A Stirling tour operator using traditional Scottish folk music as a way of enticing tourists to visit Scotland is expected to reach £1.5 million turnover after the owners received specialist advice from Business Gateway.

Scotland Folk Tours was founded by David Hope, Tim Grimm, Fiona Brown and Alexis Webster in 2022. It specialises in bringing Americans to Scotland for a traditional music-based tour by a recognised folk music artist.

Some of the artists involved include Harmonious Wail, Stephen Fearing, David Roth and Mouths of Babes.

The signature Scottish Tour works with a number of local folk artists to share traditional Scottish folk music with visitors, while showing them the sights of the country.

The business offers three different versions of the Scottish Tour, each running over eleven days and showcase different aspects of Scotland. The tours include private concerts with either local musicians or the tour leader almost every night of the trip, allowing visitors to hear the music that built Scotland.

The tours all include accommodation, travel, airport transfers, all tour activities and breakfasts.

Scotland Folk Tours also operates more specialised tours, including a seven-day Outlander tour which includes a fireside concert from a star of the series.

Despite there being a reluctance of a lot of Americans to travel abroad after the pandemic, Scotland Folk Tours’ unique tours have generated substantial growth in the last few years. The business grew to £1 million turnover in 2024 and this is expected to rise to £1.5 million in 2025, which is year four for the business.

The business is also passionate about supporting other Scottish businesses, and works with hotels, artists and hospitality venues across the country to allow them to experience the benefits as well.

The team approached Business Gateway in order to grow the business and find the right way to reach its target audience. They met their Business Gateway adviser Stephen Cranston, who was able to provide one-to-one business support and advise on the best way to move forward.

Stephen supported the team in applying for funding through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund which allowed them to update the branding and build a website that told more of the story of the business and the tours. As a storytelling business, it was essential that the website gave potential customers a great first impression of how the tours would run.

Stephen also gave advice on marketing which allowed the team to learn more about targeting the correct audience and ways to communicate to the right people.

David Hope, founder of Scotland Folk Tours, said:

“Working with Stephen and Business Gateway has allowed Scotland Folk Tours to grow by putting us in front of the right audience and not aiming for everyone. Our tours are unique and so are our customers, so we wanted to have the right marketing tools to reach them. And even if we could reach the customers, they may not have signed up without the help of Business Gateway to improve our website."

“I love running these tours and bringing folk music in front of a new audience, so it’s been great to grow the business further and pique the interest of more people.”

Stephen Cranston, Business Gateway adviser, said:

“It’s fantastic to see the growth David and the team at Scotland Folk Tours have experienced and to know that they’re teaching more people about the history of Scotland in a new and exciting way. Scotland is a place with so much history and it’s great to see it celebrated in this way.”