What Our Members Think of OLTA?

Rae Blackmore, OLTA's workplace student, interviewed several OLTA members to find out what they thought of the Association and how it might be improved:

CuanMor – Paul Sloan, Owner
"I've been running CuanMor for three years, and have been a member of OLTA for at least two and a half of them.  For me the OLTA website is the most prolific site for those looking to visit Oban, it's had a massive impact on bookings at CuanMor, particularly with larger visiting groups.  Without the OLTA, tourism would be down by a huge percentage, especially now with the recession and decline in the economy.  I would defiantly recommend joining to other businesses; it’s had a huge impact on my company and others I’ve spoken to.  Considering the restricted funding provided for the Association, I think OLTA are doing everything financially possible for them to do to promote Oban and its surrounding area.”

Piazza – Callum MacLeod, Owner
“I’ve had my OLTA membership for the whole seven years I’ve had my restaurant, it’s a very successful vehicle especially since it’s gained such a world wide audience on the internet.  It’s the pivotal voice for Oban tourism; other companies attempting to do the same thing for Oban tourism are much more disjointed and not so regularly updated as the OLTA site.  Plus it is the only one that is specific to the Oban area, whereas other sites treat it as a general area, lacking the detail OLTA has; I recommend it whenever and wherever I can!  If anything, I would like to see more feedback from the actual tourists, for example an email survey after they visit the website.  Millions of people visit the site and I think that valuable data is being wasted without their feedback.”

OLTA Chairwoman Linda Battison comments:
“Callum has made an excellent suggestion and I will be discussing this further with our webmaster so watch this space…”

The Manor House – Gregor McKinnon, General Manager
“I’ve been running the property for a year, however I think the owners before me had the business signed up to the OLTA for about ten years.  In a small town like Oban, I believe it’s important to be signed up to a group like OLTA, particularly in terms of promotion and advertising outside of the local area.  In general I think it has really helped to increase the awareness of the town, not just across Scotland but over Europe too.  I would definitely recommend it to any other businesses, and I can’t think of any improvements they could make.”

Appin Homes – Jim & Julie Weir, Owners
“We’ve been running Appin for about 14 years, and have been a member of OLTA since they started in the early 90’s.  It has really increased our business; I think it’s great having a site that is more specific to the area than ‘Visit Scotland.’  It has definitely increased traffic to our own website and generated a lot of ‘click through’ to websites that might not have been found by tourists otherwise.  The site is set out really well and is so easy to use, its great publicity for the area; I regularly suggest it to people.  I can’t think of anything more to ask of them, they have some brilliant ideas, for example the Sunday Train service that’s running at the minute.”   

OLTA Chairwoman Linda Battison comments:
“Whilst OLTA organised a ‘meet and greet’ service for the Edinburgh Sunday train, we can’t claim the service was our idea – the credit goes to ScotRail.  We will now be lobbying hard to make sure they keep the service as it’s a great way for visitors to experience a day in Oban”

Ulva Villa – John Greany, Owner
“I’ve had my B&B business for about 10 years and I've been a member for the OLTA for about the same amount of time. I am a thoroughly committed member and it has contributed to my business very well.  The website is excellent and has only improved over the years, whilst massively helping the association, I recommend it to everyone.  The only thing I could think to improve the service, and I know it has already been discussed, is to have a section of the website focused on weddings.  This could include ceremony and reception venues, florists, etc, Oban would a beautiful area for a wedding but is often not thought of, the OLTA website could really publicise that!”