The Scottish tourism authority VisitScotland has recently announced a new gimmick for attracting a new brand of international visitors to the country, one that involves one of the UK most prized exports. James Bond is a popular character in countries as wide ranging as Russia, the US, Germany and Japan – despite the film being banned for a period in the Soviet Union – and these countries, along with other key tourism markets like China and the UAE, are being targeted as the company tries to promote a new tour of Scottish locations that are linked to the secret agent. This proposed guided vacation around Bond's Scotland aims to show foreign fans that there are more connections than Sean Connery's nationality and VisitScotland have sites lined up across the country, through the Highlands and Argyll. One location that is sure to impress visitors is Glencoe, the infamous house in the Highlands where some of the most dramatic scenes of Skyfall played out.
There are big plans to bring new visitors to these locations, but VisitScotland need to impress foreign tourism agents first.
The first step for getting this Scottish James Bond project off the ground is getting representatives from these target markets over to the country to see the sites for themselves. Familiarisation trips are crucial if international tour operators are to get first hand experience of these attractions – which will in turn let them create great tour packages that will benefit their consumers as well as their hosts – and these tourism agents have been invited on such a trip in April, when they will also get to see the trade show at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow. If all goes well, visitors from all corners of the globe could soon be walking in the footsteps of their favourite secret agent and aiding the Scottish tourism industry.