Home sweet Homecoming

Published on Tuesday 24 November 2009 21:50

ORGANISERS of Scotland's Year of Homecoming have hailed the initiative as a huge success – despite admitting the number of overseas visitors had slumped this year.

The number of foreign visitors is down 2.7 per cent so far, while the number of visitors from the United States and Canada, a key target market for Homecoming, is down 24 per cent on 2008.

However, Homecoming is on track to deliver more than double the benefits predicted for the 5.5 million promotional drive after the downturn persuaded many Scots to stay at home.

The number of UK visitors was also up, by 11 per cent, due to the "staycation" phenomenon.

The initiative, staged to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, is now set to be revived over the next few years, after 92 per cent of event organisers said they would take part again.

Early analysis of just 25 of the 112 officially funded events found that they generated 19million extra for the economy. More than 10m alone was said to have been generated by the clan gathering in Edinburgh in July, which made a loss of 600,000 despite being given more than 500,000.

Other events analysed were already firmly established, including the Glasgow International Comedy Festival, the Royal Highland Show, the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival and Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival. They all saw increased ticket sales, with Homecoming backing.

Marie Christie, project director of Homecoming, said the analysis only highlighted the direct benefits of the extra funding, meaning the full impact of events such as the Royal Highland Show were not counted.

Homecoming was conceived by the Scottish Executive in 2005, but it was not until late 2007 that it was taken over by government agency EventScotland and given a proper budget.

Final analysis of Homecoming is not expected until next spring; however, early indications are that it may deliver 15 for every 1 spent. The official target is some 44 million.

Almost 850,000 is being spent on this weekend's Homecoming Finale celebrations, which will see 40 events staged around the country.

Ms Christie said: "All 112 of the events have to work with us and our independent research company, EKOS, to work out the impact our funding has had.

"Existing events have been able to develop new elements or marketing campaigns," she said. "Extra input is measured on visitors who said they only came to an event as a result of Homecoming."

Just 17 per cent of visitors to the 25 funded events included in the early analysis came from outwith Scotland and of these only a further 19 per cent said they came as a direct result of the Homecoming campaign.

Figures released by VisitScotland showed there had been a 14.7 per cent increase in visitors from Europe.

Philip Riddle, chief executive of VisitScotland, said it was "always intended" that Homecoming had been about more than attracting overseas visitors. He insisted Scotland would see the benefits for years to come.

"Homecoming has been tremendously successful. Communities across the country have embraced the initiative, and it has generated a new pride in Scotland at home and abroad," said Mr Riddle. "We also have a database of 200,000 new potential visitors, and links with 6,500 diaspora and Scottish-interest groups around the world."

Paul Bush, the chief executive of EventScotland, said a date for any future themed event would be decided only after a full analysis had been carried out.

He added: "There are big events, like the London Olympics and Commonwealth Games, coming up in 2012 and 2014. In some ways, it is going to be more difficult to attract people here than in some of the other years.

"Although we have established a very strong brand with Homecoming, we'll have to wait and see what happens."

BUMPER YEAR

THE Glasgow International Comedy Festival reported a 7 per cent increase in ticket sales, selling 75,000 tickets, breaking box office records and doubling the number of overseas visitors.

The Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh broke all previous attendance records, achieving 176,522 visitors over the four days, up 15,496 on 2008.

The Gathering 2009 saw more than 47,000 people from all over the world flock to Edinburgh's Holyrood Park for the world's largest clan meeting, with 20,000 people lining the Royal Mile for a clan parade.

The Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival, near Inverness, attracted a sell-out crowd of 12,000, the biggest in its six-year history. Blas Festival across the Highlands saw a 25 per cent increase in ticket sales and a record attendance by visitors from outside Scotland.