Press release -
VisitScotland Chief Executive hails Games tourism "gold rush"
On the back of new XX Commonwealth Games statistics revealed today by Glasgow 2014, Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland, said:
"Scotland is not only experiencing a gold rush in terms of sport, a surge of additional visitors to Glasgow as a result of the Games presents a golden opportunity for tourism too.
"The atmosphere in Glasgow is incredible and that’s largely due to the people. The most important ingredient of Scottish tourism is our people. It's the warmth of our welcome that encourages people from across the world to visit, and come back and see us time and time again.
“Attracting more visitors helps boost the economy, creating more jobs and sustain communities. Every time visitors - whether here for a day or longer - use a restaurant, order a drink at the bar or buy a souvenir cuddly Clyde, they are contributing to the economy.
"This has been a summer of many memorable moments and I’m confident the feel-good factor of the Games will continue for several weeks to come.”“
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- 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
