Visitors arriving at airports in Scotland are to be greeted by new messages promoting the country as a vibrant destination.
From the end of the month messages proclaiming “Welcome to Scotland” will feature at Glasgow, Edinburgh, Prestwick, Dundee, Inverness and Aberdeen airports.
They will incorporate a range of local messages celebrating diversity and success across Scotland, which Culture Minister Linda Fabiani said would give people a taste of the country’s past and future direction.
Speaking at the launch of the slogan at Glasgow Airport, Linda Fabiani said: “From St Andrew’s Day, these images will welcome people arriving in our country and Scots coming home, giving everyone a taste and glimpse of the very best of Scotland – enticing everyone to see more.
“As one of the first things that people will see upon arriving in Scotland, these images celebrate the historic and modern day successes that have shaped our country.”
The signs will draw on different elements of the region where the airports are based, for example, Edinburgh being recognised as UNESCO’s first city of literature, Glasgow as the host city for the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the standing that Inverness enjoys as the Capital of the Highlands.
The new scheme was welcomed by a number of bodies, including tourism agency VisitScotland, Scottish Financial Enterprise and the Robert Burns World Federation.
The Welcome to Scotland campaign replaces the previous “best small country in the world” message, which was launched in 2005, and was heavily criticised by the Scottish National Party’s Alex Salmond who said it gave the country an inferiority complex.
