A New Chapter for TML — Rooted in Scotland, Shaped by Experience
On the eve of our Dunkeld House Taster Weekend brochure release, I wanted to share what lies behind the company, product and brand repositioning now taking shape.
For more than twenty‑six years, Scotland has been at the heart of my work. From my first Iona pilgrimage in April 2000 to the journeys we lead today, Scotland has shaped me as much as I’ve shaped itineraries. It’s a place that has always felt personal — a landscape of stories, hospitality and quiet meaning.
But my relationship with Scotland goes back even further. Scotland first appeared in my itineraries in 1997. They were very different days — a different industry, a different pace, a different set of expectations. Even then, I could see that the way people travelled would need to evolve. The signs were there, quietly but clearly, long before the industry was ready to acknowledge them.
Events of the past twenty years have only cemented that view.
Why now?
For years, the traditional coach touring industry has been caught between two worlds: the old model it clung to, and the new expectations travellers were quietly moving toward. Overcrowding, rigid schedules, generic experiences, and a growing disconnect between what people wanted and what the industry continued to deliver — the cracks were visible decades ago.
The market that still accepts the traditional coach touring model is shrinking. The generation that embraced it is ageing, and younger travellers want something very different. They want space, comfort, authenticity, flexibility, better accommodation, better food, and experiences that feel personal rather than packaged. They want Scotland delivered with care, not crowds.
We’ve followed the marketing reports, the intelligence data, and the long‑term trends — and they all point in the same direction. The future belongs to thoughtful, higher‑quality, experience‑led travel. But our message has too often been lost in the noise of the mainstream, drowned out by a sector still clinging to an outdated model.
That is why we’ve chosen to step away and reposition the business: so that our message, and our product, can be clearly heard.
TML has chosen to evolve.
We’ve chosen to listen.
We’ve chosen to adapt.
We’ve chosen to build something that reflects the way people actually want to experience Scotland now — not the way they travelled in the 1990s.
This is why we’ve taken the time to refresh and reposition our Scottish programme — not as a departure from what we’ve always done, but as a natural evolution of it.
Embracing the future — with a little help from AI
Alongside the repositioning of our Scottish programme, we’ve also been modernising the way we work behind the scenes. Over the past year, we’ve introduced a number of AI‑driven tools across the business — not to replace the human touch, but to enhance it. One of the most visible (and entertaining) examples is Moneypenny, my cheeky, sassy Virtual PA who has quickly become a brand asset in her own right. She helps keep our communications sharp, our tone consistent, and our admin running smoothly, all while adding a little humour and personality to the TML universe.
We hope you find viewing TML through Moneypenny’s eyes both entertaining and endearing.
AI isn’t a gimmick for us. It’s part of building a more agile, more responsive, more creative business — one that can spend less time wrestling with paperwork and more time crafting thoughtful, meaningful travel experiences.
A partnership shaped over decades
I’ve worked with Crerar — and with its forerunner company — since the very late 1990s. Back then, it was a very different organisation, as were its hotels. The product was simpler, the expectations were different, and the industry was still firmly rooted in the traditional coach touring model. But even in those early days, one thing stood out: the food was always good. There was a pride in Scottish hospitality that ran deeper than the décor or the format of the tours.
Between 2000 and 2018, we used Crerar’s Isle of Mull Hotel to host our Iona Pilgrimage tours for private groups. The hotel we last used in 2018 is very different from the one that stands there today — but the building blocks were already there. You could see the potential, the direction of travel, the early signs of what Crerar would eventually become.
Crerar began its own repositioning journey in 2005, stepping away from the traditional coach tour market for many of the same reasons I had identified in the late 1990s. They recognised that the future lay in a higher‑end product built on excellent accommodation, thoughtful cuisine and genuine Scottish warmth.
How Oban 2021 shaped our future thinking
Our first post‑Covid tour in October 2021 — to Oban — played a pivotal role in shaping the direction we’re taking today. It was the first time we experienced the current Crerar product in person, and it was immediately clear how far they had come. The standard of accommodation, the warmth of the hospitality, the quality of the cuisine — it all spoke to a Scotland that had quietly evolved while much of the traditional touring industry had stood still.
That trip reaffirmed everything I had believed for years: that travellers were ready — and that Scotland was ready — for a more premium, more intentional, more personal way of touring.
Scenic Scotland Select is the natural continuation of that realisation.
Introducing the Scenic Scotland family
Our refreshed Scottish portfolio brings clarity, purpose and identity to the different ways people can travel with us. Under the Scenic Scotland umbrella, we now offer:
• Scenic Scotland Select — premium mid‑size touring (16–34 guests)
• Scenic Scotland Select Discovery — private, chauffeur‑driven touring
• Scenic Scotland Xplorer — small‑group immersive journeys
• Short Escapes — two‑ to four‑night Scottish breaks
• TML Heritage Journeys — faith‑based and cultural heritage travel
Each strand has its own character, but they all share the same foundation: care, curation and a deep respect for Scotland’s landscapes and communities.
Scenic Scotland Select — the first step in a new era
Scenic Scotland Select is the first strand to be unveiled not because it stands alone, but because Scotland is our most developed region in terms of hotel partnerships, relationships and long‑standing expertise. It’s where our foundations are strongest, and where the evolution of the company naturally begins.
But this is only the start.
Behind the scenes, a wider company rebrand and repositioning is underway — one that will bring greater clarity to all parts of TML Travel Group. Scenic Scotland Select is simply the first expression of that new direction: a more intentional, more personal, more premium approach to travel that reflects who we are today and where we’re heading.
Over the coming months, you’ll see this evolution unfold across our other regions and product strands. Each will be shaped with the same care, the same storytelling, and the same commitment to thoughtful, well‑paced travel.
Scenic Scotland Select is the beginning of a new chapter — not the whole book.
Honouring our heritage
Some journeys stay with you. For me, one of those is our Iona pilgrimage — a tour I’ve been leading since 2000. It remains one of the most meaningful experiences we offer, and it now carries a refreshed title that reflects its depth:
Iona: A Pilgrimage to Scotland’s Holy Isle
The tour includes two full days on Iona — a guided pilgrimage walk, a pilgrimage Eucharist at the Abbey, and the option of a boat trip to Staffa — as well as a full day exploring Mull, including Duart Castle and Tobermory.
Alongside this, we’re developing new heritage itineraries including:
• The Fife Pilgrim Way
• The Trail of St Ninian & The Whithorn Way
These journeys honour Scotland’s spiritual landscape while offering travellers space to reflect, connect and breathe.
A moment of shared discovery
This Thursday, we launch our Scenic Scotland Select Taster Weekend, taking place at Dunkeld House Hotel this September under our Short Escapes brand. It’s a small but significant milestone — the first public expression of the new era we’ve been shaping behind the scenes.
Short Escapes is designed to offer well‑paced, beautifully curated introductions to Scotland, and this Dunkeld weekend is the perfect way to showcase what Scenic Scotland Select stands for: calm, care, storytelling, and a sense of place. It gives travellers a glimpse of the future — a future where touring feels personal, spacious and thoughtfully designed.
This weekend isn’t just an event.
It’s a beginning.
A beginning rooted in Scotland.
A beginning shaped with care.
A beginning that reflects the evolution of TML Travel Group.
Thank you for being part of the journey — whether you’ve travelled with us for years or are discovering us for the first time. I’m excited for what comes next.
David
Founder, TML Travel Group
