Top tourism award winner retires

Winning the top Silver Thistle award in the Scottish Thistle Awards is a fitting end for Joan Campbell's thirty plus years in the tourism industry. For the Sutherland businesswoman has announced her retirement from running the Sheiling B&B near Thurso.

The esteemed VisitScotland accolade has been awarded to Joan in recognition of her outstanding dedication to supporting the wider tourism industry in Scotland during the past three decades.  Joan has welcomed thousands of visitors to Scotland since starting her business and now joins leading figures in the tourism industry in receiving the VisitScotland accolade which celebrates excellence.

VisitScotland Chairman Peter Lederer said: “Joan is an unsung hero of Scottish tourism and has worked tirelessly during the last 30 years to welcome thousands of visitors from around the world to Scotland and ensure that they have a truly memorable stay.

“Her commitment to quality, from the locally sourced ingredients in her famous Scottish breakfast to her annual decorating sprees, has won her a string of awards including five stars from VisitScotland and has kept visitors coming back year after year for more.

“And as if making her own business a success wasn’t enough, Joan has also dedicated an enormous amount of time and effort into supporting the wider tourism industry and making Scotland a must visit, must return destination.

“I congratulate her and all the other businesses here tonight on their success and wish Joan the best of luck in her retirement.”

Tourism Minister Jim Mather said: “Tourism is crucial to Scotland's economic well-being bandits success is driven by the passion of businesses large and small – as Joan Campbell demonstrates so well. Joan and all the other Thistle Award winners areole models that the whole of the Scottish hospitality industry would be wise to follow.

“The secret is out. If everyone in the industry works with the same enthusiasm and dedication as our winners, we can reach the higher levels of customer satisfaction that will make our revenue and profit aspirations easy to achieve.

“I am delighted to see that these individual contributions to the industry, the Scottish economy and the reputation of our country have been rightly recognised tonight.”

Created by VisitScotland, the Scottish Thistle Awards - now in their 16^th year – are widely recognised as the mark of excellence and professionalism across Scottish tourism; awarding businesses for their contribution to the country’s reputation as a first class visitor destination.

Every year, the prestigious Silver Thistle award seeks to recognise an individual with a true commitment to Scottish tourism; someone who may or not be involved in mainstream tourism but has worked over and above their own business interest to benefit our industry.

This year’s winner Joan Campbell is a member of the North Highland Initiative, launched by HRH Prince Charles to increase the number of tourists to the area. She is represented on a number of Scotland’s leading tourism committees including Chairing Scotland’s Best B&Bs and is a member of VisitScotland’s Quality Assurance Scheme.

This year, celebrity impressionist and comedian Alistair McGowan presented winners from each of the 10 categories with their awards.

For information and full list of winnners go to www.scottishthistleawards.co.uk.