Destinations

Whole Lotta Haggis Going On

scotland-oct24

Visit Scotland and about a dozen partners called in Toronto late last week to update travel agents and wholesalers on what’s going on in the bonnie nation.

Workshops and networking were on the agenda, with the event also taking place in Montreal. If that wasn’t enough, the Toronto group of agents and Scots specialists were treated to a whiskey tasting and haggis lunch, complete with traditional “piping in” ceremony (shown) and Robert Burn’s tribute to the national dish of Scotland, which is notoriously cooked in a sheep’s stomach.

Visit Scotland assistant marketing manager – North America, Hayley Forson, told PressToday that Canada is a key market for her country, with 4.7 million Canadians claiming Scottish ancestry; and more than 40% of Canadian visitors list that heritage as a reason to visit, she added.

But how many Canadians go for the haggis? “That,” Forson laughed, “is not part of our research.”