Cuil-an-Duin Country House in Highland Perthshire presented with VisitScotland’s Five Star Quality Assurance Award

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, 2016-Jul-28 — /Travel PR News/ — A boutique bed and breakfast in Highland Perthshire has been awarded five stars by the national tourism organisation.

Cuil-an-Duin Country House, located just outside Pitlochry, was presented with VisitScotland’s highest Quality Assurance (QA) accolade in recognition of its exceptional standards.

Originally built as a private residence for the 9^th Duke of Atholl, the Grade-B listed house in Ballinluig is currently the only B&B in Highland Perthshire to boast a five star award.

Cuil-an-Duin, which also has a Taste Our Best award for its use of local and quality Scottish produce, offers guests a choice of three luxurious rooms in the main house or one of two secluded cottages within the grounds.

With over 20 acres of private woodland, Cuil-an-Duin is the perfect accommodation for those looking to catch a glimpse of Perthshire’s stunning wildlife, including deer, red squirrels, owls and woodpeckers.

VisitScotland’s Five Star Quality Assurance Award recognises serviced accommodation businesses which achieve the highest levels of excellence. Businesses that achieve the award excel in areas of customer care and hospitality, showing evidence of a real commitment to development and training.

David Royce, owner of Cuil-an-Duin, said: “Sally and I are thrilled to receive this prestigious award. We are extremely proud to have achieved so much in such a short space of time and are delighted to be able to share our beautiful home with our guests. We have worked very hard to create an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity combined with highly personal service, where our guests can relax in classic country house style whilst enjoying our beautiful location, scenery and wildlife.”

Jim Clarkson, Regional Director, VisitScotland, said: “Congratulations to Sally and David on achieving their Five Star Quality Assurance award. Cuil-an-Duin offers guests an exceptional standard of accommodation in one of the most beautiful parts of the country – their award is well and truly deserved.

“This award, coupled with their Taste Our Best accreditation, ensures guests are going to enjoy the very best in quality local produce during their stay at this Highland Perthshire retreat.

“Our Quality Assurance scheme helps businesses to reach their full potential and truly shine. The scheme is about more than just the ‘stars’ on the door – it’s about the entire visitor experience, about investing in your business and making it as economically sustainable as it can possibly be.”

Developed and improved over the past 25 years, VisitScotland’s Quality Assurance(QA) schemes are world-leading and provide a trusted, independent and impartial source of information for visitors. They allow businesses not just to meet visitor expectations, but exceed them.

QA can open the door to new customers. It is a powerful marketing tool and works well with online review sites in using an independent perspective to measure visitor experience against tried and tested criteria, so visitors know exactly what to expect.

Launched in September 2013,Taste Our Best is a joint initiative between the national tourism organisation and the Scottish Government. Assessors rate the overall eating experience, the extent to which Scottish produce (at least 40%) is used and promoted, and staff knowledge of the produce on the menu and its provenance.

For more information about Cuil-an-Duin Country House, visit www.cuil-an-duin.com

For further information about VisitScotland’s Quality Assurance scheme, visit http://www.visitscotland.org/business_support/quality_assurance.aspx

Notes to Editors

• Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
• VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
• The organisation’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
• This will be supported by seven overarching strategies:
  1. Marketing: we will market Scotland and its outstanding assets to visitors from all parts of the world, including the promotion of Scotland to people living in Scotland       to visit different parts of the country
  2. Events: we will support the national events strategy and its delivery, and sustain, develop and promote Scotland’s international profile as one of the world’s foremost events destinations
  3. Internationalisation and International Engagement: we will utilise all our platforms to enable Scottish-based tourism businesses to better understand international       opportunities and market to a global audience and we will work within One       Scotland Partnerships to optimise the potential of Scotland’s Diaspora and our strategic partners at regional, European and global levels
  4. Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
  5. Quality and Sustainability: we will provide support and advice to businesses, with the goal of improving the quality and sustainability of the tourism sector in Scotland. We will provide quality assurance to visitors through our Quality Schemes
  6. Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
  7. Working in Partnership: we will listen to and work with the industry, partners and communities to shape our offering and support
• VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
• The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
• Spending by tourists in Scotland generates around £12 billion of economic activity in the wider Scottish supply chain and contributes around £6 billion to Scottish GDP (in basic prices). This represents about 5% of total Scottish GDP.
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  Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design 2016
• 2016 will shine a spotlight on Scotland’s achievements in innovation, architecture and design through a wide-ranging, variety of new and existing activity.
• The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design begins on 1 January 2016 and ends on 31 December 2016 and will build on the momentum generated by the 2015 Year of Food and Drink as well as previous years including Homecoming Scotland 2014, the Year of Creative and the Year of Natural.
• Through a series of exciting events and activity, the year will showcase Scotland’s position as an “innovation nation”, its outstanding built heritage, and its thriving, internationally acclaimed creative industries sector.
• The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design is a Scottish Government initiative being led by VisitScotland, and supported by a variety of partners including Scottish Government, Creative Scotland, Architecture + Design Scotland, Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Enterprise, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS).
• The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design events fund is managed by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.
• Join the conversation at #IAD2016
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CONTACTS

Stewart Ross
Corporate Press Officer – National
Agri-tourism, North Region, Sports Tourism
Stewart.Ross@visitscotland.com
0131 472 2052
Out of hours – 0131 472 2324

SOURCE: VisitScotland

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