travel – Skinidin House Media

New Membership Tiers Announced

Posted on May 26, 2025December 17, 2025 by skinidinhouse

GT Passport is now accepting applications for membership for the Business Club, from tourism and hospitality businesses, of any size, located on or near one of four new driving routes in the UK.

Hotels, cafés, restaurants, tourist attractions, even service stations, are invited to be part of the exciting new travel trend of curated, self-drive touring routes. With routes across Scotland, England and Wales, and one route crossing from Germany, via Belgium, to France, the adventurous tourer will be on the lookout for places to stay, places to eat, and things to do along the way.

Membership tiers

The GT Passport Business Club now includes three tier levels to suit various marketing budgets, and all very competitive.

Path Finder £150/ yr
The entry level package adds a location to the website and official app map, and includes a dedicated profile page for the business, with contact details, information and images, and links to booking pages on the business’ own website or booking platform.

App users receive a digital stamp on the “passport” page of the Official iPhone App* when they arrive at the business premises during their trip.

Additional locations can be added for £50 per venue.

Trail Blazer £250/yr
This tier includes all the benefits of Path Finder Membership but includes a licence to stock and retail GT Passport branded merchandise from their premises. This gives a further revenue stream to member businesses, and aligns the business more closely with GT Passport

Additional locations can be added for £50 per venue.

Route Master £500/ yr
This tier includes the benefits of both Path Finder and Trail Blazer memberships, but includes a unique “Selfie-Signpost” made available in formats to suit the location. these are physical sign posts, with the GT Passport Branding and the name of the member business or venue which can provide a setting for social media posts and selfies by touring parties while on-site.

Additional Locations can be added for £50 per venue.

Business owners, or marketing teams, wishing to secure membership of the Business Club can check the GT Website to see the routes apply directly via the website at the link below.

Payment is only required when the listing form (separate from the Application Form and sent out when the initial application is approved) is submitted, complete, and the page is ready to be displayed.

Business Club

Other Options…

Affiliates
GT Passport also works with some businesses through their own Affiliate Programmes and appear on GT Passport on similar terms to Path Finder Membership, but with their profile page clearly identifying those businesses as affiliates. Businesses which operate Affiliate Programmes are encouraged to invite GT Passport to join, where Business Club Membership is not possible.

Sponsorship
Businesses who wish a longer or more robust relationship with GT Passport and its users can take out a sponsorship package for three years. This is most suited to larger businesses with may venues along GT Passport routes, or which provide relevant services to touring parties without having any physical visitor sites.

Route Sponsorship £6000/ 3yrs
Route Sponsorship is specific to one route and all locations on that route are marked on the map and allocated a digital stamp. the business is also prominently highlighted on both the website and app as a route sponsor.
Global Sponsorship £8,000/ 3yrs
For businesses with a presence on more than one route, or which can serve users across all route, but without physical locations for visiting, Global Sponsorship is the ultimate sponsorship package. Global Sponsors are displayed on all map pages and all locations on all routes are marked where appropriate.

Sponsors Page

*The Official iPhone App is undergoing a programme of live, real-world testing by volunteer testers, prior to its release of the app in the Apple App Store. Further news of the App’s launch will be announced here soon.

GT Passport Routes

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Time running out on FREE Business Club membership

Posted on December 27, 2024December 27, 2024 by Ally Campbell

The offer to enjoy GT Passport’s Business Club for free for a year is soon coming to an end with the 31st December 2024 being the last day businesses such as hotels, cafe’s and tourist attractions can secure Tier 1 membership at no cost.

That’s effectively 12 months free listing on the GT Passport website and our interactive Apple iPhone app, driving touring holidaymakers and road-tripper directly to your premises.

From January 2025 the price for Tier 1 membership will resort to £150/yr.

Some businesses who have already taken advantage of this offer include Hilton and Ramada hotels, an outdoor adventure centre, a stately home, as well as a river cruise company and an historic tram journey.

While GT Passport’s UK driving routes are freely available to see on GTpassport.com, our interactive app is the key to getting the most out of the journey. Users can follow the route and find, and pre-book accommodation or sightseeing visits along the way. When they visit our Business Club members, pinpointed on our routes, they will automatically collect a stamp at each venue they visit to create a record of their trip.

While we do not store or record personal details of any of our iPhone App users, by adopting Apple’s proprietary log-in system, we can still provide our business club members with precise data on how many users have opened their listing, called, emailed or visited the website, and most importantly, how many people have actually visited the location to collect a stamp.

How many other advertising avenues can provide such precise data, for just £150 a year? if you sign up before the 31st December 2024, you will receive all that for free.

Signing up is easy. Just visit GTpassport.com/businessclub and enter a few details and we’ll be in touch to complete the process.

Scottish Tourism preparing for re-opening from 15th July 2020

Posted on June 15, 2020July 1, 2021 by GT Passport

The Cabinet Minister for Rural Economy and Tourism, Fergus Ewing, has announced his intention to re-open the Scottish tourism sector for business from the 15th July. As such Scottish businesses in the sector are now being advised to prepare to open, with strict adherance to government guidelines and with all appropriate safety recommendations in place, on or after that date.

Hermitage Castle, Newcastleton [Photo: Visit Scotland/ Paul Tomkins]

The tourism industry in the UK has been hit hard with shops, hotels and restaurants being asked to closed down virtually overnight when it became clear the deadly strain of Coronavirus was sweeping through the country unhindered. For some, the government’s unprecedented furlough scheme has brought a measure of relief and will ensure the business will still be able to open again, but the full impact of the safety recommendations on infrastructure and staffing levels, remains to be seen.

