Visitor centre wins prestigious award

The Isle of Arran Distillery and visitor centre at Lochranza has won an award of excellence based on customer feedback.

The award was given by Irish coach tour operator CIE Tours International, which recognises the quality of the UK’s hotels and visitor attractions by awarding a merit award to those who have received a greater than 90 per cent customer satisfaction rating.

The visitor centre at Lochranza was given the excellence award based on the feedback of the 14,000 visitors CIE brought to the UK in 2016.

CIE launched its UK awards five years ago, replicating its long running awards in Ireland. Since then, the numbers of venues and attractions achieving a higher than 90 per cent satisfaction rating in the UK has grown from 32 to 56. In 2016, the company enjoyed a 10 per cent rise in visitors on their UK tours. The award ceremony was held at Hotel du Vin Devonshire in Glasgow last month.

Faye Waterlow, visitor centre manager, said: ‘We are incredibly proud to be recognised by CIE tours. The visitor experience is central to what we do at Lochranza. People travel from all over the world for a taste of the history and heritage of ‘the Arran waters’ and we aim to deliver a warm welcome to everyone who comes to learn about our award-winning whiskies.

‘With recent renovations to Lochranza, and a new distillery and visitor centre being developed on the south of the island at Lagg, we look forward to welcoming many more.’