New campaign will give Scotland a push to boost £295m events business

An ambitious plan to promote Scotland as place for ‘eureka moments’ is at the core of an innovative new campaign.

VisitScotland is encouraging global brands, charities and organisations from Life Sciences to Robotics to use Scotland as a place to make dynamic new discoveries and inventions in an ambitious digital campaign.

The national tourism organisation has brought together the country’s big four convention bureaux in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Dundee for the launch of the global campaign – the first of its kind – which aims to grow Scotland’s multi-million pound Business Events sector.

Legends will play on Scotland’s reputation as a nation of innovators and a land where ideas have become legendary, referencing some of the country’s greatest discoveries from penicillin to Dolly the Sheep; television to Grand Theft Auto.

The campaign, launched today (Monday) will, for the first time, create a unified voice for the business events industry across Scotland to build on the work of the country’s convention bureaux which secured more than £295m worth of events in 2016.

The two-year campaign, using the hashtag #ideasbecomelegend, will target the associations and wider Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) market by focusing on a specific theme every two months, sharing original content, including blogs and video podcasts from leaders in their field.

The first theme, Technology, will be launched today with blogs and video podcasts by tech leaders ScotlandIS, the Scottish Association for Marine Science and pureLiFi to be released throughout the week.

The remaining themes are: Education; Creative, Energy; Life Science; Engineering; Marine; Surgery and Medicine; Digital; Space; Health; Food and Drink.

Legends will give every city, region and business an opportunity to engage and spread the message of Scotland’s strengths to the world. Scotland’s city convention bureaux and regions will contribute each week to promote their own unique messaging around the specified theme.

A new campaign promoting Scotland as a country of innovation is being launched

Scotland has recognised for a long time that as well as delivering economic benefit, hosting association conferences, conventions and congresses provides a platform for new ideas and innovative thinking, paving the way for collaborations, research and new discoveries.

Life Sciences, Energy, Creative Industries and Food & Drink have all been identified by the Scottish Government as ‘growth sectors’. According to the latest national figures, Life Sciences currently turns over £4.3 billion a year, with Energy £45.7 billion, Creative Industries £7.1 billion and Food & Drink £13.5 billion.

Rory Archibald, business development manager for VisitScotland business events said: ‘Scotland has a legacy of invention, research and innovation. It continues to this day and business events play their part in securing this legacy for the future. The premise is simple – events create ideas and ideas create change globally. We know that Scotland is the perfect stage for these events and as history shows, the place where ideas really do become legends.

‘Working with partners under one campaign will provide a strong platform for the industry and demonstrate the importance of business events to innovation, research and Scottish tourism.’

Stephen Taylor, CEO of Technology Scotland, the representative body for Emerging and Enabling Technology organisations in Scotland, said: ‘Scotland has always been one of the most innovative countries in the world and we are still world-leaders in many areas of technology including renewable energy, life sciences, photonics and the digital economy.

‘It’s important that Scotland retains its international profile and by being able to attract large international conventions to Scotland, we encourage inward investment; creating jobs, prosperity and economic growth for Scotland. It’s critical for Scotland’s future that it continues to be an inventor and producer of innovations that shape the world.’

Visit www.scotland.org/legends for more on Legends.