South Lanarkshire Council
Experience Development | Digital Transformation | Booking & Distribution
South Lanarkshire, 2024-2026
South Lanarkshire has a diverse visitor economy, but many of its experiences were difficult to discover or book online. Working with South Lanarkshire Council, we developed a destination-wide digital transformation programme combining strategic analysis with practical business support – helping operators strengthen their experiences, adopt connected booking technology and reach new audiences through a new Visit Lanarkshire marketplace.
The programme began by mapping 142 tourism businesses and auditing the digital capabilities of all 45 identified visitor experiences, creating an evidence base for targeted intervention.
Our initial research identified significant variation in digital maturity across South Lanarkshire. Some businesses already had sophisticated booking technology; others relied on enquiries and manual processes. Opportunities for connected distribution were limited, while many businesses needed support to develop their offer, improve their digital presence or turn existing activities into genuinely bookable experiences.
Rather than prescribe the same solution for everyone, we created individual transformation pathways based on each business’s starting point, visitor offer and operational capacity. Support was structured around four connected areas: Experience Development, Booking & Distribution, Operations & Insights, and Customer Engagement.
"The programme has given businesses practical, tailored support to develop their visitor offer and strengthen their digital capabilities, while creating shared infrastructure that can benefit the wider destination." Laura Sprowl, Economic Development Officer (Tourism)
Making experiences bookable
For businesses with an emerging visitor offer, we helped turn ideas and existing activities into structured, commercially viable experiences. This involved refining propositions, pricing and scheduling and ensuring products could work operationally as well as appeal to target audiences. Support ranged from developing group and travel-trade-ready experiences at David Livingstone Birthplace to helping other businesses improve and position existing visitor products.
Connecting experiences to markets
We then connected product development with the technology needed to sell. Businesses received hands-on support to assess, select and implement appropriate booking systems, configure products and availability, improve their websites and move towards real-time online distribution. The Scottish Tea House, for example, implemented FareHarbor and subsequently went live through Viator, while Little Sparta progressed from having no online booking facility to selecting a connected booking platform.
Visit Lanarkshire Marketplace
Alongside individual business transformation, we created the Visit Lanarkshire Marketplace, powered by CultureHosts. Rather than operating as a standalone shop, the marketplace provides a connected distribution layer capable of bringing together products from multiple suppliers and booking systems, including integrations with FareHarbor, Bókun and DigiTickets.
Foundation for growth
By the end of the initial delivery period, 11 products were live, with businesses including New Lanark, Errington Cheese, Biggar Gin, The Scottish Tea House, David Livingstone Birthplace and RAER Distillery represented. The infrastructure gives South Lanarkshire a foundation for continued growth: more businesses and products can be connected over time, while experiences can ultimately be distributed through destination channels, OTAs and other partners without businesses having to manage separate inventories for each.
Build a more connected visitor economy
Digital transformation works best when product development, technology and routes to market are considered together. We help destinations build stronger visitor experiences, give businesses the tools to sell them effectively, and create the shared infrastructure needed to connect those experiences with audiences.
Get in touch
If you’re interested in working with us, have questions about the platform, or want to learn more, we’d love to hear from you