OLAF FURNISS (UK)

OLAF FURNISS (UK)

Olaf Furniss is the founder of Music Tourist, a consultancy established to develop closer ties between the music and tourism sectors by providing advice to businesses and public-sector organisations, as well as hosting networking events, workshops and presentations. The company worked with Newcastle University on a specially commissioned piece of research and has partnered with Arts South Australia, the City of Adelaide, Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish Music Industry Association on individual projects. These include the world’s first Music Tourist Summit in 2016, an international workshop during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (2017) and the Music Tourism Symposium in Reykjavik (2019). He has given lectures and chaired panels at events including Milan Music Week, the Music Tourism Convention and the European Composer & Songwriter Alliance’s Creator Conference.

Olaf is the founder of Scotland’s award-winning music convention and showcase, Wide Days, and previously worked as a consultant for industry events including Berlin Music Week, Bylarm, Sonic Visions and Reeperbahn Festival.

As semi-retired journalist he still writes a weekly column focusing on emerging Scottish talent for Scotland on Sunday, and is an occasional contributor to The Guardian, Musik Woche, BBC Radio Scotland and the World Service. He previously worked for a range of music industry titles including Billboard, fono, Music Week and I-Q, as well as covering a broad range of topics from Mexico including the first report on the country’s nascent club scene for DJ Magazine and an item about buying himself a Mexican police uniform.

Olaf is one of only 400 members of the Scottish Tourist Guides Association and has extensive experience working with media, political delegations and business guests visiting Scotland.