Today¬†is one of my favourite days of the winter - as its Burn’s night tonight. A chance for a good party, some great poetry and a few songs. Even if you don’t understand a quarter of what he wrote - and it really is worth studying - Burns’ writings are a joy to listen to, especially when in the company of a few old friends, a good hearty meal and with a few drams. Well that’s my view anyway!

Here’s my favourite:

Its a great time for a celebration as well. January is nearly over and soon the days will really be getting longer and the Scottish holiday season will be upon us.

It’s been a few weeks since my last entry but I promise to be better at keeping things up dated from now on. As well as plenty of bookings for the spring and summer we have been really busy preparing our new website, which all being well, will be live by the start of February. Our current site has really been with us in the same form since we launched 3 years ago, with several up dates as we went along. The new site looks quite different, and has numerous new features. Many thanks to Ben at Hungrybrowser ¬†(what a great company name by the way!)¬†our trusty and very talented web designer.

Will write more about all the new holiday options we are featuring another time, but we did start the year with a fantastic mention in the Sunday Times Top 100 holidays feature - our brand new Family Week on Mull holiday came in at number 16, and was the only holiday in Scotland in the list. It’s nearly sold out as a result.

Anyway I am off to find a touch of tartan to take to the Burns supper Heather and I are going to……..and just for the occasion here’s a wee bit of the bard himself. The philosophy in this poem has as much resonance today as it had 211 years ago;

“Then let us pray that come it may,
(As come it will for a’ that,)
That Sense and Worth, o’er a’ the earth,
Shall bear the gree, an’ a’ that.
For a’ that, an’ a’ that,
It’s coming yet for a’ that,
That Man to Man, the world o’er,
Shall brothers be for a’ that.

I do get asked this question quite regularly. Of course my first answer is Scotland, and we certainly spend more time away from home here than any where else, which is a great way to mix business with pleasure. Our last trip of the year was to Lochalsh and Skye in mid-October. We had a quite incredible day on the Staurday driving the Beulach na Ba - pass of the Cattle - at over 2000 feet the highest road in Scotland. At the top the views towards Skye were from a different world. The weather that day was really sunny and we got some great pictures- a few of which will be appearing very soon on the website. It was made all the more specila as we had taken the Morgan 4/4 which we use for classic car touring holidays. It brought the scenery even closer!

Earlier this month we did venture overseas, and Africa is probably our favourite “abroad ” destination. This year we had a very special trip, spending 5 days in Rwanda, incing 2 days tracking Mountona Gorillas, then 5 days in Kenya. We lived for nealry 2 years in Nairobi and were delighted to catch up with our very dear friends the Pandit family. We then headed to the Rift Valey and to an Ecolodge called Shompole, on a Masai conservancy. The rooms were out of this world - very open plan with a stunning outlook over the valley. it was quite a wrench to leave- I think Heather would have stayed there for ever!

Now its back to Scotland, with winter definitely - and finally - here. More recce trips underway - off to Speyside and the Cairngorms today. Getting excited about the new season, with lots of new holidays and plenty of old favourites in the pipeline.

One New Year’s resolution - write my blog more often!

Just spent a few days on Mull, reviewing our very successful programme there. Lots of exciting ideas for 2007 resulting - so watch our for website updates in the coming weeks.

Was also priviliged to follow in the footsteps of many of the first tourists to Scotland and visit Staffa and Fingal’s cave. Despite a choppy sea on the way out the truly awe-inspiring sight of the cave and then the landing and walk along the basalt columns to enter the cave itself certainly ranks amongst my top things to do in Scotland. What was even more fascinating was when, a little later in the tourist office, I came across a book with pictures of Victorian tourists on the very rocks where we had been standing. Queen Victoria, Tennyson, Jules Verne, Walter Scott, JM Turner, Robert Louis Stevenson and of course Mendelssohn…..

We also added yet another deserted sandy beach to my collection - this time at Port na Bhan - watch out for this and other additions to Robert’s recommendations….

Tobermory itself never ceases to impress. On a late afternoon stroll along the seafront we reflected on the good quality shops (without too much tartan tat), atmospheric bars, increasing number of decent restaurants and of course the unique setting of the village. It is almost a blueprint of how Scottish villages should work best balancing the needs of locals and tourists.

