Visit Scotland held a fine event in Toronto on Tuesday night, with tons of great information about a destination Canadians love to visit.
I’ve somehow never been to Scotland as a travel writer, but I was there after I graduated from college and had a marvellous time in Edinburgh and up around Loch Ness.
There are a remarkable 13 UNESCO sites in Scotland, and they’ve created a UNESCO trail so you can enjoy all of them, or sample from the ones you think look best.
Of course, there’s also amazing history, increasingly fabulous food, Scotch whisky and gin, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Glasgow’s museums, remote highland walks, pristine lakes and some of the world’s best golf.
“We are open for business,” Keith Campbell of Visit Scotland said at the Tuesday event. “My flight to Toronto was full, and we’re getting very strong load factors.”
Some five million Canadians can trace their ancestry to Scotland, and the tourism folks are using the slogan “Scotland is Calling.”
Canada is an important market for Scotland, and WestJet is making it increasingly easy for Canadians to visit.
Their Halifax-Glasgow service, which originally began in 2015, has been restored and there are three flights per week.
Flights between Toronto and Glasgow on WestJet also have restarted and go four times a week. WestJet will begin Toronto-Edinburgh flights (three per week) tomorrow (June 2, 2022).
WestJet’s Monica Stevenson said the airline this summer will operate at 94% of pre-pandemic levels. They’ll have 43 domestic routes, 23 transborder flights, 16 Caribbean flights and eight Trans-Atlantic routes, she said.
