A look back at Fife's innovative year

As the region celebrated the Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design, it was appropriate that the Kingdom should feature two significant international events showcasing what north east Fife can offer both leisure and business tourism.

The Fairmont Hotel played host to a major event in the business tourism calendar, Meet in Scotland, organised by VisitScotland’s Business Events team.

International and domestic event planners, from countries such as France, Switzerland and Austria, got a real taste of the region in amongst the 500 ‘speed appointments’.

The home of golf became the temporary home for more than 60 golf tour operators and 70 buyers spanning 33 different countries and 4 continents as St Andrews hosted the first-ever Scottish Golf Tourism Week.

Manuela Calchini, VisitScotland’s regional director for Fife, said: “They say you have to look to the past to understand the present.

“For Fife, it is a past steeped in the history of Scotland’s prominent kings and queens. A region that not only boasts the ‘home of golf’ at St Andrews, but also the oldest tennis court in Britain at Falkland. Next year we celebrate Scotland’s fascinating history and Fife will play its part, including a wonderful opportunity to commemorate the Forth Bridge, one of Scotland’s six UNESCO World Heritage Sites, as we look forward to the opening of the new Queensferry Crossing.

“The spiritual home of whisky will once again thrive in Fife, with Lindores Abbey Distillery, whose grounds contained the earliest written evidence of whisky distillation in Scotland, due to open in 2017.

“In addition, there have been more than 20 million views of our Spirit of Scotland short films which include The Seafood Restaurant in St Andrews.

She added: “With our world-renowned history and knowledgeable and passionate tourism industry, the Kingdom of Fife is poised to take great advantage of Scotland’s Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology.”