Northmavine Visitor Survey Report

Analysis by Mark Ratter

Commissioned by Northmavine Development Company Tourism Sub-group

Acknowledgements

Thank you to the Northmavine Development Company for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this Visitor Survey project as well as other aspects of input regarding the promotion and development of tourism within the area.

More specifically, thanks to Northmavine’s Tourism Group for their continued input, information, knowledge and enthusiasm – with particular mention going to Maree Hay.

A special thank you to Ingrid Laurenson for her initial work regarding the Northmavine Visitor Survey, providing a comprehensive and focussed questionnaire for visitors to complete. Additionally, the Northmavine Tourism Action Plan proved to be a very handy reference point.

Finally, a thank you to those who helped to produce the visitor data. Firstly, the tourism businesses who provided the channels through which visitors could access the questionnaire. Secondly, the visitors themselves for providing the data which will hopefully create the way for a focussed approach to tourism within Northmavine for the future.

2 Abstract

The purpose of this report:

• Gain an understanding of Northmavine’s visitor base • Identify the current facility priorities, the current facility gaps and the potential developments for facilities • Identify potential visitor markets for the future • Try to get an idea of the impact (both positive and negative) of tourism on Northmavine’s economy, culture and environment. From this, try to establish a sustainable approach to maximising the benefits of tourism whilst minimising the negative impacts. • Establish a progressive set of steps for the development of tourism within Northmavine.

The structure of the report: • Questionnaire design and data analysis designated report to be categorised into 4 main sections: ¾ People (current and potential visitor markets) ¾ Products & Facilities ¾ Promotion, Information and Interpretation (effectively all details which help maximise visitor awareness, insight and understanding of Northmavine) ¾ Place and Infrastructure (access to and within Northmavine and all related features)

Conclusions and Recommendations Northmavine needs to develop a sustainable, step-by-step process of tourism development, maximising the positive impacts on the area’s economy, culture and environment whilst minimising the associated negative impacts. This must involve a fairly grass roots bottom up approach to tourism but this will need to be managed and coordinated by some critical mass of people – such as the Northmavine Tourism Sub- group.

The report identifies the need to develop tourism for independent visitors (visitors who do their own thing – they make up most of the current market) through consolidation of certain Northmavine products, facilities and infrastructure whilst using a variety of promotional, informative and interpretive methods and channels. Maximising and consolidating the independent visitor market should create new opportunities for Northmavine businesses.

The report also suggests that, once the independent visitor market has been developed and reaches its capacity, there may be opportunities to develop more dependant, all- inclusive types of tourism, such as insightful tours based on Northmavine’s community and culture.

4 Contents

Acknowledgements Abstract Contents List of Charts and Tables

1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………1 2. Methodology…………………………………………………………………………...8 2.1 Aims and Objectives……………………………………………………………8 2.2 Desk Research ………………………………………………………………….9 2.3 Questionnaire…………………………………………………………………...9 2.4 Data Analysis………………………………………………………………….10

3. Findings and Conclusions…………………………………………………………...12 3.1. People 3.1.1 Age Band……………………………………………………………..12 3.1.2 Party Size……………………………………………………………..15 3.1.3 Party Type…………………………………………………………….17 3.1.4 Normal Residence…………………………………………………….19 3.1.5 Total Nights Away……………………………………………………21 3.1.6 Month of Questionnaire Entry………………………………………..23 3.1.7 Frequency of Northmavine Visits…………………………………….26 3.1.8 Motivation for Visit…………………………………………………..28 3.1.9 Number of Respondents who Visited (by area)………………………30

5 3.2. Products and Facilities 3.2.1 Advanced Level of Booking………………………………………….31 3.2.2 Method of Booking…………………………………………………...33 3.2.3 Number of Bed Nights (by area)……………………………………...35 3.2.4 Type(s) of Accommodation…………………………………………..37 3.2.5 Visit To……………………………………………………………….39 3.2.6 Sporting Facilities…………………………………………………….41 3.2.7 Other Activities……………………………………………………….43 3.2.8 Meeting of Expectations……………………………………………...46 3.2.9 Tourism Facility Rating………………………………………………50 3.2.10 Northmavine Facility Implementation………………………………52

3.3. Promotion, Information and Interpretation 3.3.1 Sources of Information and Promotion……………………………….53 3.3.2 Interpretive Facility Implementation…………………………………59

3.4 Place and Infrastructure 3.4.1 Arrival Point in Shetland……………………………………………..61 3.4.2 Exit Point from Shetland……………………………………………..63 3.4.3 Getting to and Around Northmavine…………………………………64

4. Overall Recommendations………………………………………………………….65 4.1. Focussed Recommendations…………………………………………………65 4.2. General Recommendations…………………………………………………..72 4.3. Monitoring……………………………………………………………………75 Bibliography Appendices

List of Tables and Charts

Chart 1 – Age Band…………………………………………………………………….12 Chart 2 – Party Size……………………………………………………………………15 Chart 3 – Party Type…………………………………………………………………..17 Chart 4 – Normal Residence…………………………………………………………..19 Chart 5 – Total Nights Away…………………………………………………………..21 Chart 6 – Month of Questionnaire Entry……………………………………………..23 Chart 7 – Frequency of Northmavine Visits………………………………………….26 Chart 8 – Motivation for Visit…………………………………………………………28 Chart 9 – Number of Respondents who Visited (by area)…………………………...30 Chart 10 – Advanced Level of Booking……………………………………………….31 Chart 11 – Method of Booking………………………………………………………...33 Chart 12 – Number of Bed Nights (by area)………………………………………….35 Chart 13 – Type(s) of Accommodation………………………………………………..37 Chart 14 – Visit To……………………………………………………………………...39 Chart 15 – Sporting Activities…………………………………………………………41 Chart 16 – Other Activities…………………………………………………………….43 Chart 17 – Meeting of Expectations…………………………………………………...46 Chart 18 – Tourism Facility Rating…………………………………………………...49 Chart 19 - Northmavine Facility Implementation…………………………………....51 Chart 20 – Sources of Information and Promotion…………………………………..53 Chart 21 – Interpretive Facility Implementation…………………………………….58 Chart 22 – Arrival Point in Shetland………………………………………………….61 Chart 23 – Exit Point from Shetland…………………………………………………..63 Chart 24 – Getting to and Around Northmavine……………………………………..64

Table 1 – Facility Rating……………………………………………………………….50 Table 2 – Facility Implementation Rating…………………………………………….52 Table 3 – Average Number of Nights per Respondent (by area)………….Appendices Table 4 – Normal Respondents Residence (Areas within England)………Appendices Table 5 – Flying Zones: Departure from/ Arrival to……………………...Appendices

Model 1 – Tourism Development Influence…………………………………………...73

1. Introduction

As one of Shetland’s most isolated regions, Northmavine suffers from a high degree of social and economic frailty. This mainly stems from a disproportionate number of people against landmass in the context of Shetland: covering 22% of Shetland’s total area with only 4% of its population. Their have been various projects to try and bolster Northmavine’s social and economic activity, not least after the area received Initiative at the Edge status in 2004.

Taking on these various projects, the Northmavine Development Company (NDC) has identified the priority areas through which it is hoped can bring a positive and sustainable approach to Northmavine’s culture and community, its economy and its environment. Such priorities include tourism, housing, transport, young people, environment and employment. This report focuses specifically on tourism. However, tourism can have an holistic impact on social, economic and environmental issues (both positive and negative depending on the approach taken) and hopefully tourism development can act as a foundation to support all of the above priorities.

The NDC realised the potentially positive impact tourism could have on the area and a Tourism Sub-group was formed. This group has done a number of projects backed by research to find the appropriate way or ways forward for tourism in the region – and this report is the result of one such project. Building on previous projects – both on the Northmavine and Shetland scale – the Tourism Group opted to carry out a visitor survey within Northmavine. It is hoped that the results from the visitor survey, and consequently the findings and recommendations from this report, can provide the basis for an integrated and focussed approach to the development of tourism within Northmavine (along with the Northmavine Tourism Action Plan) and allow for a sustainable approach to social and economic (re)generation, whilst ensuring that the environment is not damaged as a result of such activity.

2. Methodology

2.1 Aims and Objectives The overall aim of the Northmavine Visitor Survey Report is to understand how to maximise the economic, socio-cultural and environmental benefits for Northmavine and its community through the development of tourism in the region. In order to do this, it will involve:

¾ Identifying the current ‘types’ of visitors who visit Northmavine and identify potential types of visitors who could be targeted and attracted to Northmavine.

¾ Identifying the best methods for promoting Northmavine as well as the provision of information and interpretation on Northmavine. Additionally, trying to find the best and most appropriate channels to use in order for visitors to access promotion, information and interpretation.

¾ Identifying the current products and facilities used by visitors within Northmavine, identifying the current tourism facility gaps and looking at the potential to develop and expand tourism facilities with the area.

¾ Understanding how visitors travel to and around Northmavine, how this affects their experience of the area and looking at how Northmavine can make the most of this knowledge.

2.2 Desk Research To maximise comprehension of the Northmavine Visitor Survey findings, it was important to look at and use some background information, particularly that which related to tourism within Northmavine – but also relating to Shetland overall and even some other global examples.

Northmavine support material included the Northmavine Tourism Action Plan and the Northmavine Interpretation Detailed Plan. Shetland support material included the Shetland Visitor Survey (which allowed comparisons and contrasts with the Northmavine findings) as well as the Shetland Tourism Plan.

2.3 Questionnaire The initial work for this project was the designing of the questionnaire, which was completed by Ingrid Laurenson. The Shetland Visitor Survey was used as a model from which to do an adapted model, allowing direct comparisons and contrasts to be drawn between the findings of the two surveys. However, also included in the Northmavine Questionnaire are useful extras, such as the rating tables for current tourism facilities, potential tourism facilities and potential interpretive facilties. The intended respondents of the survey were visitors to Northmavine, particularly those staying in Northmavine accommodation. Therefore, questionnaires were distributed to many of Northmavine’s accommodation providers for their guests to answer.

In all, 50 questionnaires were completed and retrieved for analysis.

2.4 Data Analysis Quantitative Analysis Data from completed questionnaires was entered into the SPSS data analysis computer programme from which a high number of charts could be produced – approximately two hundred. These graphs were analysed on an individual basis to see if they showed any

10 true pattern or trend. This included both univariate graphs and bivariate graphs. Univariate graphs are where just one of the questionnaire variables/questions is used to produce a chart. Bivariate graphs are where two questions/variables are crossed over to show the relationship between the two (i.e. a hypothetical example would be ‘all respondents who travelled to Northmavine with a rented vehicle used self-catering accommodation’). Whilst all possible univariate graphs were analysed and included within this report, unfortunately none of the bivariate graphs were considered useable due to the low volume in each question’s category. Drawing analyses from these bivariate graphs would have been questionable and almost certainly lead to inaccuracies – hence why they were left out.

Nevertheless, the univariate graphs revealed a number of interesting facts and were split into four appropriate categories, relating to the marketing mix model: people (target markets), products and facilities, promotion and physical evidence and place and infrastructure. From here, analysis for each graph was done as well as individual conclusions for each graph.

Qualitative Analysis Questions from the questionnaire which involved respondents to write comments was the survey’s qualitative data. This data was entered into a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet and acted as data to complement and support the quantitative data.

