VisitScotland is the national tourism agency for Scotland. Formerly known as the Scottish Tourist Board (STB), it is an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) which receives annual funding from the Scottish Government.

VisitScotland seeks to contribute significantly to the advancement of Scottish tourism by giving it a real presence in the global marketplace and benefitting the whole of Scotland.

VisitScotland's priorities are (i) to attract visitors to Scotland; (ii) to engage with partners within the industry; and (iii) to add value to the visitor experience

Its core objectives are (i) to attract visitors by building a successful Scottish tourism brand.- marketing Scotland as a must-visit, must-return destination for business and leisure travel domestically and internationally through a research based, multi media, fully integrated marketing programme; (ii) to engage and work in partnership with the tourism industry - engaging and working with tourism businesses through a new system of account management, supported by a customer relationship management system which offers a range of new customer focused products and services; (iii) to enhance the visitor experience - adding value to the visitor experience through the operation and development of its quality assurance schemes and providing a multi channel, information service; (iv) to provide strategic direction - and co-ordination of - the industry - by helping to shape and communicate the industry vision and strategy and clearly defining our own contribution to achieving its objectives; (v) to manage its business efficiently and effectively - operating its business as one team, on best value principles, through a combination of management and delivery against co-ordinated national and local tourism growth agendas.

VisitScotland incorporates 15 network offices - 14 in Scotland, each based on the former Area Tourist Boards established in 1996 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1994, and one in London.

VisitScotland also manages a network of websites featuring a variety of travel interest and holiday activity themes. These include Golf, Walking, Cycling, City Breaks, Adventure, Ancestral, Ski Scotland and Wildlife. There are also a number of International language Scotland Gateway websites.