Date :
17/07/2015
An independent review of Homecoming Scotland 2014 has revealed a significant level of participation from the Scottish tourism industry and encouraging visitor numbers as a direct result.
The research, commissioned by VisitScotland, was carried out by the Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism Business Development at Glasgow Caledonian University.
The report revealed that over 1,000 events took place across Scotland during the Homecoming celebrations exceeding the initial target of 400 with every Local Authority in Scotland represented. The review also concluded that there was a 93% awareness of Homecoming 2014 across tourism businesses.
The financial and visitor figures for the year include:
• £136m net additional revenue generated for Scotland 326,000 visitors from outside Scotland cited Homecoming as the primary reason for traveling to Scotland in 2014
• £94m net additional spend by visitors
• 1,336 net full time equivalent jobs have been generated by visits associated with Homecoming 2014
Stay-cation based tourism received a boost with 83% awareness of Homecoming throughout Scottish households The Homecoming TV advert was viewed by more than 5.5m people in Scotland and 350,000 attendees at the various events were Scottish visitors who stayed overnight.
Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing applauded the figures and suggested there was more to come to help further boost Scotland’s tourism industry. He said: “Scotland welcomed the world in 2014 and this report shows the substantial impact that Homecoming 2014 had on the Scottish economy. The Scottish Government aims to continue to building on this legacy, through a series of themed years that spotlights some of Scotland’s greatest assets.”
Mike Cantlay, Chairman of VisitScotland said: “2014 was quite an incredible year. Of course the real success story was the Scottish people – they welcomed the world with a friendly smile ensuring that everyone who visited became and ambassador for the country. Thank you to every single person who made Homecoming 2014 the outstanding triumph it was.”
Homecoming 2014 proved that Scotland is a wondrous place for visitors to experience a rich diversity of events, festivals and culture. To find out how your business can embrace and participate in a series of events across the country, take a look at Tourism Intelligence Scotland’s Events, Festivals and Culture tourism in Scotland guide.