2.5 Limitations As with all surveys, there are always possible limitations which can affect the accuracy of the data to some degree. The following relates to possible limitations of this survey’s data accuracy.

Number of Questionnaires: With 50 questionnaires completed, some may argue that this would not be sufficient to give a totally accurate representation of all visitors to Northmavine. However, as most respondents would have been travelling in groups of two or three, their answers may be collective, therefore representing more visitors.

Distribution of Questionnaires: If certain accommodation providers did not allow for the questionnaire to be used at their accommodation unit, and/or certain visitors did not complete the questionnaire, this could affect the level of equal questionnaire distribution and perhaps mean that some types of visitors were not represented.

Missing entries: With some questionnaires, not all questions were answered by the respondent. Therefore, answers had to be entered at random where appropriate so could have affected the accuracy of some answers.

3. Findings and Conclusions 3.1 People

Age Band

30 Frequency

0 Under 15 16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+ Age Band

Chart 1 – Age Band 3.1.1 Age Band Findings Chart 1 shows the general trend of visitor age in a more transparent form than the Shetland Visitor Survey – which only offers three age bands: ‘under 24’, ‘25-55’ and ‘over 55’. Interestingly though visitors to Northmavine who are 55 or over almost equal the total number of visitors to Northmavine aged between 25 and 54. This compares to the Shetland Visitor Survey which shows there to be a 17% higher margin of visitors ‘25- 55’ than those over 55. So, whilst this shows that most visitors to Northmavine are in the

13 last two age bands, the contrast with the overall Shetland Survey suggests that a higher proportion of ‘55+’ are visiting Northmavine than Shetland in general. This could be a variety of individual reasons for this but one in particular is likely to be there motivation for visiting (as indicated by Chart 8 – Motivation for Visit). For example, we know from Chart 8 that visitors to Shetland overall are much more likely to be on business than visitors to Northmavine – therefore placing the emphasis on holiday- based activity. But taking Chart 1’s latter two age bands (’45-54’ and ‘55+’), the reason for this weighting is likely to be related to the specific types of holiday-based activities on offer within Northmavine such as walking, bird watching, cycling, fishing, sightseeing. These are all similar activities to other areas of Shetland in general but may suggest that activities are more distinguished than in other areas of Shetland.

Conclusions This Chart suggests that any future tourism development within Northmavine should perhaps look to divide ‘age’ into different categories. For instance, dividing age into three categories: ‘under 18’, ’18-44’ and ‘45+’ could bring about a more focussed approach to tourism development and will help ensure that each group will be represented. This will also help gain an understanding of each group rather than viewing each visitor to Northmavine as the same and as ‘one hole’.

This categorisation could be used when approaching a number of tourism issues within Northmavine such as types of activities, types of accommodation, events, the methods of providing information and interpretation and the possible development of tours within Northmavine. This could also be key when actually promoting Northmavine to visitors in the first place. For instance, would a Northmavine Tourism Website be a good promotional channel for those aged 18-44, whilst a brochure is better for those aged ‘45+’?

Whist the overall aim of Northmavine may be to get a wide variety of visitor types, focussing on all three age categories for the development of tourism may not mean developing all three at the same time. It is probably more important to focus firstly on

14 the main visitor base currently and also look at the tourism resources within Northmavine currently. For instance, chart 1 shows that the majority of current visitors to Northmavine are aged 45 or over. Additionally, the types of tourism facilities on offer in Northmavine could be said to cater for this age category particularly well. Therefore, it may be advisable to initially focus on potential improvements and development within tourism for this age group. Then, once this group is nearing its full potential in terms of experiencing Northmavine, the emphasis could then be placed on another group – such as ‘under 18’. The idea behind this categorisation and step by step process is that it will allow Northmavine to maximise its tourism potential for each group and, consequently, be supportable over a longer period of time.

Please note that this idea of categorisation is the main way to understand and break down the target market and applies to all information regarding the visitor: Age, Party Type, Party Size, Normal Residence, Total Nights away, Month of Questionnaire Entry, Frequency of Northmavine & Motivation for Visit. Some will, however, be more relevant for categorisation than others.

15 Party Size

20 Frequency

0 One Two Three Four Six or more Party Size

Chart 2 – Party Size

3.1.2 Party Size Findings (Chart 2 – Party Size; Chart 3 – Party Type) Chart 2 demonstrates party size travelling around Northmavine largely consists of two people. Furthermore, Chart 3 – Party Type, shows that over 60% of visitors to Northmavine are couples. The next significant group is families travelling in groups of three or four although it should be noted that Northmavine is catering to some extent for the full range of party sizes (one to six or more) and the full range of party types (individuals, couples, friends, family and others).

16 Conclusions Party size places most emphasis on Northmavine’s ability to adapt to different visitor group sizes. Adapting to different group sizes can be an especially difficult aspect of tourism and, on the basis of Chart 2, Northmavine does represent a variety of group sizes to some extent. There are ultimately two main issues for the tourism providers regarding party size. Firstly is the ability to adapt to different visitor group sizes whilst still aiming to provide a consistent, quality service to all visitors (perhaps at the same time). This is mainly an issue for food and drink outlets as well as tour providers.

The second issue is demand and capacity, which mainly affects accommodation, transport and tours again. With a range of group sizes between one and six, it could potentially be difficult for accommodation, transport and tour providers to anticipate visitor demand – and this can consequently have an impact on price. Additionally, a varied group size range can also make it difficult to judge the necessary frequency of transport and tours.

Whilst Party Size can be categorised like the other visitor markets in the ‘People’ section, the actual categories (i.e. one, two, three…six or more) should not be developed individually. For instance, Northmavine should not only look to develop facilities for visitors in groups of two – as this could exclude groups three or more (as well as those travelling alone). So, to some extent, a wide range of group sizes need to be catered for collectively and, if facilities can be created which can cater for groups ranging from one to six ore more, this would probably be preferable.

Fortunately, as it stands, the vast majority of visitors are travelling in groups of two – which makes it clearer as to who to cater for at the moment. Northmavine again, needs to decide if it wants to cater for and develop facilities for a wide range of group sizes or a narrower range. Ultimately, this could still mean that Northmavine can have visitors of various group sizes but some groups may be catered better and have higher service levels than others.

17 Party Type

20 Frequency

0 Individual Couple Family Friends Other Party Type

Chart 3 – Party Type

3.1.3 Party Type Conclusions Party Type is slightly different in its meaning to Party Size as it places more emphasis on the type of tourism set up than the capacity or demand levels. This is because the visitor’s overall experience of Northmavine is likely to be different depending on whether they are travelling alone, as a couple, as a family, as friends or as another group.

Again, it would be advisable for the NDC to use these broken down categories (individual, couple, family, friends, other) and discuss each individually to try to understand how well suited Northmavine is for certain groups – and identify any facility gaps. Visitors coming to Northmavine as couples seem to be the most consolidated group and this presumably means Northmavine caters well for them with regards to

18 accommodation, attractions and activities – and perhaps others, such as food & drink and even transport. It should also be discussed how Northmavine can maximise the presence of the ‘couples’ market within Northmavine. For instance, could there be themed events or tours designed specifically for couples?

After this, Northmavine should then evaluate the market for individual visitors, families and friend groups as these can be viewed as potential growth markets – areas where the number of these types of visitors could be increased within the future. For instance, with regards to families, how can children’s activities be developed along with more adult- based activities to maximise the experience for the whole family? Using models and examples from other tourist locations can be beneficial here as they aim to do the same thing – such as UK based company ‘Centre Parks’.

19 Normal Residence

15 Frequency

0 Shetland Orkney Scotland England Wales Eire Overseas Other Normal Residence

Chart 4 – Normal Residence

3.1.4 Normal Residence Findings Chart 4 shows that 54% of visitors to Northmavine are from England (See Appendices for the specific areas within England). Interestingly, this would suggest that there are a higher number of English visitors to Northmavine than Scottish. This contrasts with the Shetland Visitor Survey (2005/2006) which found a higher number of visitors from Scotland (44%) than from England (30%) visiting Shetland overall. However, the proportion between visiting Shetland on business and visiting Northmavine on business varies somewhat and, because many business visitors to Shetland are from Scotland, this suggests a possible explanation for the difference between the two surveys. Nevertheless,

20 this does imply that there are aspects of Northmavine which appeal specifically to English visitors.

Other notable observations include a proportional number of local Shetland visitors actually staying in accommodation. Additionally, there were several overseas visitors from countries such as Germany, Switzerland and France.

Conclusions Due to the dominant presence of English visitors, a strategy could be developed to target them more before arrival in Northmavine. For example, how could Northmavine market itself in England? It is unlikely to be feasible or viable to do this on a solo basis but would be more so as a joint promotion with a group promoting Shetland as a whole as well as each area individually. VisitShetland would be the major example as they already have several promotional channels into the English market such as their annual guide and attendance at trade show events.

Additionally, it could also be possible to cater for English visitors – specifically if, for example, there was a trend in the type of activities they were participating. Unfortunately, the bivariate analysis of ‘Normal Residence’ and ‘Type of Activity’ was inconclusive so any relationship between the two cannot yet be identified.

Similarly, overseas visitors could be catered for as well, particularly with regard to signs or symbols on signposts, and local interpretation provided in the relevant language.

Finally, particularly relating to off peak seasons, domestic visitors (in this case local Shetlanders) could be encouraged to visit Northmavine. This would mean providing something distinctive from the rest of Shetland – special events, meals at local eateries, etc. There could be possible incentives for locals such as discounts and the promotion of the events could take a slightly more distinctive approach (i.e. rather than just the Shetland Times and Radio Shetland – although these are still very important promotional channels).

Total Nights Away

Total Nights Away In Shetland In Northmavine

Chart 5 – Total Nights Away

3.1.5 Total Nights Away Findings Chart 5 shows the relationship between the total nights the visitor has spent away from home, the total nights in Shetland and the total nights in Northmavine. Assuming that respondents counted their total nights in Northmavine as part of their overall total nights in Shetland (i.e. rather than respondents total Shetland nights not including Northmavine), the graph suggests that respondents stayed in Northmavine for the majority of their stay. It is possible that additional nights may have been stayed elsewhere in Shetland at the start and end of their stay, depending on their entry and exit points.

Because the proportion of nights stayed in Northmavine against Shetland overall is quite high, it may suggest that availability of accommodation (particularly self catering) is one of the main motivations for visitors to visit Northmavine – initially at least.

Conclusions So, whilst it seems to be good news that most visitors staying in Northmavine are staying there for the majority of their Shetland stay, Northmavine may want to look at how to attract visitors who are staying in various areas around Shetland (i.e. to come to Northmavine for two or three days). Breiwick Caravan & Campsite is an excellent facility to encourage such visitors. This may also help to identify the gaps as to why there are not so many visitors staying for shorter times in Northmavine, perhaps relating to issues such as access, transport and information.

Additionally, as mentioned in the findings, it is quite probable that the ‘last minute’ bookers ultimate reason for staying in Northamvine is the availability of Accommodation. One possibility here would be to try and provide more reasons to the visitor to come to Northmavine. It is quite clear that such reasons and incentives are already present in Northmavine, but it is about trying to get this across to visitors in such a way that marks the area distinct from others in Shetland (see Distinctive Northmavine Examples in Appendices).

