Thousands of US tourists halt plans

Oct 26 2012

Tens of thousands of Americans have been advised to put their Scottish travel plans on hold amid confusion over one of the key events in what the SNP hopes will be a national showcase year in 2014.

The US Council of Scottish Clans and Associations (Cosca) raised a "caution flag" over what it believes are conflicting reports about events surrounding the second "year of homecoming".

In an email to its 60,000 members entitled "New Confusion Surrounding 2014", Cosca president Susan McIntosh said it would be "prudent to put plans for travelling to Scotland in 2014 on hold until we gain better clarity about what is and is not going to happen".

Scottish tour operators have already seen trips to Scotland cancelled. The association hoped for events to include a "clan village and parade" at Stirling as part of a Battle of Bannockburn re-enactment but it was reported last week that no such event will feature.

The Scottish Government has since been in contact with Cosca to offer assurances that a clan village is part of the plan and work is under way on a parade.

The Cosca email stated: "At this point, it is certainly fair to say that it would probably be prudent to put plans for travelling to Scotland in 2014 on hold until we gain better clarity about what is and is not going to happen in 2014. Of course we know that Scotland's Second Year of Homecoming will offer many fine opportunities for visitors from the Ryder Cup to the Commonwealth Games.

"Additionally, we do still expect several smaller regional clan and diaspora-based events to materialise - eventually. At present, however, the fate of any sort of unified clan gathering occurring in 2014 is, at best, unclear."

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "Since this email was circulated we have been in discussions with the Council of Scottish Clans and Associations in the States to clarify plans for Homecoming 2014 and made it clear that clans are very much part of the events. There will be a clan village as part of the Bannockburn re-enactment and we are working hard to incorporate a clan parade into the event."

The first year of homecoming was designated in 2009 to encourage people at home or abroad to celebrate Scotland's culture and heritage. A signature Highland clans event in Edinburgh was delivered by private firm The Gathering 2009 Ltd, with a budget of £2.4 million including £490,000 of public grants and £180,000 from the Scottish Government.

It was said to have generated £10.4 million for the Scottish economy but the company running the event lost £516,000 and went into liquidation, with £382,000 owed to six bodies and £344,000 owed to 103 private organisations.