Press release -
VisitScotland welcomes new Finnish flight route
VisitScotland Chairman Mike Cantlay welcomes the announcement by Finnish airline, Finnair, of a direct flight from Helsinki to Edinburgh.
Finnair will start flying to Edinburgh from 18 April to 27 October 2016.
http://www.finnairgroup.com/mediaen/mediaen_7.html?Id=xml_1959049.html
Mike Cantlay, Chairman of VisitScotland said:
"The launch of this service from Helsinki to Edinburgh is fantastic news for Scottish tourism. Airline investment is key to growth in the visitor economy.
“We welcome this exciting new direct route by Finnair which will make it even easier for visitors from Finland and also Asia, one of our emerging international markets, to come to Scotland. The Chinese visitor market alone contributes on average £37 million to the economy each year.
"This new route is a huge boost for the vibrant Scottish capital which continues to be a popular destination for international visitors with its stunning castle, dynamic festivals and striking architecture."
Last year visitors from China made 33,000 visits to Scotland, accounting for 443,000 bed nights and spending a total of £62 million.
According to our consumer research, Chinese visitors are likely to be travelling with family and friends on an extended trip, often taking in more than one destination, and a key activity on their visit is touring famous sights and landmarks.
- Ends -
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- airline
- international marketing
- corporate communications
- finland
- edinburgh
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