Mull is also blessed with an incredible array and concentration of wildlife. The latest addition to my personal collection of Scottish wildlife experiences came on our Wildlife safari when the eight of us were lucky enough to spend around half an hour watching THREE golden eagles - an adult female and her youngster plus another curious juvenile interloper. They soared and swooped so acrobatically in plain view fo rus over a loch side mountain- almost aware that they were entertaining us.

Yes 3 days reminding me why I do what I do - trying to share a little more of this country with visitors.

So the hottest July for Scotland since records began, as they say, is over – with an enormous deluge of rain in Glasgow on August 1st. Although the rest of the week has been a bit more cloudy it is still pretty warm, and shorts have been the standard dress for me and many people out and about in the Scottish countryside this weekend once again.
Our many visitors from the south of England have commented how much more pleasant it is to be in Scotland in warm weather than in the stifling heat of a city like London, and of course I agree!
July has been incredibly busy for us– lots of clients on holiday, lots of bookings coming in- with plenty of people looking for something for the summer months still.

Our own questionnaires are now rolling from returning holiday makers and we are receiving some excellent reports. We like to think this is all down to our careful planning, but I’m sure the good weather helps too.

As August arrives it’s very much time to start working on next years’ holiday programme with planning various recce visits. As well as few day and overnight short trips to various parts of Scotland, Heather and I will also be spending several days on Mull, looking to review and enhance our holidays there, especially our wildlife trips and on Skye, where I believe there is plenty of potential for new experiences.

We will also be working on lots of other new ideas to “See Scotland differently” - more on these in the future.

June has seen a sudden influx of very welcome and positive press coverage for our holidays.

The Glasgow Herald saw a double page feature on our classic car short breaks, and a bit of a company profile, with the Morgan featuring prominently.  The very same day our short breaks on the West Highland railway  line were recommended as father’s day gifts in The Scotsman. Then at the end of last week our whale-watching holidays on Mull were the stars of a major 4 page article in Sunday Times Travel monthly magazine. (A big thank you to Jennette for helping organise these!)

Press coverage is extremely important for a small company like ourselves and it is also pleasing to see Scotland generally receiving reasonable coverage in the papers, who are all running¬†”stay in Britain for the holidays”, spurred on, no doubt, by the great period of weather we are enjoying. I do nevertheless despair sometimes though when major national newspapers publish lists of things like ‚Äúbest beaches‚Äù, best places to watch wildlife or great hotels with seaviews and barely mention anything here. Heather keeps telling me I need to write in adn point out what they are missing. In my¬†opinion you could fill a whole travel section with Scotland, though perhaps I am biased‚Ķ‚Ķ.

The last couple of weeks have, as noted above, definitely seen summer arrive ‚Äì at last¬† - for the UK and Scotland has been no exception. Of course like all typical north britons with fair skin I got sunburnt on the beach last weekend. Bear in mind that this was a deserted sandy beach in the west highlands though and no regrets! In fact the sunburn acts as a pleasant reminder of another ¬†fabulous weekend away in Scotland. Here’s to a few more this year!

We are very much an internet business and communicate with enquirers and clients through telephone and email. We usually only meet clients when visiting some of our hotels. Anyway our new office is not really set up for visitors - we don’t have a reception area or comfy seats, for example, so imagine my surprise when two of our American clients called in on us while they were in Glasgow. Our meeting room was busy so we found some chairs in the main office area and Colette kindly sorted some coffees from the kitchen. We then spent a good half hour hearing all about their holiday experiences and their suggestion for future holidays – all great feedback. Next time though I think I will take visitors to a local cafe, where we can offer a cappuccino at least.

The weather in the UK has been rather changeable- and here in Scotland we have had 25 degrees one week and then 5 degrees, even overnight frost the next. I am convinced I got sun-stroke one lunchtime last week while sitting at a pavement caf?© in Glasgow- an increasing and welcome phenomenon now that we have a smoking ban in enclosed spaces. Didn‚Äôt think I would need a hat in downtown Glasgow in mid May!

