Press release -
An Outlandish challenge
A group of top Scottish bloggers is dealing with the effects of “droughtlander” by taking on a unique challenge – to travel hundreds of miles and visit nearly 30 filming locations on VisitScotland’s Outlander map in the space of just 34 hours.
The six Scotlanders – who between them boast a social media audience of more than 100,000 across eight platforms – will set off in pairs at 8am on Saturday 26 August. By 6pm the following day, they hope to have taken in 28 sites that feature in the time travel drama, the third series of which will be available on Amazon Prime Video on 11 September.
When they regroup at Doune Castle – the Historic Environment Scotland property near Stirling which doubles for the fictional Castle Leoch – the group will have clocked up more than 700 miles between them.
From Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfries & Galloway up to the Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore, and from Troon in Ayrshire across to Preston Mill in East Lothian, the VisitScotland Outlander locations map allows people to follow in the footsteps of Jamie and Claire.
Based on the bestselling books by Diana Gabaldon, producer Ronald D.Moore describes the Outlander television series as “a love letter to Scotland”.
Other locations the Scotlanders will visit include Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway, which Outlander producers transformed into a wartime London railway station; Tibbermore Church in Perthshire, which viewers will recognise as the scene of a witch trial; and Glen Coe – which features in the show’s opening credits.
Outlander fans are being encouraged to track the progress of the Scotlanders – Neil Robertson, Laura Brown, Patricia Cuni, David Weinczok, Kristy Ashton and Sophie Maulevrier – who will be using the #Scotlanders hashtag on Twitter and Instagram.
Jenni Steele, Film and Creative Industries Manager at VisitScotland, said: “The phenomenal success of Outlander and the popularity of set-jetting is having a fantastic impact on Scottish tourism. With the third series just around the corner, now is the perfect time to lay down this unique challenge to the Scotlanders.
“It will allow us to capitalise on the excitement among the Outlander fan community and to promote the stunning locations previously featured in the series, encouraging people to get out and visit them, or to book a trip for next year. We wish the Scotlanders the very best of luck!”
Scotlander Neil Robertson said: “This is our first Outlander campaign and we can’t wait to get started. We all share a passion for Scotland and love promoting it. Hopefully our challenge will give the army of Outlander fans a distraction while we count down the days to the start of series three.”
Stephen Duncan, Director of Commercial and Tourism at Historic Environment Scotland, who manage over 300 Historic Scotland visitor attractions, said: “The Outlander series has opened up our sites to a whole new audience, inspiring more and more visitors to come and discover the history behind these places, further demonstrating the enduring value and significance of heritage attractions in Scotland, such as Doune Castle and Blackness Castle, which continue to draw visitors from around the world who are fascinated to learn more about Scotland’s rich history and heritage.”
Amanda Kilburn, Business Development Director at Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway, said: “We think the Scotlanders Outlander challenge is a fantastic idea and look forward to welcoming the participants to our heritage railway. Being an Outlander location is like being part of a big family and we are always pleased to show people where the filming took place and about our time with the cast and crew of this ever-popular show.”
Victoria Collison-Owen, Executive Director at Scottish Redundant Churches Trust, which owns Tibbermore, said: “We’re delighted to welcome the Scotlanders to Tibbermore Church, best known as Cranesmuir Church, scene of the infamous Witch Trial in series one. The question is whether they will be brave enough to stand in Claire and Geillis’s footsteps in the pulpit of the church?
“We’ve seen a huge increase in visitor numbers in recent years, with Outlander fans from around the world coming to experience the unique atmosphere of a building which is steeped in history from medieval times. Outlander fans are passionate about Scotland’s heritage and keen to hear about Tibbermore’s past history, as well as its use for filming the witch trial. The support and generosity of fans has helped us carry out major repairs to the roof, and there’s no doubt that Outlander has created a new and exciting chapter in the church’s history – something that we are incredibly grateful for."
To find out more about the Scotlanders, go to www.thescotlanders.com
Follow the progress of their Outlander challenge with the hashtag #Scotlanders
For more information about Outlander locations, go to www.visitscotland.com/outlander
Topics
- Tourism
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
- To ensure everyone can safely enjoy Scotland’s amazing countryside and landscapes, VisitScotland encourages all visitors to fully respect their surroundings by behaving in a responsible and appropriate way.
- 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
- The Scottish Government is the Managing Authority for the European Structural Funds 2014-20 Programme. For further information visit www.gov.scot or follow @scotgovESIF
- 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) 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.
- For more information visit visitscotland.com/HHA2017 or join the conversation at #HHA2017
