Visitors from across the world will descend on some of Scotland’s most iconic film locations as tourism bosses showcase the best the country has to offer.
The film and fiction tour is being held as part of a VisitScotland expo taking place at Aberdeen’s AECC from April 22 to 23, and will include a stop-off at a historic castle just along the coast.
Dunnottar, near Stonehaven, has inspired a succession of movie-makers over the years – most recently the team behind a forthcoming adaptation of Frankenstein, starring Daniel Radcliffe and James McAvoy.
It is just one of a series of landmarks which will be presented to tour operators from as far afield as the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Switzerland and the US.
The delegates will also visit Glencoe – used in James Bond film, Skyfall, and as a location for the grounds of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films – and Glen Nevis, another backdrop for the Potter series.
Elsewhere, the group will call at Glasgow – which was transformed into Philadelphia for World War Z and has been used for several Ken Loach movies including The Angel’s Share, Ae Fond Kiss and My Name Is Joe – and J.M. Barrie’s birthplace of Kirriemuir in Angus.
And no visit would be complete without a trip to Loch Ness – a backdrop for the TV show Outlander, among its many other credits. Trips have also been organised to other filming locations for the hit show, including Culloden Battlefield, the Clava Cairns, Beauly Priory and Culross.
More than 200 businesses from across Scotland are attending the event in Aberdeen, which is expected to generate more than £24million worth of investment. Malcolm Roughead, chief executive of VisitScotland, said the country’s silver-screen connections were too good an opportunity to pass up.
“It’s essential we fuel the imagination of our overseas tour operators each year, giving them lots of inspiration for how they can package up Scotland for their customers,” he said. “From connections with big-budget Hollywood movies like Harry Potter and James Bond, to classic works of fiction like Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes, some of the world’s most recognised films and books have direct ties to Scotland, and we’re using this to our advantage.”