Welcoming Tourists To Scotland
Many tourists visit Scotland each year but those in the tourist industry shouldn’t forget the importance of first impressions when arriving at the airport. One particular sight I was greeted with on arrival at Edinburgh Airport will stay with me for some time. It was of a man in a vest, hammer in hand, hitting a barrel as hard as he could and in the process producing a cacophony of noise. On closer inspection it was revealed that the man, with a visible sweat on, was showing incomers to the country how a whisky barrel was fashioned. The noise generated was louder than the planes outside.
If they had been giving out free samples of whisky it would have made sense but the fact that hundreds of travelers had to navigate around this unnecessary obstacle was simply an inconvenience. There is an undoubted art to making a whisky barrel and it should rightly be celebrated. However it would surely be more fitting for such a celebration to be part of a distillery tour or as the centrepiece of a whisky society social evening.
In the confines of the airport, other great Scottish inventions such as the television or telephone would have made more suitable celebratory subjects. Or, perhaps a promotion for the the military tattoo instead of one man, a barrel and a hammer. It certainly sent out a befuddling message – Welcome to Scotland – where we bash things and perspire as you desperately navigate baggage reclaim.
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