Ministers say the message promotes a modern country Brian Taylor on the slogan Your views on the slogan

The new greeting, "Welcome to Scotland", will replace the previous slogan proclaiming Scotland to be "The Best Small Country in the World".

First Minister Alex Salmond was highly critical of the old phrase, launched by the previous Holyrood administration.

Opposition MSPs were sceptical about its replacement, but the SNP government said it was about more than a slogan.

Under the new scheme, each Scottish airport will have images to represent their local appeal, such as literature for Edinburgh, the Commonwealth Games for Glasgow and the oil industry for Aberdeen, all at an estimated cost of £100,000.

I am so stunned Jackie Baillie Labour MSP

Speaking at Glasgow Airport, Culture Minister Linda Fabiani said the images would give people a taste of the very best of Scotland.

She said: "This is not about developing flashy slogans - it's much more real that that.

"This is about showing what a modern, vibrant and successful country Scotland is."

Responding to the new catchphrase, Labour's Jackie Baillie told BBC Scotland: "I am so stunned.

"We've waited with great expectation, we were promised something creative, imaginative to replace the slogan for Scotland that used to exist and I woke up this morning to 'Welcome to Scotland'.

"If this is what the creative talent can bring to us and this is what SNP government is crowing about, frankly, I am astonished."

Former first minister Jack McConnell launched the first slogan

Liberal Democrat tourism spokesman Liam McArthur said: "Nationalist MSPs have spent years regaling us with tales of how fantastic Scotland is. Now, when they have a chance to create a brand for Scotland they give us this bland statement."

Gavin Brown, the Conservative enterprise spokesman, said: "Next, Alex Salmond will be telling us this is the best small slogan in the world."

Despite the criticism, the new scheme was welcomed by a number of bodies, including tourism agency VisitScotland, Scottish Financial Enterprise and the Robert Burns World Federation.

The phrase declaring Scotland as "the best small country in the world" was launched in 2005 by the then Labour first minister Jack McConnell.

Launching a withering attack on the slogan at the SNP's 2006 conference, before the Nationalists' election win, Mr Salmond said: "That one phrase encapsulates everything that is wrong with the first minister, with the executive and with our national tourist agency.

"It combines the worst of 'wha's like us?' with the worst of an inferiority complex.