Chief Executive of Highland Council welcomes Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards 2014 back to Inverness

He said: “The Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards are a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the breadth and quality of tourist attractions across the region. Congratulations to all the finalists who have now been announced. They have all done very well to get to this stage and we can look forward to the announcement of the winners at tonight’s ceremony in Inverness.”

Highland Council sponsors “Our Warmest Welcome Award”.

He went on to say, “The Highlands and Islands provides, not only stunning scenery and a warm welcome, but a huge wealth of incredible tourist attractions which appeal to all kinds of visitors and interests from across the world. We are very fortunate to have many assets in our part of the world and tourism will continue to be a fundamentally important part of our economic strength and success. Tourism is everyone’s business.

“It would be wonderful if Inverness Castle were to be added to the list of tourist attractions, not only as a remarkable architectural building, but also as a fully functioning dedicated tourist attraction and magnet for visitors to the Highlands. Maybe, in the future, we could see Inverness Castle as a finalist for the Best Visitor Attraction category!”

Tourism is worth £88 million to the city of Inverness which attracts around 1 million visitors every year. The Council is playing a key role in the newly established working group, including further work for a new attraction in Inverness later next year.