VisitScotland Ancestral Brand overview
Gillian Swan, Ancestral Marketing Manager
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Definition of Ancestral Tourism
A visit to Scotland partly or wholly motivated by the need to reconnect
(with your) Scottish ancestry and roots.
Come and walk in the Footsteps of your Ancestors
Key drivers for ancestral travel to Scotland:
• The opportunity to research your Scottish roots – Scotland has an unrivalled range, depth,
quality and accessibility of ancestral archives and resources across the country.
•
The opportunity to touch the past – Scotland’s well-preserved built, industrial, & cultural
heritage makes it easy for visitors to experience their own past first hand – whether in the
shape of a Clan or family castle, a battle ground or literally an ancestral home.
•
The opportunity to engage - The strength of Scotland’s unique cultural identity and tradition is
still very prevalent in today’s society and opportunities to really connect with your kin at to join
in at events abound – facilitated by the very active Clans and Scots interest organisations as
well as developments such as Homecoming Scotland 2009 and 2014.
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Ancestral Tourism – the Scope of opportunity
•
Size of the potential target market
 Circa 50 million people globally claim Scots ancestry
 In 2009 an estimated 179,000 long haul visitors undertook ancestral research activities; the
value of those visits generated £102m for the Scottish economy.
•
Ancestral tourism supporting sustainable growth
 Seasonality – year round visitation and good regional dispersal
 Ancestral tourists stay longer and spend more on average - Scotland’s (overseas) ancestral
tourists will stay 11-15 days and spend around £730/head*
 High propensity to repeat – 97% of Scotland’s ancestral visitors say they will return to
Scotland on vacation in the next 5 years*
•
Growing ancestral tourism towards 2014 and beyond
 Opportunities exist within the strategic Focus Years programme to building on the legacy of
2009 and further grow the volume and value of tourism in 2014 and beyond.
*DTZ Pieda Ancestral Tourism Scotland Survey 2004 and TNS 2007 and 2009 long-haul conversion surveys
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Target Audience
•
Affluent Boomers – 45+ (skews 55+)
•
Predominantly long-haul ‘familiar’ markets US, CA, AUS, NZ
•
High disposable income, time rich, online savvy
•
Culture and heritage interest
•
Ancestry is a primary motive for visiting Scotland, but not the sole activity
•
Core segments:
o Clan Interest
o Family Historian
o Scotland Aficionado
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AncestralScotland
 Ancestralscotland.com website (circa
160K user sessions p.a.)
 AncestralScotland bi-monthly
e-newsletter; 35,000 recipients
worldwide
 Database of 3,500 Scots Interest
Organisations - ‘Gatekeepers’ (bimonthly e-newsletter)
 Life is Like consumer marketing
campaign and Facebook activity
VisitScotland’s Ancestral Welcome
Accreditation
Overseas Highland Games activation –
attendance by SCOTSagents and ‘Whisky
Live at the Games’
Partnerships and strong working
relationships with key Ancestral Tourism
stakeholders, including,
ScotlandsPeople, Local Authorities,
Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs
Promotion of ancestral themes to
VisitScotland SCOTSagents globally
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PR Programme
 VisitScotland’s hosted journalist visit
programme welcomes over 200
international journalists visiting per
annum
 Over 410 pieces of Homecoming-related
coverage were received during 2009.
Many of these had an ancestral focus and
the legacy of Homecoming goes on, with
coverage continuing throughout 2011 and
2012.
 Homecoming Scotland coverage reached
an audience of 291,592,366 and generated
an amazing £14,402,684 of PR value
 Dedicated ancestral newsletter to media
contacts based in Diaspora markets, bimonthly basis.
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The Focus Years
Food & Drink 2010/11
Natural Scotland 2013
Active Scotland 2011
Creative Scotland 2012
Homecoming 2014
Commonwealth Games
Ryder Cup
The Winning Years
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What is the Growth Fund?
• Marketing fund for constituted groups
• Supports collaborative marketing activity to bring additional visitors to your area regional, national, or international
• Marketing projects should last c.12 months
• Award is 50% of total project cost – from £5,000 to £65,000
• 25% private sector cash
• Monthly application panel
• Dedicated Growth Fund Advisor
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www.visitscotland.org/growthfund
What is eligible?
Marketing projects designed to bring
visitors to the area
•Regional as well as national and
international marketing
•Marketing materials e.g. leaflets, pop-up
displays, video footage, posters
•Website development
•Event & exhibition attendance
What is not eligible?
Marketing that targets locals and visitors
already in the area
•Core or repeated marketing activity
•Event marketing (see EventScotland)
•Product development
•Capital costs e.g. plasma screens
Q&A
Gillian Swan
Ancestral Marketing Manager
0131 472 2012
gillian.swan@visitscotland.com