Murton Trust case study

3 minute read • Last updated: 25 February 2025

Murton Trust is a thriving nature reserve, visitor farm and tearoom set in 100 acres near Forfar in Angus. They operate as a social enterprise, with a dual educational and environmental purpose.

Alison has worked with the Murton Trust for the last 17 years and is currently the trust manager. The trust has been operating since 2001 and have slowly developed their business over this time.

Beginning their travel distribution journey

Donkeys at Murton Farm, Tea Room and Nature Reserve
© Murton Trust

The trust's focus on education and community engagement adds a meaningful dimension to experiences that we offer. We knew this would be appealing to the travel trade partners.

The Murton Trust offer a wide range of experiences and they recognised that what they offer would appeal to travel distribution partners. Alison told us: “We are truly rooted in our community through the charitable work we do but understand our important position in the tourism industry in Angus”.

They also wanted to increase their visibility and work with other tourism businesses in the region to “ensure Angus is well and truly on the map for travel trade partners.”

What were the first steps?

Firstly, it was important that the Murton Trust researched, attended training and held staff discussions to make sure they were creating the right experiences.

“We needed to ensure that we could deliver quality experiences that were a good fit for the travel trade. We researched current trends for those visiting Scotland and discovered our outdoor-based, environmentally and socially responsible options were appealing.”

Alison also told us that they took advice from Invest in Angus and VisitScotland, which allowed them to understand the market, enhance their existing offering and develop new products.

“I’d recommend taking advice from industry experts. Doing this allowed us to receive valuable feedback on what we had created, and our factsheet and website before going live. We feel the business support has allowed us to prepare the relevant information to ensure we are ready to take bookings from travel trade partners. Meeting with other Angus businesses already working with travel trade has also helped.”

Learn how to grow your business by selling through travel distribution.

Their advice for other businesses

Visitors at Murton Farm, Tea Room and Nature Reserve
© Murton Trust

Don’t be shy. Get out there, attend networking events in your area and speak to other tourism businesses. Ask their advice and learn what is or is not working for them.

Alison urged other tourism businesses thinking about working with the travel trade to put in plenty of research time before launch. She believes it’s key to have a product that works for the travel trade. If you can, access training and support available to ensure you are well prepared. Taking the time at this stage can also save you money and resource.

“We really would urge everyone to put the planning and preparation time in to reviewing what you can offer to the travel trade.”

What’s in the future for Murton Trust?

Alison hopes Murton Trust can be part of the wider development of Angus as a tourism destination. “I think it important that we focus on ensuring quality offerings in all our businesses and have the confidence and knowledge of what is being delivered best accommodate visitors to Angus.”

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