The Scottish Government, VisitScotland and EventScotland are working in close collaboration to promote Homecoming Scotland 2009 (HS09). VisitScotland is committed to the effective marketing of Homecoming and the Homecoming theme now runs through VisitScotland''s entire marketing programme. Homecoming is integral to VisitScotland''s drive to promote Scotland domestically and internationally as a quality must see, must return destination.

The US is a key market for Homecoming and activity to promote Homecoming has included:

VisitScotland''s US database “ now comprising some 200,000 tourism prospects “ receiving monthly alerts on Homecoming;

Homecoming was the central theme for Scotland Week this year;

VisitScotland''s Scots Masters (US travel agents who sell Scotland) will represent Homecoming at around 15 of North America''s largest Highland Games, with a combined audience of over 1 million. Some of the individual games have an audience in excess of 250,000 Scottish and Highland Games enthusiasts;

Ryder Cup activity in Louisville included announcements on Homecoming, and

Whisky Press trip from US took place in September 2008.

A major Homecoming multi-media campaign is to be launched in Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand. The campaign will run across National Geographic''s many assets alongside an online campaign with VisitScotland''s best responding media such as the New York Times, Toronto Star and Melbourne Age.

19% of ancestral tourists to Scotland come from the USA. Homecoming presents an enormous opportunity to tap into the market of people worldwide with Scots ancestry. A robust programme of marketing activity continues to promote www.ancestralscotland.com as the main signpost for users to find out all they need to know about starting their ancestral journey to Scotland. The website www.ancestralscotland.com is one of VisitScotland''s busiest websites.

Changes to the US census rules now allows people to identify themselves as Scots (previously the category was Scots-Irish). In September VisitScotland used this information and launched its biggest ever US direct mail initiative. Almost 140,000 specific household addresses, profiled by Scots ethnicity and income, will received a Homecoming mailshot. VisitScotland''s partners in the direct mail initiative are the airlines Continental, US Airways and Globespan, and travel operators CIE, Trafalgar, Great Canadian Travel Company and Royal Scottish Tours.

The Scottish Government, VisitScotland and EventScotland are working in close collaboration to promote Homecoming Scotland 2009. VisitScotland is committed to the effective marketing of Homecoming and the Homecoming theme now runs through VisitScotland''s entire marketing programme. Homecoming is integral to VisitScotland''s drive to promote Scotland domestically and internationally as a quality must see, must return destination.

Australia is one of the four largest diaspora markets and is a key Homecoming audience. Activity taken to promote HS09 in Australia includes:

Hosted TV crews from Australia''s Great Outdoors are covering Homecoming themes;

Highland Games in Australia are being used to promote Homecoming;

Whisky Live! Is a global programme and Homecoming, and

Distribution of Homecoming promotional material at selected Whisky Live! event in Sydney (Whisky Live! is a global programme).

A major Homecoming multi-media campaign is to be launched in Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand. The campaign will run across National Geographic''s many assets alongside an online campaign with VisitScotland''s best responding media such as New York Times, Toronto Star and Melbourne Age.

13% of ancestral tourists to Scotland come from Australia. Homecoming presents an enormous opportunity to tap into the market of people worldwide with Scots ancestry. A robust programme of marketing activity continues to promote www.ancestralscotland.com as the main signpost for users to find out all they need to know about starting their ancestral journey to Scotland. The website www.ancestralscotland.com is one of VisitScotland''s busiest websites.

The Scottish Government, VisitScotland and EventScotland are working in close collaboration to promote Homecoming Scotland 2009. VisitScotland is committed to the effective marketing of Homecoming and the Homecoming theme now runs through VisitScotland''s entire marketing programme. Homecoming is integral to VisitScotland''s drive to promote Scotland domestically and internationally as a quality must see, must return destination.

Europe is one of the key audiences being targeted and VisitScotland''s promotion of Homecoming to Europe includes:

Homecoming messages to journalists and travel trade across Europe;

articles in variety of e-publications;

hosting Homecoming themed press trips for European journalists;

press releases and range of media communications, e.g. around the Homecoming launch and key developments, and

international media briefings with extensive pick up in media.

The Scottish Government, VisitScotland and EventScotland are working in close collaboration to promote Homecoming Scotland 2009. VisitScotland is committed to the effective marketing of Homecoming and the Homecoming theme now runs through VisitScotland''s entire marketing programme. Homecoming is integral to VisitScotland''s drive to promote Scotland domestically and internationally as a quality must see, must return destination.

Although the key audiences being targeted for Homecoming are North America, Australasia, Europe, Scotland and the rest of the UK, Homecoming is being promoted within Asia and particularly China, a key emerging market.

VisitScotland is focusing attention on the education and golf pillars of Homecoming to target the Chinese market. Homecoming branding and messaging features in all VisitScotland''s activity in the Chinese market, including through newsletters and through the Scots Agents programme (Scots Agents are specially trained travel agents who undergo a Scotland-specific training programme). All VisitScotland''s key tour operators are branding their brochures with Homecoming messages. VisitScotland are also working with the education sector and have provided copies of the Homecoming Events Guide to universities across Scotland to send to potential students with their offer letters.

Homecoming was also a strong feature of the promotion of Scotland during the recent week-long familiarisation tour of the Travel Agent Association of India.

The Scottish Government, VisitScotland and EventScotland are working in close collaboration to promote Homecoming Scotland 2009. VisitScotland is committed to the effective marketing of Homecoming and the Homecoming theme now runs through VisitScotland''s entire marketing programme. Homecoming is integral to VisitScotland''s drive to promote Scotland domestically and internationally as a quality must see, must return destination.

The promotion of Homecoming in Scotland has included:

the publication of a wide variety of articles in newspapers and magazines on Homecoming and Homecoming messages, including a full page article in The Sunday Times Ecosse section;

Homecoming branding at key events;

Homecoming presentations at key trade events and shows;

the launch of a dedicated Homecoming website on 20 August 2008, including events and programme details;

the inclusion of information about Homecoming and Homecoming events in direct marketing;

press trips to Burns country, with Homecoming a key theme;

the development of a Homecoming toolkit and information pack for travel trade and media to raise aware and convey key Homecoming messages, which went live on 22 September 2008 and new content is uploaded daily;

providing Homecoming updates to the tourism businesses in the industry for better industry promotion of Homecoming, and

the naming of the Scottish Cup as the Homecoming Scottish Cup for the 2008-09 season.

We are in regular contact with the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on consumer debt issues.

We are in regular contact with the Office of Fair Trading to ensure that markets, including the consumer credit market, work well for consumers.

We are in regular contact with the UK Government. The UK Government has stated that it believes that increased regulation is not necessarily the best way to achieve a balance between the financial services industry and its customers, on a range of financial inclusion issues.

We provide extensive support for money (debt) advice: through the local government settlement; by providing training and consultancy to help advisors deal with more complex cases; by helping fund National Debtline (a UK service) to ensure that advisors are aware of differences between Scotland and the rest of the UK, in particular, the legal side of debt problems (diligence and sequestration), and by funding Citizens Advice Direct, which provides advice by telephone and email rather than the traditional face-to-face model of bureaux, to progressively increase its coverage from its beginnings in Glasgow to the whole of Scotland.

We have announced a specific package of support for home owners in difficulty.

The most significant of our devolved powers are those relating to housing, and the provision of information and advice.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-16485 on 1 October 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk./webapp/wa.search.