Highlands set for spin-off from golf TV exposure
Global television exposure worth more than £53 million is expected to bring a golfing tourist boom to the Highlands next year.
Footage of Castle Stuart Golf Links, near Inverness, and areas nearby were beamed to more than 500 million households around the world during the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open in July.
Coverage reached people in the United States, across Europe, South America, Asia, Australasia and Africa.
The golf tournament broke new ground by being the first regular European Tour event to be shown live by a major United States television broadcast network following a landmark agreement signed with NBC, which complemented coverage on the Golf Channel.
NBC broadcast two-and-a-half hours of live coverage on each of the final two days’ play, which culminated in American Phil Mickelson winning the trophy.
Sky Sports also aired eight hours a day of play from Castle Stuart, while the BBC carried highlights of the event. In all, 42 broadcasters worldwide screened pictures of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, reaching a potential 526.5 million households, the bulk of those in Asia Pacific (275 million), followed by North America (118 million) and Europe (76.3 million). The coverage is estimated to be worth the equivalent of £53,247,845.
"The viewing figures are spectacular and can only enhance the reputation of the Highlands of Scotland as a major golfing destination," said Fraser Cromarty, sales and marketing director at Castle Stuart Golf Links and chairman of Highland Golf Links (HGL), a partnership of leading courses and hotels, that includes Castle Stuart, The Nairn Golf Club and Royal Dornoch Golf Club, as well as the Kingsmills Hotel and Culloden House Hotel; the Royal Golf Hotel at Royal Dornoch and the Golf View Hotel and Spa in Nairn.
"Pictures from Castle Stuart, and the Highlands in general, have been beamed into peoples’ living rooms across the world and we know that golfers are already planning visits here after seeing our wonderful location during such a prestigious occasion."
It was the third year in succession the event was held at Castle Stuart, which will host it again in 2016. It will move to Royal Aberdeen in 2014.
