VisitScotland in US airline talks

VISITSCOTLAND chief executive Malcolm Roughead is to hold talks with senior figures from United Airlines and other major tourism industry players to exploit events such as the Commonwealth Games and the Ryder Cup in 2014 and Disney’s new cartoon, Brave.

The agency is also lining up meetings with firms including Diageo, Hilton and InterContinental Hotels to boost visitor numbers.

The meeting with United was arranged during last week’s visit to Scotland by the carrier’s vice president for transatlantic sales, Charles Duncan, who met with VisitScotland chairman Mike Cantlay.

Duncan said any moves by the UK or Scottish governments to entice airlines – such as cutting taxes like air passenger duty or reintroducing a route development fund – would be welcomed.

He added: “We’ve signalled our commitment to Scotland and would love to do more. We would welcome such discussions and we have more routes that could serve Scotland. Anything is possible.”

Cantlay said: “I think people don’t yet fully understand the chances we have coming up to promote Scotland. We have the Olympics in London then we have Disney’s new film, Brave, which will portray Scotland in a whole different light to what it has been on screen before.”

VisitScotland works with about 40 companies – including Highland Spring, Mackie’s and Ryanair. .