Press release -
Adventure specialists make tourism splash
The home of Scotland's first Cable Wakeboard Park is celebrating its fifth anniversary in style by becoming East Lothian’s only VisitScotland Information Partner with a five-star Activity Centre grading.
Foxlake Adventures in Dunbar, also boasting the UK’s only ropes course constructed over water, received five stars from the national tourism organisation’s Quality Assurance (QA) Scheme in recognition of its exceptional standards. The QA Scheme is a benchmark for quality across the tourism industry and operates across accommodation, visitor attractions and food sectors.
Determined to offer the ultimate visitor experience, the business has also become part of an impressive network of VisitScotland Information Partners (VIPs) committed to providing local information to visitors.
Opened in 2012, the outdoor adventure hub is nestled in beautiful woodland on the edge of the John Muir Way. Visitors can experience wakeboarding, the unique Foxfall over-rope water course, Ringo Rides and off-road Segway trekking. There is also the brand new Ziptrail, a dual zipline course where visitors can fly from tree to tree and blast along zip wire between each of the three courses. Those looking for a break from wild outdoor activities can enjoy a wide range of delicious food and drinks at the on-site café.
Launched in May 2016, the VIP programme ties in with VisitScotland’s global Spirit of Scotland campaign to harness the local knowledge, warmth and enthusiasm of partners across the country to help visitors receive the warmest of welcomes and make the most of their trip to Scotland.
It has been very popular in Edinburgh and the Lothians with accommodation providers, visitor attractions and social enterprises all joining up to do their bit to ensure visitors receive first-class information about the region and Scotland as a whole. Foxlake Adventures is joined by 171 other businesses in the area such as Camera Obscura & World of Illusions in Edinburgh and Strawberry Bank House in Linlithgow.
James Barbour, Director at Foxlake Adventures, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to win this VisitScotland Award, which is a major accolade and achievement for all of us at Foxlake Adventures and testament to the fantastic team we have on board, who I’m very proud of.
“We are also delighted to become a VisitScotland Information Partner. We have always been committed to helping visitors make the most of their time in the area so it makes perfect sense to join the programme. This new official accreditation will add value to the service we offer and make it easier than ever before for visitors to connect with us and other local businesses.
“Being able to take part in five different innovative and exciting activities at our outdoor adventure hub in Dunbar and enjoy a bite to eat afterwards at our award-winning Boardside café, for a great day out and brilliant overall visitor experience. It’s fantastic this has been recognized by the national tourism organization and we look forward to working in partnership with them.”
Manuela Calchini, Regional Director for VisitScotland, said: “My congratulations go to everyone at Foxlake Adventures on achieving this unique status. This world-class Activity Centre offers fun for all ages and abilities and their five-star grading is well deserved. As visitors enjoy all the exhilarating activities on offer, they can expect outstanding service and sound knowledge about what to see and do in the area.
“Our Quality Assurance Scheme is world-leading and provides a trusted, independent and impartial source of information for visitors. It is about much more than just a star rating – it is about the entire visitor experience and investing in the business to make it as economically sustainable, and profitable, as it can be.”
“The VIP programme celebrates and supports tourism providers as they act as local ambassadors and help provide information, assistance and advice on all there is to see and do here. This follows a growing trend among consumers to use online resources to plan their trips and we now have partners throughout the country providing high quality information and advice to visitors with whom they interact.”
To find out more about Foxlake Adventures, go to www.foxlake.co.uk
For more information on the Quality Assurance Scheme and VisitScotland Information Partner programme go to www.visitscotland.org
ENDS
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- corporate communications
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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) 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
