Incentive - July 2009 - (Page 46)

TRAVEL Second to None Edinburgh might get all the glory, but Glasgow, Scotland’s second city, offers groups no less castles and other incentive attractions By David Block here is a tendency to look at Scotland and see just two incentive destinations: Edinburgh and the Old Course at St. Andrew’s, in Fife. And while Scotland’s capital city has much going for it: royal venues, world-class cuisine, a rich and vibrant cultural, nightlife, and one of the finest resorts in the world—Gleneagles—there are other parts of the country worth considering. Scotland has arguably the world’s best golf and whisky, as well as colorful history, magnificent culture, and castles galore. Its incentives and meetings services are now of the highest international standards. And it’s pretty accessible, with frequent direct airlift from the U.S. to Scotland’s major cities, plus 100 flights a day to and from London. Oh, and the exchange rate between the dollar and the pound is excellent right now. Start with the second city, Glasgow, which suffers slightly in its rivalry with Edinburgh by having no immediately recognizable graphic image. It began catching up in 1990, when SITES OF INTEREST it was chosen as the year’s European City of Culture. businesstourism@visitscotland.com Suddenly there was a realwww.ubiquitouschip.co.uk ization that this was one of www.gsa.ac.uk the U.K.’s finest Victorian cities, an almost unsung www.devere-hotels.com/ourcultural jewel abounding hotels/cameron-house/the-hotel with grand architecture, www.achnagairn.com imaginative restaurants— like the offbeat Ubiquitous www.scone-palace.co.uk Chip, recently voted one of www.ackergill-tower.co.uk Europe’s best restauwww.oldcourse-experience.com rants—potent night-life, spouse attractions like www.gleneagles.com some of the best shopping www.conventionscotland.com/usa in the U.K., and a string of cultural jewels. It’s home T to the lauded Scottish Opera and Scottish Ballet, has over 20 free museums including the Glasgow’s Central Station Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum—now the U.K.’s most visited museum and a buzzing social venue—and Charles Mackintosh’s sensuous Art Nouveau designs in both the Mackintosh House and the Glasgow School of Art. Twenty miles from Glasgow, on the spectacular Loch Lomond, stands the imposing Cameron House Hotel, which makes it reachable by seaplane and offers archery, golf, training with birds of prey, and meetings facilities with terrific views. Further north, 15 minutes from Inverness Airport, in the dramatic Highlands stands Achnagairn House, another example of Scotland’s surprisingly diverse selection of centuries-old heritage properties available to smaller groups. It’s an imposing Edwardian mansion that eases open its elegant doors for exclusive incentives, meetings, parties, and team-building exercises. Also on the A-list is the 15th-century Ackergill Tower in Caithness; it has no bar, no restaurant, and no reception area to brag about, but it does offer an 80-seat theatre, a 70-seat banquet hall, and 25 luxurious guest rooms. The Scots weren’t so welcoming when the English army came knocking in the 17th-century with an intent on stealing the Stone of Destiny. Scone Palace (pronounced “skoon”) was its location, just north of Perth. Macbeth and Robert the Bruce were crowned king while seated on the Stone. The palace may no longer have its Stone—it’s buried but no one know where—but it does possess one of Scotland’s finest collections of French and Scottish decorative art and Marie Antoinette’s desk. Its Long Gallery is the longest such room in Scotland, while huge Gothic oak doors open to a dining room that can seat 110 delegates in baronial splendor. 46 | Incentive | July 2009 | incentivemag.com http://www.ubiquitouschip.co.uk http://www.gsa.ac.uk http://www.devere-hotels.com/our-hotels/cameron-house/the-hotel http://www.achnagairn.com http://www.scone-palace.co.uk http://www.ackergill-tower.co.uk http://www.oldcourse-experience.com http://www.gleneagles.com http://www.conventionscotland.com/usa http://www.incentivemag.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Incentive - July 2009

Incentive - July 2009
Contents
Editor’s Note: Motivation 2.0
Headlines
Cover Story: Four Industry Veterans Put the State of Motivation into Perspective
The True Face of Incentives
Orlando Summit: Road Warriors
Strategies: Survive and Thrive
Primer: Online Systems
Travel News: Where To Go
Reno/Tahoe Rebirth; Atlantic City Aces
Scotland’s Other City
Hong Kong Calling
Potentials: Here and Now
Watches & Clocks: Old Is New Again
Writing Instruments: The Write Award
Golf Meetings
Planning a Golf Meeting, 101
Formats, Games, Prizes, and the Awards Ceremony
The How, What, Why, and Win of Hole-in-one Insurance
How the PGA Professional Can Help Your Meeting Plans
A Woman's View of Golf
Opinion: The (New) Perception of Golf Resorts
In Closing: Boondoggle is Not Part of the Golf Vocabulary

Incentive - July 2009