SCOTLAND has everything a tourist could wish for: world-renowned food and drink, magnificent mountains, lochs and glens.
But our people are, by far, our greatest asset.
It is great news that VisitScotland recognises that our warmth, humour, guts, determination and sense of fun is worth shouting from the rooftops.
We’ve been so busy flaunting our castles, beauty spots, golf, and the Loch Ness monster to tourists, we had almost forgotten about what really makes Scotland special... its people.
The First Minister perfectly summed it up when she launched the £4.25m tourism campaign yesterday at Edinburgh Castle by saying: “Nowhere is the spirit of Scotland more evident than it is people”.
It’s about time we concentrated on our people as well as the beauty of our country. As part of the VisitScotland campaign a new TV advert and website has been created to herald all that is good about us.
Signing up seven athletes, singers, comedians and social entrepreneurs to represent the spirit of Scotland is a stroke of genius as it allows the rest of the world to see our diverse characters first hand.
Scots are gallus folk who are confident, a little bit cheeky and very irreverent, and we should be proud of who we are and what we stand for.
That’s why we cannot just leave it to tourism bosses and campaigns to get the word out.
Malcolm Roughead, chief executive of VisitScotland, wants everyone who cares for Scotland to get behind the #ScotSpirit campaign and become ambassadors for their country.
There’s no reason for us all not to grab that Highland coo by the horns and stop being so shy about selling our qualities, as well as our scenery, to the rest of the world.
People Power: First Minister taps into the spirit of Scots for tourism drive
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