Press release -
Home is where the spirit is
A new online film featuring professional golfer Heather MacRae has been released which aims to inspire visitors from around the globe to experience Scotland, ‘The Home of Golf’.
‘Golf – Heather’s Story’ is the latest in a series of videos by VisitScotland, already viewed over 65 million times, which highlight how different people from across the country embody the ‘Spirit of Scotland’.
In the film, Heather, a pro on the Ladies European Tour for the last five years, describes her love of playing a round at the course where she started her sporting journey as an 11-year-old, Dunblane New Golf Club.
Heather also discusses one of her favourite places to play in Scotland, the world famous Gleneagles resort in Perthshire, venue of The 2014 Ryder Cup and host of the upcoming Solheim Cup in 2019 and European Golf Team Championships in 2018.
The Stirling-born golfer talks about the feeling of walking in the footsteps of golfing greats at the legendary Perthshire course and how, despite a career which has taken her around the world, she feels most inspired by the courses closest to home.
The film joins other ‘Spirit of Scotland’ cinematic short documentaries including ‘Edinburgh Military Tattoo Lone Piper – Andy’s Story’, Driving the Jacobite Steam train – Alec’s Story’ and ‘Tiree Windsurfer – William’s Story.
The Spirit of Scotland campaign was launched in February 2016 and is built on extensive research which shows that people think Scotland has a unique spirit– whether it’s the magic of the landscapes or the warmth of the people.
Heather said: “I was delighted to be part of VisitScotland’s #ScotSpirit campaign and to help showcase golf in Scotland. I am so proud to be Scottish and so passionate about golf and the development of the game.
“This year is a big year for golf in Scotland and I am lucky to be part of it. I think this video shows the diversity of the game from a tournament I played at Gleneagles, to going out for a fun game with friends and family at Dunblane. If I can inspire just one person to take up the game I would be happy, if there's more, then that's even better.”
Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland, said:
“Our latest Spirit of Scotland film beautifully demonstrates why our country is acknowledged worldwide as ‘The Home of Golf’. From the abundance of fantastic local clubs to inspiring championship courses, Heather does a great job of describing what makes Scotland such a draw for golfers from around the world.
“The Spirit of Scotland campaign has already been a huge success, harnessing the power of the nation behind tourism and raising the profile of Scotland to unprecedented levels, as a place to visit, invest and live. I’m sure this stunning video will encourage more visitors, from near and far, to come and experience Scotland, The Home of Golf, for themselves.”
'Golf - Heather's Story' can be viewed below.
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- content marketing
- golf
- spirit of scotland
- 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
