Scotland’s business tourism chiefs hosted leading figures in the UK meetings industry, including buyers and agents, at a dinner in Scotland House, on London’s Pall Mall, last night (2 August).
The evening held under the theme: ‘Game Changing – Business Tourism in Scotland’ was a platform for presentations on major developments around the country designed to enhance Scotland’s reputation as a place to hold business meetings and conferences.
Chairman of Visit Scotland, Mike Cantlay, welcomed guests after Sir Chris Hoy’s latest gold medal cycling effort at the Olympics, reinforced Scotland’s “Winning Mood”.
The new Hollywood film about to break in UK cinemas, Brave, “couldn’t have been a better advert for Scotland if I’d been asked to commission a movie myself,” said Cantlay.
Scotland would bid for the 2017 Tour de France to start in Edinburgh, Cantley noted, in addition to hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the 40th Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.
“The Scottish Government and Visit Scotland are totally dedicated to Business Tourism,” said Cantlay, “the core reason for doing Scotland House here in London”.
Head of the national tourism agency’s Business Tourism Unit, Neil Brownlee, then listed many of the ongoing venue and destination projects, part of a £2bn total investment in the country’s Business Tourism infrastructure.
Brownlee picked out £47m of investment in the Museum of Scotland and a further £17.6m in the Portrait Gallery, as well as announcing the Caledonian Hilton Hotel in Edinburgh being set to become the first Waldorf Astoria in Scotland, following a £24m conversion.
Other major projects include an expansion by 2013 at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre and the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre’s £125m Hydro arena (see artist’s impression) due to open in September 2013.
“We are putting our money where our mouth is,” Brownlee underlined. He also noted that part of The Dark Knight Rises and the new Bond film Skyfall were also filmed in Scotland.
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