Hollywood actor Alan Cumming has gone back to his Perthshire roots to inspire millions of US visitors to come to Scotland.
The Good Wife and X-Men star has teamed up with VisitScotland and NBC for a half-hour programme that will feature areas of Scotland important to the star, including a return to his hometown of Aberfeldy.
He will feature alongside George Oliphant, host of NBC’s George to the Rescue, on a tour of Scotland to be broadcast as part of NBC’s 1stLook programme early next year.
The actor said: “I always love coming back to Scotland and I always love it when my American friends ask me about it. So now I get to come and shoot a show where I both revel in Scotland and show it off to my friends back in the States a double whammy.”
VisitScotland hopes the broadcast will inspire US visitors to follow the actor’s footsteps.
Vignettes will also be shot on Edinburgh, golf, food and drink and history and heritage to be broadcast alongside the programme, which is expected to reach around six million US homes.
Chief executive of VisitScotland Malcolm Roughead said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the rich tapestry of what Scotland has to offer visitors through the eyes of one of its famous sons. The USA is a diaspora stronghold and was last year’s biggest international market for trips to Scotland.
“A total of 214,000 trips were made by US visitors last year a third higher than in 2013 which brought in an incredible £436 million to the Scottish economy and helped make 2014 our biggest year for North American visitors in over a decade.
“As one of our most important markets for ancestral visitors we hope these TV programmes will inspire even more visitors to follow in Alan Cumming’s footsteps and take the journey to our beautiful shores.”