This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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US tourism promotion hailed a success
21/04/2005
New figures released today show that VisitScotland's
unique Scottish Village attracted a quarter of a million
visitors during Tartan Week.
The Scottish Village is a purpose built, modular
structure comprising a series of zoned areas, each
featuring aspects of Scottish life and culture.
Tourism Minister Patricia Ferguson said:
"I'm delighted that so many New Yorkers were drawn to
the Scottish Village in Grand Central Station. Attracting
so many people is a magnificent achievement.
"The US is our most important overseas tourism market.
Last year the number of visitors from there grew by 11 per
cent compared with 2003.
"VisitScotland and other partner organisations worked
hard to promote Scotland as a must visit, must return
destination during Tartan Week and I am convinced Scottish
tourism will reap the benefits."
Philip Riddle, Chief Executive of VisitScotland
said:
"The Scottish Village is a remarkable structure designed
and equipped to project a positive, vibrant image of modern
Scotland.
"These impressive figures from the remarkable Tartan
Week celebrations in New York reinforce our commitment to
increase our presence in the world's largest markets as we
strive to increase tourism revenue by 50 per cent by
2015."
Initial findings by VisitScotland include:
- 250,000 visitors to the Scottish Village
- 74,000 unique visits to the VisitScotland Tartan
Week websites:
http://www.toscotland.com/
and
http://www.tartanweekny.com/
- 22,000 entries in the competition to win a free
trip to Scotland
- Advertising value of the free media coverage
£1.2m