Press release -
VisitScotland nets £310mfor Scottish economy since 2012
Ahead of the country welcoming the world in 2014, Scotland’s national tourism organisation has announced that its two main marketing campaigns have brought nearly £310m additional economic benefit for Scotland since January 2012*, a rise of 14% on the same period the year before.
VisitScotland’s international campaigns target Scotland’s main markets across the globe including North America, Germany and France as well as emerging markets, such as India and China. This is done through an array of cross media marketing such as e-zines, multi-lingual websites, competitions, social media as well as partner offers with international transport and tour providers such as US Airways and CIE tours.
The domestic market, which accounts for 84% of Scotland’s annual visitor numbers, has been targeted since 2012 through the organisation’s highly successful Surprise Yourself campaign. The promotion includes a series of Neil Oliver narrated TV advertisements that highlighted the Year of Creative Scotland 2012, and this year’s promotion of the Year of Natural Scotland 2013.
These figures come as the organisation gears up to for the biggest opportunities for Scotland’s tourism industry in a generation next year; Homecoming 2014, Ryder Cup 2014 at Gleneagles and the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Mike Cantlay, Chairman of VisitScotland, said:
“The latest results of our domestic and international campaigns show just how much VisitScotland continues to deliver for Scotland.
As Scotland prepares to welcome the world in 2014, we’re working extremely hard to grasp the magnificent opportunities there are for growth. We believe that the tourism industry affects all walks of life and we would call on everyone to recognise the potential that next year’s unique events can have for the whole of Scotland.”
In recent weeks, the organisation has announced details of activities happening across Scotland as part of the Homecoming celebrations, as well as a multi-million pound marketing campaign to promote the Commonwealth Games across the globe.”
ENDS
For further information please contact:
James Lakie
Corporate Press Officer
Corporate Communications
VisitScotland
Tel: 0131 472 2283 / 07699 766 986
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- corporate communications
- statistics
- international marketing
- uk & ireland marketing
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.
- 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 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
