Scotland: National Rural NetworkOn May 27th 2010, Tourism Minister Jim Mather announced a year-long culinary celebration as the first in 4 themed years to build on the Legacy of the 2009 Year of Homecoming and pave the way for the subsequent Homecoming Celebrations in 2014:2010 Food & Drink; 2011 Active Scotland; 2012 Creativity and Innovation; 2013 Natural Scotland.
A Taste of Arran, the island's network of 11 food producers, and VisitArran, the island's social enterprise Destination Management Organisation encompassing 75 diverse businesses, have worked in partnership with Event Scotland and Scotland Food & Drink to identify a programme of events which will allow the promotion of Arran as one of the UK's premier tourism destinations and position Arran as Scotland's Food Island.
Proposed themes in the following years have many synergies with the Arran ‘Product Offering' and present a clear framework on which to build a promotional programme which will be the catalyst for the sustainable economic growth of the island's tourism industry. The annual theme for 2010 builds on work already undertaken where Food & Drink is a cornerstone of the ‘Arran Brand'.
All of the companies involved in Taste of Arran are based on the island and use traditional recipes and locally produced ingredients wherever possible resulting in a range of high quality products with provenance and heritage. Funding is currently being sought to employ a full time Project Manager to co-ordinate an initial year long programme of activity and to provide a budget for individual events and associated promotional activity.
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