Discover Scottish Gardens launches visitor gateway to Scotland’s gardens
July 22nd 2015Discover Scottish Gardens is to showcase the diversity and beauty of Scotland’s gardens
Officially launched in Edinburgh at Gardening Scotland, Discover Scottish Gardens marks the coming together of businesses and organisations at the heart of Scotland’s gardens sector to energise the promotion of Scotland’s outstanding horticultural offering and help achieve a 10% uplift in visits to Scotland’s gardens by 2020.
This new national tourism group has also launched a website, www.discoverscottishgardens.org, where visitors can search hundreds of gardens and nurseries across Scotland, plan their next visit and source details about events taking place year-round through the seasons. It aims to inspire visitors to discover new gardens and find out more about the country’s diverse climate and the wealth of plant collections that thrive here.
Catherine Erskine of Cambo Estate in Fife, and Chair of Discover Scottish Gardens, said: “Discover Scottish Gardens is collecting together a treasure trove of information for garden enthusiasts and will deliver the ability to plan a garden-focused trip around the key seasons. This will enable visitors from overseas or closer to home to enjoy gardens to the full whenever they plan a day trip or holiday.”
As well as the website, Discover Scottish Gardens will launch an international marketing push to promote Scotland’s gardens within seasonal themes, allowing visitors to plan their trips around milestone events that happen at key times of the gardening year – such as snowdrop festivals in the winter, or the first bluebell displays in the spring.
Discover Scottish Gardens in Summer
Herbaceous Borders
Meconopsis and Woodland Gardens
Water Gardens
Edible Gardens and Vegetables in Season
Rose Gardens
Discover Scottish Gardens in Autumn
Champion Trees
Edible Gardens and Vegetables in Season
Halloween
Bonkers for Conkers
Autumn Colour
Discover Scottish Gardens in Winter
Christmas
Wild Berries
Winter Gardens/Winter Structure
Snowdrop Festival
Discover Scottish Gardens in Spring
Easter in Scottish Gardens
Rhododendron Festival
Daffodil Displays
Bluebell Displays
Plant Sales
The marketing push will include 150,000 leaflets, made available for tourists at visitor information centres and the main gateways into Scotland.
Research from VisitScotland, which has helped fund the start-up of Discover Scottish Gardens, shows that every year nearly 700,000 British holidaymakers visit a Scottish garden, with 35,000 of these indicating that a garden visit was the main reason for their holiday. This market is worth over £200 million to Scotland in terms of tourism spend.
Within this context, Discover Scottish Gardens aims to achieve three key ambitions:
- To increase visitor numbers by around 10% by 2020;
- To ensure that members reap the financial benefits of collectively marketing Scotland’s gardens, while keeping growth sustainable;
- To drive tourism in the garden / natural sector by providing visitors with easy access to events and seasonal activities.
Already, the group has attracted 130 members, including gardens, plant nurseries, accommodation providers and tour operators, with more expected to come on board post-launch. Gardens within the estates of the National Trust for Scotland, Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh and the Royal Horticultural Society are included alongside independent garden members such as Attadale Gardens in the Highlands, Glamis Castle in Angus, Cambo Estate in Fife, Kailzie Gardens in the Scottish Borders and the 17 ‘Glorious Gardens of Argyll and Bute’.
Significant benefits are promised to member businesses as well as the consumer of garden tourism, concludes Catherine Erskine: “Scotland is lucky to have such a diverse garden offering, and one which many visitors already enjoy all year round. By collaborating, we aim to use our collective might to grow the sector, having a positive knock-on effect on businesses and communities all over Scotland.”
For further information, please contact Lesley Brydon of Clark Communciations.
0131 225 9596 / 07771 630834 / [email protected]
Founder members of the Discover Scottish Gardens network include the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, the National Trust for Scotland, Brightwater Holidays, Scotland’s Gardens, Attadale Gardens and Cambo Estate.
