Glasgow is named a 'Best of The World' destination

Glasgow’s reputation as an outstanding destination for discerning global travellers looks set to grow as the city has been named by the authoritative and inspirational National Geographic Traveler as one of its 20 ‘Best of the World’ destinations for 2016.

Announced today (19 November 2015), the renowned global travel magazine has selected Glasgow for its highly-anticipated fifth annual ‘Best of the World’ list of unmissable global destinations to visit.

VisitScotland has welcomed the inclusion of Glasgow in the eminent list, and hopes it will lead to an influx of new visitors to the city. With a reach of more than 8.5 million readers and over two million Twitter followers, National Geographic Traveler has the largest audience of any publication of its type.

The other 19 destinations listed alongside Glasgow as ‘Best of the World’ 2016 stretch globally fromBrazil to Botswana and Greenland to Japan. Full details are available at:

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/best-trips-2016

The list of 2016’s best trips will be featured in the December 2015/January 2016 issue of National Geographic Traveler, as well as on a special ‘Best of the World 2016’ landing page on the respected title’s award-winning website.

The ‘Best of the World’ 2016 list was compiled following a competitive selection process which involved nominations from National Geographic Traveler’s worldwide network of editors, writers and explorers. Reflecting the unrivalled global travel knowledge and expertise of this highly experienced team and the influential publication itself, the destinations listed represent – as the magazine states - what is “superlative, timely, and richly authentic in the world of travel today”.

Glasgow’s thriving and vibrant art and music scene was singled out as the key unique, determining factor for the city being selected for inclusion in this distinguished global ‘top 20’.

Amy Alipio, Features Editor, National Geographic Traveler, said

“Glasgow landed on our list for 2016 because it's one of the most exciting cities in the world right now. Its art scene is just too hot to ignore. Case in point: the Turner Prize is in Scotland for the first time, and the exhibit culminates at Glasgow's Tramway gallery in January. But fans the world over know that it's the city's unrivaled music scene that really embodies Glasgow's energy and swagger.” 

National tourism organisation VisitScotland and Glasgow City Marketing Bureau (GCMB) hope that National Geographic Traveler’s prestigious endorsement of the visitor experience Glasgow offers could result in a significant rise in the volume of visitors coming to the city to explore its rich culture – generating a considerable boost to business in the city and to the country’s economy as a whole.

VisitScotland Regional Partnerships Director Liz Buchanan said:

“For Glasgow to be named as one of the top ‘must visit’ destinations in the world by such a respected, trusted and influential publication as National Geographic Traveler is extremely important. Arts tourism is worth £662 million to the Scottish economy and a report from UK Music revealed in June of this year that music tourism was worth £3.1 billion to the UK economy last year, with £280 million of that spent in Scotland. These are therefore very valuable tourism sectors and the opportunity to grow these and attract more visitors could potentially have a very major economic impact.

“Our research shows that in the GB market alone during 2014 visitors to Glasgow on overnight trips who took part in cultural activities contributed greatly to the city’s economy – not only through their expenditure at music and arts events but also on their costs for transport, accommodation, eating out and shopping. The value of these visitors attending live music gigs, for example was £45 million, for those going to music festivals it was £7 million and for arts and other cultural events it was £7million.

“As a result of Glasgow being promoted by National Geographic Traveler as a ‘best trip for 2016’, we look forward to many more visitors from all over the world coming to Glasgow to experience not only our fantastic music and arts scene but also all that the city offers – resulting in even more economic benefits.”

Councillor Frank McAveety, Leader of Glasgow City Council and Chair of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau said:

“Glasgow's emergence as a global arts and music city is thanks to our world-class cultural assets, enviable major events programme and multi-million pound investment in new infrastructure. We're a hot ticket right now.

