Press release -
Outlander fans can't mask delight
Hundreds of Outlander fans from around the world have descended on Scotland to visit sites featured in the hit US television series.
The 200-strong Outlandish Gathering 2015, which includes visits to Doune Castle, Blackness Castle and the village of Culross, comes as VisitScotland prepares to launch a major Outlander marketing push in Germany.
As well as an online consumer campaign, including a bespoke German landing page on visitscotland.com, the national tourism organisation has teamed up with Vox to publicise Scotland via competitions at the German TV channel’s Outlander fan events in Munich, Hamburg and Berlin.
It will work with Sony around the show’s DVD launch later in the year and is organising familiarisation trips to Scotland for German journalists, allowing them to visit filming and book locations in the land that inspired Outlander.
The centrepiece of the Outlandish Gathering weekend is a fair at Crieff Hydro, where VisitScotland will host a stand. The Outlander fans will also enjoy a dinner, ceilidh and a fundraiser for World Child Cancer, the charity patronised by Caitriona Balfe, who plays time-travelling nurse Claire Randall in the television series.
On her visit to Doune Castle – which doubles for Castle Leoch in Outlander and which recently reported a 30 per increase in visitor numbers – fan Andrea Keskin, from Dortmund, said: “I’ve been to Doune Castle three times since I learned it was in the TV series. I’m certain that more German fans will want to come here and see where it has been filmed. They will get to see the immense beauty of Scotland with their own eyes.”
Originally from Chicago, Angela Sasso is co-organiser of the Outlandish Gathering 2015. She said: “Scotland is Outlander and Outlander is Scotland, but the country in real life is even better than the Scotland in the books. Round every corner you see a castle and beautiful scenery. There’s a huge appetite among American fans of Outlander to come here.”
Mike Cantlay OBE, Chairman of VisitScotland, said: “The popularity of Outlander continues to go from strength to strength, with more and more fans of the show and the books planning their trip here. The more they read about and watch the exploits of Jamie and Claire, the more they want to come and see the land that inspired Outlander. We hope that the 200 fans from around the world that are here for this year’s Outlandish Gathering have a fantastic time and I have no doubt that they’ll want to come back here again and again.”
For more information about the Scotland – the Land that Inspired Outlander campaign and to view VisitScotland’s online locations map, go to www.visitscotland.com/outlander
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
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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 has three key roles:
- To market Scotland to all parts of the world to attract visitors
- To provide information – and inspiration – to visitors and potential visitors so they get the best out of a visit to Scotland
- To provide quality assurance to visitors and quality advice to the industry and partners to help the industry meet and strive to exceed customer expectations
- 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 tourism 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
