Press release -
G’Day For Tourism
Glasgow may be hosting Australia as rivals in the Davis Cup today (Friday), but it’s Scotland’s “reputation for friendly people” that sees Aussies visit in their thousands every year, says VisitScotland.
Latest figures reveal there has been a year-on-year increase in tourism trips by our friends Down Under since 2012. Just last year there were 158,000 trips made by visitors from Australia who stayed for 1.67 million nights and spent £130 million.
Scots tennis ace Andy Murray will lead the Great Britain team against Australia at the start of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group Semi-final at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow.
While visiting fans will be flocking to the city to witness the battle of the tennis titans, research shows that Edinburgh is the second most visited town after London for Australian visitors to the UK – followed by Glasgow.
Australia represents a key diaspora stronghold with some 1.5 million Australians of Scots origin or with Scottish ancestry but family connections is not the only draw for visitors to Scotland. The country’s awe-inspiring landscape and rich history and culture are also cited as key factors in choosing to travel here.
Research also finds that more Australians (26%), than any other long haul visitors, state “Scotland’s reputation for friendly people” as a motivator for their trip.
Mike Cantlay, Chairman of VisitScotland said:
"We are delighted to welcome the Australian team to Glasgow for the Davis Cup semi-final. While our visitors may be rivals on the tennis court over the weekend, year-round they are very welcome guests to Scotland. We hope Aussie tennis fans who have journeyed to watch the contest will take advantage of the many attractions Scotland serves up on their visit, which we know they love.”
The Davis Cup by BNP Paribas will take place at Emirates Arena in Glasgow from 18 to 20 September. A total of 24,600 spectators are set to take in the action. The benefit of this increase in visitor numbers for the wider Scottish economy is estimated to be in excess of £1 million.
For more information, visit www.daviscup.com.
| Australia Visitors to Scotland | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | Average |
| Total Visits (000's) | 127 | 138 | 158 | 141 |
| Nights (000's) | 1,335 | 1,152 | 1,675 | 1,387 |
| Spend (£m) | 98 | 102 | 130 | 110 |
Source: Office for National Statistics, International Passenger Survey
ENDS
For further information contact:
Hamish Hutchinson
Corporate Press Officer
Tel: (0131) 472 2283
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- sportstourism
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’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:
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
- 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
- Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
- 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