23 Month of Questionnaire Entry

10 Frequency

0 April May June July August September Month of Questionnaire Entry

Chart 6 – Month of Questionnaire Entry

3.1.6 Month of Questionnaire Entry Findings With the Visitor Survey being carried out between April and September, the month in which the visitor completed the questionnaire gives an indication of the most popular months to travel to Northmavine – and Shetland in general. Based on the survey, July is the most popular month for Northmavine with 34% of its visitors. May then follows, before June and August. It would appear that Northmavine does have a four month spread for major tourism activity. Furthermore, it also appears that the months at either end of the ‘high season’ may be on the increase as respondents were visiting and staying

24 in Northmavine during April and September. This could be a result of more facilities – such as Tangwick Haa Museum, Breiwick Café/Caravan Park and other accommodation open during these months. Additionally, and similarly to much of Shetland, many tourism activities within Northmavine (such as walking, cycling, fishing, wildlife watching) do not necessarily need to be restricted to two or three months within the summer (with the exception of some bird watching). With regard to the Shetland Visitor Survey, this does follow the same trend as Shetland overall and would suggest that tourism is likely to be structured towards a six month industry for the near future.

Conclusions One of the main aims of Shetland Tourism (according to the Shetland Tourism Plan 2006-2009) is for the different areas (particularly business but also various organisations) to look at the potential to lengthen the season. The underlying objective would be to look at the best ways to increase visitors at each end of the six-month summer season. Most businesses do now cater for visitors from April to September and, because many visitors to Northmavine are around retirement age, they are not necessarily restricted to three or four months in the summer.

There are perhaps two main options here in order to try and lengthen the season, particularly focussing on April and September. The first option would be to look to create a completely new and distinctive event in the scope of Shetland. The event’s theme is not necessarily crucial (i.e. music, cultural, activity based such as walking, etc.) as long as the idea distinguishes it from other areas of Shetland and to ensure it has a predominantly Northmavine theme to it (this could therefore help to boost Northmavine’s status within Shetland as a whole). Obviously, there would be practical issues relating to this such as funding, and finding voluntary workers, etc. but, with the correct strategy in place, visitor numbers should grow for that given month and ensure the lengthening of the tourist season overall.

25 The second option/procedure is to use promotion as a means of lengthening the season. This means, again, trying to promote the months outside of June, July and August in such a way that they are distinct and seem to offer something different to the peak season. Themed promotion can be a good approach (i.e. for a given season or month, this means bring all the attributes and characteristics of that season or month into one image and/or brand).

In time, looking outside of the six-month season may be an option – but only once there is a good, spread out visitor base to grow from. A useful approach for this would be to look at the target markets and see which groups would be best to target outside the summer months. Various events may again be a useful tool, even if it was aimed mainly at local Shetlanders.

26 Frequency of Northmavine Visits

15 Frequency

0 Never/First Once Twice 3-5 Times 6-10 times More than 10 Have lived in Time times Northmavine Frequency of Northmavine Visits

Chart 7 – Frequency of Northmavine Visits

3.1.7 Frequency of Northmavine Visits Findings With regard to chart 7, 56% of visitors to Northmavine have never been before. However, there is some basis for visitors who have been to Northmavine before – particularly three or more times. It should be noted that this is not just local Shetland and there are people from several countries making return visits. Many first time visitors also left comments to suggest they would visit Northmavine again in the future.

27 Conclusions Statistically, it is eleven times more costly to encourage a new visitor to a tourism location than to retain a former visitor – due to having to launch new promotion and promotional channels, etc. (Page, 2002). Therefore, it could be highly economical and efficient to look at ways to encourage visitors to return to Northmavine. It is likely (although not proven locally) that there is a link between return visitors (which could be viewed as customer loyalty) and a highly customised service. This means giving the visitor a highly personal experience of Northmavine – to make them feel that they have had a holiday in Northmavine specially designed for them. In service terms, this can mean ‘going the extra mile’ for the visitor – something which is usually associated with appropriate training. However, the general assumption is that most tourism providers are very good at doing this anyway, without the training and hence why Northmavine does see a flow of return visitors.

Therefore, there could be certain events which could help increase the personalised experience the visor has within Northmavine. The personalised experience can be increased by the novelty aspect of the event and this could include intimate music sessions and storytelling. Another beneficial aspect is the level of insight into the local area and culture which the visitor gets. This could therefore suggest the development of small group tours which show ‘traditional’ aspects such as sheep shearing, peat cutting and various other areas of local lifestyle. Because this will illuminate and enrich their experience, it should make them more likely to return in the future. Elma Johnson’s Island Trails is a good local example of cultural insight tours.

28 Motivation for Visit

Frequency 20

0 On Holiday On Business Combining both Visiting friends and Visiting friends or business and relatives on holiday relatives holiday Motivation for Visit

Chart 8 – Motivation for Visit

3.1.8 Motivation for Visit Findings Effectively, visitors ‘On Holiday’ holds a monopoly in terms of their original reason and motivation for visiting Northmavine. A wide base of tourism literature actually includes ‘Visiting Friends and Relatives’ as an activity done whilst on holiday. This is because these visitors are still likely to partake in various tourist based activities in the given area. It could therefore be argued that visiting friends and family could be viewed as a tourism activity and would then effectively mean only two categories for motivation for visit: ‘On holiday’ and ‘On Business’.

Conclusions So, this graph would suggest that most emphasis should be put on developing Northmavine’s tourism industry for visitors specifically on holiday which means planning and implementation of facilities which are most convenient, quality and comfortable (as these could be considered to have association with ‘holidays’. However, looking outside the ‘Holiday’ sphere, there may well be potential to develop other types of tourism set ups. Perhaps the business category could be widened to include ‘Training and Education’

One increasingly popular form of tourism (often used as a tool to obtain visitors outside of the main tourist season) is to provide workshops and training across a whole range of topics but, perhaps most notably arts, crafts and music. If this was incorporated into a package (i.e. workshop, accommodation, and meals) it may have growth potential. Perhaps this could mean working with local businesses to offer these workshop and training packages. Additionally, it could help increase the use of the local community halls as well.

This idea of training and workshops was one potential tourism angle which the former RAF Base at Saxavord, Unst was looking at for the future so they could be a good example to observe over the next two years or so if this is deemed as a possible way forward for Northmavine.

30 Number of Respondents who Visited (by area)

Frequency 10

0 Elsewhere Lerwick Central South West Yell Unst Fetlar Whalsay Out Bressay Fair Isle Papa Stour Foula North Mainland Mainland Mainland Skerries Mainland Number of Respondents who Visited (by area)

Chart 9 – Number of Respondents who Visited (by area)

3.1.9 Number of Respondents who visited (by area) Findings The general observation of Chart 9 is that tourists who visited Northmavine also visited all other areas of the Shetland Mainland as well as Yell and Unst. The trend seems to indicate that, access to individual areas impacts on the number of visitors who visit that area. Furthermore, the more infrequent access is to the location, the fewer tourists seem to visit.

Conclusions This may also suggest that visitors are visiting six or seven areas of Shetland on average. For the visitor, this may mean a process of elimination (i.e. sacrificing one location for another). This is where Northmavine really needs to sell itself to tourists. It is crucial that, with increased and improved promotion, Northmavine states its distinctive features in order to separate itself from all other areas of Shetland (See Northmavine Distinctive Features in Appendices).

31 3.2 Products and Facilities

Advanced Level of Booking

Frequency 10

0 Just turned Less than 1 1-2 weeks 2-4 weeks 1-2 months 2-4 months More than 4 up without week before before before before before months booking before Advanced Level of Booking

Chart 10 – Advanced Level of Booking 3.2.1 Advanced Level of Booking Findings Chart 10 suggests that over 70% of visitors are booking accommodation at least two months in advance of their stay but more often over four months before arrival. Anything in between ‘1-2 months before’ arrival and ‘just turned up without booking are much more likely to be using Breiwick Caravan & Campsite or have their own accommodation.

Two main points can be derived from these observations. Firstly, the advanced level of booking suggests that visitors are staying in Northmavine as their first option – and this is supported by respondents’ comments. Secondly, this gives an indication as to when information and promotional material could be sent out to these future visitors. For instance, if most visitors are booking about 4 months in advance and will stay in Northmavine during June or July, information packs could be made up about February or March time to send out to visitors in advancement of their proposed stay.

32 Conclusions Perhaps as an agreement for accommodation providers’ entry into Northmavine’s Brochure, providers could do two important duties to help develop a prepared and proactive approach to tourism in Northmavine once they receive each accommodation booking. The first idea would be to supply all providers who own accommodation in Northmavine a number of Northmavine Information Packs (mainly including the Brochure but other possible material as indicated in Appendices). Therefore, with each booking which the provider takes, they could then take the responsibility of being a ‘Northmavine Tourism Representative’ and send out the information pack to this future visitor – as they should have their contact details. This means that tourist information on Northmavine would be going directly to someone who will definitely be visiting and staying in Northmavine, therefore allowing them to plan and maximise their time in the area.

Additionally, accommodation providers could provide details of who is staying at their accommodation and when. This only needs to include the number of visitors per stay and details of demographics (male/female/family/couple/children) as well as their arrival and departure dates. This could be done in complete confidentiality and such information only needs to be given to one individual person (by phone or email from the provider) and then this person can add all visitors for the year onto a spreadsheet, categorised by accommodation units. The purpose of this is that the spreadsheet could be used to show when the busiest times will be for tourism (and perhaps also categorised by the busiest times for families or couples, etc). This means that Northmavine can then have a better idea of when to put on tours and events in the knowledge that chosen dates are peaks for visitors staying in Northmavine and therefore maximising the chances of good turnouts at these activities.

In time, this system could also be used to see if visitors staying in Northmavine are increasingly and if the tourist season is increasing – rather than just based on anecdotal reports. If some providers seemed to be suffering a decline in numbers, Northmavine could look to help diagnose the problem.

33 Method of Booking

20 Frequency

0 Did not book Internet Travel Agent Direct from Other Provider Method of Booking

Chart 11 – Method of Booking

3.2.2 Method of Booking Findings Booking direct from providers is by far the most popular form of booking when it comes to accommodation (64%). This is likely to be the preferred method for accommodation providers as they will maximise their chances of getting the highest monetary value.

Conclusions The high percentage of direct bookings would suggest that the current channels for choosing and booking accommodation are quite effective. If at all possible, it would be beneficial if these channels could be established as they could also be used to supply other forms of information relating to Northmavine.

The proposed Northmavine Brochure should be beneficial in at least sustaining (but presumably increasing) the number of bookings done direct from providers. Direct bookings from providers are likely to remain the most popular and most beneficial ways to take bookings. However, providers may want to diversify into other methods such as allowing visitors to book online if they have an accommodation website. One possible advantage of this is that the website could show visitors availability and may help planning ahead to avoid two individual visitor groups wanting to stay at the same time. It would be highly advisable that providers still allow bookings to be made by telephone and updating their website availability on a regular basis – as opposed to using the internet as an alternative to phone bookings.

With regard to accommodation providers who regularly have visitors who turn up without booking, this may be a problem for them (if they would prefer to know in advance). Two options to try to alleviate this (although it is still likely to occur to some extent) is, as above, add accommodation availability on to the business website so visitors can know availability before arrival. Alternatively (or additionally), introduce a system of price diversification so that earlier bookings work out cheapest and turning up without booking will be the most expensive. For Northmavine, however, it is highly beneficial to have accommodation providers who can supply on short notice – as there will always be visitors who want to be flexible when travelling and this would be an asset for Northmavine. This must be a major benefit of having Breiwick Caravan and Campsite.

