A global advertising campaign to place Fife at the heart of the world’s St Andrew’s Day celebrations has been ridiculed as a waste of public money.
The Taxpayer’s Alliance has described a VisitScotland event, that brought 21 “Andrews” from across Europe together in the town for the weekend, as a “ludicrous” idea.
The national tourism agency, which is core funded by the Scottish Government, is understood to have spent in the region of £20,000 in bringing together people named Andrew, or its European equivalents, as part of its Spirit of Scotland campaign.
The group, which included plus ones, was put up in a four star hotel, with costs covering flights, meals, activities, and even kilt fittings as part of the two-day trip.
Angered at the scale of the expense involved, Tom Banks, campaign manager at the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: “The ability of authorities to find new ways of wasting taxpayers’ money is truly remarkable.
“Hard-pressed families will be wondering what kind of a celebration this is and how anyone can possibly justify spending tens of thousands of taxpayers’ money on this ludicrous idea.
“It beggars belief that apparently responsible people actually sat down and came up with this.”
An itinerary for the weekend, seen by The Courier, details three days of activities, which included a Highland Games on the West Sands and meals at the three AA Rosette star restaurant at the Rusacks Hotel, where the group also stayed for the two nights.
Other activities included bagpipe lessons, land yachting and golf on the town’s famous courses, all of which were filmed for promotional purposes by the tourism agency.
Part of a drive to place St Andrews at the heart of global St Andrew’s Day celebrations, the move has been defended by VisitScotland, claiming that large sums of the campaign budget had been reinvested locally, while also raising the profile of Fife as a tourist destination around the world.
“Not only has our unique St Andrew’s Day celebrations created lifelong memories for our international ‘Andrews’, but our film will help spread the Spirit of Scotland around the globe and inspire more people — whatever their names — to come here and experience this incredible country for themselves.
“Our St Andrew’s Day celebrations have also placed Fife at the forefront of our global campaign — and with the use of local businesses for accommodation, eating, drinking and activities such as golfing and land yachting over the weekend, a significant amount of the budget for the initiative has been reinvested directly back into the local community.”
