Press release -
Open drives golf tourism success
More than 200,000 golf fans are set to descend on Scotland, the Home of Golf, this week as one of the world’s most prestigious tournaments returns to St Andrews’ historic Old Course.
Hailed as the jewel in the crown of Scotland’s spectacular summer of golf, The 144th Open Championship is predicted to boost the country’s economy by more than £100 million.
As well as the action on the course, images of St Andrews, Fife and other areas of Scotland are set to be broadcast to a potential global audience of nearly 600 million.
VisitScotland, a long-time supporter and proud Associate of the Championship, believes The Open plays a crucial role in helping bring golf enthusiasts to Scotland.
A survey conducted after The 2010 Open at St Andrews found that two of every three spectators from outside the UK were visiting the historic course for the first time, illustrating the huge appeal of The Open as a major international sporting event and St Andrews as a visitor destination.
Mike Cantlay, Chairman of VisitScotland, the only tourism destination ever to be an Associate of The Open, said: “Excitement has been building for months as we prepare to welcome hundreds of thousands of spectators, the world’s greatest golfers and global media, back to St Andrews for The Open. These visitors, whether here for the day or for longer, help contribute to Scotland’s economy by staying in hotels, using restaurants, drinking in bars or shopping in retail outlets.
“Scotland is the undisputed Home of Golf, and The Open is the jewel in the crown of what is a truly unmissable summer for the sport.
“From the Ryder Cup last year, to the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Gullane Golf Club last weekend, the world continues to marvel at Scotland’s stunning beauty and our unbeatable reputation for hosting the biggest and best events in the game. The Open will once again show that there is no finer place for a golf break than the country that gave golf to the world.”
Home to more courses per head of population than anywhere else in the world, golf tourism is estimated to be worth £220 million to the Scottish economy and supports around 4,400 jobs. For every £1 a visiting golfer spends on green fees, a further £5 is spent on extras such as food & drink and entertainment.
The Open, the largest of Scotland’s summer golf events and the biggest event of any kind held in Scotland on a regular basis, will draw star players such as Justin Rose, Jordan Spieth, Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia.
Several accommodation providers in St Andrews and the surrounding areas are reported to be full over the duration of The Championship, while local visitor attractions, eateries and shops are also expected to be busier.
The Open is the world’s oldest and most prestigious professional golf tournament. 2015 marks the 29th time the Old Course has hosted the Championship.
To find out more about Scotland’s spectacular summer of golf, please visit www.visitscotland.com/golf
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- corporate communications
- sportstourism
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.
- 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.
- 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
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
