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shy
Crypt Keeper
 
Australia
1867 Posts |
 Posted - 04 June 2004 : 01:10:23 AM
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A New campaign is being launched to catapult Loch Ness into the ranks of the world's top holiday destinations.
Not content with the international appeal of Nessie, a rebranding project was unveiled yesterday by the Loch Ness Partnership Marketing Group. It includes a new programme of loch tours, spotlit night trails around the shoreline, history and wildlife trails and plans for improved roadside access to the water.
Loch Ness will be marketed for the first time as a destination in its own right.
The aim is to significantly increase visitor numbers and net millions of extra pounds for the area's economy.
Residents, business, tourism and marketing representatives attended a conference in Invermoriston yesterday to hear about the rebranding.
Global tourism expert Professor Terry Stevens told them that Loch Ness ranked among the Grand Canyon and the Alps as one of the world's top 20 geographical locations.
But he said a better marketing campaign was needed to attract wealthy visitors and unleash the multi-million-pound potential of the loch.
"If you look at the destinations around the world, Loch Ness has got to be in the top 20 that people throughout the world mention.
"Today is about looking at how to utilise that platform and to demonstrate what can be done," he said.
Prof Stevens, who has worked on tourism projects in over 25 countries, said visitors can sample Scots culture, heritage and the great outdoors.
But these qualities had to be highlighted for the consumer.
Citing the examples of a rural partnership that raised 4million euros to fund a highly successful marketing campaign, and a partnership in Cumbria which persuaded visitors to voluntarily pay for all its activities, he said: "If Loch Ness businesses play clever and can work together, I see no reason why they cannot raise that sort of capital and get that sort of involvement and enthusiasm from visitors."
According to figures from the Highlands of Scotland Tourist Board, 600,000 people visit Loch Ness and the surrounding area each year.
Businesses, enterprise companies and community groups will be approached to support and finance the plans.
Prof Stevens warned that the rebranding would take five years to complete and told his audience: "We are talking about 2008-09. If the goals are not achieved then there will be a lot of disappointed people."
Councillor Duncan Allan said: "The purpose of a collaborative strategy is not to provide a short-term boost to visitor numbers.
"It's not a quick fix but rather a sustained evolution in attitude, where the co-operation and goodwill that exist today are translated into a genuine structure that can be marketed internationally."
A spokeswoman for Loch Ness Backpackers Lodge said of the plans: "Things like the night trail sound fantastic. We get a lot of folk from the hostel going down to the loch at night, so this would provide them with a trail to explore."
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The Monster Mission To Rebrand Loch Ness
