Press release -
Tea for Tourism
More than half of families in Scotland do not sit down for meals together on a daily basis, according to new research commissioned by VisitScotland.
To coincide with today’s launch of its new recipe book, You’ll Have Had Yer Tea? Treasured Tastes of Scotland, the national tourism organisation is urging families to enjoy dining together and create more mealtime memories.
The research, carried out by Scotpulse, showed that only 47 per cent of people in households of two or more sit down as a family to eat dinner every day, while 8 per cent said they would never do this and 9 per cent had not done this in the last week.
Seventeen per cent of respondents will sit down as a family to eat four-five times a week, while the remaining 13 per cent do this two-three times a week.
The survey of more than 800 adults also revealed the following:
Participants with children in household are less likely to sit down every day to eat dinner (34 per cent vs 51 per cent of those with no children)
Over 55s (69 per cent)are more likely than average (47 per cent) to sit down as a family every day compared to 35 per cent of under 35s (least likely to sit down together every day)
Participants from the north of Scotland are more likely to sit down every day as a family (52 per cent) compared to the average (47 per cent)
Launched at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society in Edinburgh today (Tuesday 8 December), You’ll Have Had Yer Tea? Treasured Tastes of Scotland is available free of charge from VisitScotland Information Centres throughout Scotland from today.
Following a nationwide appeal by VisitScotland, the book contains more than 40 traditional recipes, which were submitted by members of the public from every corner of the country.
Each recipe is accompanied by a special memory giving the background to each dish. Whether it’s a childhood recollection of helping mum bake shortbread or frying the catch of the day after a fishing trip with granddad, each delicious recipe is brought to life by the story behind it.
The book also offers some ‘foodspiration’ so that people can embark on their own culinary adventures around the country, highlighting regional specialities and food and drink experiences unique to certain locations
Scotland’s Food Secretary Richard Lochhead said:
“Scotland has a stellar reputation as being a Land of Food and Drink. We are fortunate enough to have a fantastic natural larder right here on our doorstep and more people should take advantage of that, helping Scotland move towards being a Good Food Nation. Using this new recipe book to create traditional Scottish dishes, using locally sourced produce, is not only good for the food and drink industry here; it also ensures the food on your plate is in-season and fresher.”
You’ll Have Had Yer Tea’s foreword is provided by Scottish chef and food enthusiast Shirley Spear. She writes: “The idea behind this recipe book was to create a legacy for the Year of Food & Drink 2015, reminding ourselves of our local Scottish roots, our home-cooking skills and memories of days gone by when family food, cooking and eating together were more prevalent. I would love to see more of this in future.”
Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland, said:
“From ‘Mum’s Traditional Scotch Broth’ to ‘Granny Norma’s Custard Creams’, You’ll Have Had Yer Tea is a mouthwatering collection of recipes that serves as the perfect accompaniment to the Year of Food and Drink.
“Many of the treasured memories contained within the book are of Scottish people sitting down to enjoy meals together as a family. We would encourage people to do this more often, where possible, so they can create their own precious memories around mealtimes and I am sure this book will give them some fantastic inspiration for traditional Scottish cooking.
“The Year of Food and Drink has been a great success, helping to raise the profile of Scotland’s outstanding natural larder on the world stage. It has built on the momentum generated by previous focus years and Homecoming Scotland 2014 in further developing Scotland’s reputation as a Land of Food and Drink. It has also helped to debunk any myths about Scottish cuisine being all about fizzy drinks and deep-fried chocolate bars.”
You’ll Have Had Yer Tea? Treasured Tastes of Scotland is available in VisitScotland Information Centres throughout Scotland from 8 December 2015 and online at www.visitscotland.com/ebrochures/en/recipe-book/
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- corporate communications
- year of food and drink
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
