Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond announced today that last year's Scottish government sponsored tourism initiative will be followed up in 2014 with a second Year of Homecoming.
Homecoming 2014 will take place in the year that Scotland hosts the Commonwealth Games and the Ryder Cup. It also marks the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn.
The FM made the announcement on the same day an independent evaluation by economic and social development consultancy EKOS revealed the benefits of the first year of Homecoming in 2009, which included over 400 arts and tourism events in Scotland.
Alex Salmond said that visitors to Scotland grew by three percent in the Year of Homecoming, despite the economic downturn and a four percent drop in global tourism.
"The evaluation shows the strength of the concept of Homecoming and in fairly hard figures, and, definitely in economic terms, indicates the substantial success of the year's initiative," said Salmond.
The FM also launched a new digital archive that will showcase Homecoming 2009 to audiences at home and abroad.
The Homecoming Scotland Digital Archives and Exhibition Project, designed by Queen Margaret University, uses Microsoft technology to allow users to learn more about Homecoming 2009 and increase interest in Homecoming 2014.
An archivist will collate Homecoming documents, brochures, articles and video clips which will be digitised using Microsoft's Zenity product. The archives will be available online from January next year and a public exhibition will begin a tour of Scotland in the summer.
Dr Petra Wend, Principal and Vice Patron of Queen Margaret University, said: "We know that the archive will be of great use to all those involved in promoting tourism and economic development in Scotland, those considering tourism initiatives across the world, and scholars of today and future generations. We look forward to sharing the archives with a wide audience through an information-rich website and a travelling exhibition across Scotland."
Homecoming factoids
Research by economic and social development consultancy EKOS shows Homecoming Scotland 2009:
- generated £53.7 million in additional tourism revenue for Scotland, exceeding the £44 million target by 22 percent
- attracted 95,000 additional visitors to Scotland
- generated £154 million of positive global media coverage