Scotland’s national tourism organisation, VisitScotland, has linked up with the produces of Shrek the Third film, which is to be released in Europe and the UK later this month.

The organisation’s marketing team has been working closely with Paramount Pictures to explore Shrek’s perceived Scottish heritage – voice actor Mike Myers bestowed a Scottish accent on the lovable ogre when he first came to life in Shrek in 2001.

VisitScotland developed an idea of a specially created Shrek tartan, which has resulted in an oversized kilt being made for the costumed character himself.

VisitScotland hopes to use the stunt as a way of promoting Scotland and to attract more people to trace their own history and potential Scottish roots – resulting in more people visiting the country.

Jenni Steele, senior PR manager at VisitScotland said: “There are thought to be in excess of 50m people across the world who can claim Scottish ancestry, so this is a great opportunity to be able to link our national heritage with such a well loved film character.”

With film tourism on the increase, VisitScotland is developing ways of promoting the destination to film fans.

The organisation recently worked in partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment to promote the themes and locations of The Da Vinci Code, tying the essence of the film into the real mysteries, myths and legends Scotland has to offer, resulting in a multi-million pound, global campaign to drive awareness of Scotland.