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Get Creative! Year of Creative Scotland Offers £1 million to Culture and Tourism Businesses

Tourism and cultural organisations across Scotland are being urged to make the most of the unprecedented opportunities offered by the Year of Creative Scotland by VisitScotland and Creative Scotland.

Almost 200 businesses from across Scotland will attend a VisitScotland and Creative Scotland joint event at Pitlochry Festival Theatre on Monday December 5, 2011, which will set the scene for the Year of Creative in 2012 and outline how businesses can get involved and secure investment to support that ambition.

The year-long campaign, designed to spotlight, celebrate and promote Scotland’s culture and creativity, will encourage these sectors to work closer together to enhance cultural tourism in Scotland. It is being supported with £1 million National Lottery Funding from Creative Scotland for collaborations between the culture, tourism and heritage sectors and organisations are being urged to submit applications before the second and final deadline of 31 January 2012.

The Year of Creative Scotland is a partnership between the Scottish Government, Creative Scotland, VisitScotland, EventScotland and VOCAL and will promote Scotland as a dynamic, contemporary nation with a world class cultural offering.

Commenting on the opportunities, Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland said: “The Year of Creative Scotland is a chance to celebrate Scotland’s cultural and creative strengths on a world stage and these funding opportunities give cultural and tourism businesses the chance to work together to do this.

“We’re looking to inspire the people of Scotland and its visitors to participate in the cultural and creative activity with a particular emphasis on removing barriers to participation, while encouraging collaborative working between the creative and tourism sectors.

“The phenomenal response from businesses for the joint industry event, which was fully booked weeks in advance, is a clear indication of the enthusiasm for the Year of Creative Scotland. Businesses from Gairloch to Glasgow, Blairgowrie to Bute, Aberdeen to Ayr will be gathering in Pitlochry for the event, illustrating how Scotland’s focus years can really bring the country together.”

Iain Munro, Director of Creative Development, Creative Scotland added: “Creative Scotland is committed to making the most of the opportunities the Year of Creative Scotland will offer for visiting and home-grown audiences across the country. Culture is a significant draw for visitors and, by building links now, Scotland will be in an excellent position to offer outstanding experiences for visitors during 2014, when we host the Commonwealth Games and the next Year of Homecoming.”

Counting down to the Homecoming celebrations of 2014, Scotland’s focus years include the year of Active Scotland (2011), the Year of Creative Scotland (2012) and the Year of Natural Scotland (2013).

The Year of Creative Scotland-supported activity will generate real momentum to take people forward not only to Homecoming Scotland 2014, but also Ryder Cup 2014 and the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, developing profile for the creative sector and capacity to engage in these significant national opportunities.

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