Caroline Newson Lennox & Moira Dyer
of See Glasgow
Visit Britain's Ted Flett sips tea with writers Waheeda Harris & Vawn Himmelsbach
The exquisite tea cups & saucers -
they were all different!
Three tiers of deliciousness
Let’s face it: Scottish people tend to be stereotyped as somewhat frugal. And, if we’re to be honest, they’re not known to be particularly... um, romantic either. So when an invitation arrived to a posh Valentine’s Day tea to celebrate Glasgow Loves, I was a teensy bit apprehensive, but my Gran was from Glasgow, and she would have loved the idea. So, it was decided: I was to spend the most romantic afternoon of the year enjoying a proper afternoon tea with a group of Glaswegians at the Holt Renfrew Café.
Caroline Newson Lennox and Moira Dyer from Glasgow City Marketing Bureau greeted everyone like old friends and seated people with the casual friendliness Scottish people really are known for. We had a lovely chat and got a crash course in what it means to be a Scot. Moira was forced to explain that Glaswegians are affectionately known as “Weegies”, after casually describing herself as one to laughter all around.
As the room filled up, everyone admired the elaborate 3 tiered tea stands of sweets and scones on the tables. Accompanying this was proper orange pekoe or earl grey tea – so perfectly brewed that milk, sugar or lemon would have been superfluous.
We sat and quietly scoffed our treats as we learned about how Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city, has undergone a renaissance of sorts in recent years. Gran wouldn’t recognize it. These days, Glasgow’s "got style."
As part of this renaissance, Glasgow has truly come into its own as an international destination. Now, we learned, visitors head to the city for brand-new world-class architecture, such as the award-winning Riverside Museum building by Zaha Hadid; top-notch food (“the best place to eat in Scotland”, according to Lonely Planet) and an incredible selection of musical acts and performances – earning it the title of “Europe’s Secret Capital of Music” by Time Magazine.
Direct, affordable flights from YTO to GLA are available through Air Transat, with seasonal service offered from YVR and YYC. Once your clients get there, they’ll find the city walkable and friendly to visitors – with everything they could possibly need, including great shopping and nightlife.
2014 is a big year for Scotland, with a Homecoming celebration designed to get visitors to discover and explore their Scottish heritage. Savvy agents should be able to cash in on the trend - according to the 2006 census, more than 10% of Canadians are a little bit Scottish - that’s more than 4.7 million potential customers!
By the end of the presentation, despite our best efforts, we’d hardly made a dent in the teacakes and sandwiches. We must have looked collectively heartbroken, because Holt Renfrew staff showed us the love and offered to pack everything up, send everyone home with boxes stuffed with lovely treats, making honourary Weegies out of all of us. Gran would have been delighted!
