China-Scotland links basis of growing intl relationship

Boosting tourism

Chinese visitors' rising interest in Scotland

The number of Chinese visitors to the United Kingdom is expected to rise from the current 260,000 a year to 384,000 in the next five years, according to VisitBritain, the UK's national tourism authority.

Around one-fifth of those Chinese visitors to the UK spend time in Scotland.

"The future of Scottish tourism lies beyond our shores. … China is a hugely important emerging international market and this mission will provide our partners with an excellent platform to speak directly to top travel professionals in some of the country’s most valuable outbound regions," said Malcolm Roughead, chief executive of VisitScotland.

In 2016, as part of its China Ready initiative, the Scottish capital launched Scotland's first-ever destination campaign on influential Chinese social media sites Weibo and WeChat.

Last year, the Scottish capital saw interest raised further after China Central Television, China's major television broadcaster, entered talks with Scotland to broadcast the world-famous Hogmanay New Year festival in China.