As part of the Year of Coasts and Waters 20/21, we took a closer look at some of the businesses and organisations who made the most of the water wellness trend.
Karen Christie is Tourism Adviser at Fife Council. She shared some of the ways in which Welcome to Fife engaged with and benefited from the Themed Year.
The Welcome to Fife team's role is to promote the Kingdom of Fife as a visitor destination. Boasting the Fife Coastal Path - Scotland's longest continuous coastal path stretching 117 miles - the Year of Coast & Waters Themed Year provided a great opportunity to further promote our stunning coastline, picturesque fishing villages and water activities.
Throughout the year we have created blogs, as well as inspiring social media posts using the hashtag #YCW2021 and #waterwellness. We've also recently produced a video with Blown Away as part of the 'Welcome to our Home - Welcome to Fife' series due to go live shortly.
Our blogs have included a look at how to explore our coasts and waters for wellness in Fife and recommendations of where to celebrate the Themed Year in the region.
Our promotion has heavily focused on encouraging visitors to explore the outdoors and water wellness has played a key part.
Coastal locations have been extremely popular with visitors who have enjoyed trips to Fife's many award-winning beaches to refuel the soul. There's also been a surge in popularity of wild swimming along Fife's coast, as well as visitors trying out new watersports, including paddle boarding at locations such as Elie, St Andrews, Kinghorn Loch and Lochore Meadows.
We've also seen an increase in visitors looking for places to eat outdoors and have welcomed the addition of new eateries by the sea including Salt and Pine at Tentsmuir, Shipwreck Seafood at Newport-on-Tay and The Harbour Cafe at Elie.
Kinghorn beach by evening. Credit: Welcome to Fife
We've done this through blog posts and using the hashtag #YCW2021 and #waterwellness in relevant social media posts through Welcome to Fife channels. We've also promoted the campaign and toolkit to Fife tourism businesses through the Fife Tourism Partnership.