Just in case you hadn't seen it here's the latest video piece and the press release in full that accompanied the launch by a Scottish Minister a couple of weeks back. Expect a lot more of this style of video in the run up to The Official 2014 Homecoming Scotland Referendum Campaign. There'll be no politicising of that then will there?? God you can hear the arguments from both sides of the argument about the misuse of Scottish iconography, immoral claiming of the flag as a symbole, etc, etc, etc.
For now let's just enjoy a really good addition to the series of Surprise Yourself videos started last year.
And if we have one gripe it's that there isn't information on how to use the video on your own website. If you know how to embed code you can get it here or if not send it to your web developer or drop the link into your social media - http://youtu.be/6i63UReFH4M
"VisitScotland has launched its latest Surprise Yourself television advert to mark the start of the Year of Creative Scotland 2012.
Unveiled at Edinburgh Castle by Fiona Hyslop MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs, the advert will support the year-long celebration and promotion of Scotland’s cultural and creative strengths on a world stage.
Directed once again by renowned Glasgow-born photographer David Eustace and voiced by popular television historian Neil Oliver, the advert features everything from the Edinburgh International Festival to a dazzling Northern Lights display in the Northern Isles. It also highlights Scotland’s wealth of creative activity, including a performance of Macbeth at Glamis Castle, the Pittenweem Arts Festival in Fife and Robert Burns storytelling in Ayrshire.
The new advert, which is part of a £4m campaign and includes additional funding by the Scottish Government, will be broadcast for the first time on television on Friday January 13. It is part of VisitScotland’s highly successful Surprise Yourself campaign which last year generated additional tourism income of £90m for the Scottish economy. This year’s campaign will continue to focus on the country’s surprising twists on familiar backdrops while also showcasing its well-known culture and creativity.
The Culture Secretary said: “Scotland is a creative nation and our culture is one of our greatest strengths. Our wealth of world-class events, festivals, cultural collections and organisations are already a major draw for visitors and the Year of Creative Scotland 2012 offers the opportunity to highlight new ways to see and experience this in every corner of Scotland. VisitScotland’s spectacular new advert is a fantastic way to promote this year-long celebration of our culture and creativity that is taking place in communities right across the country.”
VisitScotland Chairman Mike Cantlay added: “We are entering a tremendously exciting time for Scottish tourism. The Year of Creative Scotland heralds the start of the Winning Years - a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity featuring eight major events and milestones, including the release this summer of Disney-Pixar’s Brave and the Olympic Games in London. By highlighting some of the highly dynamic and contemporary things Scotland has to offer, our stunning new television advert will capture the imagination of millions of potential visitors and help ensure that the Winning Years get off to a winning start.”
The Year of Creative Scotland 2012 is a Scottish Government initiative in partnership with EventScotland, VisitScotland, Creative Scotland and VOCAL.
Through a dynamic and exciting year-long programme of activity celebrating the country’s world-class events, festivals, culture and heritage, the year puts Scotland’s culture and creativity in the international spotlight with a focus on cultural tourism and developing the events industry and creative sector in Scotland.
The new TV advert will be shown throughout the UK until the middle of March and is part of a campaign which will see the spotlight on the Year of Creative Scotland throughout 2012, investing over £4 million in the first six months of 2012 to encourage potential visitors from within the UK to take a trip to Scotland.
The campaign includes using a direct mail campaign to nearly ½ million people, promotions with media partners and well known brands, radio activity featuring Neil Oliver and online activity encouraging people to go to visitscotland.com/surprise and take advantage of over 300 offers from tourism businesses across Scotland.
Highlights of the Year of Creative Scotland 2012 programme include innovative collaborations between the tourism and culture sectors such as:
Traquair House in the Scottish Borders will host a Celebration of Contemporary Scottish Printmaking between July and September 2012. Working in partnership with Edinburgh Printmakers, the Celebration will introduce contemporary printmaking to a wider audience and support tourism development in the Scottish Borders. An ambitious series of commissions reflecting the historic surroundings of Traquair House, alongside a new visitor programme will improve local residents’ and incoming visitors’ access to high-quality new work in print.
The City of Literature Trust will enlighten the streets of Edinburgh in early 2012 with spectacular building-sized dynamic projections, using material from the Scottish Enlightenment period, through their enLIGHTen project.
