Edinburgh to Doha

ADDITIONAL flights between Edinburgh and Doha will see double daily flights introduced at Scotland’s busiest airport by Qatar Airways.

The airline will introduce an additional afternoon flight in April to cater for high Easter demand, meaning a double daily service on Mondays throughout the month.

It’s the first time a long-haul carrier has operated double daily routes to the Middle East from Edinburgh Airport, demonstrating the award-winning airline’s confidence in the busy route.


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Busiest ever year for a Scottish airport

EDINBURGH Airport has recorded the busiest ever year for a Scottish airport with more than 14 million people passing through in 2018.

A total of 14,310,403 people passed through Scotland’s busiest airport last year, up 6.5% on the previous year.

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Emirates lands in Edinburgh

EMIRATES has celebrated the inaugural flight of its new service between Dubai and Edinburgh.

The Emirates Boeing 777-300ER touched down in the Scottish capital on October 2, making #Edinburgh the airline’s second destination in #Scotland and the eighth in the United Kingdom.


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A few days off . . .

HEADING off to bonnie Scotland for a family wedding so we'll be back on Monday.  

Slàinte!

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Best 2018 UK hot tub holiday destinations

THE staycation has grown in popularity over preceding years and with 66% of us planning a break the UK in 2018 (according to ABTA research) it has led to a mini boom for the UK tourist industry.  At Aqua Warehouse we believe enjoying a holiday with friends, family or a romantic break can only be made better with a hot tub. So, we’ve put together our top five favourite UK hot tub holidays, for whatever style of break you’re looking for.

The forest makes for a beautiful escape for the family. Perfect for reconnecting with nature, and spending quality time together as a family. Create unforgettable memories on your forest adventure with Forest Holidays. With 10 locations from Scotland to Cornwall to choose from, you’re spoilt for choice!

If glamping is more your style, try the Sunridge EcoPod in Devon - This takes glamping to a new level! Underfloor heating, luxury German kitchen, remote control colour changing lighting, 3D home cinema snug, games consoles, 10 minutes from a beach and seconds away from your own private hot tub - bliss!

Brook Lodge is one of five detached luxury lodges which are located in idyllic countryside on the Wakes Hall Estate in the breath-taking Colne Valley on the Essex/Suffolk border. Each lodge boasts a verandah and the ultimate indulgence – a soothing Vita Spa 300 series Voeux hot tub, surrounded by 500 acres of land and walks to the village of Wakes Colne.

Knoydart Hide offers stunning luxury Scottish self-catering accommodation for two with hot tub and sauna in a beautiful and secluded woodland setting overlooking Loch Nevis. Total privacy, total luxury, 180 degree breakfast-in-bed forest views from your super-sized antique canopy bed, infra red sauna, outdoor floodlit hot tub, monsoon shower, free wifi throughout and freestanding bath, a truly unique experience.

With cottages and lodges sleeping from 2-9 guests Ta Mill in Cornwall has the facilities to cater for romantic getaways, family holidays, and weddings. The flexibility of self-catering allows you to enjoy the local attractions, but if you really don’t fancy cooking you can ‘rent a chef’ and enjoy a night in with all the luxuries of a night out!


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The skies the limit for Edinburgh Airport

EDINBURGH Airport has been named as Airport of the Year at the Scottish Transport Awards.  The airport recorded the busiest ever year for a Scottish airport in 2017, handling more than 13.4 million passengers – an increase of 8.6% on the previous year. It also added 34 new routes in 2017, 32 to international destinations.

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Prestigious award for Highland hotel

A Highland hotel set on the edge of a sea loch with beautiful views of the Torridon mountains has achieved VisitScotland’s most prestigious Quality Assurance (QA) accolade. The Torridon has achieved a 5 Star Gold award from the national tourism organisation.

The joint initiative between VisitScotland and the Scottish Government, with support from Scotland Food and Drink, aims to form stronger links between the places people visit and the food and drink experiences on offer.

Staff at The Torridon pride themselves on it being a sustainable business and holding a gold award within the Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS). GTBS is the largest and most established scheme of its type in the world and is an important part of Scotland’s future towards a sustainable tourism destination.

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Picture credit: dvdbramhall 35271748@N00/22621996671IMGP7208 via photopin.com

Links with history

DURING a spectacular summer of #golf, a group of historic golf clubs will celebrate a number of important milestones that coincide with The Open and the Seniors Open returning to #Scotland. Links with History, which features some of the finest courses in Fife, has announced a run of notable anniversaries as well as confirming encouraging year-on-year booking figures.

