VisitScotland are said to be lobbying the Scottish Government to emulate the United States' ‘Come to America’ initiative in a bid to provide the Scottish tourism sector with a timely fillip.

The Travel Promotion Act, which was recently signed into law by Barack Obama, constitutes the first ever nation tourism promotion push in the US. It was brought into being in a bid to address a decline of 2.4m overseas visits in the period 2000 – 2009, calculated to have cost the account an estimated $509bn in lost spending.

This came amidst tightened US visa requirements and a paucity of overseas promotion.

Funding for the scheme is bolstered by $100m of private sector contributions and a $10 levy on all foreign travelers entering the US.

The plan is being driven by the organisations new chairman, Mike Cantlay, who believes there is no reason a scaled back version couldn’t operate in Scotland.