Hundreds of events across the north and islands were credited with ensuring the success of Homecoming 2014 which generated £136million of additional revenue to the Scottish economy, according to a report.
The year-long theme designed to provide a focus for event planners attracted 326,000 visitors from outside the country who cited Homecoming as the primary reason for traveling to Scotland last year, according to the research commissioned by tourism body, VisitScotland.
The research, undertaken by Glasgow Caledonian University’s Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism Business Development reported that every local authority area in Scotland ran at least one event.
In the north-east there were 100 Homecoming-themed events, VisitScotland said.
Some annual events such as the Aboyne Highland Games, which takes place again this year on August 1, received some funding from a £3million pot established by the Scottish Government to support the year’s festivities.
In the 200 in the Highlands and Moray, there were over 200 Homecoming events/
In Moray, the Findhorn Bay Arts Festival, the 2014 World Sheepdog Trials and Baxters Loch Ness Marathon & Festival of Running took on the theme.
Others across the Highlands and Islands the theme was tagged onto the Harris Tweed Hebrides Tattoo, while in Shetland there was the Fireball European Championships, the Fair Isle Festival, the Shetland Fiddle Frenzy 2014, Shetland Nature Festival and Shetland Wool Week.
On Orkney, the Nature Festival, the St Magnus Festival and the Orkney International Science Festival ensured the second year of Homecoming extended the benefits brought to Scotland alongside the Ryder Cup and the Commonwealth Games, VisitScotland said.
Last year’s focus sought to motivate ancestral Scots, the people of Scotland and all those with an affinity to Scotland to visit the country and engage in five distinct themes associated with the country: ancestry, creative, active, natural, food and drink. The first Homecoming was held in 2009.
In all, there were 1,049 Homecoming events throughout Scotland last year, attracting 4.6 million attendances, delivering the “highest ever combined spend by domestic and overseas visitors in a decade”.
Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing said: “Scotland welcomed the world in 2014 and this report shows the substantial impact that Homecoming 2014 had on the Scottish economy.
“The Homecoming celebrations were used to showcase Scotland on the international stage as a dynamic and creative nation. This was achieved through a year-long programme of over 1,000 events designed to welcome visitors from around the world in a celebration of the very best of Scotland’s food and drink, our assets as a country of natural beauty as well as our rich creativity and cultural heritage. I am pleased it had something for everyone with events taking place in every Local Authority across Scotland.
“The Scottish Government aims to continue building on this legacy, through a second series of themed years that spotlights some of Scotland’s greatest assets.”