National exposure for golf in the Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders has joined with four other regions in
Scotland to sell local golfing experiences to a broader market via
a national partnership brokered between VisitScotland and drinks
giants Belhaven and Highland Brewing.
As part of the Perfect Day campaign that specifically targets
the UK & Ireland market and is part-funded by Scottish Borders
Council, the region is working alongside Dumfries & Galloway,
Ayrshire & Arran, Aberdeenshire and Perthshire in the joint
marketing activity. The golf marketing activity promotes regions
that offer a strong golfing product to a national audience,
capitalising on investment from all areas which ultimately means
each region's marketing budget goes further, bringing additional
increased exposure.
The Scottish Borders Freedom of the Fairways Golf Passport -
offers various options for 3-day or 5-day adult and senior tickets
and continues to be Scotland's best selling golf pass. The pass- is
being promoted via the website www.visitscotland.com/perfectgolfregions
and on posters, tent cards and beer mats in 400 Belhaven outlets
across Scotland and Northern England, 200 golf clubs and 200 bars
and 81 Highland Brewing outlets. The campaign is designed to
stimulate new visits this Summer and put a particular emphasis on
the region's great value golf passport and golf brochure.
Nicholas Brown, director of Woll Golf Course, New Woll Estate by
Ashkirk said;
'New high profile promotion like this will be greatly received
by all the courses and other businesses that benefit from the
Freedom visitors.The Freedom of the Fairways is an essential part
of the golf business in the Scottish Borders, there are so many
great courses in the borders and it still provides an unbeatable
way for visitors to play a lot of the courses at great
value.
"We hope VisitScotland's extra marketing initiative will boost
much needed visitor numbers in the future as it continues
to be a difficult time for golf courses across the Borders and we
need to ensure a popular scheme like this stays number one and
the golf business is attracted to the Borders."
Sandi Hellowell, regional director for VisitScotland, said:
"The campaign represents a great platform to raise awareness of
the Scottish Borders as a fantastic golf break destination,
increase Freedom of the Fairways Golf Passport sales and ultimately
attract new and repeat visitors to the area
"The Freedom of the Fairways Golf Passport brought in over
£825,000 to the local economy last year and sales for this year
look promising. We hope to capitalise on the staycation trend by
increasing the profile of our great value golf passport."
The campaign also includes extensive online media activity
within the likes of Bunkered, Scottish Golf Courses, Scottish Golf
Union and Golf Today and there are a series of online adverts
appearing beside golf related searches on eBay and search
engines. Media activity alone will reach 650,000
consumers.
The golf joint marketing activity is the latest activity in
VisitScotland's Perfect Day campaign that targets the domestic
market that helps position the Scottish Borders as a 'must visit,
must return' destination.
Ends
For further information please contact;
Sharon Makepeace
Corporate Press Officer,
VisitScotland
Tel: 07771 981 236/01387 245 564
Notes to Editors
· Regional
marketing activity is funded by the Scottish Borders Council and
delivered by VisitScotland.
- VisitScotland is Scotland's national tourism organisation. Its
core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to
Scotland.
- The organisation has three key roles:
- To market Scotland to all parts of the world to attract
visitors
- To provide information – and inspiration – to visitors and
potential visitors so they get the best out of a visit to
Scotland
- To provide quality assurance to visitors and quality advice to
the industry and partners to help the industry meet and strive to
exceed customer expectations
- VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make
tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to
grow.
- The organisation employs over 1,000 people and has offices and
tourist information centres across Scotland.
- Tourism employs 200,000 people in Scotland in 20,000 diverse
businesses. Almost 16 million tourists take overnight trips to
Scotland. The industry generates over £4 billion revenue annually.
Tourism supports around 9 per cent of employment in Scotland
- For VisitScotland's press releases, tourism statistics and
frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.htm
- For holiday information on Scotland go to http://www.visitscotland.com/
- For information about business tourism in Scotland go to
http://www.conventionscotland.com/
- For more information on VisitScotland's annual review please go
to http://www.visitscotlandannualreview.com/
