Kat Brogan, a third generation Donegal woman, gave details to the 2025 AVEA conference of the operations and experiences of Mercat Tours, founded in 1985 by her father Steve Brogan, is Scotland’s largest walking tour company, operating from Edinburgh’s Mercat Cross.
The company prioritises team welfare, implementing permanent contracts for all staff since 2015 and achieving real living wage accreditation in 2016. A local programme with O High School, launched in 2016, engages 120 secondary students annually, fostering interest in tourism and history.
The Our Stories Your City project, started three years ago, provides free tours for disadvantaged Edinburgh communities, funded by visitor donations. Mercat Tours became Scotland’s first visitor attraction to gain B Corp accreditation in 2024, measuring team satisfaction and gender pay gap to ensure accountability.
Kat Brogan shared: “Team first always means, because if they are nurtured, if they are seen, then they will have a phenomenal experience to your visitors. We don’t just say we’re going to do stuff, we prove that we’re going to do stuff. It’s all about making connections. That’s what we do at Mercat Tours.”
