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  6. Hillgoers case study

Hillgoers case study

4 minute read • Last updated: 29 May 2025

Hillgoers are an outdoor experience provider based in Royal Deeside near the Cairngorms National Park, but with a team of over 20 guides, they can take clients all over Scotland.

Running since 2016, Hillgoers operate all year round, delivering high-quality tailor-made and off-the-shelf experiences for individuals or small groups. They offer a variety of activities including guided walks, mountain skills courses and dark sky and stargazing events.

Hear from owner and managing director Garry Cormack, on the benefits to a business of building connections and engaging with travel distribution partners.

In this article:

  • Working with the travel trade
  • Finding suitable partners
  • Advice for other businesses

Working with the travel trade

Visitors on Hillgoers tour

Visitors on Hillgoers tour

© Hillgoers

Hillgoers’ journey into the travel trade market started with wanting to provide more opportunities for their tour guides.

“Our biggest asset is our excellent team of loyal freelance guides. Working with the travel trade will provide more opportunities for them and help to grow the business.”

So when it came to working with the travel trade, Garry recommends taking full advantage of any workshops, webinars and training courses offered by tourism organisations.

Their first step was to understand how travel distribution worked and how they could find a travel trade partner.

“Reach out to the VisitScotland team and attend their workshops. We can’t thank the VisitScotland and Visit Aberdeenshire teams enough for the support, both one-to-one and peer-to-peer."

Finding suitable partners

“The workshops, networking events and ongoing support all make a huge difference.”

To prepare for their first event, they looked for more training.

“We attended a VisitScotland and Visit Aberdeenshire travel trade workshop. Then we scoured the buyer websites and social media to find our target markets.

“We were helped by Visit Aberdeenshire and VisitScotland to first of all understand the market, then we attended some buyer meetings, where we were networking with other suppliers and building relationships with buyers.”

This effort was rewarded: “We have already secured a regular contract with an American client, and we have ad-hoc bookings with other partners, so we can see the difference in our turnover already.”

Advice for other businesses

looking across an idyllic loch on a sunny day

Loch Garten, taken during a guided hiking tour with Hillgoers.

© Hillgoers

Garry reckons there was no big secret to their success, instead the time and effort they put into training and attending workshops and events helped. “It was most likely just getting our name out there!”

He also recommends taking time to build local relationships to develop your product: “Find a product that the buyers are looking for, and work with other suppliers on packages."

Hillgoers is also keen to work sustainably and work closely with local estate owners including Balmoral and Mar Lodge on conservation projects that are linked directly to climate change prevention and biodiversity improvements.

“We work closely with partners in the local area to build strong connections allowing us to offer exclusive insights and access to these beautiful locations.

"We hope to keep building relationships that sell Scotland as the best place in the world to visit."

How to work with a travel distribution partner

Now you’ve seen the benefits of working with a travel distribution partner like Garry from Hillgoers, how do you make it happen?

Walk through all the steps, from understanding the travel distribution market to weighing up the benefits and differences of selling through a partner. Review your prices, put together a pitch, and come along to a trade event to start your travel distribution journey.

Selling through travel distribution partners

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