Plans to create a RockNess Express, a bespoke train service to the annual Rock Ness festival from Kings Cross station featuring on-board music and the best of Scottish food and drink.
Scotland’s largest traditional music festival, Celtic Connections, will head to Chicago in September 2012, as the Ryder Cup takes place at the nearby Medinah Country Club. The trip will be an opportunity to showcase the best of Scottish music and attract international visitors to Celtic Connections 2013 as part of a wider Scottish presence in Chicago.
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Monday, 23 January 2012
VisitScotland Digital Scotland Project On Schedule
The latest update from VisitScotland on their digital project was published over the past couple of days and featured in the newsletter from Chief Executive Malcom Roughead. The following is taken from their update page on VisitScotland.org
"Throughout 2011, the Digital Scotland project has reached some important milestones and successfully delivered in a number of key areas. The Digital Scotland project aims to provide consumers with a single digital gateway enabling them to experience all Scotland has to offer.
It also aims to build trust with Scottish businesses through accurate reporting, simple and effective extranet systems and a digital platform that positions their products and services to the appropriate consumer at the right time.
All of this will ensure VisitScotland can implement an enduring platform that inspires visitors and residents to experience Scotland’s unique and quality offerings online.
Recap on what we want to deliver
- Mapping – improved mapping across the website, offering visitors dynamic ways to explore Scotland
- Extranet System – existing Tiscover system will be retired and a new and improved extranet made available to businesses
- Event Engine – promotion of events across Scotland and access to comprehensive event data for all areas of Scotland
- Central Relational Database – work on the new website will be greatly aided by the work done on ‘data-cleansing’ and ‘data categorisation’, categorising all Scotland’s products and services so they can be searched for on the site. This will allow a ‘what’s nearby’ facility for consumers.
- Web Listings – better quality web listings for all businesses with larger images, location maps, clear contact details
- VisitScotland Information Centre / Contact Centre Booking Applications – all internal accommodation booking systems will be upgraded giving our Information Centres a more effective system
- Project update - what’s next?
- Implementing the new DMS (which covers the content on the site as well as the booking engine, the ‘extranet’ where businesses can upload their details, as well as programmes used by the Information Centres and Contact Centre)
- ‘Content migration’ - moving all the content from the current VisitScotland.com site to the new DMS
The new site will have the new look and feel premiered in the Dumfries & Galloway and Edinburgh & the Lothians sites - as well as the new ‘back-end’ system (the new DMS).
The remainder of 2012 will see more VisitScotland websites integrated into the main site, including all the regional websites"
The one thing we're most impressed by is that VisitScotland are communicating more fully on how the project is progressing. Regardless of what we may feel about the objectives.
New 91 bedroom Malmaison Planned for Dundee
The MWB-owned Malmaison hotel brand
is to open its first new hotel since concluding a refinancing agreement
last year and the appointment of Gary Davis as the hotel group’s new
Chief Executive. The agreement is for a 35-year lease on a new 91-bedroom hotel in Dundee, Scotland’s fourth largest city.
The new Dundee Malmaison is being developed on the site of the old Tay Hotel, a listed city centre landmark building, and forms part of the £1bn Dundee Central Waterfront Development. Malmaison will not own the new Dundee hotel outright, but will take a 35-year lease with rent reviews every five years and options to extend for a further 35 years.
The redevelopment will start in spring 2012 with completion expected in May 2013. On completion it will create 120 new jobs and become Malmaison’s 13th hotel.
“The regeneration on the Dundee waterfront is underway and we are delighted to have secured the lease on this property that will enable us to create a prestigious hotel on the site," said Davis who noted his objective was to oversee an expansion of the Malmaison and Hotel du Vin business.
Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond said: "MWB’s decision to open a new Malmaison in Dundee reflects the significant opportunities for development and growth in the city. The city’s successful games sector and the creation of the V&A at Dundee strengthen its reputation as a centre for the creative industries and its ability to attract new investment and visitors.”
According to the Dundee City Council Property schedules, "The Tay Hotel is a large Listed Building strategically located within Dundee City Centre. The property was originally built as a hotel and was in such use until the 1990’s, when it was used briefly as a hostel. The building has lain vacant for a number of years, but offers an excellent opportunity for redevelopment, directly adjacent to the City’s Waterfront Masterplan area. The redevelopment of this site will be based on the reuse of the existing Category B Listed Building which forms an important landmark within the Central Conservation Area."
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