Golfers from across the world are being encouraged to seek out Scotland’s famous courses on golfing holidays in the historic home of the sport.
The Drive it Home campaign, launched by the national tourist body VisitScotland, is targeting British golfers as well as players in the key markets of the US, Canada and Sweden. According to the BBC, golf is one of the country’s key tourism areas, and is worth more than £220 million. The golfing industry supports 4,400 jobs across the country.
Golfers also spend, on average, twice as much as other visitors on holidays in Scotland, with £5 being spent elsewhere in the Scottish economy for every £1 spent on a green fee.
VisitScotland’s chief executive Philip Riddle said: “Drive It Home encourages Scottish golf courses and local businesses to work together and cross-sell, an ethos which, particularly in the current climate, will help the industry achieve its full potential.”
As part of the new promotion, golfers will be given the chance to win 250 ‘free tee times’ at some of Scotland’s most well-known courses, including the opportunity to play the Old Course in St Andrews and to tee off with Sam Torrance, the campaign’s golf ambassador.
“The Drive It Home promotion is the perfect reason for both international and UK golfers to visit the Home of Golf in 2010,” said Torrance.
“Scotland is the undisputed home of golf – we have the best courses in the world and facilities that are second to none and will again be firmly on the golfing map this year with the 150th anniversary of the Open.”