For GT Passport, the lockdown had severely impacted the ability to engage with businesses along its Grand Touring routes in the UK and EU. Now that the sector is begining to see a new dawn approaching, GT Passport will, once again, be reaching out to businesses around the South of Scotland, The Midlands, East Anglia, Wales and the Southern England, to help support their engagement with staycationers and road-trippers. The pent up demand for these kinds of holidays has the potential to create a boom in domestic travel. GT Paspsort aims to ensure that the rural and remote economies which are so often bypassed by tourism agencies will also be able to enjoy an uptick in visitors.

The Kelpies, Falkirk [Photo: Visit Scotland/ Kenny Lam]

Of course, increased visitor numbers can also create problems for some communities, and for a few, a growth in visitor numbers may be unwelcome. GT Passport’s goal to support the local businesses, by increasing foot-fall along the promoted routes, includes a willingness to engage with these local communities to understand how best to mitigate the negative impacts of tourism, while still drawing out the enormous benefits of attracting visitors.

The Dunbar Bear [Photo: Visit Scotland/ Kenny Lam]

But in the mean time, as Scotland prepares to re-open for business, GT Passport is preparing interactive guidebooks for both “The High Road” and “South of Scotland” grand touring routes and invites businesses that have a presence along these routes to get involved and secure a full-page listing inside the books and on the GT Passport website.

For more information of the GT Passport touring routes in Scotland, England & Wales, and the EU, visit GTpassport.com. Alternatively, you can email info@gtpassport.com or send a Direct Message to Skinidin House Media via LinkedIn.

Throughout June and July, @GTPassport will be posting a virtual tour of the routes on Instagram starting with the South of Scotland. Please follow to see more.

Bridges over The River Forth [Photo: Visit Scotland/ Stuart Brunton]

Main Image: The South of Scotland grand touring route [photo: Visit Scotland/ Cut Media]

Palladium Executive Hire becomes Route Sponsor for “GT Passport: South of Scotland” touring route

Posted on May 1, 2020 by GT Passport

GT Passport is pleased to announce that Glasgow-based Chauffeur Drive firm, Palladium Executive Hire, has become a Route Sponsor for the South of Scotland grand touring route. The company is ideally placed to provide chauffeur-driven tours of the route for those who feel less comfortable driving Scotland’s breathtaking roads themselves.

Based near Glasgow Airport, the firm, founded in 2008 by Asif Ali, has provided high quality chauffeur drive and award-winning wedding car services for over a decade, and continues to offer a choice of pristine vehicles for touring, airport transport and corporate travel. By sponsoring GT Passport, Palladium Executive Hire will be well placed to help visitors experience the scenery and culture of the region from the comfort of a chauffeur-driven Mercedes. With a choice of vehicles, including the roomy V-Class, the spacious S-Class Limousine, or the comfortable E-class luxury saloon, clients will be treated to an bespoke guided tour by an experienced chauffeur who knows the region intimately.

Speaking of the multi-year arrangement, Palladium Executive Hire’s owner Asif Ali said, “GT Passport offers a tremendous showcase for Scotland’s less visited areas, and provides an excellent opportunity for businesses to boost their footfall, especially after facing such a tough time in early 2020. I’m very proud to be able to offer GT Passport users an alternative to driving the route, and can tailor the experience to suit the individual clients we serve.”

GT Passport’s Route Co-ordinator in Scotland, Ally Campbell, said, “Palladium’s expertise in high quality chauffeur drive shines through with a thoroughly modern approach to serving clients, while maintaing exceptional standards recognised across the hospitality industry in this region. I’m delighted to welcome Asif and his team at Palladium Executive Hire to the GT Passport family and look forward to working with them to make the visitor experience unforgettable.”

GT Passport Route Sponsorship lasts for 3-Years, and is open to more than one sponsor.

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Notes For Editors:

Palladium Executive Hire was founded in 2008 by Dumbartonshire businessman Asif Ali. The chauffeur driven fleet include Mercedes, Bentley and Rolls Royce cars and even an Imperial Viscount Wedding Car all maintained to the highest possible standards. Touring clients are typically best served by the Mercedes V-Class People carrier. Palladium’s team of Chauffeurs are highly experienced and are only selected having previously served at the highest levels of the chauffeur drive industry.

GT Passport presents a series of touring routes in the UK and Europe, for self-organised scenic road-trips. GT Passports are guidebooks which feature participating businesses along the route, including hotels, restaurants, cafes, tourist attractions, scenic highlights and activities, where users can collect stamps on their guidebook. The grand trouring routes range from 400 to over 1000 miles and typically take between 4 and 14 days to complete depending on the user’s preferences and constraints.

The Routes are:
The High Road
A scenic route from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Fort William

The South of Scotland
A circular route around the southern part of Scotland including the East and West coasts, the Southern Border and the Route of the Forth and Clyde Canal.

The Midlands Loop
A large figure-of-eight loop centred in the West Midlands, at Stratford upon Avon, and looping East to the Norfolk Coast, and West to North Wales and Snowdonia.

Southern England
The entire length of the southern coast of Britain, from Dover to Land’s End, does not even cover half of this fascinating route which also includes the Cotswalds, Oxfordshire and Sussex, in a part of the world forever known as a “Green and Pleasant Land”.

The Road of Champions
This international route from Frankfurt to Paris – two of the biggest transport hubs in Europe – takes drivers off the Motorway network and into the incredible country roads of North-West Germany, Southern Belgium and North-East France. The route passes by three of the world’s great historic racing circuits – The Nurburgring, Spa-Francorchamps, and Reims-Gueux.

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