Press release -

Scotland’s Tourism Minister to bid farewell to Tattoo performers bound for Australia and New Zealand

On the Esplanade of Edinburgh Castle, Scotland’s Minister for Energy, Enterprise & Tourism, Fergus Ewing MSP, personally offered his best wishes performers from the Tattoo’s Scottish contingent bound for Australia and New Zealand as they put the finishing touches to their preparations for The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo’s ‘Fanfare for the Future’.

Musicians from the Pipes and Drums of The Royal Regiment of Scotland together with Tattoo Chief Executive and Producer, Brigadier David Allfrey, welcomed the Minister at the Castle.

Tourism Minister, Fergus Ewing MSP said:

“An iconic event like Edinburgh’s Military Tattoo helps put Scotland on the map and I’ve no doubt its presence in Australia and New Zealand will act as a superb advert for our country. The ambassadorial role performed by this cherished national institution will appeal to ancestral Scots and all those with an affinity to Scotland and will serve to support the strengthening of links between our nations. It helps highlight contemporary Scotland, with our rich array of cultures, and also our heritage, which we want to share with the world.”

Tattoo Producer, Brigadier David Allfrey, remarked:

“This is a huge adventure! We have been three years in the planning and have received support from so many people, here in Scotland and across all the collaborating countries. Specifically, we are partnering with Scottish Enterprise, VisitScotland and the GREAT Britain Campaign to leverage the numerous benefits that the Tattoo can offer. As a routine and with every country that we engage, we are dealing with the departments of Defence, Foreign Affairs, Trade & Investment, Tourism, Culture, Heritage and the Arts.

"When all these disciplines work together the potential benefits are enormous. We have sold more than 258,000 tickets across the nine performances in Australia and New Zealand. I know that everyone in our host countries knows about the Tattoo on Tour and is looking forward to us arriving in a few days’ time. Having heard our military musicians rehearsing under the Principal Director of Music in Portsmouth, their sound takes your breath away!”

VisitScotland’s Chairman, Mike Cantlay, said:

“The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is a world renowned cultural extravaganza that shines a spotlight on the Scottish capital every year. Australia represents a key diaspora stronghold and a growing inbound tourism market for Scotland. These international performances by the Tattoo will provide a spectacular shop window for Scotland, featuring a fantastic array of performers and colourful displays, and hopefully it will inspire viewers to take that further step and explore the country of its origin.”

This is only the fourth time in the Tattoo’s history that the world-class event will be staged away from its home at Edinburgh Castle.  In 2000, Wellington’s Westpac Trust Stadium in New Zealand enjoyed this honour, while Sydney hosted the Tattoo’s outstandingly successful ‘A Salute to Australia’ in 2005 and then, in 2010, the popular presentation entitled ‘Celebrating 60 years of Valour, Mateship and Glory’.

The largest gathering of pipes & drums and military bands ever to perform overseas will be among the 300-strong British-based performers taking their unique brand of entertainment to the southern hemisphere.
The complete cast for Australia and New Zealand of more than 1200 performers will include some of the world’s finest musicians from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, Tonga and the United Kingdom along with 200 top-flight Highland dancers from across Australia, New Zealand and Scotland.

They will perform to 265,000 spectators over 5 performances at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium and 4 shows at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium where a dramatic replica backdrop of Edinburgh Castle has been built to help capture the essential magic of the presentation that only The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo can create.
 
And they will be joined by a further anticipated audience of over 2 million throughout Australia who will enjoy the highlights on national television.

- ENDS -

Photo Caption: Pipers and Drummers from the Army School of Bagpipe Music and Highland Drumming with Fergus Ewing on the Castle Esplanade at Edinburgh.

Topics

  • Tourism

Categories

  • corporate communications
  • the royal edinburgh military tattoo
  • australia
  • new zealand

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:
    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.
  • Spending by tourists in Scotland generates around £12 billion of economic activity in the wider Scottish supply chain and contributes around £6 billion to Scottish GDP (in basic prices). This represents about 5% of total Scottish GDP.
  • 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 Innovation, Architecture and Design 2016

  • 2016 will shine a spotlight on Scotland’s achievements in innovation, architecture and design through a wide-ranging, variety of new and existing activity.
  • The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design begins on 1 January 2016 and ends on 31 December 2016 and will build on the momentum generated by the current 2015 Year of Food and Drink as well as previous years including Homecoming Scotland 2014, the Year of Creative and the Year of Natural.
  • Through a series of exciting events and activity, the year will showcase Scotland’s position as an “innovation nation”, its outstanding built heritage, and its thriving, internationally acclaimed creative industries sector.
  • The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design is a Scottish Government initiative being led by VisitScotland, and supported by a variety of partners including Scottish Government, Creative Scotland, Architecture + Design Scotland, Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Enterprise, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS).
  • The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design events fund is managed by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.
  • Join the conversation at #IAD2016
  • Events can join the 2016 Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design Partner Programme throughout the year by visiting http://www.eventscotland.org/YIAD_partner_programme

Contacts

Hamish Hutchinson

Corporate Press Officer - National Contact for media enquiries on: Business Events/Tourism; Film Tourism; Outer Hebrides 0131 472 2283