Gaelic: A Winner at Scottish Ski Centres?

A research project is set to get underway to assess the impact and benefits of bilingual signage at Scotland’s ski centres.

The Gaelic and English signs, at the Lecht, Glenshee, Nevis Range and Glencoe ski centres, were installed 12 months ago under a scheme operated by Comunn na Gàidhlig (CnaG), on behalf of Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

Now, given the excellent skiing conditions being enjoyed across the country, it is hoped to take advantage of the high visitor numbers to look into their awareness and attitude towards the bilingual signage.

CnaG chief executive Donald MacNeill said:

“The recent wintery weather and surge in visitors at Scotland’s Ski centres is providing great exposure for the new Gaelic presence at these centres. It’s an ideal opportunity to examine the effectiveness of the bilingual signs among skiers and boarders from the Highlands and afar who are attending the centres; a lot of whom may never have come across signs with Gàidhlig and English before.

“The bilingual signage scheme has run successfully for a number of years with some 100 companies having taken advantage of the opportunity, so we already know it’s worthwhile in raising the profile both of Gaelic and the participating company or business. What this new research is about is trying to find out whether the presence of these signs affects the general interest in Gaelic; encourages people to think about Gaelic in a different light; or if visitors are more attracted to places with Gaelic.”

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