35 Number of Bed Nights Per Respondent (by area)

20 Frequency

0 Elsewhere Lerwick Central South West Yell Unst Fetlar Whalsay Fair Isle Papa Stour North Mainland Mainland Mainland Mainland Number of Bed Nights Per Respondent (by area)

Chart 12 – Number of Bed Nights (by area)

3.2.3 Number of Bed Nights (by area) This chart shows bed nights for all respondents, categorised by the different areas of Shetland – other than Northmavine. It is difficult to draw out specific findings and conclusions here as there will be certain factors which affect these results. However, it does appear that Lerwick, South Mainland and Elsewhere in North Mainland are also accommodation zones used significantly by visitors staying in Northmavine. It may be a viable option for accommodation units within Northmavine to arrange some sort of joint promotion with accommodation providers in these other areas. Alternatively, accommodation providers may want to find ways to promote Northmavine channels in these areas.

36 As mentioned above, the chart may suggest there are certain factors which affect the visitor’s decision making for accommodation and accommodation areas. Such factors may include number of accommodation units in that given area, accessibility of accommodation and transport frequency (buses, ferries, flights) as well as availability – which relates to the advanced level of booking. Northmavine may want to consider these factors when promoting accommodation in the area and try to give the visitor as much prior knowledge about accommodation relating to such factors – as this will limit any uncertainties people may have (because uncertainty is likely to have a big impact on their final decision whether to book certain accommodation providers).

37 Type(s) of Accommodation

20 Frequency

0 Self Catering Bed and Breakfast Tent in a Campsite Wild Camping Campervan/Carav Staying with Other house/cottage/chal an friends/family et Type(s) of Accommodation

Chart 13 – Type(s) of Accommodation 3.2.4 Type(s) of Accommodation Findings As this chart shows, self-catering is the most popular form of accommodation. However, this high percentage is more related to the fact that there are far more self catering units within Northmavine than any other type of accommodation. So, whilst this chart does show that self catering is a popular choice for visitors, it does not necessarily mean that other types of accommodation would not be popular if more units were established. Nevertheless, the chart would suggest that the majority of visitors to Northmavine would prefer self catering above other types of accommodation – particularly where they will be staying over a length of time.

Conclusions If Northmavine is aiming towards tourism growth (both in visitor figures and income from tourism), then it is a high probability the area will need a higher capacity for tourism numbers. Over the last year, their have been developments regarding accommodation units within Northmavine, including the re-opening of St Magnus Bay Hotel. It would be advisable to be aware of visitor reaction to these new units. For instance, will they get business and when? Does it increase the number of visitors to Northmavine or does new accommodation take business away from original accommodation units. This could be valuable information when looking at the possibility of increasing accommodation units in the future. As far as Chart 13 shows, though, self catering does seem to be the best current approach for accommodation.

Northmavine could look at practical ways to encourage people to start up self catering units (or any accommodation) through enterprise involvement and perhaps training.

39 Visit To

Frequency 20

0 Museum Art Gallery Local Cafes Beaches and Other Coastal Scenery Visit To

Chart 14 – Visit To

3.2.5 Visit To Findings Visiting beaches and coastal scenery appears to be the most popular location to visit whilst staying in Northmavine. Visits to Local Cafés, Museum (presumably Tangwick Haa) and, to a lesser extent, the Art Gallery are also fairly popular visiting options whilst in Northmavine. As Northmavine is predominantly an outdoor location, these can be viewed as very important indoor facilities. The visiting of ‘Other’ locations included lighthouses and the Seal Sanctuary.

Conclusions These details of where people are visiting may prove to be important when developing Northmavine’s access and interpretation facilities as this gives an idea of where they are visiting and possibly their visiting routes. With regard to the indoor facilities (local cafés, art gallery and museum), perhaps these could be promoted especially as options for poor weather days when outdoor activities are less practical. Additionally, as these could be considered important visitor outlet locations, perhaps they could look to maximise their services for visitors such as for visitor information, visitor promotion (events in Northmavine, etc.) as well as the selling of crafts and any other useful visitor materials.

41 Sporting Activities

20 Frequency

0 Fishing Cycling Short Walks - up to Long Walks - over Other 2 miles 2 miles Sporting Activities

Chart 15 – Sporting Activities

3.2.6 Sporting Activities Findings Walking appears to be by far the most popular sporting activities, with both short and long walks proving popular. This is no major surprise as Northmavine is very much an outdoor destination and a good number of activities are centred around walking – such as sightseeing as well as bird/wildlife watching.

Conclusions The clear popularity of walking within Northmavine supports the development of walking and interpretive facility implementation (see promotion and information section). This would include marker trails, interpretive boards and self-guided leaflets. However, other identified facility gaps for walking, as detailed through visitors comments, include access (i.e. lack of stiles, etc) and signposting – not just for cars but for walkers too. Additionally, some visitors highlighted the fact that they had to travel back to Brae in order to get appropriate maps for walking in Northmavine. This is something which would really need to be available within Northmavine – either at shops or other outlets. Perhaps some other walking/camping equipment could also be sold such as flasks, ponchos, gas cylinders, etc. as many may only see the need for these once they are in Northmavine.

With regard to cycling and fishing, these are two activities which have good potential within Northmavine, as there are good environmental resources: there are good, quiet roads for cycling and there are a number of excellent fishing lochs. However, the instrumental resources (such as bikes for cycling and fishing rods, permits for fishing) need to be provided if aims to increase these activities are made. Perhaps the Tourism Outlet Points (as detailed in Appendices) could offer hire service for such facilities or, alternatively, encourage accommodation providers to provide these facilities for their guests.

43 Other Activities

20 Frequency

0 General Bird Boat Trips Other Family Photograph Shopping Musical Educational 10 Other Sightseeing Watching Nature Tree/Gene y/Painting for Entertainm Events/Acti /Touring Watching alogy Crafts/Loca ent/Activitie vities (flora/fauna Research l Products s ) Other Activities

Chart 16 – Other Activities 3.2.7 Other Activities ‘Other Activities’ could be split into six categories: - Nature Based (General Sightseeing, Bird Watching, Other Nature Watching, Photography/Painting) - Tours/Boat Trips (Guided Tours, Boat Trips) - Events (Musical entertainment/activities, Educational events/activities, Other local or cultural events) - Local buying (local produce, local crafts) - Genealogy - Other

The four Nature Based Activities are by far the most popular activities within Northmavine and this would seem to therefore support the development of infrastructure and interpretation for such outdoor recreation. At the moment, this seems to be very much individual groups going off and exploring for themselves (independent travellers). Yet, with this level of outdoor activity, there must be some potential for land based tours and/or boat trips. ‘Guided Tours’ is not included in this chart as no respondents had been on any during their time within Northmavine. About 10 respondents had been on boat trips (which shows there is some potential) although there are currently no official boat tours operating from Northmavine.

Several respondents appear to have been at events within Northmavine, whether musical, educational or culturally based. This again shows there is some potential although, in order to publicise such events, it may often mean promoting them through different channels than simply the local ones.

Buying of local produce and local crafts can be a very profitable feature of the tourism industry and can greatly enhance a visitor’s localised experience. Local produce could be sold and promoted within Northmavine’s shops – particularly with so many visitors staying in self-catering units – but also at food and drink locations and at any localised events – such as afternoon teas and farmer’s markets. Local crafts could also be sold in the same way. Perhaps Northmavine could look at ways to encourage locals to develop their own crafts and possibly offer workshops and training. Such craft workshops could potentially be used by keen visitors as well.

Other potential types of tourism which could be developed within Northmavine may include genealogy and archaeology although the approach to develop these more for visitors is something which would need to be discussed in detail.

The concept of community tourism is something which has been considered by the Northmavine Tourism Group previously and could prove to be a lucrative tourism market.

45 The basic idea behind this would be to incorporate as many of the traditional and community aspects of Northmavine in a way which would be presentable to visitors. This would therefore give visitors a more profound experience and insight into a traditional way of life – therefore providing something totally unique.

This would almost certainly need to be done as a tour, incorporating traditional Northmavine and Shetland features of work (peat cutting, sheep shearing/rooing), lifestyle, food, skills and crafts (knitting, etc.), folklore and music. Ways of presenting these Northmavine tours to visitors include demonstrations, exhibitions, displays, events and workshops. This, therefore, offers a way of sustaining Northmavine practices, skills and culture – even if by slightly artificial means. Developing this as a kind of Northmavine package tour is likely to make it more profitable and much more organised. However, it is not something which could be introduced with immediate effect and would likely need both a high level of investment and coordination. Perhaps initially this could be done using volunteers to evaluate its success. Besides this, it would be highly recommended that this community tourism is not developed until facilities for the independent outdoor recreational visitors has been well established – therefore developing markets for both independent and dependant travellers (see ‘Tourism Development Process’ in Appendices).

46 Meeting of Expectations

Exceeded Expectations Met Expectations Not sure

Chart 17 – Meeting of Expectations 3.2.8 Meeting of Expectations Findings Chart 17 shows that nearly all respondents found that Northmavine had met their expectations. Furthermore, half of these respondents found that Northmavine had actually exceeded their expectations. This would suggest that the visitor’s overall experience of Northmavine – including a combination of tourism facilities such as attractions, accommodation, activities, access, information, interpretation and various others – were of good quality standards (perhaps both comparatively with other areas of Shetland and other areas outside Shetland where each individual had been to on holiday before). It is possible that some facilities did exceed expectations but others fell below standard quality, therefore impacting on the overall experience – and potentially raising issues with the consistency and integration of all Northmavine’s facilities when viewed together.

However, the fact that half of respondents found Northmavine to have exceeded expectations suggests that it is highly regarded amongst visitors to Shetland and that it is a highlight of visitors’ overall experience of Shetland. It is quite possible that this stems from one single outstanding experience (i.e. Accommodation or attractions such as Eshaness) but if this quality of experience ha not been let down by an individual facility, that is all it may take to “win them over” and possibly attract them back in the future or make them more likely to encourage friends and family. One other potential point with regard to ‘Exceeded Expectations’ is that there were a number of visitors who did not choose Northmavine as their first destination (i.e. for accommodation). This leaves the possibility that they had not done so much research on Northmavine before their visit and had naturally lowered their expectations due to the unknown details.

Conclusions Northmavine needs to look at what tourism developments can directly improve visitor experience and, consequently, the degree to which expectations have been met. One possible method would be to look at each individual tourism facility in Northmavine – Attractions, Activities, Accommodation, Transport, Local Crafts, Shops and Supplies, Tours, Food and Drink, and Others such as public toilets, access, interpretation, information, internet access, etc. The first process would be to evaluate the quality of the facility and the ‘strength’ of it in the Northmavine context – with the aim to improve the consistency of Northmavine facilities. Then, the weaker facilities would need to be “cherry picked” and worked on individually to try to bring up their level of quality, thus not affecting the visitor’s overall perception of Northmavine. Perhaps creating a list of priority facilities to work on over a specified period of time may be one approach (i.e. one facility per month).

