In the autumn of 1995, two events transformed Scottish tourism - Braveheart was released and the first ever Easyjet flight took off, from Luton to Glasgow.
Braveheart sold Scotland
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In the autumn of 1995, two events transformed Scottish tourism - Braveheart was released and the first ever Easyjet flight took off, from Luton to Glasgow.
Braveheart sold Scotland around the world, making it synonymous with Mel Gibson’s epic. Meanwhile, low-budget airlines and the deregulation of air travel enabled direct routes from the US to open up. The year following Braveheart's release saw the first Tartan Day parade in New York, and Sean Connery beseeched long-lost Scots to return to their homeland.
However, the tourism business itself was changing rapidly, with the emerging internet giving tourists a chance to be a travel critic themselves via TripAdvisor reviews, travel blogs and the like, and Scotland had to play catch up to ensure even the smallest businesses had a website. In 2006, the tourist board renamed itself Visit Scotland, and its focus has increasingly been online marketing – including paying influencers and Instagrammers to come and promote Scotland.
The second most popular subject searched for online is genealogy, and Scotland has benefited from a glut of Americans, Australians and South Africans returning to trace their roots. Roots tourism is a huge market, and when people track down their ancestors to a cottage or grave, it often cements a deep and meaningful bond with Scotland and with their ancestors' place in Scottish history.
Visitors come in search of ‘the real Scotland’ - the rustic fisherman’s cottage, the folk music in the pub, the empty glen. However, due to the money to be made, everyday life in Scotland is often changed by tourism. Edinburgh has suffered from relentless waves of tourism, and a walk down the Royal Mile shows the capital is in danger of turning into a tartan theme park. But Edinburghers are fighting back, questioning the need for more hotels and fighting for residents' rights.
In rural Scotland, the benefits of tourism are also bittersweet, with campaigns to curtail Airbnb and a plea to ensure local
