Discover Loch Ness - Scotland's first five star guided tour

Highland tour company Discover Loch Ness has become the first guided tour in Scotland to be awarded a prestigious five star award fromm the Scottish Tourist Board.

(PRWEB) June 12, 2004 -- Discover Loch Ness - Scotlands first five star guided tour

Highland tour company Discover Loch Ness has become the first guided tour in Scotland to be awarded a prestigious five star award from the Scottish Tourist Board.

The year-round tour, run by Loch Ness expert Tony Harmsworth, has been taking visitors from across the world around the shores of the monster loch since 2000. It aims to give visitors a picture of the real history of the area, as well as an experience of local natural history and wildlife.

As Tony explains: Our objective is to provide visitors with a real understanding of Scottish history by linking events in chronological order. This avoids confusion and adds context -- and we give it a light-hearted touch too!

The STB award scheme grades visitor attractions for their standards of customer care, focussing on welcome, hospitality and service. This five star award recognises all the hard work weve been doing over the past four years, to make sure we continually improve and enhance our service."

The tour, conducted by Tony himself or fellow guide Alison Cameron is based from a 26-seat luxury coach equipped with top of the range audio-visual equipment. Visitors can expect a cruise of the loch and visits to Urquhart Castle, the Loch Ness 2000 exhibition, Loch Ness Clay Works, the Corrimony chambered cairn and stone circle. This year Tony has introduced a new tour which takes in the stunning beauty of Glen Affric and Strathglass.

Guide books have been produced in seven languages to make sure the story of Scotland, from 400 million years ago to the present day, can be presented at conversational speed even when visitors from overseas are on board.

When asked what makes Discover Loch Ness different from the competition, Tony says, We are more leisurely and include more stops and more variety and historical content. It is what other tours rush or omit which makes us the best. Even our shortest tour is 4¾ hours.

Some museums and heritage exhibitions can be stuffy and often present history from a parochial viewpoint depending on their location or agenda. Discover Loch Ness is primarily an outdoor experience broadly presenting our colourful history amongst some of the most magnificent scenery in the world.

This year weve been really surprised by the number of visitors booking on-line before they even reach the area. To take advantage of this weve introduced special discounted offers for advance on-line booking at www.discoverlochness.com".
###