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Davis Cup Reaffirms Glasgow and Scotland as Events Leaders

Press Release   •   Aug 14, 2015 12:23 BST

Scotland’s reputation as the perfect stage for events will be further enhanced next month when Glasgow’s Emirates Arena plays host to the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas semi-final between Great Britain and Australia.

The occasion, which will once again thrust Scotland and the city of Glasgow into the spotlight amongst sports enthusiasts worldwide, marks the second visit of ‘The World Cup of Tennis’ in 2015 and is set to drive significant economic benefit for Glasgow and the nation as a whole.

Team GB’s World Group 1st Round match against the United States in March saw a sell-out crowd of more than 23,000 turn out at the same venue over three days, 28% of those travelling from outside of Scotland to attend.

Plans to extend seating in time for the crucial tie will see 24,600 spectators take in the action between September 18-20. The benefit of this increase in visitor numbers for the wider Scottish economy is estimated to be in excess of £1m.

Against the backdrop of a landmark year for Scottish event tourism following the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, Wednesday’s Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) announcement serves as a clear illustration of Scotland’s ability to attract and capacity to stage the world’s most prestigious events.

This is added to a remarkable portfolio of national and international events which have long been scheduled to take place in Scotland in 2015. The 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships in March and a summer-long programme of golfing events, including The Open Championship and the Ricoh Women’s British Open, have already been delivered.

Mike Cantlay, Chairman of VisitScotland, said:

“Scotland is quickly rising up the ranks to become a destination of choice for sporting and cultural events.

“Since hosting the ‘best-ever’ Commonwealth Games, we’ve shown the world that we have the skills, infrastructure and, most importantly, the people to deliver and attract internationally-significant events. The Davis Cup Semi-final is the latest addition to this stellar line up, joining the likes of the World Gymnastics Championships and the prestigious Turner Prize later this year.

“Events remain a crucial element of Scotland’s tourism offering, drawing visitors from the UK and overseas, raising the profile of Scotland and generating hundreds of millions of pounds for Scotland’s vital visitor economy.

“The Davis Cup match between Team GB and the USA earlier this year also highlighted the desire amongst Scots to attend world-class events in their home country, and I’m certain we are set to see another sell-out at the Emirates Arena in September.”

World-class sport will return to Glasgow in October for the 2015 World Gymnastics Championships at the SSE Hydro, while the city’s contemporary performing arts venue, Tramway, will set the stage for the prestigious Turner Prize, which is exhibiting in Scotland for the first time from October.

For more information about events taking place in Scotland in 2015, visit http://www.visitscotland.com/events

ENDS

For further information please contact:

Scott Peddie,

Event PR & Media Manager,

EventScotland
0131 472 2286 / 07966 002 009

scott.peddie@eventscotland.org

 

 

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’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
    • This will be supported by seven overarching strategies:
      1. Marketing: we will market Scotland and its outstanding assets to visitors from all parts of the world, including the promotion of Scotland to people living in Scotland       to visit different parts of the country
      2. Events: we will support the national events strategy and its delivery, and sustain, develop and promote Scotland’s international profile as one of the world’s foremost events destinations
      3. Internationalisation and International Engagement: we will utilise all our platforms to enable Scottish-based tourism businesses to better understand international       opportunities and market to a global audience and we will work within One       Scotland Partnerships to optimise the potential of Scotland’s Diaspora and our strategic partners at regional, European and global levels
      4. Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
      5. Quality and Sustainability: we will provide support and advice to businesses, with the goal of improving the quality and sustainability of the tourism sector in Scotland. We will provide quality assurance to visitors through our Quality Schemes
      6. Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
      7. Working in Partnership: we will listen to and work with the industry, partners and communities to shape our offering and support
    • 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.
    • According to a recent Deloitte study, the tourism economy supports 270,000 jobs in Scotland in 20,000 diverse businesses. The same study calculates that the tourism      economy 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.
    • For VisitScotland’s press releases go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.aspx, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/
    • 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 events in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com


    Year of Food and Drink 2015

    • 2015 is the Year of Food and Drink, a celebration of Scotland’s natural larder and the role that food and drink plays in shaping our economic success.
    • Scotland generates over £2.5m per day through food and drink tourism.
    • A series of themed months will create an appetite for key areas of Scotland’s food and drink industries – from seafood and whisky to berries and high-quality meat
    • For more information, visit www.visitscotland.com/tastescotland