Royal Mile Venue The Hub gets “China Ready”

Edinburgh venue The Hub has launched a menu in Mandarin as the city ramps up efforts to attract Chinese visitors.

The translated menu comes after a new direct air route between Scotland and China was launched in June 2018, linking Edinburgh Airport with Beijing.

It follows announcements that Edinburgh is set to stage its first Chinese New Year in February 2019, in a way to promote the Scottish capital as one of “Europe’s premiere China-friendly destinations”.

The translation effort is part of an accessible welcome for Chinese visitors, whether they visit over the festive season, during the build up to Chinese New Year in February, or beyond. All of The Hub’s menus, including the drinks menu and the children’s menu, have been translated into Mandarin. 

Anna Kincaid, The Hub’s Café Manager said: “The friendly faces in our Cafe Hub come from all over world, so we especially love welcoming visitors throughout the year who travelled across the globe to be in Edinburgh. By translating our menu into Mandarin, it makes it easier for our Chinese guests to order at our Cafe Hub and feel more at home.

“Guests from outside of Scotland are always keen to try our Hubmade food and our Scottish favourites from the menu, whether it’s a dish of our traditional haggis with neeps and tatties, or selecting a tipple from our extensive whisky menu. We’re hoping this is the first translated menu of many!”

The Hub is an internationally recognised venue in Edinburgh, and is home to the Edinburgh International Festival.

Edinburgh is already the most popular UK destination for Chinese visitors after London and the Edinburgh Tourism Action Group (ETAG) is working closely with the tourism sector to ensure that Edinburgh is positioned as one of the UK’s ‘premier China-Friendly destinations’, as part of a wider ‘China Ready’ campaign. Edinburgh Castle alone welcomed over 150,000 Chinese nationals through its turnstiles in 2015, and around 3,500 students come to Edinburgh’s universities from China each year.