Press release -
IPC viewers set to feel 'pool' of Glasgow
Glasgow’s hosting of the IPC (International Paralympic Committee) Swimming World Championships is yet another fantastic showcase for the city, according to VisitScotland.
After what is widely regarded as the best Commonwealth Games ever last year, Glasgow will welcome around 600 athletes from 70 countries from tomorrow (Monday 13) to Sunday 19 July.
Featuring the likes of British Paralympic superstar Ellie Simmonds and Scottish stars Andy Mullen and Scott Quin, around 5,000 spectators are expected to flock to Tollcross International Swimming Centre as the competition comes to the UK for the first time. It has previously been held in the likes of Canada, the Netherlands and South Africa.
Not only will Glasgow benefit from 120 members of the world’s media being in attendance, but footage of the city will also be beamed nationwide via Channel 4 and More4 during the Championships.
VisitScotland, which is helping to support the event, believes the extra global exposure from the IPC will further heighten Glasgow’s reputation, not only as an outstanding stage for international events, but also as a perfect place for a city break.
The Championships form a key part of VisitScotland’s poster campaign at Edinburgh Airport, with an image of Ellie Simmonds in action under the caption ‘Wingspan’.
Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland, said: “The IPC Swimming World Championships is another feather in Glasgow’s cap and is yet another opportunity to showcase what a fantastic city it is. Those who didn’t get the chance to be here for the amazing spectacle that was last year’s Commonwealth Games can enjoy world-class sporting action in the city next week. The global media exposure during the championships is terrific news for Glasgow and the coverage of the Championships will inspire even more people to book their trip to the city in the near future.”
Ellie Simmonds, who has won 13 World titles and 10 European titles, as well as having 10 world records to her name, is looking forward to adding to her titles at Tollcross. She said: “I’m so excited about the home World Championships. Home support was so important during the London 2012 Paralympics and I really love it when the crowd cheer us on.
“Glasgow will be my fourth World Championships and I think it will be really special. The world’s best will be coming to Glasgow for this competition and it would be great if we could make the first British-held World Championships the best one yet.”
The IPC Swimming World Championships come in the wake of VisitScotland’s new accessible holidays guide on its website – www.visitscotland.com/holidays/accessible/ – which includes a series of accessible itineraries featuring Glasgow visitor attractions.
Last week, Hope Gordon, a rising star of Scottish para-swimming, helped to launch the accessible itineraries at Hutchesons Bar & Brasserie.
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Notes to Editors
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- 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
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- The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
- According to a recent Deloitte study, the tourism economy supports 270,000 jobs in Scotland in 20,000 diverse businesses. The same study calculates that the tourism economy 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.
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Year of Food and Drink 2015- 2015 is the Year of Food and Drink, a celebration of Scotland’s natural larder and the role that food and drink plays in shaping our economic success.
- Scotland generates over £2.5m per day through food and drink tourism.
- A series of themed months will create an appetite for key areas of Scotland’s food and drink industries – from seafood and whisky to berries and high-quality meat
- For more information, visit www.visitscotland.com/tastescotland
