Scotland's Invisible Exports

8th November 1963, Page 144

8th November 1963

Page 144

Page 145

Page 146

Page 144, 8th November 1963 — Scotland's Invisible Exports

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pRINCES STREET, Edinburgh, is a great place for hearing talk in other people's tongues and when visitors to the International Festival of Music and Drama are present in force in the latter part of August it is by no means impossible to make the 15-minute walk all the way from North Bridge to the Castle without hearing a single word of English. The Scottish capital fully lives up to what in modern parlance is called its image, and in consequence the city is beloved by many an overseas visitor who has found that not every tourist target fulfils its reputation.

Edinburgh offers Scotland's guests a dignified welcome and good value for their money (many of them are frankly. surprised at the reasonableness of the charges for coach and bus services, in particular) and the Scots' efforts in all parts of their country have resulted in a striking contribution to the tourist industry which is Britain's greatest dollar earner. Not the least attraction of the Scottish capital is the network of local services and extended coach tours. Even those who elect to spend their holidays in other parts of Scotland rarely forget the appeal of the capital. Away on the Clyde coast there is a constant demand for day trips to Edinburgh, and Ifloadds' Coaches Ltd., Troon, say that instances of 300 passengers travelling on one day are by no means uncommon.

Because of the number of tourists who

arrive at Prestwick international airport and make Edinburgh their first objective Scottish Omnibuses Ltd. runs a genuine luxury coach service, under the title of the Trans-Atlantic Express; between the two points. Fares are quoted in both British and American currency, namely

1 5s. or $3-50. Operating from June to October, the service links Up with the transatlantic flights and is also suitable for a number of international schedules. The corporation provides the link between the city centre and Edinburgh's own airport.

For many years Edinburgh Corporation Transport has made a feature of city tours and the department now has a fleet of 22 coaches which are specially painted in the city colours of black and white in contrast to the Edinburgh livery of madder and white. When I was in the city in the summer the newest vehicles in use were a dozen Bedfords, nine of these being Bella Vega-bodied SB models and three Bedford VAS with Bella Vista bodies, Passengers using these services are in skilled hands, for the couriers employed by the corporation are drivers who have passed the diploma examination of the Scottish Tourist Guides' Association.

Conducted visits to three places of vital interest to any student of Scottish history —the Castle, St. Giles Cathedral and the Palace of Holyrood House—are included in a three-hour tour which costs 12s. 6d. A fare of 9s, covers a coach ride to Granton, a sail to Inehcolm Island and

return. Each of three two-hour tours at 6s, combines one of the places visited by the long tour with a carefully planned ride round the city. On six local trips (1-1f hours, 3s.) stops arc made at various places of interest, but the passengers do not leave the coach On week-days during the period of the Festival industrial trips are run with visits to famous commercial undertakings The number of passengers carried by the Corporation coaches during a normal season runs well into six figures.

Scottish Omnibuses Ltd. runs a 12s. 6d. city tour lasting 3i hours, also for a limited period of the year a 24-hour

Sunday tourlct The company's function, however, is more especially to cater for the holidaymaker who wishes to travel farther afield. No fewer than 19 half-day excursions are listed in the 1963 brochure, while 20 destinations figure in the list of full-day excursions which extend south to the Mull of Galloway and the Border Country, north to Braemar, north-west to °ban, and west to the Clyde steamers and the Kyles of Bute.

Hundreds of enchanting names fill the itineraries for the extended tours of Scottish Omnibuses and these offer the opportunity of covering big stretches of fascinating country at extremely reason

able charges. For a three-day coach cruise by way of Glencoe, the Caledonian Canal, and Inverness, the cost including two nights' hotel and all meals is £11. At the other end of the scale eight-day tours at £31 extend to John a' Groats in the far north and offer a number of options as to route.

If the visitor who has arrived in Edinburgh is London-bound, Scottish Omnrbuses offers a wide choice of services southward, starting with the daily express which covers the 391 miles in 13 hr. 40 min. at a single fare of 50s. But holidaymaker s, particularly those from overseas, often seek more leisurely progress and

for them, two-day, three-day, and fourday journeys between the two capitals are offered at the respective single fares of £8 10s., £15 and £19, all meals and hotels inclusive.

To attempt anything in the nature of a comprehensive review of the facilities offered by coach operators in Scotland would be out of the question in the space available. Of the independents, Dodds' Coaches Ltd. operates an extensive series of day excursions from various points on the Clyde Coast; their facilities are dealt 'with in considerable detail in a wellillustrated handbook of more than 100 pages. Dodds also operates inclusive tours from centres at Ayr, Prestwick or Troon, the all-in costs ranging from 16 guineas (or 47 dollars) for seven days and from £31 10s, or 89 dollars) for 14 days.

Among the more unusual services are such facilities as those provided by Smiths of Grantown-on-Spey, who during the winter sports season collect sk i-ing enthusiasts from the neighbourhood, carrying them up past Loch Morlich to the slopes of Cairngorm, returning with them at the end of the day. During the summer holiday season a coach is often available to carry passengers up the steep, narrow and rough track that links the Cairngorm car park with the lower station of the chair-lift up the mountain, operated by the Cairngorm Winter Sports Development Board Ltd. The "fare per passenger mile" is sufficient to turn any bus company's accountant green with envy, but the "route' would surely cause the average traffic manager to go grey on the spot

From my own album of Scottish travel I would finally select Simpsons of Rosehearty, dear Fraserburgh, whose bus services enabled me recently to visit the quaint cliff-side village of Gardenstown on the Banffshire coast, a spot that it would have been a great pity to miss whilst in that part of the country.

The many facets of Scotland offer the holidaymaker a variety that is unexcelled and up and down the country the Scottish road operators ensure that access for all is easy and economical'.

What does all this mean in the cold terms of trade and traffic? Figures produced by the Scottish Tourist Board show that in 1962 some 666,000 visitors came

to Scotland from overseas. Of these 230,000 were from Europe, 207000 Were from the Commonwealth, 205,000 from the United States and 24,009 from other countries. During that season English and Welsh operators brought 43,039 passengers to Scotland on day trips and 73,985 on extended tours. Scottish operators carried 1 ,113,796 on day exctirsions and 21,258 on their extended tours. Df the last two categories a proportion must, of course, have been Scots holidaymakers loyal to their own land. All, we may be sure, enjoyed to the full the incomparable scenes which so often before the advent of the motor coach were beyond the reach

of the ordinary traveller. T.T.