We were delighted when Scotland featured in a recent national newspaper article for Europe’s 20 best deserted beaches, with Luskentyre in South Harris the example chosen.
Doubly so when our website and Outer Hebrides holidays were given a plug too. In the past I have been very frustrated when reading travel articles listing the best beaches, best remote places , best wildlife areas etc in Europe and Scotland doesn’t even merit a mention. What we have here is not just European class but world class, yet so much focus is on the glamour of overseas.

If one needed a reminder of this we were lucky enough to help in the hosting of two French journalists from Le Figaro preparing a major article on Scotland for publication. They were incredibly enthusiastic about the country and covered hundreds of miles over the course of a week here. Places like Inveraray, Loch Lomond and Traquair House got them really excited. I’ve just seen the first pictures – we organised the hire of an E-type for a day for them – and they look stunning. Now to brush up my French…..

Last week the team attended the main trade exhibition for Scottish tourism – Expo, held this year in Glasgow. The atmosphere was buzzing and overall very positive, and it was a pleasure to feel part of this industry. I had a few very interesting discussions with some possible new additions for our holidays – watch out for some exciting new additions to the website very soon!

At the evening event Heather and I met up with some old friends, and were also delighted to be formally introduced to Philip Riddell, Chief Executive of VisitScotland (the Scottish tourist board). I have heard him speak several times but this was our chance to tell him a little more about our company, and we had an excellent short discussion. My one regret is that my answer to his question – what was your most unusual client request – was rather rambling. A classic case of what I should have said.

You see we certainly have had a few rather different requests over the last 3 years. There was the sheep breeder from Sussex, whose life’s ambition was to go to St Kilda, specifically to Boreray, one of the islands in this small and very remote island group. Why? Because he had been breeding Boreray sheep for many years, and wanted to see the original sheep in their “native” habitat. Although the boat trip we arranged for him was in the end not able to land – Boreray is one of the most impenetrable of islands- basically hundred foot cliffs all round - he was able to spy some sheep through binoculars, and it was indeed an emotional moment for him.

Then there was the Belgian MP who had to make some last minute changes to her family holiday on Mull when she was summoned to attend a vote of confidence for the incumbent government. We had to liaise with her parliamentary private secretary, with some complicated ferry and train times. All sorted in the end - though I never did find out whether the government survived, or indeed what side she was on!

I could go on but I’ll save them for another time…….

May is the first peak of the Scottish holiday season, and already many holiday options are sold out – our wildlife programme for example is fully booked until mid June already. Now is the time when we are on the phone on an almost daily basis to the hotels with whom we work, checking for availability, trying to secure rooms for our clients, checking for any cancellations and generally keeping close to what’s happening locally. It’s also the time when I start to keep close tabs on the weather forecast!

The week finished with Heather and I spending a warm and sunny Saturday afternoon on a deserted sandy beach on the west coast, sharing a bottle of wine and reminding ourselves how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful country.

Well that was a week! We moved house and office on Good Friday, then spent the weekend trying to get sorted. The office “infrastructure was set up on Monday for starters, so that we could be up and running for open of business on Tuesday. Of course things don’t ever go quite as smoothly as planned. For 3 days we have had intermittent, sometimes lengthy interruptions in our internet and email, due to what seems to be a combination of a router which did not like being moved, a bug with our browser and some unscheduled maintenance on our server.

Then of course the fax line did not work until Wednesday – telecoms company had programmed the wrong number – now sorted- and the payment terminal kept crashing! Still, it’s now Friday and we seem to be getting through the issues one by one. Paul our new IT guru has been in several times sorting out the problems, so fingers crossed for a smoother time next week.

This has all meant that our normal response times have slipped a little later than we would ideally want, so my apologies to those waiting for personal proposals and other emails. We will get to them just as soon as possible!

Our new office in Glasgow also has brought some significant staff changes. Louise has left us after nearly 2 years of sterling service to pursue her, lets be honest, first love of film-making and, so she tells me, to give her more time to paint. She will be missed and our very best wishes go with her.

This week we also, I am delighted to say, welcome two new team members – Azra and Colette. Both have been very much thrown in at the deep end and seem to have enjoyed their first week. They also have been very good at tea-making – apparently one of my weaknesses!

