Press release -
Commonwealth success helps Scotland raise its game
The XX Commonwealth Games has been credited with leaving a lasting legacy on Scotland’s £1bn events industry, with nine world-class sporting and cultural events coming to Scotland in 2015 alone.
Newly constructed or refurbished Games venues have helped VisitScotland, under its events directorate EventScotland, attract major sporting competitions including the IPC Swimming World Championships (July) to the redeveloped Tollcross International Swimming Centre, the EJU European Judo Championships (April) to the new Emirates’ Area and the World Gymnastics Championships 2015 (October) to the SSE Hydro.
But the benefit of the Games legacy will be felt far beyond Glasgow, with major events like the FEI European Eventing Championships coming to Perthshire (September), the Open Championship returning to St Andrews in Fife (July), the Women‘s British Open being held at the Trump Turnberry Resort in Ayrshire (July/August), and the World Orienteering Championships taking place in the Highlands (August).
Scotland will also host a number of major cultural events including the Turner Prize (Nov/Dec) and the World Pipe Band Championships (August) both in Glasgow.
Meanwhile 14 conferences, supported by the VisitScotland Conference Bid Fund, have already been confirmed for 2015, attracting nearly 20,000 business delegates to cities such as Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen and potentially bringing over £30 million to the economy.
The huge success of Glasgow 2014, which saw 1.2 million tickets sold, plus investment in infrastructure and skills, has helped position Scotland as a country capable of delivering high-quality sporting, cultural and business experiences.
As well as attracting thousands of visitors, these events are expected to generate significant economic impacts, helping Scotland’s tourism industry achieve its target of bringing an extra £1bn in tourism expenditure to Scotland by 2020.
Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing said: “Glasgow 2014 has been hugely successful, the XX Commonwealth Games has brought around 6500 athletes and team officials from across the world, together with their support teams, friends and family. Scotland has welcomed them all in the true spirit of a nation which is modern, inclusive and global in its outlook.
“The Games show that Scotland is the place to be, with over 300 events still to take place as part of the Homecoming 2014 programme in the upcoming months as well as The 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles next month and the MTV Europe Music Awards.”
Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland, said: “The XX Commonwealth Games was a game-changer for Scotland’s tourism industry. Not only did it showcase Scotland to the world, it showed a global audience of over a billion, that Scotland has the facilities, infrastructure and the skills to deliver world-class events to the highest standards.
“We now have the capacity, confidence and capability to ensure that Scotland becomes serious contender in attracting more major events and it all starts with our world-class 2015 programme.”
SCOTLAND’S WORLD CLASS EVENTS 2015
EVENT DATE LOCATION
EJU European Judo Championships 9-12 April Emirates Arena, Glasgow
IPC Swimming World Championships 13-19 July Tollcross International Swimming Centre, Glasgow
St Andrews 2015 Open Championship 13-19 July The Old Course, St Andrews
Ricoh Women’s British Open 2015 30 Jul – 2 Aug Trump Turnberry Resort, Ayrshire
World Orienteering Championships 1-7 Aug Inverness
World Pipe Band Championships Aug Glasgow Green
FEI European Eventing Championships 10-13 Sept Blair Castle, Perthshire
World Gymnastics Championships 2015 23 Oct – 1 Nov SSE Hydro, Glasgow
The Turner Prize 2015 1 Nov – 30 Dec Tramway, Glasgow
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- corporate communications
- glasgow 2014 commonwealth games
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors:
- Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
- VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
- The organisation has three key roles:
- To market Scotland to all parts of the world to attract visitors
- To provide information – and inspiration – to visitors and potential visitors so they get the best out of a visit to Scotland
- To provide quality assurance to visitors and quality advice to the industry and partners to help the industry meet and strive to exceed customer expectations
- VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
- The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
- 2014 is the year Scotland welcomes the world, when it hosts the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles and more than 800 Homecoming events throughout the country.For more information on Homecoming Scotland 2014, go to www.visitscotland.com
- The VisitScotland Information Centre network is a unique face-to-face channel engaging with around five million visitors and locals each year. Everyone who uses a VisitScotland Information Centre goes on to spend an additional £5.35, generating over £24 million for Scotland’s economy.
- According to a recent Deloitte study, tourism employs 270,000 people in Scotland in 20,000 diverse businesses. The same study calculates that the industry contributes £11 billion annually (direct and indirect impact, including day visits) and supports around 10 per cent of employment in Scotland. Almost 16 million tourists take overnight trips to Scotland.
- Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh)
- For holiday information on Scotland go to www.visitscotland.com
- For information about business tourism in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com
- For more information on VisitScotland’s annual review please go to www.visitscotland.org/about_us/our_focus/annual_report.aspx
