Homecoming

SNP accused of ‘hijacking saltire’

November 6, 2009 By Suhayl A Leave a Comment

Image from thesun.co.uk

Scottish Labour has accused the Scottish government of “hijacking the saltire for political gain” after releasing plans for the biggest St Andrews ‘do’ ever.

The proposed party, as part of the Homecoming Scotland Finale Celebrations, has caused opposition parties to criticise the “nationalism” of the events.

There are also concerns with the cost of the festivities at £434,000, – which will include ‘an assortment of free family-friendly activities’ – particularly during a recession.

Lord George Foulkes, MSP, said: “It’s as if these parties and celebrations are for their [SNP] membership. They have poached what it means to be Scottish and politicised the saltire.

“This is another example of the hijacking what it means to be Scottish. We have seen this all before from the SNP administration.”

Lord Foulkes claimed that other parties “have lost the right to carry the saltire”.

His remarks come after he described the celebrations marking the 700th anniversary of Bannockburn as “Nationalist brainwashing” and a means of the attracting party support.

The event will be centred on St Andrew Square Gardens, with various other venues across the city participating.

Culture Minister Michael Russell said: “St Andrew’s Day is a day to celebrate all that is great about Scotland – our culture, our heritage, our innovations and our people.

“This year’s celebrations will be the biggest and best yet, filled with more activity in Edinburgh than ever before and over 40 exciting enhanced and new events across the country.”

He dismissed suggestions that the event would be used as a propaganda exercise for the referendum white paper it launches on the same day.

Mr Russell added: “Like most countries, this would be a natural time to reflect upon who we are and where we are going.”

A spokesman for the party described Lord Foulkes’ comments as “petty”.

By Suhayl Afzal

Filed Under: All Politics Tagged With: conservatives, Culture, Edinburgh, Foulkes, Homecoming, Labour, MSP, Russell, SNP, st andrews

How they see us? Rude and dull!

October 22, 2009 By Aleks Jurczak Leave a Comment

by Aleksandra Jurczak

The new travel guide to Scotland published in America describes the natives as’rude’, Loch Ness as ‘dull’ and Ben Nevis as a ‘biggish hill’.

Culture Smart! Scotland book Courtesy of www.scotsman.com

The book was written by an English lecturer, writer and Broadcaster, John Scotney as a guide to Scottish culture and heritage. It has been criticised by natives for stating biased opinions as facts as well as inaccuracies and spelling errors. Mr Scotney has apologised for the mistakes and the Kuperard publishers promised to correct these in the next edition.

One of the main issues raised by the publication is the negative perception of Scotland by England due to the fabled cold relations between the two countries.

In the meantime, Scottish initiative to promote the country internationally, Homecoming Scotland, claims that this years events, celebrating 250 anniversary of the nation’s cultural icon, Robert Burns, has been a huge success so far.

The idea behind Homecoming is to motivate people with Scottish ancestry or simply those who love Scotland to “Come Home” and celebrate the culture, heritage and contributions Scotland has given the world.

The core budget of £5.5m has been additionally supported by a £0.5m founding from the Scottish Government to extend the marketing and promotion of Homecoming.

The statistics provided by You Gov poll indicate that 87% of Scottish people are aware of the events which shows a significant rise from the 29% reported in August 2008. Homecoming’s approval has also grown with 75% of those polled agreeing the initiative is a good thing for Scotland.

The organisers believe the events create a positive profile of Scotland throughout the UK and Internationally. 87% of Scottish respondents said the TV advertising made them feel better about their country, whilst 50% of UK audience claimed to tell their family and friends about the Homecoming events.

Courtesy of www.homecomingscotland2009.com

Internationally, Homecoming was advertised through brochures, e-newsletters, promotional websites, events and expos. The organisers hope the events will generate an additional £44m in tourism revenue, leading it to its 50% growth by 2015.

Asked about the predictions for the tourism in Scotland for next year, Peter Lederer, Chairman for VisitScotland, said, ‘As with this year, economic conditions are likely to be challenging for all sectors in 2010. I expect tourism in Scotland to continue to hold its own and we will look to capitalise on the new relationships with visitors and potential visitors from home and abroad. We will also build on the success of Homecoming Scotland 2009 and the unprecedented partnership working between public, private and voluntary sector organisations to promote Scotland as a quality must experience destination.’

