Press release -
Films focus on Falkirk
A series of online videos highlighting things to see and do around Falkirk, featuring everything from The Falkirk Wheel to the town’s football team, has been given a cash boost by the national tourism organisation.
Falkirk Delivers, the Town Centre BID (Business Improvement District), working in partnership with Falkirk Council, Scottish Canals, Falkirk Community Trust, Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway, The Howgate Shopping Centre, The Milk Barn, Scottish Segway Centre and Falkirk Football Club, has been awarded £18,300 from the VisitScotland Growth Fund to help create four online video itineraries.
These will be available to see on the Visit Falkirk.com website as well as a newly created Visit Falkirk YouTube channel.
The campaign aims to capitalise on the surge in the number of day visitors coming to Falkirk to see The Kelpies and The Falkirk Wheel. By highlighting the other attractions the area has to offer, it is hoped people will be encouraged to extend their stay.
The videos will be under the following themes:
- Heritage: Tying in with Scotland’s Year of History, Heritage & Archaeology 2017, this will focus on attractions such as Callendar House, Blackness Castle, the Antonine Wall (with the option to take in The Falkirk Wheel), Dunmore Pineapple, Falkirk Steeple and Kinneil House & Museum.
- Cycling: Featuring The Falkirk Wheel, the Antonine Wall, The Kelpies, Callendar House, The Milk Barn, the town centre (including Howgate Shopping Centre).
- Family Fun: Focusing on days out with children, this will include the Falkirk Wheel and its water and play parks, the Milk Barn, the town centre, Mariner Centre, the Helix Park, the Jungle Room, Callendar House & Park, Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway, Falkirk Football Club, Howgate Shopping Centre, Sky High Trampoline Centre and the Hippodrome Cinema.
- Falkirk in Motion and Film: The wide range of movie memorabilia at the Motor Museum in Bo’ness will be highlighted in this video, alongside Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway, the Museum of Scottish Railways, The Hippodrome, Blackness Castle and the Falkirk Wheel, Xtreme Karting, Muiravonside Country Park and Callendar House.
The suite of videos forms part of a £36,600 digital marketing campaign which will also include online and radio advertising to inspire more visitors to explore the region and to direct them to Visitfalkirk.com and the various VisitFalkirk social media channels.
This is the second VisitScotland Growth Fund award to the Visit Falkirk partners in recent years, following an award in 2013, which supported a range of activity including the development of the original itineraries that will now become film versions this year.
Liz Buchanan MBE, Regional Director at VisitScotland, said: “Over the past three years, the Kelpies have been drawing many thousands more visitors to Falkirk, and there is a massive opportunity to extend those stays by revealing just how much there is to see and do in the wider area.
“This award from the VisitScotland Growth Fund will build on some of the great work established in Visit Falkirk’s 2013 campaign by taking the itineraries into the digital realm and getting moving images of Falkirk’s outstanding attractions on to social media and straight into the hands of potential visitors.”
Alex Fleming, BID Manager at Falkirk Delivers, said: “We are delighted to be working with VisitScotland and local tourism partners again. These visual itineraries are designed to enthuse and encourage people to explore all that Falkirk has to offer and strengthen links between the town centre and the surrounding attractions. This is an area that our town centre businesses were keen to see developed and is a key strategic initiative for the BID.”
In addition to the match-funding from VisitScotland and a further £7,500 from Falkirk Delivers, Falkirk Community Trust (£5000) and Scottish Canals (£3000) have also contributed to the campaign. Other financial contributions come from Falkirk Council, Falkirk Football Club, Howgate Shopping Centre, The Milk Barn, Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway and Scottish Segway Centre.
Growth Fund applicants are required to align their marketing with VisitScotland’s strategies and campaigns, including the global Spirit of Scotland campaign. They are also encouraged to think about how they can take advantage of Scotland’s Themed Years, with 2017 being named the Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology.
To find out more about the VisitScotland Growth Fund, go to www.visitscotland.org/growthfund
Image Caption:
Back Row
(L to R) Nicola Sturgeon Scottish Canals, Sarah Winters Falkirk Delivers, Brian Flynn Falkirk Delivers, Tracey Martin Falkirk Council, Kevin Roach GM Leapark (Chair of Falkirk Area Tourism Group), Kevin Kozary Falkirk Football Club, Ben Mardall The Helix ( FCT)
Front Row
(L to R) Amanda Kilburn Boness & Kinneil Railway,Liz Buchanan MBE, Regional Director at VisitScotland,d, Suzannah Reid Milk Barn, Rhiannon McQuade Scottish Segway Centre
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- falkirk
- growth fund
- corporate communications
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.
- 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)
- For holiday information on Scotland go to www.visitscotland.com
- For information about business events in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com
- 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
