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Tourism award win delight for boat festival


By Kyle Ritchie

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Portsoy's Scottish Traditional Boat Festival was triumphant in the Aberdeen City and Shire Tourism Awards.

The area's showcase summer event, which attracts tens of thousands of people, won in the Best Cultural Event/Festival category.

It will now go on to represent the north-east region at the national tourism Oscars – the Scottish Thistle Awards – in spring next year.

Festival co-chairwoman Vivien Rae said: “We’re absolutely delighted to be taking this award back to Portsoy.

"It’s a great achievement for the festival to be recognised as the best in the region and a firm acknowledgement of the dedication and hard work of the volunteers who make it happen each year.

"It’s also in recognition of our many sponsors, supporters and funders for their continuous support and investment, which we are very grateful for.”

Myles Murray, co-chairman, said: “The boat festival is a major event in the north-east of Scotland and it’s great that all the hard work by the volunteer team has been recognised with the presentation of this prestigious award.

"The festival attracts visitors from near and far, and as a team we will continue to develop the event for the enjoyment of those visiting Portsoy.”

Awards chairman Stephen Gow said the winners highlighted the incredible range of tourism services in the local area and represented the exceptional work being done by those working in the sector.

He added: “Once again this year we have shown the diversity of the tourism industry. It’s not just about hotels and visitor attractions – tourism has a major part to play in our community and economy, with everyone from tour guides to taxi drivers responsible for delivering exceptional customer services."

The award comes a week after it was announced that the festival has been selected as one of the organisations to be supported by the Year of Coasts and Waters 2020 events fund, managed by EventScotland. The additional funding will support an enhanced programme of marine and coastal activities to be added to next year’s event on June 20 and 21.

It was also a successful evening for Delgatie Castle in Turriff, which won Best Visitor Attraction.


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