48 Once most or all facilities have had quality improvements, the process would require Northmavine to look at the relationship between the different facilities – as ‘linkage’ is important in the visitor’s overall experience. Improving facility integration would be for each facility to promote other facilities, to enhance the likelihood that visitors will maximise their Northmavine experience. This could include local accommodation having sufficient information and promotion on all Northmavine facilities, including non- planned events, etc. (the same could be done for any local transport). Other examples of integration could include local craft producers selling crafts at events, attractions and other outlets as well as shops selling materials relevant for tourism activities – i.e. selling maps for hikers, etc).

An additional possibility would be to distribute an information source which details all the relevant facilities within Northmavine. This would create some sort of rational expectation for the first time visitor before they arrive. This allows them to maximise their Northmavine experience whilst also creating a link between their expectation of Northmavine and their ultimate perception of Northmavine (if the brochure is developed as intended, this recommendation will be satisfied).

Perhaps sometime in the future a new survey could be brought out when the relevant changes have been made which has a table showing visitor expectations before arrival and perceptions towards the end of their visit. This will then show the relationship between the Northmavine information given before arrival and the perception of Northmavine facilities nearer departure.

Tourism Facility Rating 30

10 No. of Respondants

5 Very Good Good 0 Okay

ut ne ts c. Poor ion ps um af et ing O days e ation g avi /cr inment Very Poor 50 odat Sho s a ng/ retation post m thm her Mus t or m er n- f Eatin or eat seei g in Don't Know N Si w ght ccom to i A t S Did Not State or tural ent Site interp Local p ng/ ns on poor cul a or Tr Transport in Northmavinedo Quality of local art to cal for Walki ngs usi hi M T Tourism Faciility ccess A

Chart 18 – Tourism Facility Rating

3.2.9 Tourism Facility Rating This tourism facility rating chart represents various tourism facilities within Northmavine in which respondents where asked to rate them from Very Good to Very Poor. The ‘Don’t Know’ category may be considered facilities which visitors have no needed and therefore did not know much about. However, it has also been interpreted that this means there is limited information and/or promotion of this facility for visitors – hence why they do not know about it. The following table has been designed and categorised based on average facility ratings by visitors for each individual facility: Rated from Very Good to Very Poor. Table 1 – Facility Rating Rating Very Good Accommodation Access for Local (35+) (44.6) Walking/Sightseeing Information (39.6) (39.6) Good (30-35) Museum (34.8) Shops (32.8) Sign Posting Eating Out (32.6) (31.6) Okay (20-30) Site Things to do on poor Quality of Interpretation weather days (22.9) local (29.4) arts/crafts (22.8) Poor (10-20) Transport to Transport in Northmavine Northmavine (10.8) (11.6) Very Poor Musical or (0-10) cultural entertainment (9.6)

Northmavine Facility Implementation

1 = I would definitely like to see it - 5 = I would definitely not like to see it

25 20 1 2 15 3 10 4 5 5 0 Did Not State No. of Respondants of No. 52 Hotel toilets Centre eat Bird hides Bird people Interpretive More public More shops Picnic tables Picnic Cheaper style Cheaper More places to More places Place for young for Place accommodation

Chart 19 – Northmavine Facility Implementation

3.2.10 Northmavine Facility Implementation Similarly to Chart 18, the average ratings for each potential facility has been taking for Chart 19 and listed from top priority (most favoured) to minimal priority (least favoured) for implementation. The following list shows these facilities in the order of favour as decided by visitors. Table 2 – Facility Implementation Rating Top Facility Implementations (25+) Less Desired Facility Implementation (20- 25) More Places to Eat (31.2) Hotel (24) Bird Hides (31) More Public Toilets (23.8) Interpretive Centre (26.6) Cheaper Style Accommodation (22.8) Picnic Tables (25) More Shops (22.2) Place for Young People (21)

53 3.3 Promotion, Information and Interpretation

Sources of Information

10 Frequency

0 Internet/Website Tourist Board Tourist Travel Operator Guidebook Friends/relative Experience of a Other Brochures/Leafl Information (ferries/airlines) s/advice of previous visit ets Centre others Sources of Information

Chart 20 – Sources of Information and Promotion

3.3.1 Sources of Information and Promotion Findings

Chart 20 clearly shows that the most dominant sources of information regarding Northmavine are the ‘Internet/Website’ and ‘Tourist Board Brochures/Leaflets’. This is generally good news for Northmavine as these are the channels which Northmavine has the most control over. For instance, Northmavine can use its own website and its own brochure to promote Northmavine and provide relevant information and interpretation. The other main source – ‘Experience of a Previous Visit’ – is also a good channel for Northmavine as they are familiar with the area and can therefore maximise their time and experience within Northmavine.

54 Other less used sources of information on Northmavine include the ‘Tourist Information Centre’, ‘Tour Operator’, ‘Guidebooks’ and ‘Friends/relatives/advice of others’. These sources effectively act as intermediaries between the potential visitor to Northmavine and those working specifically to bring people to Northmavine. Northmavine therefore has less control over these sources although this should not be seen to affect their level of importance.

Conclusions Internet/Websites: As websites are the most popular sources for visitors to find out information about Northmavine, this information and promotional channel needs to be used to its maximum capacity. This would therefore support the implementation of a Northmavine Tourism Website – or at least an extension of the current website (www.northmavine.com).

However, as well as creating the promotion and information for potential visitors to Northmavine, it is equally important to find ways of making people aware of Northmavine and the Northmavine website in the first place. In the context of the internet, this means trying to have an influence on other related websites and this will mainly include the VisitShetland Website as well as other Northmavine business websites. The main forms of influence include ensuring that all these websites have links to the Northmavine website (and visa versa) and also trying to help them maximise what content they have relating to Northmavine tourism (text, photos, details of attractions, accommodation, etc). Preferably there would be some level of consistency with the details provided about Northmavine or perhaps some arrangement whereby each business website focuses on different aspects of Northmavine.

Northmavine may want to look at other methods of promotion and/or information provision on the internet. For instance, ‘You Tube’ would allow promotional material including photos and film with background commentary – and could be linked in with other promotional Shetland material on the site. Furthermore, ‘Wikipedia’ and ‘Shetlopedia’ are information and interpretation channels which Northmavine could edit in order to maximise Northmavine content.

Additionally, a Northmavine website does not have to be restricted to promotion and information. It could also incorporate various services such as an online shop for Northmavine crafts and books (as mentioned in the Northmavine Tourism Action Plan 2007). Yet, as well as using it as a promotional and informative tool for those who plan to come to Northmavine, it could also be used as a tool for those who are presently in Northmavine. For instance, visitors could go on the website on a daily basis to see what the tours and activities, opening/closing times, food outlet menus, weather predictions, possible daily itineraries are. This could also justify the introduction of internet access as well as other services at potential Northmavine outlets (see appendices). One of the major difficulties of rural tourism is getting consistent information and promotion across to their current visitors – the internet would certainly be one possible way to help this.

55 A good model for a potential tourism website is VisitShetland’s (www.visitshetland.com) as it has diversified its content and services (e-shop, events calendar, accommodation and tour searches, tourist radio, etc.) as well as providing very tangible images to maximise the interest of the visitor towards Shetland (web cams, image gallery, etc).

Tourist Board Brochures/Leaflets: Whilst websites are a good source of information, it seems that tourism brochures and leaflets are still highly popular amongst visitors and potential visitors. The main advantage of a brochure is that it can always be ‘at hand’ and can therefore be referred to regularly – both before their trip and during their trip.

Therefore, this seems to support the creation of a Northmavine Brochure as it would give a more detailed and comprehensive approach to tourism in Northmavine as opposed to simply relying on generalised Shetland material (as important as that may be).

This report itself will hopefully provide some basis for the level of the brochures focus with regard to practicalities (how to get to and around Northmavine, and accommodation within Northmavine) as well as leisure (activities, attractions, tours and events). Where possible, the brochure should try to emphasise its distinctive features and really try to express why people should come to Northmavine – in addition to other areas of Shetland but perhaps even instead of other areas of Shetland. Additionally, it can prove to be helpful to have more integrated information rather than just individual pieces of information. For example, if giving details of Eshaness, also give details of other attractions or walks in that specific area. Create possible Northmavine itineraries within the brochure for visitors – people like having a guided idea of what to do so take advantage of this.

In addition to the actual creation of the brochure, equally important is the promotional channels for the brochure. This means which locations the brochure is going to be at or distributed to so that visitors can have access to it. Possible suggestions for such locations would include as many of Shetland’s visitor outlets as possible (information centres, transport providers – i.e. Northlink, attractions, etc) as well as at business locations within Northmavine, including accommodation. Joint promotions with other areas of Shetland may be a possibility where an agreement between two or more areas is done in order to help promote each others’ area – mainly through supplying brochures and leaflets.

Northmavine will also need to decide if they want to make the brochure available to people before they come to Shetland (i.e. with a brochure request form on the website). Understanding what the most efficient and cost effective way of doing this will also be important.

56 Experience of a previous visit: In this case, Northmavine itself acts as the information (and promotional) source as the visitors have previously been. This can be a good source as visitors will have their bearings and will know the area better than can be detailed by text. However, the only potential issue with regard to this group is that these visitors may not be aware of any changes or updates to tourism in Northmavine.

In order to keep in contact with previous visitors, Northmavine could use what is formally known as a Customer Relationship Database. This basically means recording the details of visitors to Northmavine (as has been done with this survey) and asking if they would like to be sent information relating to Northmavine Tourism in the future. This could be done by email or perhaps by sending out a newsletter on a set basis. The main idea behind this is that it keeps an important link between Northmavine and the visitor, especially after their initial trip. This again creates a personalised feel for the visitor.

Travel Operator, Tourist Information Centre, Guidebook, Friends/Relatives/Advice of Others: As mentioned earlier, the above information and promotional channels seem to be used less than other forms in terms of finding out information on Northmavine, yet are still potentially very important. Northmavine itself has minimal control over these channels. However, Northmavine could be proactive in trying to influence these channels. For instance, providing regular information to the Tourist Information Centre (and other locations about events within Northmavine, etc). Also, encouraging and inviting Tourist Information workers, Travel Operators and Guidebook and magazine writers up to Northmavine. This means that when they are either writing about Northmavine or relaying information to interested potential visitors, they can describe the place and the facilities vividly – as opposed to relying on text in brochures and leaflets, etc.

With regards to ‘Friends/Relatives/Advice of Others’, Northmavine could advertise information packs (see ‘Other’ section next) for Northmavine locals to send out to their friends and relatives who may be interested in coming to Shetland – Northmavine specifically.

57 Other: It is most important, initially at least, to have some core information sources. However, other information and promotional sources can be used for diversifying for a number of reasons.

Northmavine Information Packs (see Appendices for details): The idea behind the information packs is to give comprehensive information about everything they need to know about Northmavine during their stay. This can be adapted to meet different needs. For instance, a pack could be made up free for potential visitors thinking of visiting Shetland and Northmavine. Alternatively, it could include a pass card as well as discounts to be used within Northmavine and this would cost a fee.

