2 February 2017


The cruise company that’s flying high


New Heathrow route is increasing visitors from Asia and the US


BY WILLIAM PEAKIN


Freda Newton has just returned from a trip to India with VisitBritain. The managing director of Loch Ness by Jacobite, the Dochgarroch-based cruise and tour company, gained insights into the travel preferences of overseas visitors: “Interestingly, they like to start in the north and then work their way down.” With a three-strong fleet – two


catamarans and one single hull boat – the company took more than 220,000 people onto Loch Ness last year. Look- ing ahead to next year, the company is planning to add another boat to its fleet, bringing the number of people it can host on Loch Ness at any one time to 800. “Growth has been pretty continu-


ous since we took over in 2002,” said Newton, who was made an MBE in the New Year’s Honours for services to economic and community develop- ment in the Highlands and Islands. “Connectivity is everything for us. We are looking forward to the duelling of the A9 and the more flights into Scotland the better.” In May 2016, after an absence of


almost 20 years, British Airways reconnected Scotland’s ‘capital of the Highlands’, Inverness, to Heathrow


with a new daily service. It is on course to become one of Heathrow’s most successful short haul year-round new routes. The relaunch of British Airways’


flight between Inverness and Heath- row has had a noticeable effect. From the route’s launch in May to Septem- ber 2016, Loch Ness by Jacobite saw business boosted by 12 per cent more than the same period the year before. “The breakdown of passenger num- bers shows that Loch Ness welcomed new visitors from each region of the world,” said Newton, “with a three per cent increase from the emerging economies of Asia and four per cent from North American tourists - all hoping to catch a glimpse of the elusive Nessie’ from the deck! “A link between Heathrow and


Inverness has been the boost that the Highlands and Islands needed to build on Scotland’s natural strengths and capitalise on the international appeal that our region holds. It is from a direct link to a hub airport – where passen- gers can easily transfer from around the world – that this jump in visitors has occurred to benefit the Scottish regions and economy and I hope it will encourage more links to Scotland from an expanded Heathrow in the future.”


HASSLE-FREE access to the world from Inverness is vitally important to the increasingly young and entrepre- neurial population who live and work in the region. Half of inhabitants are


Made in Scotland


Heathrow makes a point of recognising historic and


tartan was used to tag Scottish exports within the airport’s walls. Inventions including ATMs, invented


contemporary links BY MATILDA BORGSTROM


All airports, as we experience them today, owe a huge debt to Scottish pio- neers, namely McAdam, the inventor of the road surfacing material known best known as Tarmac, Watson-Watt, the developer of radar, Graham-Bell, inventor of the telephone and Logie- Baird, creator of the television. Heathrow is known for celebrating


these pioneers - and not just engi- neers, scientists and inventors; Scot- land’s natural produce and food and drink maestros are recognised too. In 2015, working with Glasgow-


born and based textile artist and designer Jilli Blackwood, a graduate of The Glasgow School of Art, who’s most famous for creating the outfits for the Scottish team at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, the airport gained its own unique purple-hued


by John Shepherd-Barron, televisions and telephones were covered in the bespoke plaid. But it was not just the airport’s fixtures and fittings that had a Celtic makeover, as even the Scottish food and drink sported a tartan design. During the initiative, travellers


visiting Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food restaurant in T5 enjoyed a set menu of smoked salmon and sourdough with a special tartan butter, followed by the traditional Scottish pudding Cra- nachan with a white chocolate tartan garnish, both of were developed by the head chef Andrew Winstanley and given a special twist with Heathrow’s new tartan. For those who were looking for a


little tipple before take-off, the Made in Scotland Martini, served in a specially created tartan glass, was bursting with Scottish ingredients including Hendrick’s gin, Drambuie and Tayside raspberries. Talking at the time about creating the tartan, Jilli Blackwood said: “It’s


under 44 and it is home to 21,000 busi- nesses, according to Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Analysis of the first two months’


usage showed that more than half the passengers on the route out of Inverness were using Heathrow as a hub for an onward connection to destinations such as Zurich, New York, Madrid, Hamburg and Geneva, while international visitors to Inverness via Heathrow flew mostly from Zurich, New York JFK, Paris Orly, Toronto and Boston airports. To mark the first six months of the


new route, members of the Clanranald Trust for Scotland, the educational and cultural organisation, were in Heath- row’s Terminal 5 before Christmas, along musicians Licence to Ceilidh and replicas of the Calanais Standing Stones, promoting the ease of travel between the two. “It was great to be able to bring a lit-


tle taste of the Highlands to Heathrow – a hugely important airport not only for our domestic visitors, but as a hub for passengers from around the globe,” said Malcolm Roughead, chief execu- tive of VisitScotland. “By collaborating with partners, we are able to showcase Scotland on an international platform and highlight the ease of access to the country. The stunning scenery and rich culture of the Highlands are famous throughout the world, but some may not realise just how easy it is to get there.”


INGLIS LYON, managing director of Highlands and Islands Airports, added: “The London Heathrow to Inverness route has helped attract thousands of extra visitors to the North of Scotland, supporting tourism initiatives in the Highlands such as the popular North Coast 500 tourism route. “Inverness Airport’s passenger num-


TOURISM


HEATHROW


7


Launch of the Jacobite Rebel on Loch Ness in 2015 as part of company’s £1m tourism investment in the Highlands


bers have increased 21 per cent in the first six months of the financial year, which we believe is one of the stron- gest performances of any European airport. The initial British Airways flight numbers are encouraging and prove the significance of Heathrow as a UK hub for Scotland, flying in visitors quicker and more efficiently from all over the world. The service offers tremendous opportunity for our regions excellent tourism businesses.” And last December, Inverness


was hailed as one of the top holiday destinations for European travel- lers after online travel firm eDreams Odigeo recorded an 80 per cent rise in bookings compared with 2015. Its European Traveller Insights report said demand had been fuelled by the fall in the value of sterling following the EU referendum, and British Air- ways reinstating its daily Heathrow- Inverness flight.


From Tarmac to telephones, in some way Heathrow was actually made in Scotland


that a third runway at Heathrow would create up to 16,100 new skilled jobs in Scotland and deliver up to £14bn in economic growth. As part of the week-long celebra-


tion in 2015, Passenger Ambassadors at Heathrow sported limited edition tartan sashes and spoke to interested passengers about the makeover. Commenting on the Made in Scotland event, Emma Gilthorpe, strategy director at Heathrow said: “Scotland has always played an important role in innovation and export and it’s fair to say that we wouldn’t be where we are today without the originality of some great Scots. “From John Loudon McAdam,


been really exciting working on this project with Heathrow. Being asked to work with the airport’s iconic colours was challenging and forced me to think outside of the box. The final design is instantly recognisable to all as a tartan, yet one based on such bold and contemporary colours. It’s a brilliant symbol of Scotland and Heathrow’s relationship and has been used in some really interesting ways.”


In addition to the tartan, Heathrow’s


runway, which has seen approximately 770,0000 planes fly to Scotland carry- ing over 42m passengers was renamed the John McAdam Runway in homage to the Scottish inventor of tarmac. An estimated 378,000m2 of tarmac has been used across the two runways – that’s enough to fit ten and a half Edin- burgh Castles. As well as being made from a Scottish invention, it is expected


to Preston Watson and Alexander Graham Bell, Scotland is the birthplace of many revolutionary inventions and it’s these revolutionary inventions, which make Heathrow the UK’s Hub airport that it is today. From Tarmac to telephones, some could argue that, in some way, Heathrow was actually made in Scotland so we simply wanted to pay homage to the Scots by hosting a week-long celebration. Thank you Scotland.”


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