Matinee idol and Indian film industry's God Rajnikanth's first look in the forthcoming flick "Lingaa" was released just recently.
It is believed that one of the major song sequences in the film will be shot in Scotland — known for its ethereally beautiful Highlands.
The news has left the tourism board of Scotland thrilled.
The Board is hoping that India's swelling community of high end travellers and the country's fast spending younger generation chose Scotland for their next holiday, inspired by Rajnikanth.
Speaking to TOI, Sarah Drummond from the Scotland Tourism Board said "Set-jetting, where people visit their favourite movie locations is a growing trend — we know from research that 1 in 5 people are inspired to visit Scotland having seen it on film or on TV, so there is a huge market for us to explore. Our screen tourism activities vary depending on the type of film and the link it has to Scotland, but at the core of our activity it is about us promoting the destination and encouraging people to visit it".
"There is nothing like seeing Scotland's stunning scenery on the big screen to inspire people, and that's a fantastic advertisement for the country that money couldn't buy. We have worked with distributors on a number of film promotions, from the Da Vinci Code, to Shrek, to Disney Pixar's Brave and have seen some excellent results so far. For example, the release of the Da Vinci Code saw Rosslyn Chapel's visitor numbers rise by 72% from 68,603 in 2004 to 175,053 in 2006, after the movie was released. The rise in visitor numbers has helped the Chapel complete restoration works to the historic property to conserve it for future generations, not to mention leaving thousands of visitors intrigued about its mysterious past".
Sources told TOI that Visit Scotland is about to release a new Bollywood map that will not only help discerning travellers visit Indian film locations across Scotland but will also introduce Bollywood to some jaw dropping Scottish locales.
But what makes India such an important tourism market for Scotland?
Officials at the tourism board said "Half of India's population is under 25. The urban middle class is estimated at around 300 million. Mumbai and Delhi are each home to more than 12 million people. There are 10.3 million outbound visits from India. India was the world's 23rd most valuable source market for international tourism in 2012 with an expenditure of $12.3 billion".
The UK is the 9th most popular destination for residents of India with 3,39,000 visits in 2012 and expenditure of £333 million. Tourism Economics estimated the UK accounts for 3.5% of all outbound trips from India.
India was UK's 16th largest source market in terms of visits, 15th ranked by spend and 10th by total nights. Tourists from India made 18,000 trips to Scotland in 2012, with a total of 5,59,000
bed nights and a total spend of £18 million. Around 5.3% of all visits to Great Britain included a trip to Scotland. In 2012, India was Scotland's 21st largest international market in terms of visits, 10th in terms of nights and 15th in spend.
Edinburgh is the third most visited town after London and Birmingham for Indian visitors to the UK. Glasgow follows Manchester in fifth place.
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