Information Points: Another possibility is to set up information points at certain locations around Northmavine. It would perhaps be best to use locations which tend to have a lot of visitor activity but a list of most potential information points can be found in the appendices under ‘Tourism Outlet Points’. The only problem with most of these potential information points is that they tend to be well into Northmavine. Ideally, there would be an information point on entry to Northmavine which all visitors would be passing by – such as at Mavis Grind. Therefore, it may perhaps be a possible idea to investigate the practicalities of setting up some sort of information point at Mavis Grind. There are plans to have information of sorts available to visitors at Mavis Grind but this report asks if it would be possible to have a temporary information outlet over busy visitor periods – such as a portacabin – to provide information (and possibly visitor passes, etc.) to visitors about to enter Northmavine. This could also be used as a central point for tours and other activities to start from, as well as transport arrangements (i.e. visitors park their car at Mavis Grind and use provided transport to take them around Northmavine – effectively creating a hub of activity. There are a number of practicalities which would have to be investigated before implementing any such idea.

VisitShetland’s information and promotional channels could again be used as a model to show the diverse methods used in order to attract and inform visitors, such as trade shows, locally themed events, text message services and promotional DVDs. Incidentally, VisitShetland have produced a promotional CD Rom of Shetland and the case also has space for one further DVD which allows local businesses, etc. to include their own DVD in the pack – a potential area for Northmavine to capitalise on.

Interpretive Facility Implementation

1 = I would definitely like to see - 5 = I would definitely not like to see 25 1 20 2 15 3 10 4 5 5 0

No. Respondants of Did not State 59 Audio trails Guided walks Art/sculptures in general in general ic devices Touch screenTouch Marker trailsMarker with Marker traills with traills Marker Interactive models self-guided leaflets interpretive boards interpretive Interpretive boards Interpretive computers/electron Information leaflets

Chart 21 – Interpretive Facility Implementation

3.3.2 Interpretive Facility Implementation Findings

Chart 21 shows Interpretive Facility Implementation to be split into three distinct categories:

- Traditional Independent Interpretation and Access (marker trails with interpretive boards, interpretive boards in general, information leaflets in general, marker trails with self-guided leaflets.

- Technology-based Independent Interpretation (touch screen computers/electronic devices, interactive models and audio trails)

- Dependant Interpretation (Guided Walks)

The chart clearly shows that the Traditional Independent Interpretation is a much more favoured option to the alternative – which is technology-based interpretation. Furthermore, all aspects of the more traditional form – marker trails with interpretive boards, interpretive boards in general, information leaflets in general and marker trails with self-guided leaflets – all seem to be popular choices for interpretation. Additionally, Guided Walks appear to be a fairly popular choice of interpretation.

Conclusions An integrated system of traditional interpretation would appear to be the best approach. This would mean incorporating marker trails, interpretive boards and self-guided leaflets for selected areas. Two additional aspects which should perhaps be incorporated with interpretation implementation (based on visitor comments) is access (i.e. stiles) and signposting where appropriate.

This does not necessarily mean that technology-based interpretation could not be used and it could be used for specific purposes as it tends to be more flexible and often leaves the landscape untouched.

Guided walks are another useful option and should not be viewed as simply an alternative to the other forms of interpretation. In fact, these should be used in addition to the traditional interpretation – but only once it has been well established. Guided walks can mean a different target market from these who decide to do their won walks (hence the distinction between ‘dependant’ and ‘independent’ interpretation. As mentioned earlier, Northmavine has great potential for cultural tourism and nature tourism and these will incorporate guided walks. However, it is important to establish an infrastructure for those participating in activities on their own as a foundation before developing other types of tourism and interpretation (see ‘Tourism Development Process’ in Appendices). The reason for this is that Northmavine needs to grow its tourism market in a gradual manner otherwise it may not be as sustainable.

Therefore, the emphasis in the meantime is to develop marker trails, interpretive board, self guided leaflets and perhaps incorporated improvements relating to signposting and access. The SIC and Amenity Trust may well have some input into this but, for Northmavine, it is important that the consultation and implementation of such a scheme is done by someone who has a thorough knowledge of interpretation and preferably an experienced walker. The reason for this is that the integration of all these interpretive aspects is crucial in providing the given activity with quality.

3.4 Place and Infrastructure

Arrival Point in Shetland

15 Frequency

0 Northlink Smyril Line Flight Other Arrival Point in Shetland

Chart 22 – Arrival Point in Shetland 3.4.1 Arrival Point in Shetland Findings The majority of visitors to Northmavine do travel to Shetland from Aberdeen (although a small percentage arrive from Orkney) meaning their arrival point within Shetland is Lerwick. However, about 30% do arrive via plane (likely to be Sumburgh Airport on most occasions). Details of their ‘Arrival From/Departure To’ locations can be found in the Appendices. The ‘Other’ category generally refers to local Shetland visitors as they have no arrival or exit points. A small number of visitors arrived via Smyril Line and even fewer departing with Smyril. It could be drawn from this that, whilst any visitors travelling to Shetland via Smyril Line would have been potentially beneficial for Northmavine, it would appear from these charts that Smyril Line’s decision to no longer dock in Shetland should not affect Northmavine tourism significantly.

It is difficult to understand exactly what the implications of Arrival and Exit Points for visitors means for Northmavine tourism but they may have an impact on issues such as budget, transport arrangements and their base location within Shetland. As a generalisation, younger visitors can travel on Northlink as it is the cheapest mode of transport. Once they are in Shetland, they are relying on public transport to get around. This already leaves Northmavine at a disadvantage as the current transport system to the area and within the area is extremely limited. Alternatively, travelling by Northlink is the only mode of transport from the UK Mainland which allows visitors to take their own vehicle around Shetland, whereas visitors flying to Shetland means that they are relying on car hire and/or bus services.

As Lerwick and Sumburgh act as the monopoly entry/exit points, it is probable this will influence their initial choice for accommodation and their itineraries for travelling around the island. Almost all Northmavine respondents appear to be arriving and leaving from the same points (see chart 23) so this means that they will have to start and finish their trip at these locations – again, potentially affecting their base location for accommodation and their itineraries for travelling around.

63 Exit Point from Shetland

15 Frequency

0 Northlink Smyril Line Flight Other Exit Point from Shetland

Chart 23 – Exit Point from Shetland

3.4.2 Exit Point from Shetland Conclusions The high concentration of tourism within Lerwick and the South Mainland is likely to have a strong connection to the fact that Lerwick and Sumburgh hold a significant proportion of Shetland’s entry and exit points. Whilst not a major likelihood for the foreseeable future, Northmavine would perhaps welcome any additional flights to Scatsta, perhaps encouraging the re-introduction of Cruise Liners to St Magnus Bay or even small boat owners to the likes of Collafirth Pier.

The likelihood of the above options as well as the degree to which they would be beneficial for Northmavine is likely to be debateable. However, in the meantime at least, Northmavine should look to be proactive in taking advantage of the entry points in Lerwick and Sumburgh. This would mainly be done through promotional methods, whether this means Northmavine advertising through leaflets, brochure and posters or

64 even someone physically greeting people when they arrive in Shetland and telling them about Northmavine (accommodation, access, frequency of transport available, activities and events). The advantage of this latter option is that arrival times of flights and ferries will be known (therefore not particularly time consuming) and it does not need to be an expensive method. Perhaps people from different Northmavine businesses could do this alternatively for a small fee – which also means they can promote their business first and foremost.

Getting to and Around Northmavine

Frequency 10

0 Bicycle Own car Hire car Campervan/ Friends and Public Caravan relatives Transport vehicle Getting to and Around Northmavine

Chart 24 – Getting to and Around Northmavine

3.4.3 Getting to and Around Northmavine Findings Chart 24 shows that about 95% of visitors have their own form of vehicle transport for travelling to Northmavine and travelling around Northmavine. This is most likely to be good for tourism in Northmavine as it means people have the freedom to travel to the various locations around Northmavine, including local businesses, etc. This also means that, because they are not refined to Lerwick (i.e. to get public transport to other areas of Shetland which they want to visit), accommodation providers should be able to maintain a good number of customers for reasonable lengths of time (with their own transport, they shouldn’t have to move to accommodation to the other areas which they want to visit).

65 The only real disadvantage with visitors using their own vehicles is that businesses will not often know in advance when people will visit, therefore making it difficult for businesses (and potential businesses) to prepare in advance – often when they do prepare, they may find that they have limited business. Additionally, this means that different visitors may come in ‘dribs and drabs’, meaning that food caterers, tour operators and others have to cater for visitors individually rather than as a unit.

One advantage of tour groups and potentially public transport is that businesses should be able to know in advance when there will be an influx of visitors, therefore be able to prepare for them and be able to cater for their needs at the same time. The increase of such transport methods can help tourism services predict visitor flow more easily.

Conclusions It is difficult to say whether an improved transport system to Northmavine and within Northmavine would provide a practical alternative to those visitors who either have their own vehicle or hire a vehicle when in Shetland. However, Northmavine may want to evaluate the viability of amore frequent bus service to Northmavine in order to understand whether any real benefit will be brought by it. What is clear is that simply doing this is highly unlikely to bring any benefit on its own. Visitors may be able to get to Northmavine using public transport but they will be extremely limited in terms of activities around Northmavine. What would therefore be needed is a bus system within Northmavine which operates around all the main facilities, such as accommodation, attractions, food and drink outlets and event locations. Again, this would probably not work as a simple ‘A-B’ bus service and would need to act more as a tour bus but with a ‘pick up/drop off’ policy.

The main advantage with such a system is that it would help to create an integration with all the tourism facilities of Northmavine and could act as a centralised point for tourist information, interpretation and promotion. Because of this centralised hub of activity, other opportunities could be realised, such as musical/cultural events in the evening. It also gives visitors a chance to meet other visitors which can greatly increase their overall experience. Additionally, local businesses would know the times which the bus would be stopping at their location and can then prepare for those potentially peak times.

A pass system could also be incorporated, where visitors would pay a certain amount for a pass which could allow them unlimited transport, access to attractions, cultural tour, musical evening and a free meal at a café/restaurant, etc. This would then encourage them to use the transport system within Northmavine as well as making the most of their time within Northmavine.

There is no guarantee that such a method would be viable or successful. Therefore, if this service was to be considered, further market research may be beneficial to see if visitors are likely to use the system. If it is seen to be a good opportunity, it would also be advised that it is done on a pilot basis for the first summer and its success rate can be evaluated for its future potential.

66 4. Overall Recommendations

4.1 Focussed Recommendations

On the basis of the majority of findings from the Northmavine Visitor Survey, this report has identified two major development steps which Northmavine may wish to consider fro future tourism in the area. This report identifies these steps to be the development of two types of tourism: - Independent Tourism - Dependent Tourism

4.1.1 Independent Tourism Based on the analysis of the survey’s findings regarding people (target markets), products and facilities, promotion and information and place and infrastructure, there would appear to be growth potential for ‘Independent Tourism’.

Independent Tourism can be largely defined by the ‘types’ of visitors, the facilities they use and expect, the methods they use to get around and the methods they obtain information about a given area before, during and possibly after their trip.

In this case, ‘Independent’ refers to visitors who tend to ‘do their own thing’ and in their own time, emphasising their freedom to explore a given area when and where they want. This seems to make up the vast majority of current Northmavine visitors.

Features of Northmavine’s Independent visitors include the use of self-catering, but also camping and caravanning as these accommodation options maximise their freedom and flexibility. Activities, where possible, tend to be outdoor based and, for Northmavine, this means the area’s natural surroundings, whether for general sightseeing, bird watching, wildlife watching or photography. Additionally, this means that most activities within Northmavine involve both long and short walks, as well as other activities such as fishing and cycling.

