A NEW campaign aimed at attracting visitors to the south of Scotland has been launched by VisitScotland.

Unveiled this week, the See the South campaign hopes to promote the Scottish Borders and Dumfries & Galloway by focusing on the coastal and forest activities on offer.

The initial phase of the two-year campaign marketing the south of the country is a film which follows a family of four as they take a road trip through the region.

The family embark on an adventure including adrenaline-fuelled cycling at 7Stanes as well as an aerial adventure at Glentress’s Go Ape attraction.

The short film also includes scenes at St Abb’s National Nature Reserve in Berwickshire as well as the Cairn Holy Chambered Cairns in Newton Stewart and the night sky of the Dark Sky Park at Galloway Forest Park.

Paula Ward, VisitScotland Regional Leadership Director, said: “This film really does bring to life the dark skies, dramatic coastline and some of the world’s best walking and cycling routes on offer across the south of Scotland.

“It is a very exciting time for tourism in the South of Scotland with the launch of this ambitious two-year campaign to develop and deliver an ambitious, targeted and co-ordinated marketing programme that promotes the wealth of fantastic experiences on offer across the South of Scotland to European markets for the very first time.

“The time is right now for tourism businesses in the Scottish Borders and Dumfries & Galloway to get involved and help encourage visitors from across the world to See South Scotland for themselves. A dedicated toolkit has been created for tourism businesses so they can access campaign material - I would encourage everyone to get on board and shout about the fantastic area where they live and work.”

The campaign will run across VisitScotland’s global digital channels targeting potential visitors from home and abroad, encouraging them to make the South of Scotland the main reason for their visit to the country.

The See South Scotland campaign will also include the creation of online content, foreign press trips, partnerships and digital marketing campaigns. An £500,000 additional funding from the Scottish Government was announced by VisitScotland at its annual tourism conference in Dumfries in October.

Additionally, nine tourism businesses from the Scottish Borders and Dumfries & Galloway travelled to Amsterdam at the end of October, as part of the national tourism organisation’s first European Business Development Mission.

Tourism Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “Tourism is one of Scotland’s key growth sectors and we want to enable the sector to grow sustainably.

“We are committed to promoting the South of Scotland as a tourism destination and this video is part of a larger, South of Scotland specific marketing campaign. The video and wider campaign highlights the South of Scotland’s unique scenery and tourism attractions including exciting adventure tourism and mountain biking opportunities.

“The South of Scotland has much to offer through its scenery, local food and drink, quiet hideaways as well as many bustling festivals. I am pleased to welcome this campaign which highlights some of the very best the South of Scotland has to offer which will no doubt attract many more visitors to the area.”