Ammendment To Customer Newsletter Issue 4

It has been brought to our attention that there was an error within Issue 4 of the customer newsletter which was sent out w/c Monday 9th November. On the back page under the headline 'Dates for Your Diary' you will find a paragraph which states that the Lowland canals are closed from 18th December to 5th January - this should read 24th December to 5th January.

It should also be noted that 48 hours notice is required during the winter for all boat movements. We apologise for the error and will be sending out a note to everyone informing them of the correct information.

Sizzling Summer Part 2!

Part two of our round up the season comes from The Falkirk Wheel, our World famous visitor attraction. Our summer campaign was focused on increasing visitor numbers whilst improving the spend on site and dwell time of visitors. This was achieved by using a mixture of TV, radio, press and online advertising to promote all the benefits of a day out at The Wheel.

The new TV advert appeared on STV throughout the summer and we even had Scotland's most listened to breakfast presenter, George Bowie, broadcast his Radio Clyde show live from The Wheel one morning (see image).

Results from the campaign show that revenue is ahead of target our boat trips, cafe and retail elements whilst visits to our website and online bookings were up 18% and 44% respectively n last year. The boat trips enjoyed three record breaking days throughout July and August, including seeing the 1 millionth passenger since opening climb aboard.

As an added bonus, The Falkirk Wheel was given a gold award from the Green Tourism Initiative in Scotland at the first time of asking!

The third and final part of our round-up on seasonal events will be available next week!

Saying Goodbye To A Sizzling Summer Across The Network!

As the nights start to get longer and the air turns a bit colder, it seems like a good time to reflect upon a highly successful season for both the canal network and The Falkirk Wheel. Our continued drive to increase the awareness of Scotland's canals and to challenge existing perceptions has been the driver behind all our activity. This is part 1 of 3.

Starting with the canal network itself, we ran two outdoor campaigns back in June - one in Edinburgh, one in Inverness. Both consisted of a targeted door drop to residents who live along the canal corridor outlining all the different activities that they can enjoy by visiting their local canal. This was backed up by outdoor posters and billboards strategically placed along the main commuter arteries to maximise visibility.

In the immediate aftermath of the campaigns, our pedestrian counter numbers during July rose by an average of 48% in the Edinburgh area compared to the corresponding figure for 2008. In Inverness that increase was 28% and Fort Augustus enjoyed a more modest 4% rise, although it was starting from an infinitely higher base line with it being a popular tourist destination.

Obviously this is unsustainable as you would expect a large spike in usage immediately after the campaign. However, the overall visits to all of Scotland's inland waterways has increased by 4.38% when compared to the same period last year.

Keep checking back over the next few days for a report on The Falkirk Wheel's performance over the season.