Loch Ness will be represented at the International Lakes Conference, which is taking place in China from 23rd Sept 05 until Sunday 26th September.

The conference has been organised by the Institute of Tourism at Zhejiang University, in collaboration with the Thousand-Island Lake Tourism Bureau in the Zhejiang Province of China, and the Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change at Sheffield Hallam University.

It will bring together an international audience of around 150 academics, political decision-makers, lake tourism site managers, travel agents and lobby groups, providing an arena to share experiences, build global networks and discuss trends and future developments in the lake tourism field.

David Henderson, who represents Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey Enterprise (INBSE) on the Loch Ness Partnership board, is attending the conference where he will give a presentation to delegates. He believes this will be an opportunity to further promote Loch Ness and also to pick up some good ideas from other lake tourism operators around the world.

"There is enormous recognition of Loch Ness and its famous monster in China, which is why they were keen for us to make a presentation at the conference," he said. "The numbers of Chinese tourists to Europe will increase greatly in the next decade, and it is a very good time for us to be improving our awareness and contacts with them.

The conference will also be an excellent opportunity to learn about good tourism practise from popular lake destinations in other parts of the world. All of this confirms Loch Ness' status as one of Scotland's strongest tourism icons, and a tourist attraction of genuine international status."

The conference is taking place in the Thousand-Island Lake Area, which was artificially created when China's first hydroelectric station was built in 1959. The lake has 1,078 islands, hence the name. It is one of the earliest and also the largest national park in China and is home to several top-class hotels and many leisure and recreational facilities. The area attracts over four million tourists every year for ecotourism, natural, leisure and conference tourism.

David will be reporting his findings and experiences from China at a Loch Ness Partnership networking event at Urquhart Castle at the end of October.