“We’re home to the best civic arts collection in Europe and our outstanding museums and galleries, which are free, are attracting cutting-edge exhibitions, as demonstrated by our hosting of the Turner Prize at Tramway. At the same time, Glasgow has long enjoyed a reputation as one of the world’s great music cities. Our venues go the extra mile for bands and fans alike, which regularly sees us crowned the top place for concerts in the UK alongside London. Our SSE Hydro, for example, has become the second busiest arena in the world ranking ahead of the likes of Madison Square Gardens in New York, the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the Allphones Arena in Sydney and O2 World in Berlin, which is a strong reflection of how Scottish fans and music tourists have really taken the venue to heart.

“With those credentials, it’s no surprise that Glasgow is a UNESCO City of Music – one of just nine in the world and the only one in the UK. Glasgow is hugely proud of its arts and musical pedigree and our capacity, capability and credibility in these areas has never been greater.

“We know that people make Glasgow, having recently been named the world’s friendliest city, and as Scotland’s fastest growing tourism destination I’m delighted that we have been recognised by National Geographic Traveler as one of the world’s 20 best destinations for 2016.”

Home to The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Riverside Museum (voted European Museum of the Year 2013), The Burrell Collection, The Hunterian Museum and Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) - Glasgow has traditionally been a focal point for the arts. The city first won acclaim for this during the 19^th century heyday of the ‘Glasgow Four’ and Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the innovative artist and designer of Glasgow School of Art.From its establishment to the present, this has been an unrivalled incubator of remarkable artistic talent.

Over the past 20 years Glasgow has gained an increasingly important national and international reputation as a centre of excellence in, and for, the visual arts. Just one indication of this is Glasgow School of Art’s successes in producing most of Scotland's leading contemporary artists and, since 2005, around a third of Turner Prize nominees and four recent Turner Prize winners. The fact that, in a first for Scotland, this year’s Turner Prize is being hosted in Glasgow’s Tramway is a major acknowledgment of the strength and status of the exceptionally dynamic, burgeoning contemporary creative arts scene in the city.

Glasgow’s music scene has also been exciting and energetic across all genres for a number of decades and has grown significantly in recent years to become even more so.As a UNESCO City of Music, Glasgow hosts an average of 130 music events every week and music events – including annual favourites such as Celtic Connections and Glasgow International Jazz Festival - generate an estimated £75 million for the city’s economy each year.The city is often praised by the world’s leading publications for its music credential, with TIME Magazine describing Glasgow as ‘Europe’s secret capital of music’.

With five of the six internationally renowned national performing arts companies based in the city - The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, National Theatre of Scotland, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Opera and Scottish Ballet - Glasgow also boasts an extensive and diverse variety of music venues ranging from The SSE Hydro arena and halls including the SECC, O2 ABC, O2 Academy and Royal Concert Hall to legendary venues including Barrowlands and King Tut’s.

The 2013 opening of the 12,500 capacity SSE Hydro - the city’s largest venue and the second busiest arena in the world, as ranked by leading industry publication Pollstar - has meant that Glasgow is now able to attract the biggest international names in the business (from Beyonce and Katy Perry to U2, Prince and The Eagles) as well as major, high-profile international events such as The 2014 Ryder Cup Gala Concert and 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA).Attracting a record-breaking 591 million online votes and 389 million social media mentions, the MTV EMA achieved a massive international media and public profile for Glasgow, successfully showcasing the city as a world-class music events destination.

Ends.

For further information, images and interviews contact:

Ellen Drummond Ferroni, VisitScotland Regional Corporate Press Officer

Tel: 0141 566 4019; Mob: 07801 820757

Email: ellen.drummondferroni@visitscotland.com

Note - I work Mon-Thurs; for media enquiries on Fridays please contact our Press Team

on 0131 472 2324. For out-of-hours media enquiries, call : 07699 766986

And:

Graeme Watson, Senior Corporate Communications Manager, Glasgow City Marketing Bureau

Tel: 0141 566 0835; Mob 07534 982312;

Email:graeme.watson@glasgowcitymarketingbureau.com