EDINBURGH, Scotland, 2017-Apr-12 — /Travel PR News/ — With one in three visitors to Scotland making a trip to a forest or woodland park during their stay and 42% visiting a country park or garden, VisitScotland is hoping a new partnership with Forestry Commission Scotland will increase visitors to the country’s leafiest corners.
Produced in partnership with Forestry Commission Scotland, the Spring Adventures in Scotland e-book is packed with information on what to see and do in the country’s six magnificent forest parks this season, including where to take the best photograph.
The UK’s highest beach – Loch Morlich– is named as one of Scotland’s best ‘forest spots’ for snappers. The beach near Aviemore in Glenmore Forest Park is described as “truly unique” with photographers advised to keep their camera at the ready “as you might see ospreys fishing in the waters”.
Further top picturesque places include the Queen’s View near Pitlochry, Yair in the Tweed Valley and Bennan above Loch Ken in Galloway.
The online guide gives readers the option of being a ‘trailblazer’ and embracing a whole host of unique experiences, or simply a ‘tranquil traveller’, exploring well-loved trails and forest attractions.
On VisitScotland’s social media channels, images of Argyll Forest Park and Galloway Forest Park were among the top 3 posts during the spring months of 2016, reaching 234,211 users on Facebook and 78,065 on Twitter, respectively.
Scotland’s Forest Parks are:
- Glenmore Forest Park
- Galloway Forest Park
- Queen Elizabeth Forest Park
- Argyll Forest Park
- Tay Forest Park
- Tweed Valley Forest Park
Laura Stewart, Marketing Manager of Forestry Commission Scotland said:
“As the forests ‘spring’ back into life, now is the perfect time to get out and explore. Whether you’re looking for peace and tranquility or a bit of adventure, Scotland’s six forest parks are bursting with colour, wildlife and great experiences this spring.”
Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland, said:
“Scotland’s outdoors is a playground for photographers and its picturesque woodlands provide the perfect backdrop during the spring months. We’re delighted to team up with Forestry Commission Scotland to deliver an essential online guide to inspire visitors to get out and about this season and explore our magnificent forests.
“Our global campaign, Spirit of Scotland, showcases the country’s personality, place and people to the world and invites international audiences to sample it themselves. Our online guides, such as Spring Adventures in Scotland, are an important tool in spreading that message to both inform and inspire visitors.”
For more on Spring Adventures in Scotland go to http://ebooks.visitscotland.com/forestry-commission-scotland-spring/
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.
- Spending by tourists in Scotland generates around £12 billion of economic activity in the wider Scottish supply chain and contributes around £6 billion to Scottish GDP (in basic prices). This represents about 5% of total Scottish GDP.
- The Scottish Government is the Managing Authority for the European Structural Funds 2014-20 Programme. For further information visit www.gov.scot or follow @scotgovESIF
- 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
2017 Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology
- 2017 is the year to delve into the past and discover Scotland’s fascinating stories through a wide-ranging variety of new and existing activity to drive the nation’s tourism and events sector, boosting tourism across Scotland.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology begins on 1 January 2017 and will end on 31 December 2017. It will build on the momentum generated by previous themed years in Scotland including the 2015 Year of Food and Drink, Homecoming Scotland 2014, the Year of Creative and the Year of Natural.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology is a Scottish Government initiative being led by VisitScotland, and supported by a variety of partners including Creative Scotland, Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Enterprise, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Built Environment Forum Scotland, Heritage Lottery Fund, Museums Galleries Scotland and Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology is supported by £570,000 of Scottish Government funding.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology events fund is managed by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.
- For more information visit visitscotland.com/HHA2017 or join the conversation at #HHA2017
Contact:
Hamish Hutchinson
Corporate Press Officer – National
Business Events/Tourism, Scottish Thistle Awards
hamish.hutchinson@visitscotland.com
0131 472 2283
Out of hours – 0131 472 2324
Source: VisitScotland
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