News | Literary tourism workshops for businesses in Dumfries & Galloway

3 December 2019


Are you an entrepreneur, culture vulture, or community group? Join one of our Spot-lit workshops in January 2020 to discover how to create new products for the untapped literary tourism market and bring more visitors to your area.

Literary tourism is an emerging niche sector within the wider cultural tourism sector, where places with literary heritage offer author and fiction-related opportunities, along with opportunities arising from literary festivals, trails and bookshops.


Workshop details:

Spot-lit partner Wigtown Festival Company will deliver a series of workshops for businesses in Dumfries & Galloway that are interested in literary tourism product development. Spot-lit workshops will be held in Dumfries at The Stove on January 16th 2020, in Wigtown at the County Buildings on January 17th and at Kirkcudbright Galleries on 21st January. Attendance at the workshops is free of charge, though registration is essential.

Spot-lit workshops are open to small businesses, social enterprises, community groups and literary associations with a unique idea for the development of literary tourism in their area.

Attendance at one of these workshops is essential in order to be eligible to apply for the Business Support Programme valued at up to €10,000 for each of the 5 selected businesses. More information about the programme will be provided at the workshops.

There will be a call-out for applications for the Business Support Programme on conclusion of the workshops. Businesses, a single organisation, or an alliance working together may apply.


Workshop dates:

  • 16th January 2020, 9.30 am to 4.30 pm, DUMFRIES (The Stove): Register Here 
  • 17th January 2020, 10 am to 5 pm, WIGTOWN (County Buildings): Register Here
  • 21st January 2020, 10 am to 5 pm, KIRKCUDBRIGHT (Kirkcudbright Galleries): Register Here


Workshop topics:

The workshops will cover the following topics:

  • Building successful literary tourism experiences for visitors
  • Designing and developing your literary tourism product or service
  • Knowing and growing your market.

The workshops will:

  • Provide you with an overview of the Spot-lit Business Support Programme; how to apply to become a participating business (micro-enterprise or SME) etc.
  • Explore possibilities for how literary tourism might be developed in your local area – and how this relates to your business.
  • Key elements required to develop literary and cultural tourism in your region / or connecting your business to the cultural / literary tourism sector.

Attendance at one of these workshops is essential in order to be eligible to apply for the Business Support Programme.

Following on from the workshops, businesses will be invited to participate in a Literary Business Support Programme. The programme will be open to SMEs, social enterprises, community groups and literary associations with a unique idea for the development of literary tourism in their area. This bespoke programme will involve a series of monthly engagement workshops, learning journeys, business advice clinics and individual mentoring supports. The programme will engage with and support a minimum of 5 businesses in the region and will include up to €10,000 of business development support for each business.

Visit Spot-lit.eu to find out more about the project.