International Visitors
Join us for exclusive events at this year's Royal Highland Show
We are inviting visitors from all over the world to experience Scotland’s food, farming and rural life at a series of unique VIP events.
Since 1784 the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS) has been the respected standard – bearer for farming and rural industry in Scotland.
We would like to reach out to our International colleagues, partners and customers to invite you to join us in celebrating this special occasion. International visitors have always been welcome to come and enjoy the most amazing show, atmosphere and a window into what makes Scotland so great in our food, farming and countryside.
This year we are offering an exclusive reception on Thursday 20th and Friday 21st of June morning at 11am – 12pm for our VIP International visitors.
This reception will:
- Highlight, showcase and promote the best of Scottish agriculture, countryside, food and farming
- Welcome and facilitate international trade, agriculture and innovation for members and the wider community
- Build and strengthen relationships
- Highlight RHASS and The Royal Highland Show as the show to go to for networking, business, innovation and partnerships
- Build a legacy of UK and global companies, organisations, and investors
- Offer an exclusive private networking opportunity with leaders of agriculture, food and farming
- Offer a money cannot buy tour covering the history and back ground to the society since 1784 and 200 years of the show. Seeing for yourself this amazing legacy that our forefathers had the vision to create all those years ago
- Have samples to taste and flavour of the finest Scottish whisky, food and drink
Following the reception there will be a choice of guided tours to choose from:
Livestock, food & farming tour
Scotland is home to nearly 19,000 food and drink businesses and 1 in 10 people of all Scottish jobs are dependent on Agriculture. This tour will offer you the opportunity to meet the people behind the best of the Scotland’s globally renowned livestock, food and farming.
Machinery & Business tour
During this tour you will meet some of the innovators in the Scottish agricultural machinery industry who have recently won the RHASS prestigious Technical Innovations Awards as well as other Scottish producers of world class farm and agricultural equipment. Similar to the tour above we will also introduce you to some of the leaders of agribusiness and agripolitic’s in Scotland, for example, SAOS, the organisation behind most of Scotland’s successful agricultural cooperatives or The National Farmers union for Scotland, together with other leading businesses dealing in Scottish Land.
History & Culture tour
This tour offers a behind the scenes look at what goes into putting on a show that attracts over 200,000 people to Ingliston every year and an exclusive look at some of the priceless art and trophies that the Society owns. You will able to discover the amazing legacy that our forefathers had the vision to build in 1784 of which we are proud to say and show - is still going strong today.
Meet your Host : Heather Wildman
RHASS director, Heather Wildman from SW Scotland and runs her own business, Saviour Associates Ltd specialising in family succession, leadership, resilience, and staff management & motivation, covering all of the UK and some overseas work. Heather lives on a large 1200 dairy cow farm on the gorgeous coastline of Kirkcudbrightshire overlooking the Solway onto the glorious Lake District fells. Heather says, 'It is a privilege to be your host for our international receptions as this year is a very special year for us and we do hope that you can join us in the celebrations!'
Meet your Host : Sandy Wilkie
Retired Milkman, Sandy Wilkie MBE FRAgS, (Fellow of the Council for the Awards of the Royal Agricultural Society), lives at Bardykes Farm, Blantyre. Sandy joined Wiseman Dairies in the ‘80’s as Sales & Marketing Director ultimately retiring in 2017 as Relationship & Development Director of Müller & their Milk’n’More operation in London. He currently chairs Maggies Cancer Care Centre Lanarkshire and the International Travel Trust for SAYFC. He is Hon President of the Scottish Food Trades Association and East Kilbride Farm Show as well as sitting as a Director of Royal Highland Agricultural Society, Hamilton Park Racecourse, Agriscot, East Kilbride Cattle Show, Campbeltown Town Hall and Royal Highland Education Trust. Sandy was presented in Buckingham Palace with the Princess Royal Medal in 2009 for outstanding work for British Dairy Farming having previously received the Scottish Grocer’s Retail Industry Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003 then inducted as a Lifetime member of the Scottish Grocers Federation.
Meet your Host : Julie Fitzpatrick
Prof. Julie Fitzpatrick OBE FRAgS. qualified as a vet from the University of Glasgow. Following 5 years in general mixed practice in Northumberland, she started her research career by studying for a PhD at the University of Bristol where she focused on research in mastitis in dairy cows. Returning to Glasgow, she was involved in teaching, clinical work, and research in the Division of Farm Animal Medicine, becoming Head of Division and Chair in Food Security. She was appointed as the Scientific Director of the Moredun Research Institute and CEO of the Moredun Group in 2004. The Moredun undertakes research, development and commercialisation of vaccines, diagnostic tests and disease control programmes for infectious diseases of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, poultry and aquaculture species. This involved Julie working extensively in Australia, East and Southern Africa and multiple European countries. She became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2007, a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society of Scotland in 2008 and was awarded an OBE for services to livestock research in 2014. Julie has received a number of awards from the agriculture/animal science/veterinary world including the Royal Smithfield Club Bicentenary Trophy for contributions to agriculture in 2016 and the Dalrymple-Champney’s Cup for veterinary research in 2018. In 2021, Julie became the Chief Scientific Adviser for Scotland, the first vet to be appointed to this role. She has recently become a four year Director of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland and moderator of the Scottish Panel of CARAS (Council for the Awards of the Royal Agricultural Society)
All tours will take approx. 1 hour.
We look forward to welcoming you to Scotland and The Royal Highland Show 2024.
This is an exclusive invitation and numbers are strictly limited. To find out more and to reserve your place please complete the form in the gold section at the top of the page