Accessible and comprehensive information and interpretation are extremely important, particularly for their Northmavine activities as a good connectivity to the area – both of the environment and the culture can illuminate their overall experience. This, therefore, heightens the importance of attractions such as museums, art galleries and local/cultural events, as they can offer an insight into life within Northmavine – both past and present.

Whilst they will most likely be looking for an exhilarating and insightful experience outdoors, they will also be looking for quality, comfort and good service when it comes to accommodation, food and drink locations and transport – as the rest of their time will be taken up with these.

67 They will tend to source their own information for the given area and therefore websites and brochures are the main channels to find out a range of information. Some who have been to the area before, however, may rely on their own knowledge to an extent.

The following are recommendations for the development of tourism for these independent visitors. It should be noted that, whilst these recommendations are focussed on this independent tourism idea, they are also very much for the wider scope of tourism in Northmavine and such developments would be beneficial to most tourists.

- Quality and comfort for all indoor facilities with extra facilities where appropriate. This includes accommodation, food and drink locations, shops, museums and any other locations where visitors will be inside for a period of time

- An integrated approach to maximising visitors’ outdoor experience within Northmavine. This includes interpretation (interpretive boards and leaflets – possibly guided tours), increased access and marker trails, highlighting activity spots (i.e. walking guide, info on wildlife spots), signposting and the availability of outdoor facilities from local shops.

- Comprehensive promotion of Northmavine (i.e. before they get to Northmavine and even before they get to Shetland). This may include a Northmavine tourism website, a Northmavine Information Pack (including the Northmavine Brochure) and perhaps a monthly ‘What’s On’ Northmavine. Perhaps also a promotional person to greet and inform people on arrival at ferry terminal or airport.

- Comprehensive information for visitors when they are staying in Northmavine, to maximise their experience such as an information point (perhaps at Mavis Grind), what’s on leaflets and posters at indoor locations (shops, food and drink outlets and accommodation) as well as information focussed on the different activities Northmavine has to offer (walking guide, wildlife hotspots, etc.)

- Increased frequency of transport to Northmavine (for the summer months at least) and perhaps a transport network within Northmavine to be used like a tour bus but also as a pick up/drop off service.

- Holding occasional music and cultural evenings to give visitors a Northmavine insight. This needs to be integrated with promotion a some sort of transport arrangement.

- Providing additional services such as internet access, bike hire, fishing gear hire and possibly equipment hire to complement the visitor’s overall experience of Northmavine.

- The creation of a ‘pass’ which would allow visitors to pay a fee for entry to Northmavine attractions as well as discounts on food & drink outlets, etc. This may also include the Northmavine Information Pack.

- The development of appropriate facilities and alternative activities for bad weather days

- Finding appropriate ways of getting information out to people who are interested in visiting Northmavine – particularly through website development, brochure production and possibly information packs.

With the implementation of several/all of these recommendations, the vision is that this will steadily increase visitor numbers within the area over an unspecified period of time, creating the potential for more locally based tourism businesses, services and facilities – as individual business development is likely to be the best initial method to increase tourism income within Northmavine.

Creating this further potential in tourism may lead to more tourism based businesses within the area, higher diversification of services within each business (for instance, outdoor equipment lending/selling, food and drink services, internet facility and possibly tourist information services) and the identification of new or increasingly popular forms of tourism which could be developed in the area (such as Adventure Tourism and Genealogy). This would also support the case for a more frequent transport service (both to Northmavine and perhaps even within Northmavine).

Whilst a steady increase in tourism numbers (and hopefully a steady increase in tourism income) would be beneficial to Northmavine, there could be attached issues regarding Northmavine’s demand and capacity. Increased tourism can affect accommodation and other tourism but also, and potentially more severe, can have a negative impact on the environment. However, if tourism growth is done in a steady manner, this should avoid such negative impacts. Therefore, this emphasises the importance of methods to help control the influx of visitors. The following section of ‘Monitoring’ gives examples of control based on reactive methods – but there are also proactive methods to help control visitor flow as well as the equal spreading out of visitors to the area.

Tourism promotion is the main proactive method of control as this could influence two major aspects of a proposed trip to Northmavine: when they choose to go and where they choose to go within Northmavine. Obviously, their will always be a concentration of visitors during the main summer months (May, June, July, August). However, promotion could be angled so as to show the good points about Northmavine outside of the peak season. Perhaps some promotional material could be developed which shows Northmavine by each season as it is likely this will appeal to different visitors. Additionally, events can be a very useful promotional tool and can be a good method to spread the number of visitors over a longer period as some may be interested in timing their visit to link up with the event. Promotion can also help to ensure the level of concentration of visitors – particularly for environmental impact but also to ensure the spread of economic benefit of tourism within Northmavine. Sometimes it can be better to encourage the distribution of visitors over a much wider area (as this minimises

69 environmental damage from a high concentration of visitors in one area). So, for example, it may be beneficial to promote several walks within Northmavine over a certain area rather than focus on promoting one or two areas. Yet, there are situations where it can be better to have a higher concentration of people in one area than spread over a wider area – in which case it would be better to focus on a select few locations for promotion.

Adjusting the price for different seasons is another way of trying to encourage visitors to visit Northmavine outside of the main summer months – although this is more an issue for individual businesses to decide on.

Finally, with the development of independent tourism, this should pave the way for increased visitor numbers and hopefully the sustained benefits for both current and potential future businesses. With every market, it is likely this type of tourism will reach a visitor ‘peak’ (a maximum number of people over a specified period of time) and possibly tail off slightly. This is a very important stage because this is where Northmavine would have a good visitor base, a higher number of businesses and facilities in the area. Therefore, just before this stage, it is important to find ways of sustaining this, particularly through new and distinct options for tourism – in this case dependant tourism.

4.1.2 Dependant Tourism

As the name suggest, the emphasis of dependant tourism is the fact that these visitors require a higher level of dependency to gain their holiday experience. This can mean booking a holiday on their behalf: organising transport, accommodation, activities and events (therefore operating as a package system) or can simply be organising individual aspects of this. This should be seen as distinct from Bus Tour Companies from outside of Shetland because the aim of the dependant tourism system is that organising holidays and individual aspects such as activities, tours and events would be based within Northmavine. The potential benefit of this system is that income from dependant tourism would go to a central location, and would then be distributed to businesses that cater for these visitors. Furthermore, this centralised approach means visitors will be travelling as a group, therefore making their itineraries more organised, allowing local businesses to plan in advance for their visit. Depending on the type of development, it can also prove to be a sustainable approach for Northmavine’s environment and culture – in addition to economic sustainability.

As mentioned previously, the main type of dependant tourism which this report recommends to develop is community tourism. The concept behind this is to develop tours around Northmavine – possibly as package tours (i.e. all inclusive) – which allows a fairly deep insight into community life, both past and present. The idea is that visitors will come to Northmavine, having already paid for their tour, accommodation, all events and activities and most of their food and drink requirements. Where possible, these visitors would stay in the same accommodation (this would currently be difficult) and travel on the same tours. Insight and interpretation of Northmavine community life could

70 be conveyed through tour guides, demonstrations, displays, workshops, exhibitions and events. In a sense, the idea might be to create a kind of cultural ‘park’. The aspects of insight would be strongly placed on local community life within Northmavine. However, it should be perfectly permissible for Northmavine to include other aspects of Shetland life in general as this would allow for a wider variety of possibilities and could work more effectively. Such aspects of community lifestyle could include work, leisure time, home life, folklore, music and other creative features such as drawing, painting, poetry, craft making, and photography. As well as showing visitors these aspects of community life, they could also be allowed to get actively involved as this will enrich their overall experience.

Specific recommendations for Dependant Tourism are detailed below:

- The coordination and working together of Northmavine locals, businesses and organisations who would be interested in the development of community based tourism – tourism which offers visitors an insight into Northmavine culture and tradition. Locals involved would hopefully be skilled in local practices, knowledgeable of Northmavine and enthusiastic to display their skills and relay their knowledge, not only to visitors, but to other members of Northmavine so they can learn as well.

- A completely new type of promotion which targets the higher end of the income market (perhaps including magazine write ups, travel writers, newspaper advertisements, telephone sales marketing, etc.)

- Creation of an effective package system which caters for all aspects of a visitor’s stay in Northmavine: Accommodation, food and drink, the cultural tours, music and cultural arrangements, other transport arrangements, etc.

- An organised set up to ensure that visitors can buy both local produce and local crafts to help maximise tourism income.

- Perhaps developing additional services/facilities such as information/interpretation of various languages.

- A general aim to maximise their experience through comprehensive local interpretation, insight and event entertainment as well as maximising quality through the provision of services and the comfort of all indoor locations and facilities.

- Developing a centralised booking point within Northmavine for people to book the community tour package. Also working out an efficient system to pay the businesses which cater for these visitors.

- A thorough evaluation of how practical this option could be for the future (i.e. through further research – both to find out local and visitor opinion on the

71 concept). Also, looking to introduce a pilot scheme to try to evaluate its potential could also be a useful system. Additionally, looking at relevant world models where similar scenarios have been put in place – such as the Maori Reserve Park in Rotorua, New Zealand.

- Working out what features could and should be included within the community tour package.

72 4.3 General Recommendations

- Working autonomously for the promotion of Northmavine but channels (such as VisitShetland) to firstly get people to Shetland. It is important for Northmavine to understand VisitSheland’s promotional methods – then Northmavine can look at how to make the most of these.

- The SIC, Amenity Trust, Highlands and Islands Enterprise Shetland and Initiative at the Edge are other examples organisations who Northmavine needs to work with in order to develop various aspects of tourism, including promotion, access and interpretation, signposting, business and facility funding, skills and business training.

- It is Northmavine’s duty to find the balance between using these organisations to aid tourism development and having enough autonomy for Northmavine to create its own clear-cut identity, distinguishing it from other areas of Shetland.

73 Model 1 - Tourism Development Influence

Northmavine Tourism Group

Northmavine Shetland Residents/ VISITORS Based Businesses Organisations

Northmavine Nature/ Environment

74 - There needs to be a clear strategy developed to understand what exactly Northmavine wants for tourism in the area. For instance, is its aim to get more people to visit/stay in Northmavine, raise the income made from tourism, create more jobs in the area or all of these? This report has looked at tourism development in Northmavine in as wide a sense as was possible. Northmavine’s Tourism Influence Model shows the relationship between the various groups who would be affected by tourism development (whatever this may mean) within Northmavine. Tourism development involving the four groups of Northmavine Tourism Group, Northmavine residents, Shetland Based Organisations (SIC, Amenity Trust, HIES) and the Northmavine Environment will impact the visitor’s overall experience of Northmavine. Consequently, factors involving the visitor (i.e. the number visiting/ staying and their expenditure) will have an impact on the four groups of the Model. Once the correct strategy is put in place, targets could be set.

- Within any tourism or business development, the location of the facilities can be crucial with a ‘cluster of attractions’ often creating a hub of activity which can be of benefit to the visitor as well as helping to regenerate certain areas, particularly those in the rural context. Again, there are some examples of this, especially in areas of regeneration.

- The Northmavine Tourism Plan 2007 is a very good starting point for developing a strategy for tourism in Northmavine. Looking at the annual timescale in the report (from page39) these projects and events should be looked at to see how they fit in with tourism aims and strategy for Northmavine. How are these projects and events helping Northmavine to reach its overall goal?

