Slowly but surely, tourism is picking up in the sylvan highlands of Scotland despite recession, thanks to an increase in the number of Indian tourists, keen to explore the locales where popular Indian films were shot. The Scottish tourism industry has already registered a bumper season so far and hotels and attractions are gearing up for a busy period in the holiday season.

One of the main attractions for Indians is to explore the home of Scotch whiskey, industry sources say. More than 10 Indian films have been shot in Scotland in the last decade, including the Tamil blockbuster, Kandukondain Kandukondain, and Dev Anand’s Main Solah Baras Ki.

Tour operators say that the purchase of whiskey major Whyte and Mackay, which owns a distillery at Invergordon, by Indian liquor baron Vijay Mallya may have contributed to a rise in the number of Indians visiting Scotland. John Shearer, owner of the Mansfield Caste Hotel at Tain, said: "There are quite a few Indian visitors and I think this is as a result of marketing by Whyte and MacKay and their Indian connections."

Mallya’s United Breweries bought Whyte and Mackay in 2007 for £595 million. Willie Cameron, a spokesman of Loch Ness Marketing, added he had noticed a dramatic increase in Indian tourists. "I think one of the reasons is that the Indian economy is buoyant at the moment and a lot of work is going on there. But there are other factors.

There are a number of Indian businessmen who own Scottish companies. Whiskey is also becoming big in India," Cameron said. Inverness Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Stuart Nicol informed visitor numbers in the area were "definitely up". He said: "Our attractions and hotels are saying that May was a superb month, and for some it was one of the best ever. They say it was better than their traditional peak months of July and August".

Destination Loch Ness Chairman Graham Ambrose said: "Tourism as a whole has been pretty good. We are seeing a lot more Europeans, although the American market is down. But we are seeing a growth in the Asian market, especially India."

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