What's New

• 26 November 2009

  Orienteering event boosts local economy

  

  A major fixture on the international orienteering calendar generated £2 million for the local area this summer, according to an independent economic impact survey. 

  Tay 2009, the 17th Scottish 6 Day Orienteering Festival, took place between 2-8 August and over 4,000 orienteers and their families from Scotland, the UK and overseas took part.  The event, which takes place every two years in a different part of Scotland, was centred this year on Perth Racecourse.  Competition took place at locations throughout Tayside, from the slopes of Schiehallion in the north to the coastal sand dunes of Tentsmuir in the south.

  The economic impact survey, by Glasgow-based EKOS, has shown that this summer’s event generated net additional expenditure of £2 million at the Perth & Kinross/Fife/Angus level and £2.5 million at the Scottish level.  The event attracted a total of 4,316 visitors and for most of the visitors (excluding local residents) the event was the only reason for visiting the Perth & Kinross/Fife/Angus area.  Nearly all the competitors spent at least one night away from home whilst attending the event and many booked accommodation for the whole week.  Nearly all the competitors rated the event highly in terms of overall quality and also rated highly the quality of their visit to Perth & Kinross and Scotland.  Overall, a high number of visitors said they would be very likely or likely to attend the next Scottish 6 Days, which will take place in the Oban area in 2011.

  Category: National Events
• 25 November 2009

  World Champion heading for BUPA Great Edinburgh Cross Country

  

  World champion Gebre Gebremariam will attempt to add the Bupa Great Edinburgh International Cross Country to his list of top honours in the New Year.

  The 25-year-old Ethiopian committed himself to what is regarded as the best non-championship event in the world and which again feature Olympic and global title holders on January 9.

  Gebremariam opened his season with a thrilling victory at the opening IAAF Cross Country Permit meeting in Oeiras on Saturday when outsprinting Eduardo Mbengani to win the Portugese event by a second.

  Gebremariam will lead another star-studded field over the tough Holyrood Park venue and the women's race will also feature a field of the same high quality for the BBC televised meeting.

  "We have a reputation of attracting only the best to what is a superb venue and which of course hosted the highly successful IAAF World Championships last year," said Andy Caine, the elite athletes manager for the event.

  Caine, currently in Melbourne for Sunday's Great Australian Run, added: "When I get back home next week I plan confirming some other major signings and believe me, they include some very big names.

  "We are very fortunate that athletes want to run in Edinburgh. It has its own very special attraction for them as it is recognised by them as possibly the most challenging test of the cross country circuit.

  Category: International Events
• 25 November 2009

  Homecoming Scotland on track to deliver success for Scottish tourism

  

  As the curtain closes on Homecoming 2009, interim results are showing that the event has already been a major success for Scottish tourism.

  Final evaluation is due on the project in Spring 2010, but early results are already showing that the project is well on track to beat the target of £44million worth of extra tourism revenue as well as delivering a range of wider benefits.

  An independent interim analysis surveying around a quarter of the 112 funded events is showing £19.4M of additional income for Scotland - already nearly half way to the target set at the beginning of the project.  As this doesn’t include most of the funded and partner events, and the impact derived from the wider marketing activity, organisers are confident that the project will more than exceed targets.

  As the Homecoming Finale closes next week with more than 40 events celebrating St Andrews Day, the programme is being hailed as a major success by tourism businesses, event organisers and public and private partners.

  The success of Homecoming is testament to one of the biggest partnership campaigns ever, with event organisers, local and national government, local communities, schools, churches and businesses engaging with the project across Scotland and beyond. 

  For the full release and key indicators of the successes so far, please click here

  Category: International Events