How Mel’s ‘Braveheart impact’ gave enormous increase to tourism

It’s been more than 25 years since Mel Gibson painted two-thirds of his face blue, pulled on a kilt and howled, “They may take our lives, but they will never take our liberty.”

The Movie won five Academy Awards and made box office history for its bloody fight scenes and literal cast of thousands.

It also annoyed many historians to take creative liberties with the plot.

But now it has been claimed that Braveheart did more to bring in visitors Scotland than its own national tourism authority could have achieved in 20 years.

Tom Buncle, who was executive director of the Scottish Tourist Board at the time, said nothing since then compared to the influence of Mel Gibson’s epic William Wallace story.

The film, which won its Academy Awards in 1996, inspired millions of people to visit Scotland and has been credited with generating over £ 35 million for the city of Stirling alone.

Commenting on the BBC Scotland greetings to be shown next week, Buncle said, “I would honestly say I think Braveheart has done more for Scottish tourism than the Scottish Tourist Board could have done in 20 years.

“There were historical accuracy issues but it was a huge global flag for Scotland that said ‘look at us’ and ‘this is a great place to come’.

“We jumped on that train – we distributed postcards with pictures of Scotland to the queues in the cinema while they waited to see Braveheart.

“What impressed me more than anything was just awareness. You could go overseas and as soon as you said you were from Scotland people would yell “Liberty” or “Braveheart”. ”

Mr. Buncle who now works as International The tourism advisor said yesterday that nothing has come close to comparing to Braveheart in the past 25 years.

He said, “The benchmark was always Highlander – before that you could tell it was Brigadoon. Local Hero did a little, but it was mostly an art house release on an international scale. Rob Roy, who had Liam Neeson and Jessica Lange, had some impact – but not like Braveheart.

“We’ve had Outlander (the animation) Brave since then, some smaller films like Loch Ness, but I don’t think anything has affected the impact of Braveheart.
“I remember places like Thailand.

I worked in South East Asia and a lot of people had never heard of Scotland – my goodness, they went to Braveheart. But commercially it was a huge success for Scotland and Scottish tourism. ”

Mr Buncle said several factors contributed to Braveheart’s influence on Scottish tourism, including the historical story of Wallace, but the biggest factor was Gibson, who not only played but also directed and co-produced the film.

The film grossed £ 109 million at the box office and was shown in Scottish cinemas for up to eight months after its initial release.

Despite criticism of historical inaccuracies, tourists flocked to Scotland.
The National Wallace Monument in Stirling grew from 80,000 a year to nearly 200,000 in 1996, while the film attracted more than a million additional viewers to the city in the heart of Braveheart Country.

He said, “I remember working with the studio in the early days someone said there were only six people in the world who guaranteed international box office – people like Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford … and Mel Gibson .

There was some historical inaccuracy but we saw a massive commercial marketing opportunity to really put Scotland on the map in ways and in many places that had never been before. That was our job.

“Had it been a hideous misrepresentation of what Scotland is, we would not have gone along with it.

“But Hollywood rarely represents the history of anywhere with absolute accuracy, so the choice is yours – you choose to be a historical purist and take a curatorial approach, or you take the opportunity to attract people.

“As a spin-off, it sparked the debate in Scotland. We keep saying that Scottish history wasn’t taught in schools, but all of a sudden we had a Hollywood production that sparked an interest in history and got people in our own country to talk about it. ”

Greetings from Scotland, an hour-long documentary, also sheds light on the impact of the global pandemic on Scottish tourism by decimating visitor numbers but also taking a break to reflect on the value and future of the Scottish tourism industry.

Malcolm Roughhead, General Manager of VisitScotland, said: “There is light at the end of the tunnel and I am absolutely confident – absolutely certain – that tourism will get back on its feet. We know Scotland has a demand, it’s really strong, we can see it. ”

l Greetings from Scotland,
BBC Scotland, Tuesday at 10pm.