£30m boost to help lift 2009 gloom

ALEX Salmond's hope of relying on this year's Homecoming celebrations to buck the global economic downturn received a massive £30 million boost from one of the most successful Hogmanay parties ever staged.

The New Year celebrations saw a huge influx of visitors from across the world to the Scottish capital, providing "a spectacular curtain-raiser" for the Year of Homecoming, ministers said.

The First Minister has repeatedly said this year's Homecoming initiative, which will see more than 300 events across the country from Burns Night through to St Andrew's Day, could provide a vital boost to help Scotland weather the economic downturn.

Much was riding on the success of Hogmanay celebrations which in recent years have been hit by bad weather and other problems.

And business and civic leaders expressed their delight after near-perfect weather conditions, a record number of events and an unprecedented influx of foreign visitors combined to turn Edinburgh's Hogmanay into one of the most successful of all time.

Similar events across the country were also staged largely without a hitch, with major concerts and parties held in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Stirling.

A spokesman for Linda Fabiani, the culture minister, said: "Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebrations, along with those the length and breadth of Scotland, have provided a spectacular curtain-raiser to the Year of Homecoming.

"All the indications are that visitor numbers from overseas during the New Year period have been holding up very well indeed, and that bodes well as we move into 2009.

"Homecoming is a key theme of the Scottish Government's economic recovery plan, and we are confident that the 300-plus events in the programme will help turn what threatened to be a visitor downturn into a tourist boom."

Clare Damodaran, from VisitScotland, said the success of Hogmanay would be crucial in kicking off the Homecoming initiative, both in highlighting the country to a worldwide audience and promoting Edinburgh as the gateway to the rest of Scotland.

She said: "Hogmanay in Scotland has been a great success, once again attracting visitors from all over the world, particularly to Edinburgh, and raising the profile of Edinburgh and Scotland to a global audience of millions."

Ministers hope there will be thousands of others like Carol Lindsay, 52, from Idaho, who came to Scotland for the Edinburgh Street Party and is thinking of returning to see more of the country, when it is a "bit warmer".

They will also be cheered by the views of Alice Collamtone, 24, from Tuscany, who said the Hogmanay celebrations had given her an appetite for more.

"We have already been thinking about coming back later in the year, when the weather is better and we can travel to the Highlands," she said.

After two cancellations in the last six years, there was pressure on Edinburgh's Hogmanay organisers to get it right this year, particularly as this Hogmanay party was being billed by ministers as the precursor for the year-long Homecoming 2009 celebrations.

There was relief as more than 100,000 people on and around Princes Street cheered fireworks that lit up the sky over the castle at midnight, before revellers united in a mile-long, raucous rendition of Auld Lang Syne – one of the innovations for this year.

Restaurants, bars and hotels in Edinburgh had suffered along with the rest of the UK from falling trade and the economic downturn. One restaurant manager said takings had been about 25 per cent down in the lead-up to Hogmanay.

But early indications suggested the four-day Hogmanay festival had given businesses the boost they needed.

The 2007-8 New Year celebrations generated £29 million for Edinburgh and, with more events and a greater number of foreign visitors, this year's events are expected to top that.

Russell Imrie, treasurer of the Edinburgh Principal Hotels Association, said: "We have noticed a higher proportion of European guests this Hogmanay compared to previous years. The pound-to-euro exchange rate makes it good value for money – although the majority of visitors still come from within the UK."

Councillor Steve Cardownie, festivals and events champion at Edinburgh City Council, estimated foreign visitors made up six per cent of the capital's revellers this year, double that of last year, and credit card holders from 57 countries had bought street passes.

Cllr Cardownie said the economic slowdown might actually have helped Edinburgh, with revellers from England deciding to stay in the UK and come to Edinburgh, rather than going abroad.

"We have an opportunity to impress these people. It's no good wringing our hands in anguish at the state of the economy, we should see it as an opportunity instead: they might come back again in the summertime or next year," he said.

With more events, venues and bands than ever before and only seven arrests in the city centre all night – four for disorder and three for breach of the peace – organisers said they were extremely pleased with how the Edinburgh Hogmanay celebrations had gone.

Pete Irvine, of Unique Events, the company behind the celebrations, said: "It went spectacularly well. This was the best street party we have had."

Iain MacMillan, director of the CBI in Scotland, said: "To see so many people contributing to Edinburgh's economy is very heartening. There were big events in Glasgow too and these things are very important for the economies of our two main cities. They are a very welcome start to the New Year."

IN NUMBERS

100,000 - revellers at the Edinburgh Street Party

7 - stages in the city centre

£30 million - generated for Edinburgh

30 - acts performing during the party

300 - events planned for Year of Homecoming

85 - percentage of visitors from Scotland to the Edinburgh Hogmanay celebrations

57 - different countries represented by credit card bookings for tickets

WHAT NEXT

• 25 January: Official Homecoming Burns Supper, hosted by Alex Salmond in Alloway, launching the Year of Homecoming.

• 29 January to 11 February: Sandi Thom's Homecoming Tour.

• 1 & 16 May: Spirit of the West, a new two-day whisky festival at Inveraray Castle, taking place as part of Whisky Month.

• Late May (date to be confirmed): The Homecoming Scottish Cup Final.

• 25-26 July: The Gathering 2009, Edinburgh, the greatest clan gathering in the world.

• 15 August: The World Pipe Band Championships, Glasgow.

• 18-20 September: Isle of Barra Whisky Galore Festival.

• 24-27 September: Clan Scott Society Gathering 2009.

• October (date to be confirmed): Scotland versus Ireland: Shinty/Hurling International.

• November: The Intercontinental Rally Challenge, a major international event highlighting Scotland's contribution to motorsport, taking place in Perth and Kinross and Stirling.

• 30 November: St Andrew's Day celebrations to close Year of Homecoming.