Blair Castle in move to boost global app-eal

Blair Castle is expanding its worldwide platform by joining the global museum app Smartify.

Ahead of its reopening on April 28, the Perthshire attraction has become the first Scottish landmark to partner with the app.

The move to Smartify comes as part of Blair Castle’s strategy to maintain its international audience before foreign travel can once again take place.

Catriona Sutherland, head of marketing at Blair Castle, said: “It is important that we find new ways to keep the history alive and accessible to all audiences, whether those with ancestral connections, researchers or the day visitor.

“The move on to Smartify is a great step forward as we can now connect to a wider audience. The aim is that it will allow us to reach people when they can’t visit us in person and encourage new visitors who might not have realised the richness of the collection Castle.”

She added: “Our fundamental purpose is to share our castle and all its treasures with other people.

“The pandemic has not only taught us that we need to do more, but also given us the time to explore how we can do this most effectively. That makes for a very compelling historic narrative that we can now begin to share on Smartify.”

The ancestral home of the Dukes of Atholl and the Atholl Highlanders would usually welcome more than 100,000 visitors a year.

Many of the visitors are from overseas with connections to the ancient Murray clan.

The Blair Castle Collections include a range of historical items, as well as paintings by artists such as Nicholson, Landseer and Zoffany.

Smartify provides access to the castle’s collections, with a full audio tour planned that will link the items in the context of the castle itself. at Blair

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The move on to Smartify is a great step forward as we can now connect to a wider audience

LANDMARK MOVE: Blair Castle is the first to partner with museum app Smartify.