Scottish Open to return to Castle Stuart
Local businesses in Inverness and Aberdeen are expected to benefit by more than £2m following the announcement of the venues for the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open in the next two years.
The event, which is regarded as one of the most prestigious on The European Tour, will be held at Castle Stuart Golf Club, Inverness for the third time in 2013 before moving to Royal Aberdeen in 2014.
Figures from the 2011 event, also held at Castle Stuart, indicated that the Scottish Open was worth more than £5m to the Scottish economy. Of this, £3m was direct expenditure in the Highlands & Islands with £2.1m going directly to local businesses in the form of accommodation, restaurants and shops.
The news that the event, which enjoys an envied position on the European Tour schedule the week before The Open Championship, will benefit different regions of Scotland was welcomed by VisitScotland who have been working with partners through its EventScotland team to secure the future of the event in key regions of Scotland.
Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing welcomed the return of the Scottish Open. He said: “I am delighted to see investment in events such as the Scottish Open, which brings significant benefits to local businesses.
“The event has been a roaring success for the past two years at Castle Stuart and we look forward to welcoming it back in 2013 and raising the bar even higher for those that follow. The people of Inverness have embraced the Scottish Open and helped make it one of the most anticipated events for players on the European Tour each year. The Highlands and Islands is home to some of the best courses to be found anywhere in the world and we look forward to seeing many more top class golf events back here in the future.”
Mike Cantlay, Chairman of the national tourism organisation, said: “This is great news for tourism in Inverness and Aberdeen. Our EventScotland team has been working hard alongside The European Tour, the Scottish Government and Aberdeen Asset Management to secure the future of the event and the fact that it will now boost the local economy in different regions in Scotland is a great credit to their efforts.
“As The Home of Golf our national Open is an important date on the golfing calendar and with our strong portfolio of major golf events in Scotland I am delighted that every corner of the country is seen to be benefitting.
“Both the Highlands & Islands and the North East are home to some of the finest golf courses we have in the country so it is only right that they are able to reap the benefits of the major events we attract and I’m sure Castle Stuart and Royal Aberdeen will provide magnificent host venues for the world’s best players.”
A sponsorship package was announced earlier this year that secured the future of the Scottish Open through 2014. EventScotland has committed to investing £2m over three years in the event, in addition to the £10m to be invested nationally in golf events from 2003 to 2018, alongside funding from title sponsor Aberdeen Asset Management.
A report on the 2011 Scottish Open revealed that 62 per cent of spectators who came from outside of Scotland would not have come to Scotland if it were not for the event while 89 per cent of all spectators said they were likely or very likely to return in 2012.
Tourism is vital to the Highlands and Islands, with UK visitors alone making 1.67m trips to the region in 2010, spending £384m while the total number of trips from overseas visitors topped 440,000.
Golf tourism is also an important contributor to the Scottish economy as a whole, worth around £220m annually.
