Press release -
Nessie sighting in Stranraer!
A STRANRAER schoolboy has spent the last three years hunting for the Loch Ness Monster in his hometown and now thanks to VisitScotland his search is finally over.
Loghan MacDonald, 7, of Sandhead in Stranraer, became “obsessed” with the Loch Ness Monster after visiting the Highlands three years ago.
His search came to an end recently when he was surprised with not just one Loch Ness Monster but several of them at VisitScotland’s iCentre in Stranraer.
An appeal by Mum, Linzi, on social media for any old Nessie items to give to her young son was spotted by Inverness-based VisitScotland Operations Manager Tracie Denoon. Tracie collected the items from the iCentre in Inverness and arranged for them to be delivered to Loghan in Stranraer.
Linzi MacDonald said: “We visited the Highlands and Drumnadrochit three years ago and ever since then Loghan has been reading religiously about the Loch Ness Monster and had become quite literally obsessed. We live in Stranraer in Dumfries and Galloway and you don’t see many items related to Nessie here. I appealed for any old items such as postcards, posters or book but didn’t expect the response that I received. This will literally make Loghan’s year!”
VisitScotland Regional Director Doug Wilson, who presented the gift to Loghan on behalf of Tracie, said: “We were delighted to respond to Linzi’s appeal and help make her son’s day with this Nessie surprise. The mystery and the intrigue of the Loch Ness Monster attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to the area every year. For many people, like Loghan, they remain enthralled by the legend years later.
“As our global campaign has identified, people feel the spirit of Scotland in different ways and we are delighted to do our part to help keep the spirit of the Loch Ness Monster alive for a young boy at the other end of the country in Dumfries & Galloway.”
The global Spirit of Scotland campaign is built on extensive research which shows that people think Scotland has unique spirit – whether it’s the magic of the landscapes or the warmth of the people. Everyone who has shared their #ScotSpirit will become part of a special social movement. To find out more, visit: www.visitscotland.com/scotspirit
To find out more about the Loch Ness Monster, visit: https://www.visitscotland.com/about/uniquely-scottish/loch-ness-monster/
To find out more about the VisitScotland iCentre in Stranraer, visit: https://www.visitscotland.com/info/services/stranraer-icentre-p332681
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- spirit of scotland
- dumfries and galloway
- corporate communications
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors
- Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
- VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
- The organisation’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
- This will be supported by seven overarching strategies:
- Marketing: we will market Scotland and its outstanding assets to visitors from all parts of the world, including the promotion of Scotland to people living in Scotland to visit different parts of the country
- Events: we will support the national events strategy and its delivery, and sustain, develop and promote Scotland’s international profile as one of the world’s foremost events destinations
- Internationalisation and International Engagement: we will utilise all our platforms to enable Scottish-based tourism businesses to better understand international opportunities and market to a global audience and we will work within One Scotland Partnerships to optimise the potential of Scotland’s Diaspora and our strategic partners at regional, European and global levels
- Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
- Quality and Sustainability: we will provide support and advice to businesses, with the goal of improving the quality and sustainability of the tourism sector in Scotland. We will provide quality assurance to visitors through our Quality Schemes
- Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
- Working in Partnership: we will listen to and work with the industry, partners and communities to shape our offering and support
- VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
- The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
- Spending by tourists in Scotland generates around £12 billion of economic activity in the wider Scottish supply chain and contributes around £6 billion to Scottish GDP (in basic prices). This represents about 5% of total Scottish GDP.
- The Scottish Government is the Managing Authority for the European Structural Funds 2014-20 Programme. For further information visit www.gov.scot or follow @scotgovESIF
- For VisitScotland’s press releases go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.aspx, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/
- Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh)
- For holiday information on Scotland go to www.visitscotland.com
- For information about business events in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com
- 2017 Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology
- 2017 is the year to delve into the past and discover Scotland’s fascinating stories through a wide-ranging variety of new and existing activity to drive the nation’s tourism and events sector, boosting tourism across Scotland.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology begins on 1 January 2017 and will end on 31 December 2017. It will build on the momentum generated by previous themed years in Scotland including the 2015 Year of Food and Drink, Homecoming Scotland 2014, the Year of Creative and the Year of Natural.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology is a Scottish Government initiative being led by VisitScotland, and supported by a variety of partners including Creative Scotland, Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Enterprise, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Built Environment Forum Scotland, Heritage Lottery Fund, Museums Galleries Scotland and Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology is supported by £570,000 of Scottish Government funding.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology events fund is managed by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.
- For more information visit visitscotland.com/HHA2017 or join the conversation at #HHA2017
