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Riding high on the boost to visitor numbers through the launch of the Kelpies in 2014, Falkirk Council has launched a five year strategy for the Falkirk area to cement it as one of the nation’s major tourist destinations.

Already the home of world heritage site The Antonine Wall, modern engineering masterpiece The Falkirk Wheel, a new route in The John Muir Way and many other major attractions, the Tourism Strategy will be delivered under the VisitFalkirk brand. It aims to increase annual visitor expenditure in the Falkirk area by 20% and produce a 20% increase in overnight capacity through investment in visitor accommodation by 2020.

The Council aspires to reach VisitFalkirk targets through joint working with existing and new strategic partners and will be creating a Falkirk Tourism Partnership made up of representatives across the private and public sector to implement and review the strategy.

A new VisitFalkirk website – www.visitfalkirk.com – is to play a significant role in driving visitors from home and abroad to the area and was launched last night, Tuesday, 24 February, at an event to present the new Tourism Strategy to local businesses and agencies supporting Falkirk’s tourism industry, including Scottish Canals, VisitScotland and Business Gateway.

The creation of the new website builds on the ongoing development of the VisitFalkirk brand, which benefited from a VisitScotland Growth Fund campaign in 2013/14 to help market the area. VisitFalkirk.com portrays the contemporary and innovative elements of the Falkirk experience as well as the area’s historical features.

Held at another of the area’s major attractions and Scotland’s oldest purpose built cinema, the Bo’ness Hippodrome, the event also showcased Kinetic Falkirk; a short film created by award-winning stop-motion film-maker, Walid Salhab of Queen Margaret University and commissioned by Falkirk Council to market the area to business and consumers. Set to be permanently housed within VisitFalkirk.com, Kinetic Falkirk showcases places, attractions and locations that promote the Falkirk area as an attractive place to live, work and visit. Over 330 hours of filming and editing went into creating the final five minute Kinetic Falkirk film and over 27,000 photos were taken, with 5,000 making it into the final cut.

The new, wider tourism strategy builds on annual tourism action plans delivered by the Council, recognising that the scale of investment in tourism in recent years, including the opening of Helix Park and the Kelpies in 2014, has created more potential and opportunities best addressed by longer-term planning. 

A new Vision Statement has been created to support VisitFalkirk’s Tourism Strategy:

To make Falkirk a destination of first choice for high quality, value for money and world-class attractions offering memorable customer experience, delivered by skilled and passionate people.

Falkirk Council’s spokesperson for Culture, Leisure and Tourism, Cllr Adrian Mahoney said: "I'm pleased to help launch our five year tourism strategy, alongside the new VisitFalkirk.com website and the Kinetic Falkirk film.

"I hope the plan and marketing materials will help on us build on successes to date and encourage even more people to visit the Falkirk area."

He continued: "In recent years the area has firmly made its mark on the international tourism map with the arrival of the Falkirk Wheel and iconic Kelpies. We've also seen great investment by the private sector: in new hotels, venues and attractions.

"We must do all that we can to develop on these successes. That means everyone in tourism working together to give exceptional visitor experiences and great customer service. We want more visitors to stay overnight and to spend more money in the local economy.

"The Council and its partners have played key roles in developing Falkirk as a tourist destination - but our future success relies on strong support from the private sector. That's why our new tourism strategy sets out plans to create a new, industry-led tourism partnership to drive future tourism development in the local area."

Liz Buchanan, Regional Director of VisitScotland, said: “It has been a pleasure to work with Falkirk Council, local businesses and partners in the last few months to help shape the new strategy that sets out Falkirk’s roadmap for success over the next five years.

“This is the most exciting time in Falkirk’s development as a visitor destination. The huge success of the Kelpies in 2014 and their impact in the media around the world have placed Falkirk on the tourism map as never before. This new strategy sets out how the area will capitalise on that opportunity, and VisitScotland is delighted to be part of the team that will deliver for Falkirk.”

A copy of the tourism strategy is available here