� IN FOCUS l SCOTLAND


Scotland has a marine theme for its next themed year, which will celebrate ‘Coasts and Water’ in 2020. Samantha Mayling reports.


Zorbing on Loch Ness Surfing at Brims Ness


events lined up for Year of Coasts and Waters 2020 and Year of Scotland’s Stories 2022. Planning has begun for the marine-themed year in 2020, and ideas for 2022 will take shape during that year to showcase the country’s literature, film and legends.


V


The tourism agency is coming to the end of its Year of Young People


L and sea och


isitScotland aims to build on the success of its themed years, with


2018, which has been celebrating the talents and contributions of Scottish youth.


Highlights included new events


and fresh elements within annual events including music, film, sport and music festivals. It followed 2017’s Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology and 2016’s Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design. In 2016, it was estimated that 1.5 million people attended funded events for the themed year, and in 2017, there was a record number of five million who visited Historic Environment Scotland locations.


The themed years programme has given Scottish tourism an edge, as it galvanised partners to work together


44 TravelGBI | November 2018


� Galvanised partners Tourism secretary Fiona Hyslop said the themed years programme has given Scottish tourism “an edge”, as it has galvanised partners to work together to


promote Scotland and its people. The change from an annual theme to a two-year cycle came after feedback from those who had taken part in themed years, who said the programmes would benefit from longer time scales. The Year of Coasts and Waters 2020 will showcase Scotland’s varied coastline, islands and inland waters in rural and urban settings. It will celebrate scenery, ranging


from cliffs to white beaches, as well as experiences such as water sports, whale-watching and island- hopping. Furthermore, Scottish lochs,


rivers and canals play an important part in the visitor economy, offering boat trips, fishing and activity holidays, while nature reserves are home to a wide variety of wildlife. visitscotland.org


YEAR OF SCOTLAND’S STORIES 2022


� Scottish writers, artists and poets include Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, JK Rowling and Iain Rankin.


� Historic characters such as Robert the Bruce, Sir William Wallace and Mary Queen of Scots have inspired poems, books and movies.


� There is a wealth of stories about ghosts, witches, haunted castles and mystical figures such as Kelpies, as well as oral traditions handed down through generations.


travelgbi.com


©VisitBritain/Paul Tomkins


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