Have you Beano-ver to see Stirling lately?
Comic strip characters blaze a trail for area’s tourism
Famous comic strip characters Dennis & Gnasher and Minnie the Minx are the faces of a new ‘blamazing’ tourism marketing campaign to reignite families’ love of rail adventures in Scotland - including Stirling.
Visitscotland and Scotrail have teamed up with Beano for the first time to promote family holidays and day trips across the country.
The two-year campaign aims to use the cross-generational appeal of one of the UK’S best-loved comics and Scotrail’s Kids for a Quid deal, to promote sustainable travel as part of Scottish tourism’s recovery.
A special landing page – www. visitscotland.com/beano – has been created with Dennis, Gnasher and Minnie highlighting places to visit in each of Scotland’s seven cities, including Stirling. They include dog-friendly days out.
Research on the family market by national tourism organisation Visitscotland found that affordability, easy transport access and nostalgia are important decision-making triggers for parents considering a UK holiday destination.
Of those surveyed, children had a “big influence” on the destination for one in five families.
The UK family market accounts for a third of all overnight and day trips in Scotland. Prior to the pandemic, overnight stays by families saw year-on-year growth since 2016, with an average 13 per cent increase in trips on the previous year. UK families took 2.2 million overnight family holidays in Scotland in 2019 – an increase of 15 per cent on 2018 and the highest in ten years.
On average, UK families take around 41.1 million day trips a year in the country, generating £2.1 billion per annum.
Scotrail Kids for a Quid tickets means up to four children (aged 5-15) can travel for just £1 return on off-peak and weekend journeys with every paying adult.
Additionally, it also gives one free child entry to some of Scotland’s most popular attractions when purchasing a full price adult ticket at the attraction.
Vicki Miller, Director of Marketing and Digital at Visitscotland, said: “The campaign will provide a creative way to further support the recovery of the tourism industry while promoting sustainable travel experiences to the benefit of visitors, communities and our environment.”
Mike Stirling, Beano’s Director of Mischief, said: “For me, Beano has always represented the heart of Scotland’s storytelling. As a kid, it was visiting new places by rail that sparked my own sense of imagination. I’d be engrossed in my comic as we left the station before glimpses of new places distracted me.
“All of Scotland’s seven cities, every visit, you come away with a new story to share.”
Among the dozens of Stirling attractions highlighted in the campaign are Go Forth Stirling Land Train; Argyll’s Lodging; Blair Drummond Safari Park; Plean Country Park; Briarlands Farm; Old Town Jail; Smith Art Gallery and Museum; and Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park.
As a kid, it was visiting new places by rail that sparked my own sense of imagination Mike Stirling Beano director