Commenting on the Government’s announcement that it intends to hold another Homecoming event in 2014, Liberal Democrat Culture spokesperson Iain Smith MSP said:

“Homecoming Scotland was a good idea handled badly by the SNP. Despite a multimillion pound investment in Homecoming Scotland, the rise in the number of overseas visitors was less than impressive. We can’t really tell if this was down to Homecoming Scotland, or a result of the weak pound.

“The SNP is now proposing to spend millions on Homecoming 2014. At a time when Government resources are under such pressure, Ministers need to be absolutely sure that their spending priorities are right.

“I would hope that the lure of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the Ryder Cup in 2014 would be sufficient to attract more overseas visitors to Scotland. If Homecoming 2009 was such an “remarkable” success, perhaps Ministers would be better off making it a year when we don’t have at least two high profile international sports events.”