Press release -
GAME ON!
Following the release of The Commonwealth Games Visitor Impact Study and Commonwealth Games Accommodation Occupancy report, Mike Cantlay, Chairman of VisitScotland said:
“The XX Commonwealth Games kicked off an unbelievably successful summer of sport and culture for Scotland, and this study shows that not only did our athletes deliver on the world stage, but so did our tourism industry.
"We welcomed nearly 700,000 visitors spending £235 million, and with 93% of these visitors rating Scotland as a ‘very good place to visit’, this is wonderful news for the industry. It was hugely important that the whole of Scotland benefitted from the games and it’s great to see that accommodation providers right across Scotland, from Ayrshire & Arran to Aberdeen City and Shire, felt the benefit.
"The games provided us with an incredible chance to show over a billion people across the world the iconic pillars of Scotland – our people, our cities, our landscapes, our history, our culture and our world-class venues. If even a fraction of that audience has been inspired to visit, it will provide a great future boost to our economy.
"2014 has been a unique year for Scottish tourism thanks to major events like the Commonwealth Games, The Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, the packed Year of Homecoming programme and of course Sunday's MTV Europe Music Awards.
"We now have the capacity, confidence and capability to ensure that Scotland becomes a serious contender in attracting further major events and it all starts with our world-class 2015 programme."
For full details please visit: http://news.scotland.gov.uk/News/Games-tourism-boost-124c.aspx
ENDS
For further information contact:
Louise Purves
Corporate Press Officer
Tel: 0131 472 2052
Louise.purves@visitscotland.com
Out of hours media enquiries: 07699 766986
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- corporate communications
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
