Press release -
Wake up, Londoners - come to Scotland’s capital on The Caledonian Sleeper!
London’s largest commercial radio station, Magic FM, will broadcast its popular ‘Foxy in the Morning’ breakfast show live from Edinburgh tomorrow morning (Friday 11 July) as part of a campaign to promote the Caledonian Sleeper rail service between London and Scotland’s capital city.
The radio and online campaign is the result of a partnership initiative between VisitScotland and train operator First ScotRail to encourage Londoners to visit Edinburgh by marketing the London Euston to Scotland overnight train service. This now has an enhanced online booking system offering a 10% discounted fare.
All this week, Magic FM radio presenter Neil Fox has hosted competitions every morning to give prizewinners from the London area the chance to win a city-break in Edinburgh. He has been challenging listeners to his breakfast show – which has an audience of 709,000 - to identify contemporary ‘Magic FM hits’ played on the bagpipes. The week of competitions culminates in Neil bringing his ‘Foxy in The Morning’ show to Scotland’s capital tomorrow morning, and a temporary studio in The Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh – The Caledonian hotel.
It will be the first time that Magic FM has aired its prime time breakfast show out of London as a live outside broadcast. Arriving in Edinburgh today on the eve of the show, Neil will be sampling some of the city’s delights first-hand ahead of the competition winners’ arrival.
He will get a taste of the treats in store for them by taking a whistle-stop tour of a few of the many attractions including Edinburgh Castle, The Real Mary King’s Close and the Scotch Whisky Experience.
Neil said: “I’m really looking forward to broadcasting ‘Foxy in The Morning’ from Edinburgh; it’s a stunning and exciting city with an amazing choice of incredible things to do and see, no matter what your age or your interests. And it doesn’t matter if you’re in town on your first or your fiftieth visit – there’s always something for everyone and lots on. Our competition winners should definitely have a ball here.”
Kathryn Macdonald, Senior Brand Manager, UK & Ireland Marketing, VisitScotland said: “Recent visitor figures have confirmed that for Londoners Edinburgh is their top favourite UK destination of choice. The aim of this promotion, which is part of our Brilliant Moments UK campaign and has targeted the very considerable listenership of Magic FM’s breakfast show, has therefore been to highlight just how easy and quick it is to get to Scotland’s capital from London and take advantage of all of the many and varied attractions Edinburgh offers”
Graeme MacFarlan, Head of Marketing, First ScotRail added: “The Caledonian Sleeper service offers a superb, value-for-money link between the two capital cities - especially with our online booking discount. And with our improved booking service, it’s never been easier to escape London and wake up in Edinburgh, refreshed and ready to step off the train to enjoy a perfect city break.”
Bookings for the London Euston/Edinburgh Waverley route and Caledonian Sleeper service can be made at www.scotrail.co.uk/sleeper
For further information contact:
Monday - Wednesday
Ellen Drummond Ferroni
VisitScotland Regional Corporate Press Officer
Tel: 0141 566 4019;
Mob:07801 820757
Email: ellen.drummondferroni@visitscotland.com
Out of hours media enquiries: 07699 766986
Thursday & Friday
Sharon Makepeace
VisitScotland Regional Corporate Press Officer
Tel: 01387 245 564/07771 981 236
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- corporate communications
- uk & ireland marketing
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
