Scotland confirms Australia trade mission

Scotland confirms Australia trade mission
By admin


A Scottish delegation will visit Sydney and Melbourne in late October as part of a trade mission to stoke interest in the 2014 Homecoming Scotland year-long program of events.

Following five years on from the last Homecoming Scotland series of events, this year's program will feature 400 events including a month-long celebration of whiskey in May and a commemoration of the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn at the end of June. 

Australia will be a major focus for the event due to its 1.5 million strong community of people with Scottish ancestry, according to Homecoming Scotland director Caroline Packman.

"The Australian trade in particular will be critical to promote the Homecoming," she told Travel Today.

Details of the Visit Scotland mission are currently geing finalised, but Packman confirmed it will be just one part of a concerted push to engage local agents.

She confirmed the tourism body is currently in talks with the key chains and is considering adding a  module to its online agent training scheme. The scheme currently has 75 Australian graduates.

Australia is currently Scotland's seventh most significant market, with Aussie numbers climbing between 12% and 13% in the first quarter of the year although 2012 had been relatively flat, Packman revealed.

She attributed this year's solid growth to the delayed effect of the Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee, and also to the introduction of new air services to Scottish ports from the likes of Virgin Atlantic offshoot Little Red and Emirates.

"Australians are very independent," Packman said. "They like to get out there and explore the country outside London.".

More details of the trade mission will be released in the coming months, but information can be accessed in the meantime at the Homecoming website.

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