Thousands of people are being given the chance to enjoy a free trip to one of Scotland’s islands, including Lewis and Harris – recently voted No.1 island destination in Europe by TripAdvisor.
VisitScotland has teamed up with Caledonian MacBrayne and Serco NorthLink Ferries for Brilliant Island Moments – a campaign which offers 8,000 free tickets for an offshore adventure.
From this weekend, Saturday 1 March, intrepid explorers can select their island of choice and apply for tickets online at www.visitscotland.com/brilliantislands
Only last week, Lewis and Harris beat tropical rivals like Madagascar, Chile and Thailand to be included in the top five islands in the world, based on the reviews and opinions of millions of travellers on TripAdvisor.
The offer comes after the success of Big April Adventures in 2013. Whether it’s joining in the wide range of events throughout the Year of Homecoming 2014, visiting the smallest cathedral in Europe on Cumbrae, exploring around 2,500 km of coastline in the Outer Hebrides or discovering hidden treasures from 10,000 years of history on Orkney – there are 8,000 return tickets from the mainland to the islands up for grabs.
Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland, said: “Having several of Scotland’s islands, including Skye, Arran, Lewis and Harris recognised in the TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Islands Awards was incredible news. With Brilliant Island Moments, VisitScotland, along with Caledonian MacBrayne and Serco NorthLink Ferries are now offering 8,000 people the chance to get out there and discover their very own Scottish island paradise for free. We hope people will get involved, hop onboard and join in the fun.”
Martin Dorchester, Managing Director of Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac), said: “We received a lot of positive feedback from participants from last year’s Big April Adventures and are delighted to team up with VisitScotland again for this initiative. Scotland’s islands offer something for everyone and we look forward to welcoming visitors on board for their trip to a brilliant island.”
Stuart Garrett, Managing Director at Serco NorthLink Ferries, added: “The history and culture of the Northern Isles is truly unique so we are excited to welcome visitors onboard as they embark on their very own island adventure.”
The recent Islands Visitor Survey 2012 – 2013 showed that the Outer Hebrides, Shetland and Orkney welcomed over 425,000 people between 2012 and 2013, contributing over £100 million to the islands’ local communities.
Brilliant Island Moments runs parallel with National Ferries Fortnight – which takes place between 15 – 29 March 2014 and is supported by all the major ferry operators in the UK.
The main theme is ‘Join our ferry family’ and aims to show travellers how family-friendly ferry travel is. UK-wide promotions will start in March with online activities having started in mid-February. There are over 3 weeks of prize draws with 8,000 one month open return tickets available, valid for travel from 15 April – 31 October 2014, excluding Easter weekend and July and August.
Source:- VisitScotland
No comments:
Post a Comment