Held at the Art Gallery of NSW last week, Visit Scotland and Qatar Airways treated members of the travel industry to an inspiring evening of art, whiskey, and 101 reasons to visit UK’s northern-most country.
Well, not literally 101 reasons, but the inspiring presentation and evening was certainly enough to nudge Scotland to the top of the travel bucket list for many in attendance, including this writer.
Qatar Airways were also in attendance keen to promote their new service ex Sydney.
Set to launch on 2 March, the opening of the route will grant Sydney-siders access to Qatar Airways’ exceptional customer service and a daily direct service to Doha with 35 onward European destinations, including Edinburgh – Scotland’s capital and cultural heartland.
The Sydney-Doha daily flight will be operated by Qatar Airways’ state-of-the-art Boeing 777-300ER.
The event coincided with The Greats: Masterpieces from the National Galleries of Scotland exhibition, which showcased some of the extraordinary paintings and drawings from the world’s most revered old masters.
After a perusal of the master works, attendees were then introduced to the delicate art of whiskey tasting.
FYI: whiskey from the highlands has a smoky flavour.
Just recently, VisitScotland unveiled its first ever global campaign and social movement – #ScotSpirit – to harness the power of the nation behind tourism.
Tourism to Scottland has been on the rise in the last 12 months, growing steadily in visitor numbers and visitor spend:
“Tourism in Scotland continues to go from strength to strength against a difficult economic backdrop and uncertainty in travel. In the last 12 months there has been a 7% increase in visitors and an 8% increase in spend, but we cannot and must not be complacent.”
Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland
“Scotland is a unique place inhabited by a unique people – a combination that creates an inimitable spirit. The emotional pull of this spirit can’t be duplicated by other destinations. You have to come to Scotland to experience it. But once you’ve felt it, our spirit will stay with you forever.”