Filed Under: Life and Society, Travel and Communities Tagged With: guide, Homecoming, Scotland, tourism, tourist

Scotland’s time to shine.

October 21, 2009 By Julia Leave a Comment

By Julia Bruce

Courtesy of homecomingscotland.com

Scotland’s own Edinburgh Castle has seen a 7% annual increase in visitors in 2009 alone. This surge could be down to the year of the homecoming which has made way to over 400 events, adverts and public interest over the past year.

250 year’s later, is appears that Scotland still holds as much intrigue as did back in the era of Robbie Burns. The homecoming came from the Scottish Government‘s aspiration to increase Scottish Tourist by 50% by 2015.

Of course there has been public outcry at the amount of tax payers money that has been spent on these patriotic celebrations. According Visit Scotland, the core budget of £5.5m, includes £3m for programme, £1.75m for marketing and communications and close to a million pounds for operational costs. In response to the success and reasoning behind this particularly fat budget s spokesperson for Homecoming Scotland 2009 said, ‘Several factors have indicated that the celebration has been a success and is well on its way to meeting its targets. An extensive evaluation and report will be available after Homecoming Year, in Spring 2010.” Furthermore, the target is to deliver an 8:1 return on the core investment of £5.5 million by generating £44 million of tourism revenue for Scotland in 2009.

So with all this money being spent, it is comforting to know that people are acutally aware of the homecoming taking place. According to a YouGov poll (July 09), 87% of Scottish people are aware of Homecoming, and this figure has grown significantly from the 29% reported in August 2008.

A spokesperson for Historic Scotland also views the Homecoming as a success by the tourism sector: “Overall the Year of Homecoming has proved very positive for Historic Scotland and we hope to build on its success for the future”.

Perhaps in a time of such economic unrest there is no better way than to pull together as a nation and make the most of our valuable and historic resources.

Filed Under: Life and Society, Travel and Communities, Uncategorized Tagged With: Edinburgh, edinburgh castle, Historic Scotland, Homecoming, Robert Burns, visit scotland

Auld Reekie to stage Halloween Horrors

October 14, 2009 By bigkmack Leave a Comment

BY KYLE McCAIG

Halloween Celebrations in Edinburgh Hallowe’en Celebrations in Edinburgh (www.thedungeons.com)

Edinburgh is to play host to several Hallowe’en events this year, including record breaking attempts at the city’s famous dungeons.

Scotland’s year long homecoming celebrations are to continue through Hallowe’en with a bumper pack of events in Scotland’s capital. The events will kick-off this coming Sunday, the 18th of October, and will run until the 2nd November.

Event highlights include 2 record breaking attempts at the Edinburgh Dungeons, a ghost hunt night vigil and supernatural history tours.

Councillor Jenny Dawe will be involved in the dungeons hallowe’en celebrations, acting as adjudicator for their attempt at breaking the world record for most faces painted in an hour.

Organisers are keen to use “eerie” Edinburgh’s past as a backdrop for the ghostly celebrations, with a press release reminding revellers of the city’s ghoulish past, including famous body snatchers Burke and Hare and Robert Louis Stevenson creations Jekyll and Hyde.

“Auld Reekie is filled with fabulously frightening festivities this Halloween” – Minty Woolgar, Visit Scotland

Other festive celebrations are planned around the city and in surrounding areas. The annual Celtic procession along the Royal Mile – The Beltane – will continue this year and a “grizzly ghost hunt” will take place at “Scotland’s infamous haunted house” in Midlothian, Vogrie Country House.