Links with History is a group of great golf courses and glorious histories, made up of four historic golf clubs; Crail Golfing Society est 1786; Scotscraig Golf Club est 1817; Lundin Golf Club est 1868 and Ladybank Golf Club est 1879. The clubs involved include former Open Championship Final Qualifying venues as well as trailblazers from golf’s golden era. 

www.linkswithhistory.com

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Picture Credit: pintrest.co.uk

Unique trail for whale watching in Scotland

SCOTLAND'S west coast offers excellent opportunities for accessible, land-based whale watching, with a remarkable range of species to be spotted. The region’s seas are home to around a quarter of the world’s whale and dolphin species – including bottlenose, Risso’s and common dolphins, harbour porpoises, minke whales and Orca.

People are being asked to contribute ideas for top sites for spotting whales, dolphins and porpoises from land on Scotland’s west coast, to help create a Hebridean Whale Trail that will be the first of its kind in the UK. The high-profile trail will be a network of around 25 world-class whale-watching and whale heritage sites. Its development is being led by charity Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust.

The project will promote #Scotland as one of Europe’s best destinations for spotting whales, dolphins and porpoises – collectively known as #cetaceans – and champion conservation of the Hebrides’ unique, globally important marine wildlife and environment.

Due for a summer 2019 launch, the ambitious initiative will connect and support existing wildlife tourism businesses and heritage sites of national cultural significance that showcase the history of people’s relationships with whales in the Hebrides. Many of these will be small, community-run visitor centres at spectacular sites.

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Cruise Loch Lomond

ONE of Scotland’s oldest family businesses has become one of only four five-star tours in the west of #Scotland following a grading from VisitScotland.

Sweeney’s Cruise Co, operating boats on Loch Lomond since the 1880s, has received the top grading from the national tourism organisation’s Quality Assurance (QA) Scheme in recognition of its exceptional standards. The QA Scheme is a benchmark for quality across the tourism industry and operates across accommodation, visitor attractions and food sectors.

Based in Balloch, the business started out as a few rowing boats but now operates one of Scotland’s most luxurious passenger fleets, offering eight different cruises on board five vessels. After over 130 years, it has come to know every inch of Loch Lomond’s 23 miles, varied wildlife and wealth of history, legend and folklore.

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Up in the air . . .

JET2COM and Jet2holidays will base a further aircraft at Glasgow Airport and launch two new routes as part of the airline’s summer 2019 plans.

The announcement marks another hugely expanded summer programme from Jet2.com’s Glasgow base - the biggest in Scotland - and demonstrates the airline’s continued commitment to the airport.

As part of a busy summer 2019 schedule Jet2.com and Jet2holidays will introduce two weekly services to Kos and Naples, taking the airline’s total number of sun and city destinations from Glasgow to 33. The airline will also introduce an additional 90,000 seats across its Glasgow Airport-based destination network.

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On the rails . . .

VIRGIN Trains has named one of its trains after one of Scotland’s most famous cultural icons in celebration of its role in serving #Glasgow.

The Charles Rennie Mackintosh Express will depart Scotland’s biggest city today (Monday, March 19) in support of Mackintosh 150, a year-long programme of events throughout 2018 celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Glasgow’s renowned artist, architect and designer.

The 390008 Pendolino train is adorned with Mackintosh’s trademark moustache on the front and his name displayed in his own lettering on plaques on either side.

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Top Dog at Edinburgh Airport

BREWDOG will open its doors this summer, offering passengers a range of beers from its Aberdeenshire-based brewery alongside those hand-picked from craft breweries from around the world. Famed for its wide selection of craft beers, it will also serve food to passengers at Edinburgh Airport and will be homed in the terminal’s brand-new extension, part of an £80 million expansion project.

It’s the first of many establishments expected to open this year at Scotland’s busiest airport, widening choice and variety for the 13.4 million passengers who travel through the terminal every year.

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147th Open at Carnoustie

AS anticipation grows for The 147th Open at #Carnoustie, a new website has been unveiled by Carnoustie Country as an online hub for the region’s 34 outstanding golf courses and accommodation providers. With preparations underway for the world’s oldest Major, Carnoustie Country has also unveiled a new legendary marketing campaign intended to underpin its reputation as a world-class #golfing destination boasting a golfing legacy stretching back over 450 years.

