RUSSELL LEADBETTER
CHINESE tourists have an abundance of places to visit in Scotland.
They can take selfies next to the "Glorious armoured giant horses" or admire the scenic beauty of "Mountain lakes get you drunk on Dreams."
In Glasgow, they can drop in on the "always happy tea room" or flash their plastic on the "fashion long street." In Edinburgh, there's always the beautiful street with long history and profound culture.
Further afield, they can follow "Fragrant liqueur lane," while sampling "Baa-baa pudding" or "Golden brown haddock" and admiring the "strong-man Skirt Party" in the Highlands.
Some of these descriptions of Scottish sights may not trip off the native tongue.
They are among Mandarin names suggested by the Chinese public in a marketing exercise by the UK's national tourism body in China.
VisitBritain's £1.6 million campaign builds on a trend of giving relatable Mandarin names to favourite celebrities, places and foods.
The body said its Great Names for Great Britain campaign had reached nearly 300 million potential Chinese tourists via its Weibo and WeChat platforms across the former Communist country.
Some two million people visited the campaign pages and nearly 30 million Chinese people watched the launch video, with 13,000 new names suggested.
There were 101 British 'points of interest' in the poll, from Kensington Palace to Glastonbury Tor. Glen Coe received the third highest number of votes -24,505 - and the Highland Games was the most popular of the 23 Scottish points of interest, attracting 235 suggestions.
All 101 places or institutions have been given their three most popular Chinese names and will now work with VisitBritain to decide which name to go for.
The campaign reflects the reality of the growth of Chinese tourism in Britain.
Latest figures say that in the first nine months of last year, some 156,000 visits from China contributed £411 million to the UK's economy. Chinese tourists currently spend an average of £2,508 per visit compared to the overall average spend of £640 per visit.
For the benefit of non-Mandarin speakers, the Glorious armoured giant horses are the Kelpies, in Falkirk, while Mountain Lakes Get You Drunk on Dreams is the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs national park.
The other references are, in order, to the Willow Tea Rooms, the Style Mile, the Royal Mile, the Malt Whisky Trail, haggis, Arbroath smokies, and the Highland Games.
Other Scottish attractions included Loch Fyne, Fingal's Cave, Eilean Donan Castle and Glenfinnan Viaduct, the latter partly famous for having been seen in the Harry Potter films.
Joss Croft, marketing director at VisitBritain, said: "We want Britain to be the most attractive and welcoming destination for Chinese travellers in Europe.
"The naming campaign has given these Scottish locations and landmarks huge exposure across China and created an affinity with potential tourists. We hope the points of interest involved will embrace their new Mandarin name to help them compete for more high-spending tourists from the world's biggest outbound tourism market."
Denise Hill, Head of International Marketing at VisitScotland, said: "These extraordinary new monikers will only serve to lend even more intrigue and romance to places throughout Scotland which in turn will lead to further increases in visits from China."
Andy Scott, the artist responsible for the Kelpies, was "delighted" that the Falkirk attraction had been recognised "with such an evocative and dynamic Mandarin name."
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