Press release -
Warming up to Sail Scotland on the Baltic
Sail Scotland was given a warm welcome at the Stockholm International Boat Show over the past two weeks, promoting the very best of Scottish sailing and marine tourism in Sweden’s capital city.
Stockholm International Boat Show - Allt för sjön - is the largest boat show in the Nordic region, attracting visitors from across Sweden and other Baltic nations including Finland and Estonia. The Sail Scotland stand was positioned prominently to promote Scottish canals, sailing schools, holidays, yacht charters, marinas and boatyards at the show.
Sail Scotland also took to the stage as Boyd Holmes, Commodore of the Royal Highland Yacht Club, delivered a series of three lectures to members of the Swedish Cruising Association, Svenska Kryssarklubben.
There were many highlights from the show, from those who are planning to Sail Scotland for a whole season, to others planning to learn in Scotland.
Birgitta Silfverhielm will sail for three months in Scotland, with five different crews this summer, and was delighted to find the Sail Scotland stand at the show. She said: “It was great to find Sail Scotland here in Stockholm. This summer I am sailing to Shetland, then to Orkney and all around the Hebrides to Skye and Oban, and back through the Caledonian Canal. We will change crew five times, so picking up tips and local knowledge has been a wonderful in planning to get the most from our time in Scotland.”
Andri Meius from Estonia had never thought of sailing in Scotland, and is now planning to take a RYA qualification on the Clyde later this year. Whilst another group of five boats, who are all planning separate trips to Scotland, met up at the show to share information and now plan to meet up in Scotland this summer.
Gavin McDonagh, Chair of Sail Scotland said: “It was great to see our Scotland stand in Stockholm. Sweden is a key market for us, and one where we have had great success. It is clear that Swedish boaters are increasingly viewing Scotland as a destination of choice for sailing as a result of our work over the past few years. So I am looking forward to seeing Swedish boats in Scottish waters again this season, all benefiting our Scottish businesses.”
Sail Scotland Chief Executive, Daniel Steel, added: "Our presence in Stockholm was a great success. The Swedish market is clearly warm to our sailing offer so it was a pleasure to help people to plan their trips to explore our coasts and canals. Our first ever lecture series really added to this, and has no doubt planted a seed with people who are now thinking about planning to charter or bring their own boats to Scotland for our world-class sailing offer.”
The Sail Scotland stand presence was supported by funding from Scottish Development International (SDI) and the VisitScotland Growth Fund.
It has been a busy first quarter for Sail Scotland, delivering activity at London International Boat Show, BOOT Holland, and Stockholm since January. Following quickly on from this success, they will turn their attention to delivering Scotland’s Marine Tourism Conference on 23rd March 2017, and to delivering digital and social media campaigns to further strengthen Scotland’s position as a key destination for sailing and marine tourism.
Topics
- Tourism
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors
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- 2017 Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology
- 2017 is the year to delve into the past and discover Scotland’s fascinating stories through a wide-ranging variety of new and existing activity to drive the nation’s tourism and events sector, boosting tourism across Scotland.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology begins on 1 January 2017 and will end on 31 December 2017. It will build on the momentum generated by previous themed years in Scotland including the 2015 Year of Food and Drink, Homecoming Scotland 2014, the Year of Creative and the Year of Natural.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology is a Scottish Government initiative being led by VisitScotland, and supported by a variety of partners including Creative Scotland, Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Enterprise, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Built Environment Forum Scotland, Heritage Lottery Fund, Museums Galleries Scotland and Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology is supported by £570,000 of Scottish Government funding.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology events fund is managed by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.
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