£200million OPEN DRIVES HOME OF GOLF PROMOTION

The R&A and three public sector agencies are to continue using The Open Championship to promote Scotland as the worldwide home of golf, Patricia Ferguson announced today.
EventScotland, VisitScotland and Scottish Enterprise have agreed to extend the partnership with the R&A till 2010.
The R&A is predicting a £200 million boost for the Scottish economy from The Open Championship, which will be staged in Scotland three times between 2007 and 2010.
The Open Championship will be played at Carnoustie in 2007, Turnberry in 2009 and returns to St Andrews in 2010.
Speaking at the inaugural National Events Conference at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow, the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport said:
“In July, The Open will once again return to Scotland, a country where golf tourism is lucrative to our economy.
“I am delighted that Open Championship organiser The R&A, has agreed until 2010 to extend its partnership agreement with EventScotland, Scottish Enterprise and VisitScotland.
“It enables The Open to be harnessed as a means to promote Scotland as the home of golf and a world-class tourist destination.”
Peter Dawson, Chief Executive of The R&A, commented:
“Scotland plays host to The Open three times in the next four years and we know from a detailed economic impact study that the event will bring £100m of new money to the Scottish economy over that period and deliver a promotional legacy benefit to Scotland’s tourism industry of £100m more. The R&A is pleased to support Scotland in building its worldwide reputation as the home of golf.”
David Williams, CEO of EventScotland; “The R&A’s decision to continue its partnership with EventScotland, Scottish Enterprise and VisitScotland, is terrific news for golf tourism in this country and an example of how such a high profile event can provide leverage to effectively showcase the best of Scotland to the world.”
Williams added: “The events industry is a major success story in this country. Since 2003, EventScotland has helped stage 162 international events, subsequently generating over £315m for the national economy. The whole of Scotland is now engaged in the events industry with EventScotland directly supporting events in 26 out of Scotland’s 32 local authorities.
“Today’s announcement by the Minister and our hosting of this conference is further evidence of our commitment to engage a host of partners across the sports and cultural spectrum about the economic and social value of events and realise a vision of establishing Scotland as one of the world’s premier events destinations by 2015.”