Providing insider knowledge about playing golf and staying in the east of #Scotland as well as detailing the very latest offers, the new Carnoustie Country website has been written and designed with the visiting golfer in mind. Featuring a chronological history of The Open at Carnoustie along with dedicated sections on links and inland courses – many of which were designed by legendary architects such as Old Tom Morris, Willie Park Jr and James Braid – the new website is brimming with information about golf in Angus, Perthshire and Fife.

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An Irish connection with Delta and Norwegian Airlines

DELTA Air Lines is now offering daily nonstop service to Boston’s Logan Airport from Dublin. The daily flight to Boston, which will operate throughout the summer, joins Delta’s existing services from the Irish capital — a year-round operation to New York-JFK, plus a summer offering to Atlanta. 

NORWEGIAN Airlines has begun new nonstop service to Providence, Rhode Island, from Belfast, Cork, Dublin, Edinburgh and Shannon beginning in June. They are also now offering flights from Hartford Bradley International Airport in Connecticut to Edinburgh, Scotland.

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Up in the air . . .

SCOTLAND'S only route to Finland will now operate the whole year round following an extension to the Edinburgh Helsinki service.

Finnair’s direct flight between the two capitals will extend to year round from 25th March with up to nine weekly flights in the summer season and up to three in winter.

It follows the announcement of two new routes from Edinburgh to Seville and Jersey in a positive start to 2018 for Scotland’s busiest airport.

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Numbers up on international tourists

OFFICIAL statistics released show that in the first nine months of 2017 there were a record 12.7 million visits to English regions outside London, up 4% compared to the same period in 2016.

International visitors spent £6.1 billion across England’s regions during this period.

There were also 909,000 overseas visits to Wales from January to September last year, up 6% compared to the same time in 2016, and visitors spent £337 million.

In Scotland, overseas visits increased 14% to 2.6 million in the first nine months of 2017 compared to the same time in 2016, with overseas visitors spending £1.8 billion.

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Hoppy to be in Scotland

IT'S believed that beer has been brewed in #Scotland for more than 5000 years and with more than 115 breweries, stretching from the Valhalla Brewery on Unst in Shetland to Portpatrick Brewery near Stranraer, Scotland is in the midst of a craft beer revolution.

Scotland’s Craft Beer Map will allow beer lovers to plot their very own ale adventures as they work their way around the country discovering some of the finest craft brews.

The new map from VisitScotland currently holds details of more than 70 producers, with more expected to be added in future. Virtual visitors can explore beers by region, find their favourite brands and embark on tours and tastings.

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Go wild in Scotland

SCOTLAND'S international reputation as a key destination for experiencing world-class wild landscapes and outstanding wildlife is to be boosted by Trees for Life joining a prestigious and growing European association of rewilding projects.

The conservation charity was invited to become a member of the European Rewilding Network – placing its restoration of the globally unique Caledonian Forest in the Highlands, especially in Glen Affric and Glenmoriston, firmly on the European map.

A key focus of the network is to show how rewilding – the restoration of damaged natural ecosystems – can benefit economic development, including through nature-based tourism, wildlife watching and volunteering opportunities.

A review of Scotland’s wildlife tourism sector by VisitScotland this year highlighted how the country’s landscapes, nature and wildlife are key reasons for people to choose it as a travel destination. Research in recent years has also shown that wildlife tourism generates an estimated £276 million a year for the Scottish economy.

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Picture Credit: By Rchillyard - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7528891

Count those Castles

RESEARCH has revealed that almost half (49%) of Brits have never visited a Scottish Castle, VisitScotland is encouraging visitors to get castle-bagging.

The research - which comes as the 2017 Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology comes to a close - also reveals that the Queen’s Holiday Home, Balmoral Castle, is Scotland’s second best-known castle (53%) after the iconic Edinburgh Castle, which 80% of British people were aware of.

In total, #Scotland is thought to have around 3000 standing #castles, ruins and documented sites. Of these, about 1050 are merely sites, including those where a house has been built on the site of a previous castle and about 825 are standing ruins. At the last count, around 660 were in use (private house, hotel or wedding venue) and around 469 were open to the public, though some only for a couple of weeks each year.

Aberdour Castle in Fife and Castle Sween in Argyll are thought to be two of the oldest datable standing castles in Scotland, dating from around 1200 and the youngest castle in Scotland is thought to be Carbisdale Castle which was built in 1907.

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