I should take that last forgiving remark back.

I just had a look at the current Visit Bute web site, which is billed as The Official Site of Isle of Bute Marketing and Tourism and when I clicked on the Brochure Request link, was offered the option to Order the new 2005 brochure now and receive free updates.

That’s not really good enough from the official site, and definitely not the sort of thing the Scottish Government’s Tourism Minister would want to see, given his order for Scotland to increase its tourism by 50% over the next few years.