Tartan Army hailed as ‘fantastic ambassadors for Scotland’ by tourism boss

It is hoped the tens of thousands of Scots who travelled to Germany will spark a boost for tourism in Scotland.

Scotland fans have been hailed as ‘fantastic ambassadors’ for the country (PA) (PA Wire)

A tourism chief has described the Tartan Army as “fantastic ambassadors for Scotland”, amid hopes Scotland’s run in Euro 2024 will see a rise in holidaymakers from host nation Germany.

VisitScotland, the country’s national tourism organisation, said visits to its website by users in Germany rose 83% during Scotland’s spell in the tournament, when an estimated 200,000 Scottish fans travelled to Germany to cheer on the national team.

Between June 13 and June 23, the visitscotland.com site had 14,925 active users from Germany, compared with 8,147 for the same period the year before.

Images of tartan-clad Scotland supporters enjoying their team’s first overseas tournament since 1998 attracted worldwide media attention, and a recent poll by German media outlet RTL saw them voted the best supporters at this year’s tournament.

Idris Elba and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer meet families of knife crime victims at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith, London (Stefan Rousseau/PA) (PA Wire)

VisitScotland chief executive Malcolm Roughead said: “We couldn’t agree more that the Tartan Army have not just been a great support to our national team but also fantastic ambassadors for Scotland.

“It’s been incredible to see the scenes of Scotland fans displaying that famous Scottish welcome and earning such praise from the German supporters.

“Since the start of Euro 24, we’ve noticed an increase in traffic to our website from Germany, with visits almost doubling compared to this time last year.

Idris Elba and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer meet families of knife crime victims at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith, London (Stefan Rousseau/PA) (PA Wire)

“Germany is one of our key overseas markets, attracting 343,000 visits and £247 million spend last year. Our research shows that German visitors choose Scotland for its scenery and landscapes, history and culture, and our people, with the Scotland fans a leading example of this.

“We’ll continue to build on this interest through our marketing activity, which includes our most recent campaign targeting key cities in the west of Germany which have strong visitor demand and connectivity to Scotland.”

The mobile digital advertising campaign, which aims to promote Scotland as the perfect getaway for locals looking to substitute the football drama with dramatic scenery, is expected to be seen by up to two million people over the course of the tournament.