Trends and Opportunities for Scotland’s Self-Catering Sector 2025
This Talk was held on Tuesday 14th January – please see below for the recording and slides
The “Talk” will opened with a warm welcome from ASSC Chief Executive, Fiona Campbell, followed by insightful presentations from two leading industry experts:
- Sally Henry, VP of Business Development at Key Data and
- Lesley Whitehill, Senior Tourism Insight Manager at VisitScotland
Together, they shared their expertise and insights to help you navigate 2025 with confidence and helping you plan for a successful and profitable year for your business.
What to Expect
This session was designed to equip you with actionable insights based on the latest data and tourism trends. From understanding booking behaviours to adapting your marketing activity.
Part 1: Unveiling the Latest Self-Catering Data with Sally Henry
We were delighted to welcome back Sally Henry VP of Business Development at Key Data, who delved into the latest performance metrics for Scotland’s self-catering sector.
Sally shared insights on:
✔2024 review with lessons learned for 2025
✔Occupancy Rates
✔ Revenue and ADR (Average Daily Rate)
✔ Length of Stay Trends
✔ Booking Patterns: When and How Guests are Booking
Sally also explained why these metrics matter and how you can use this data to enhance your business performance and drive revenue growth in 2025.
Part 2: Visitor Trends and Market Insights with Lesley Whitehill
Next, we heard from Lesley Whitehill, Senior Tourism Insight Manager at VisitScotland. Lesley provided a comprehensive overview of expected visitor trends for 2025, drawing from historical data and global market patterns.
Key topics include:
✔ Insights into recovering and emerging tourism markets.
✔ Expected visitor trends for 2025 and beyond.
✔ Highlights from VisitScotland’s upcoming “Trends for 2025” publication, packed with valuable insights to help you stay ahead.
This session is a unique opportunity to align your business planning with industry trends, ensuring you’re prepared to attract and satisfy your guests throughout the year.
About Our Guest Speakers
Sally Henry, VP Business Development, Key Data 
Sally Henry has been in the Vacation Rental Industry for over 20 years and joined Key Data in November 2022 as Vice President of Business Development, to help internationalise and expand the business outside of the US. Prior to Key Data Sally was Sales Director at Awaze UK for 19 years and has seen a huge amount of change and development in the industry, spanning two decades. It’s an industry she loves with a passion.
For any questions for Sally, please email her at sally.henry@keydatadashboard.com
Lesley Whitehill, Senior Tourism Insight Manager, VisitScotland 
As Senior Tourism Insight Manager, Lesley has responsibility for delivery of industry intelligence and actionable insight on tourism in Scotland, including changing consumer behaviour, market profiling and business sentiment. Lesley has educated decision making and strategy in many commercial environments and has first-hand experience of benefits of evidence-led decision making in small and medium sized businesses.
For any queries relating to research or insights, please email research@visitscotland.com
With thanks to our event sponsor:
