Press release -
Winter is Coming!
Scotland’s newest snowsports festival is set to take place on 18 and 19 October at Scotland’s dry slopes. “Winter is Coming!” will offer a range of fun activities over the two-day festival, including taster ski and snowboard sessions.
The new festival has been developed by the country’s dryslopes in partnership with the sport’s national governing body, Snowsport Scotland, and Ski-Scotland, the marketing partnership which has promoted Scottish snowsports for more than 25 years. The Festival aims to generate interest and excitement in the run-up to the winter snow season.
“This is something completely new”, said Chair of Ski-Scotland Heather Negus. “There is always a sense of anticipation as soon as the first snow falls. Working with the dry slopes, we aim to build on this to generate additional interest among existing skiers and snowboarders and people who might try a snowsport for the first time.”
Speaking on behalf of the participating dry slopes, Dave Jacobs added: “The new festival will add to the pre-season buzz. Children and adults can brush up their skills or try skiing or snowboarding for the first time at special pre-booked free and low-cost taster sessions. And there will also be other fun at each of the participating slopes, including tubing, competitions and face painting as well as race training, and special offers on club memberships and “mat to mountain” sessions.”
Participating dry slopes include those in Aberdeen City and Shire, Ayrshire, Edinburgh and Glasgow and detailed information can be found on www.ski-scotland.com/winteriscoming
“Snowsports are an important part of Scotland’s winter, not only for fun, but as a serious contributor to the tourism economy,” continued Heather. “Last winter generated 235,303 “skier days” across the five mountain ski resorts and £23.7M for the Scottish economy. This is in addition to those who ski and snowboard at the dry slopes, which play a vital role in introducing people to the sport, helping them make the mat to mountain transition and training competent athletes for competitions and races. This inaugural festival aims to introduce new people to the healthy fun that skiing and snowboarding offer and to increase awareness and appetite for that fun in the mountains once the snow arrives.”
Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland said:
“Not only does Scotland offer the best outdoor skiing and snowboarding in the UK, but it is also a world-class snowsports destination throughout the year.
Having just had an unprecedented summer of Scottish sport, which included the incredible Commonwealth Games and The Ryder Cup, it’s great to see this innovative new festival which will no doubt generate interest and excitement for the upcoming season. With five mountain ski areas and dry sky slopes across the country, snowsports are an important source of income for tourism businesses in the quieter winter months.
Whether first-timer or pro, I would encourage everyone to check out what’s happening at either their their local dry slope or mountain ski area and make the most of the unique opportunities that lie right on our doorstep!”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- The first “Winter is Coming!” Festival will take
place at dry slopes in: Aberdeen City; Alford, Aberdeenshire; Newmilns,
Ayrshire; Hillend, Midlothian/Edinburgh and both Bearsden and Bellahouston
in Glasgow. Each slope is offering a range of activities, with full
details on a dedicated page on the official website: www.ski-scotland.com/winteriscoming
- Ski-Scotland recommends that participants pre-book where indicated direct with the relevant dry slope.
- ‘Skier day’ means one person who skis/boards on one day – many are serial visitors and are counted each day they enjoy their snowsports.
- Ski-Scotland is the marketing partnership which has promoted snowsports in Scotland collaboratively for over 25 years. It comprises the five mountain ski areas (CairnGorm Mountain, Glencoe Mountain, Glenshee, The Lecht and Nevis Range), the sport’s governing body Snowsport Scotland, indoor real-snow centre Snow Factor in Glasgow and VisitScotland, the country’s tourism agency.
- Snowsports form a significant part of Scotland’s winter tourism economy; for each £1 spent at a ski area, a further £4 is spent “off the hill” in local businesses such as accommodation, places to eat and drink, shops, filling stations etc. Using current data, the excellent 2012-13 season was worth more than £29.27M to the Scottish economy. Of this, only £5.85M was spent at the ski areas themselves.
- Scotland’s five mountain ski areas are:
- CairnGorm Mountain, near Aviemore
- Glencoe Mountain Resort between Tyndrum and Ballachulish
- Glenshee Ski Centre between Blairgowrie and Braemar
- Nevis Range, near Fort William
- The Lecht Ski Centre, between Strathdon and Tomintoul
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- corporate communications
- homecoming 2014
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
