Scotland's Malt Whisky Trail

Purpose – The importance of forging partnerships has become popular in tourism, and there is little empirical research investigating co‐operative marketing associations, like Scotland's Malt Whisky Trail (MWT). With the management of the organisation undergoing change as a result of new directions within VisitScotland (the body with statutory responsibility for promoting tourism), this paper takes a timely examination of the options for future leadership and operation. The paper aims to examine the management issues that arise from the diffuse nature of the stakeholders’ positions and explores the inherent problems in administering this type of co‐operative marketing organisation.