Edinburgh residents are said to be excited by this years upcoming events, with one member of the public stating

“This years events look exciting, the world record attempts and ghostly tours are fun for everyone and should make the homecoming halloween in Edinburgh one of the best yet”

Filed Under: Entertainment, Life and Society, News in Brief Tagged With: auld reekie, Edinburgh, Halloween, Homecoming, Robert Louis Stevenson, Vogrie

Literature and Laughs come to Glasgow

March 9, 2009 By kirstynsmith Leave a Comment

If you think you could use a good laugh or some relaxation after the miserable start to this year, then Glasgow is the place to be for festival fun this March, boasting both comedy and literature events in the coming weeks.

The Bank of Scotland Aye Write book festival launched this weekend and will continue until the 14th, while Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival will be tickling the nation’s funny-bone from the 12th – 29th.

Attracting well-known names from each field, the festivals are promising to be bigger and better than previous years. Now in its third year, the comedy festival has snared top acts such as Jimmy Carr, Rob Brydon and Ross Noble. As for the literary side of things, the fourth year of Aye Write boasts Alan Bennett, Alexander McCall Smith and James Frey to be among the numerous authors regaling the crowds.

As the comedy festival is working alongside Homecoming Scotland 2009, which aims to highlight Scotland’s culture and to bring the country into a prolific level on the global scale.

Paul Bush OBE, Chief Operating Officer at EventScotland, the national events agency responsible for Homecoming Scotland is proud that the two events are working together:

“Glasgow’s International Comedy Festival has grown phenomenally over the past seven years to become one of the most well attended and highly acclaimed comedy festivals in the UK. This year the event forms an exciting part of our Homecoming programme and as such will be welcoming performers and audiences from around the world with an affinity for Scotland. I have no doubt that the event will be bigger and better than ever.”

As well as showcasing prolific authors from around the world, joining Aye Write, among many others, are Jackie Kay, Janice Galloway and to fly the flag for Scotland’s aye_write_114x114 homegrown literary talent.

The event also advertises school and family-related talks and activities.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Aye, bank, book, comedy, festival, Glasgow, Homecoming, International, Magners, of, Scotland, Write

Scottish tourism holds onto Homecoming hope

March 2, 2009 By probablynews 1 Comment

By Sally Edgar

Scotland’s tourism industry faces yet another “challenging” year, as reports show that it has suffered higher losses than anywhere else in the UK.

The report, issued by accountants PKF, shows that hotel occupancy north of the border has slumped by 4.1% in the last year.

This news comes as Scotland promotes Scottish Tourism Week, which is now in its fourth year. But Edinburgh council, among others, has voiced plans to divert money away from VisitScotland to market themselves. With tourism providing the economy with £4.2 billion, hotel chiefs have described the decrease in Scotland’s popularity as “very concerning”. It is also alarming, in the current economic climate, that this slump could put many jobs at risk.

Tourism employs one in every 11 people in the Scottish workforce, roles which could prove redundant if the number of visitors continues to fall.

PKF said the immediate outlook was still grim, with the hospitality industry “facing one of its toughest challenges for some time”.

Alastair Rae, a partner at PKF specialising in the hospitality and leisure sector, said: “The decline in both occupancy and rooms-yield in Scotland has increased in pace toward the year-end and looks likely to continue into 2009. Reductions in both business and leisure expenditure are now having a serious impact upon the sector.

Experts are hoping that this year’s Homecoming could be the short-term saviour for the country’s economy. The event – which celebrates the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns’ birth – is hoped to draw tourists from all over the world. With more than 300 events running from Burns’ Night (25th January) to St. Andrew’s Day (30th November), the celebrations could give Scotland a “unique advantage” over other countries. During the recession, this could be the all-important boost that is needed to get Scotland back on track.

Dr. Joe Goldblatt, a tourism expert at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, said the Year of Homecoming could provide a vital catalyst to boost Scotland’s economy and get its successful reputation for tourism back on track.

He said: “It could have a very positive domino effect if the Scottish diaspora who visit tell their friends back home Scotland is good value for money, as word of mouth is the best advertising. The event has given Scotland a unique and cost-effective advantage.

As Homecoming Scotland 2009 provides an intimate look into history of Scottish tradition, locals and tradespeople will be hoping that the event will provide enough income to give the tradition a future.

Filed Under: Economy and Business Tagged With: Homecoming, scottish tourism, Scottish Tourism Week