Much of the cash goes to enhancing established events such as the Belladrum Music Festival and the Loch Ness Marathon which, in the manner of Highland 2007, will be brought under the Homecoming banner and benefit from its international promotional efforts. However, resources are also being allocated to several one-off initiatives, such as a celebration of the Caledonian Canal and a commemoration of the Battle of Culloden.

One notable absentee from the list is the Inverness Highland Games, which in recent years have become a major draw for both tourists and locals and will next year include the Masters World Championships. Its exclusion is puzzling as, on the face of it, it appears to tick all the boxes for a Homecoming event, offering an easily digestible slice of culture and history without falling back too much on the archetypal tartan and shortbread image.

The only official explanation for the failure of its bid is that there was simply not enough money to go around. Perhaps those with the difficult job of allocating the grants — only 58 of the 200 bids were successful — felt that the games would take place anyway and so were not a priority for additional funding. So they will, but the same could be said for many of the successful applicants and without taking anything away from the other events, the games are more likely to attract the Homecoming's target audience of wealthy middle aged Americans, Canadians and Australians than a music festival or marathon.

The worry is that the games might be a little too populist for the Central Belt-based cultural elite who make these decisions, prompting a shiver of déjà vu from those who believe that despite a number of notable highlights, Highland 2007 failed to live up to its potential.

For Homecoming Scotland 2009 to work it must first engage with an international audience and then engender a festival feel across the country so that it delivers on its promises. That means raising awareness and enthusiasm amongst the people at large — something Highland 2007 never quite managed to do — and making sure that anyone journeying to Inverness next year cannot fail to know a national event is taking place.

Ultimately the homecomers want to be part a major celebration and if they arrive to find locals apathetic to the initiative, or even worse, completely unaware of it, they will feel conned and be unlikely to return.

The marketing exercise needs to start now, with posters and banners letting this year's batch of visitors know that they ought to come back to Scotland next year and building an air of expectation among Scots.

Locally, an ideal place to start would be at this weekend's Inverness Highland Games, which are expected to draw a crowd of 20,000 plus. But after receiving the financial thumbs down, organiser Gerry Reynolds and his team could be forgiven for removing any reference to Homecoming Scotland.

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