Press release -
Sail Scotland celebrates £1.3m economic haul
A campaign to encourage more people to enjoy a sailing holiday in Scotland has boosted the country’s economy by £1.3 million, Business and Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing announced today (Friday 9 October 2015).
Speaking at Scotland’s Boat Show at Kip Marina, Inverkip, Mr Ewing said Sail Scotland – the national marketing organisation for sailing tourism – had generated the extra income following a grant from the VisitScotland Growth Fund last year. The group also received funding from Scottish Development International.
The £22,500 award from VisitScotland allowed Sail Scotland to extend its reach in the global market by exhibiting at a number of international boat shows during 2015. This included targeted work in Dusseldorf, Gothenburg, Lillestrom and Wales.
Following its heightened profile on the world stage, Scotland was last month named ‘World’s Best Cruising Ground’ in the prestigious Sailing Today Awards.
The year-long marketing activity – Sailing to Success – also included development of the Sail Scotland brand and targeted promotional campaigns with top brands including Talisker Whisky and outdoor clothing company Musto.
The campaign is estimated to have generated an additional 8,519 visitor boat nights from key target markets, delivering £1,320,445 of additional expenditure into the Scottish economy. This exceeded the target of the campaign by nearly 150 boat nights.
Business and Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing said: “I am delighted to be here today opening Scotland’s Boat Show, the largest in Scotland. Marine tourism makes an important contribution to Scotland’s economy. Boating is a great activity for everyone, regardless of age, circumstance or ability, helping people realise their true potential. Scotland provides so many opportunities for marine leisure and I would encourage everyone to try it.”
Gavin McDonagh, Chairman of Sail Scotland, said:“This clearly demonstrates how we can deliver growth and support delivery of the national marine tourism strategy. Over the past year we have delivered one of the most ambitious marketing plans in our history, bringing new visitors to our waters from across Europe and cementing Scotland’s place as a world-class sailing destination. The funding assisted greatly in achieving these ambitions and I know that with greater in investment in marketing, we can grow the industry even further in future years.”
Mike Cantlay, Chairman of VisitScotland, said: “I would like to congratulate Sail Scotland on this fantastic achievement. With thousands of miles of stunning coastline and hundreds of islands just crying out to be explored, Scotland really is the perfect destination for a sailing holiday. The VisitScotland Growth Fund encourages tourism businesses to work together and Sail Scotland is a perfect example of this. Incorporating the smallest charter companies to the biggest marinas, the group already does an excellent job of promoting sailing holidays in Scotland and we were thrilled to help its members expand their reach in the global market.”
Awakening the Giant, A Strategic Framework for Scotland’s Marine Tourism Sector, provides the opportunity to grow the sector further, in-line with the national tourism strategy – Tourism Scotland 2020.
The ambition is to increase the value of marine tourism from £360m to £450m and increase sailing tourism from £101m to £145m by 2020.
Representatives from the marine tourism sector will attend a symposium at the Scottish Parliament on 20 November to learn more about progress towards achieving this ambition.
For further information contact: tom.maxwell@visitscotland.com; 0131 472 2409
Topics
- Tourism
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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’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
