Creative breaks – A new trend

With an increasing number of holidays in Scotland offering opportunities for visitors to learn a new skill, are creative breaks Britain’s newest travel trend? Lonely Planet Travel Editor, Tom Hall, believes so: “One of the hottest trends in travel is learning a new skill while you're away. Travellers are keen to get more out of their trip - whether it's cooking up a feast, learning a language or something more off-the-wall. Destinations that offer an easy-going environment to learn in are increasingly attractive as people's enthusiasm for on-the-road learning grows.”

Scotland has a long history of inspiring visitors and embracing creativity from hosting the biggest Arts Festival in the world to holding the title as the world’s first City of Literature in Edinburgh. However, with a medley of inspiring breaks on offer in Scotland, visitors now have the opportunity to get more hands on than ever before. Courses range from photographic safaris in the Northern Highlands; bringing out the impressionist within on a painting holiday in the colourful fishing villages of Fife, writing workshops at the Edinburgh International Book Festival and honing your horticultural skills at the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh.

Inspiring holidays in Scotland are the theme behind a new advertising campaign targeting London commuters this month. The joint promotion by VisitScotland and Highland Spring includes a colourful collection of iconic Scottish landscapes, which will feature prominently across London underground and main rail stations. The watercolour theme highlights the purity of Scotland and draws on Scotland’s beautiful countryside, seascapes and dramatic light to inspire Londoners.

Yvette Kerr, Product Manager at VisitScotland added: “Inspiring Scotland is at the heart of our campaign helping visitors to create their own itineraries via our website www.visitscotland.com/beinspiredand offering ideas for anyone interested in developing a new skill or other forms of creative break whilst on holiday. Scotland’s majestic landscapes, ever-changing light and sensational natural larder is the perfect backdrop for a holiday whether you simply wish to relax and drink it all in or achieve something more.”

On the west coast, Airdeny Self-Catering Chalets recently launched creative courses in painting, photography, writing and crafts. In Edinburgh, Michelin-starred Martin Wishart opened his first cook school in December 2007 while in April 2008, Cooking Mania, a cook school for kids opened its doors.

As tickets for this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival went on sale recently, a spokesperson commented:

“For 2008, the Edinburgh International Book Festival is presenting almost 50 workshops and master classes on creative writing and the workings of the industry: from tips on how to get published to the craftsmanship of writing for radio or turning a novel into a film script. Throughout the years we have seen the number of events in this strand growing due to ever increasing demand – in fact, out of nearly 800 events, our writing workshops are amongst the first events to sell out. Our audiences are enthusiastic about writing and writers, and some of our most loyal visitors plan their holiday calendar around the book festival.”

For further information, log on to Visitscotland.com/beinspired for ideas, special offers and the opportunity to build your own itinerary online.