All of the team will be taking a couple of hours at the main Scottish tourism trade exhibition next week- Expo- being held this year in Glasgow, most conveniently. Its usually a good chance to meet some familiar faces and to catch up some new developments. Mind you most of the hotels we use don’t attend – they are too busy with clients by now.

And finally, its great to report that the first minke whales of the season have been sighted off Mull on trips this week. The season usually starts at Easter, and here we are again! Here’s hoping for lots more during the rest of the summer.

Its been a few weeks since I put my thoughts to paper – and a hectic period it has been too, with the office move and recruitment well underway. Add to that the fact that we are combining an office with a house move!
We are now entering our busiest time of the year with increasing number of clients on holiday, many just about to go away and plenty of enquirers. Its also a time when our personal service , though I say it myself, comes into its own, as we can piece together suitable holidays from the limited rooms left over peak holiday periods. Much of each day is spent on the phone to our hoteliers checking the latest availability- and in some ways it’s one of my favourite aspects of the job - real problem solving.

As we work with small and family owned places such a thing as online availability is out of the question. Indeed I always prefer to speak to the hotel direct to see the various options that are available, for examplemoving a holiday back or forth a day or two to get a combination to work. Once you get to the islands – especially the Outer Hebrides -it becomes even more of a challenge with ferry timetables becoming a major factor.

Availability on some islands, such as Islay and Mull has always been difficult, as there is a real shortage of good accommodation here - and we use it all! Our wildlife holidays also use several small local excursion operators whose trips may only have capacity for 8 or 12 people each day – and we have a very long list of fully booked dates already. So if you are looking for availability for busy periods we are good place to come, but you will need to be patient – rarely can we tell you straight away if a holiday is available- it will take a few phone calls. Mind you that’s where you need a travel advisor!

One event in Scotland probably deserves more comment this week. The smoking ban which came into effect from 26th March . Though I am looking forward to going to a smoke free bar tonight for the first time (yes sadly have been stay at home since the weekend), my gut instinct is against telling adults not to do things, but as non-smoker is difficult to be against the outcome. Anyway it will certainly have a major effect on social life here – guess there will plenty of people out side bars having a fag and hopefully more outside terraces will appear, where there is space, o benefit to all. It would be good if it does help more people give up, and it will make bars and restaurants more pleasant places for non-smokers. Just so long as all my smoking friends don’t spend all night outside!

For client information, hotels will still be able to offer smoking bedrooms where guests can smoke – but from what I can see this is really only gong to be the larger properties, who have the capacity to set aside rooms specifically.

Well today now its off to get the keys for our new flat in Glasgow, so fingers crossed!

This week the snow returned with a vengeance –at least for much of the north and Highlands. Even islands like Mull received a good few inches. Now the mountains and hills are looking their very best with the hope of some sunny days ahead. Good news for winter photographers, and even better for Scotland’s ski resorts, who must operate on the hope of at least a few weekends each year to remain viable.

Meanwhile we are getting ready for our big move, which will happen over Easter – yes McKinlay Kidd is off to the west, to Glasgow to be exact. It’s a city which Heather and I have always liked and with a number of factors coming together the time is right for us to shift both ourselves and the business. Our new office will be right in the city centre – but I’ll still be able to walk to work. More details to follow!

For this interested, we are also recruiting now as the business continues to grow! (For those interested, see www.s1jobs.com).

Today I was in London on a Wildlife event with VisitScotland (the Tourist Board for Scotland), meeting journalists and overseas operators to publicise Scotland’s fantastic wildlife. March is officially wildlife month for Visit Scotland and the team there are doing a great job to promote what is undoubtedly one of the country’ s world class features. Our programme of wildlife holidays is consistently amongst our most popular offerings.

Last week our trusty and much loved iMac gave up the ghost. Its demise – some 7 years after we bight it – it was lime green for those who know macs - has given us a few issues with lost data (though the vast majority was properly backed up thank goodness). It also marks the passing of what was a good friend – the only computer we had when we started the business – even then it was 5 years old – and a trusty workhorse ever since, well at least until last week.

Such a beautiful piece of machinery deserves better than finishing up in one of Edinburgh’s “Community Recycling Centres” – so we are now looking for ideas – apparently there’s a pdf on the net on how to turn them into fishtanks.