- Sustainability is strongly recommended to be at the roots of any tourism development within Northmavine. This does not just mean sustainability for the environment but also sustainability/ sustainable growth of tourist numbers, tourism income – as they each have an effect on the other. That is another reason why a strategy for development is important but also needed is a framework for sustainable growth. Growing tourism too quickly can be damaging as this impacts on the environment, demand capacity as well as individual visitors’ enjoyment of Northmavine. That is why a step by step process (but also top down planning, coordinating and monitoring) is the most favoured approach to tourism as it allows development from a foundation and minimising overdependence from local business on the tourism industry. The tourism development process model in the appendices is an example of how this could be developed step by step, although the specific development aims would need to be discussed to reach a group agreement.

75 4.3 Monitoring

With any sort of tourism development which may take place within Northmavine, it will probably be a good idea to monitor the impacts of such developments (positive and negative) and to try and measure the benefits these will bring to the area. This will hopefully give an indication if these tourism developments are pushing Northmavine in the right direction, in accordance with the overall tourism aims and should also give an indication whether there needs to be tighter controls to ensure continued sustainability: of income, environment and culture/heritage.

The following are three methods of monitoring certain tourism developments within Northmavine:

Logging Data The logging of any data as a result of tourism interest or activity can be greatly beneficial, not least as evidence, for options regarding future developments. For individual businesses, it can be highly beneficial for them to keep accurate and up to date records of visitor numbers and their business income generated from tourism. Northmavine, as a whole, may want to look at ways to ensure this is done in the same way by all businesses, in order to keep one consistent method.

If Northmavine was to start sending out information and dealing with enquiries, then logging such details will allow them to be increasingly prepared, organised and efficient. In addition, the recording of overall visitor numbers could be very important and may again support the implementation of a temporary information point at Mavis Grind during the summer as this is the ideal location to record visitor numbers.

Pilot Scheme Where appropriate, pilot schemes can be extremely helpful in establishing the potential of new tourism developments and, consequently, minimising the risks. This may often take the form of an actual development but will be on a temporary basis. It may even be that temporary developments prove to be better than permanent development (i.e. using only in the summer rather than throughout the year – by hiring materials as opposed to buying them). Pilot schemes can often give a clear indication themselves if a product will work or not. However, in most cases, it would be advised that the pilot scheme is supported by some kind of recorded visitor feedback.

Further Research Both local and visitor surveys can be beneficial before, during and/or after any tourism developments. After all, these are the people such developments will impact on (again, potentially good or bad). These can be designed and distributed in various ways (i.e. perhaps on computers when visitors are about to use a Northmavine-based computer with internet facility) although they should have some level of consistency with former research – in order to make comparisons and contrasts, the same kinds of data need to be collected.

76 Primary and Secondary research are both important. Therefore, this would also mean researching various sources before any tourism developments took place – such as sourcing cheaper materials, using similar examples of tourism developments in other areas of the world and evaluating the models their areas have used.

As the name suggests, Environmental Impact Assessments can evaluate the level of impact which tourism can have on a given area, and can recommend ways of rectifying this. Furthermore, both positive and negative impacts of tourism on local culture can be identified through case study research (which often includes obtaining anecdotal information from local residents as well as other relevant groups).

77 Bibliography

Books

Kent, R (2004) “Marketing Research: Measurement, Method and Application” – 4th Edition

Page, S. J (2002) “Tourism: A Modern Synthesis”

Reports/Plans

“Northmavine Development Plan” (2006)

“Northmavine Interpretation Detailed Plan” (2007)

“Northmavine Tourism Action Plan 2007” (2007)

“Shetland Tourism Plan 2006-2009” (2006)

“Shetland Visitor Survey” (2006)

Websites

www.hie.co.uk/shetland

www.northmavine.com www.shetland.gov.uk www.visitshetland.com

78 Appendices

Additional Tables

List of Northmavine Based Tourism Facilities

Tourism Development Process

Northmavine Information Pack

Tourism Outlet Points

Top 10 Northmavine

Current and Potential Future Tourism Markets

List of Visitor Comments

79 Additional Tables

Table 3 – Average Number of Nights Per Respondent (by area) Location Average No. of Nights (per respondent) Elsewhere North Mainland 4.43 Lerwick 2.5 Central Mainland 1.3 South Mainland 3.2 West Mainland 1.8 Yell 2.8 Unst 2 Fetlar 2.2 Whalsay 3.5 Out Skerries 0 Bressay 0 Fair Isle 2.4 Papa Stour 1 Foula 0

Table 4 – Normal Respondents’ Residence (Areas within England) Area of England No. of Respondents (%) North East 14.8% North West 14.8% Midlands 18.6% London/South East 29.6% South West 7.4% East 14.8%

Table 5 – Flying Zones: Departure from/ Arrival to No. of Respondents Flying No. of Respondents Flying from (%) To (%) Aberdeen 33.3% 28.6% Faroe 0% 0% Inverness 0% 0% London 40% 42.9% Orkney 0% 14.3% Edinburgh 20% 7.1% Glasgow 6.7% 7.1% Wick 0% 0% Norway 0% 0% Other 0% 0% TOTAL 100% (15 Respondents) 100% (14 Respondents)

List of Northmavine Based Tourism Facilities

Accommodation

Visitor Attractions

Activities/ Tourism Types

Events/Festivals/Foys

Transport

Tours

Halls and Venues

Galleries

Shops

Post Offices

Public Toilets

Local Crafts

Food and Drink

81 Accommodation

Hotel

St Magnus Bay Hotel

B&B

Almara, Hillswick

The Booth, Hillswick

Self Catering

Almara Chalet, Hillswick

Askalong, Ollaberry

Blydoit, Ollaberry

Braewick, Eshaness

Eshaness Lighthouse, Eshaness

Gaza, Sullom

Midfield, Ollaberry

Nye Swarthoull, Hillswick

South House, Heylor

Stuytak, Nibon

Swinster, Ollaberry

Caravan Park/Bods/ Other

Braewick Cafe, Eshaness

Collafirth Pier, Collafirth

Johnnie Notions Böd, Eshaness

North Roe and Lochend Hall, North Roe

82 Main Visitor Attractions (plenty more than this – please add!)

The Booth and Seal Sanctuary

Tangwick Haa Museum

Eshaness (Cliffs, seabirds, lighthouse)

Stenness (Beach and Fishing Buildings)

Mavis Grind

Fethaland (Haaf Fishing Stations, Viking Bowl Carvings, Kame of Isbister)

Ronas Hill

Road Inlets (Nibon, Mangaster, etc.)

Uyea Neolithic Axe Factory (and various other ‘small scale’ archaeological sites’)

4 Playparks

83 Activities/Tourism Types

Scenic/ Beauty Spots

Eshaness Cliffs

Mangaster/Nibon

Fethaland

Stenness

Ronies Voe (and Ronas Hill)

Uyea

Archaeology (Speak to Amenity to locate all Northmavine Archaeological locations)

Viking Carvings at Fethaland

Tangwick Haa Museum

Mavis Grind

Neolithic Axe Factory, Uyea

Loch/Broch of Houlland

Cycling (introducing bike facilities at the tourism outlet points – any good bike rides/ locations known?)

Flora and Fauna (help needed here)

Hiking/Trekking/Walking (There needs to be a coordinated trails approach)

Shetland Walking Guide

Peter Guy’s ‘Walking the Coastline of Northmavine’

Core Paths Project

Volcanic Trails

84 History/ Culture and Heritage

Croft Ruins (any significant details here?)

Tangwick Haa Museum

Fethaland/ Stenness (Da Haaf Fishing Stations) and Fethaland Tours

Crofting (shearing sheep, rounding up sheep, cutting peats, peat fire in croft, etc.)

Music

Tammy Anderson Celebration?

Music Nights, folk music, etc. (details needed)

Adventure (minimal as yet...good potential though...and potential to get clubs to try out

NorthMavine. Try and find out about the most cutting edge adventure tourism types - niche)

(Climbing, Kayaking, surfing, abseiling, sailing, windsurfing, hand gliding, cross country biking).

Folklore and Dialect

Davy Cooper

Pat Christie

Any Northmavine/Shetland Books on folklore

Recording folklore from older generations

Geology (must be more places of interest)

Allan Fraser’s Geotours

Volcanic Trails

Fishing

Good lochs (i.e. Mavis Grind)

Any Fishing charters?(catch your own fish, use of Collafirth Pier)

Events/Festivals/Foys

Northmavine Up Helly Aa (the only one to set a burning Galley off to sea!!)

Big Bannock, North Roe

Mavis Grind Foy

Fethaland Foy

Smaller Events (i.e. Sunday Teas, Fish and Chips Nights, etc.)

More Johnsmas Foy potential – and any other big Shetland-wide events?

Northmavine (Collafirth) regatta?

Hamefarin’ 2010?

Tammy Anderson/J. D. Rattar/Johnnie Notions Anniversaries?

Musical Events

Tours

Fethaland Tours (only active Northmavine Based Tour)

Elma Johnson

Leasks

St Magnus Bay Charters (from West Side, Aith)

Geotours

86 Transport

Taxis

Dennis Williamson, Sullom

Douglas Murray, North Roe

Martin Mowat, Eshaness

John and Mary Scollay, Gluss

Jamie Johnson, Lochend

Johnson Transport, Brae (but with Northmavine service)

Yvonne Hughson, Brae (but with Northmavine service)

Bus Service

Feeder Services from/to North Roe, Ollaberry, Eshaness, Sullom to Hillswick Junction

Hillswick to Lerwick: 0745h and 1015h (Monday-Saturday, Wednesday only 0745h)

Lerwick to Hillswick: 1710h (Monday-Saturday)

One late night bus per week (2230) from Brae to Hillswick Junction

Car Hire (Lerwick, Sumburgh)

Grantfield Garage

Star Rent a Car

Bolts Car Hire

87 Halls and Venues

Collafirth Pier Shed

Eshaness Community Centre

Hillswick Hall

North Roe and Lochend Hall

Ollaberry hall

Sullom and Gunnister Hall

Galleries

The Hoohevd Studio Gallery, Eshaness

Sunbanks Gallery, Sullom

The Smithy, Hillswick

Shops

Hillswick Shop

Ollaberry Shop (with fuel pumps)

Post Offices

Eshaness

Hillswick

North Roe

Ollaberry

Public Toilets

Braewick Cafe, Eshaness

Hillswick Waterfront

Ollaberry Shop, Ollaberry

Local Crafts

Lorna Sandison, photography and crafts, Lochend

Kit Mowat, crafts, Ollaberry

Book Croft, Hillswick

Bruce Wilcock, photography, Hillswick

Jeff Tungatt

Food and Drink

Braewick Cafe

The Booth (Vegetarian Cafe)

Sunday Teas (at halls)

89 Tourism Development Process ↑

Stage 2 Development of cultural tours from within Northmavine. ↑ Looking at potential to develop more facilities and businesses. ↑ Improving linkage and coordination between locations (including transport, all facilities). ↑ Improving the overall quality of facilities.

Stage 1

Develop Digital Mapping, Internet and outlet points. ↑ Develop Project Trails and Pass System. ↑ Develop Northmavine Pack. ↑ Develop lower budget (independent traveller) tourism market. ↑ Develop the brand and logo (and incorporate this into all tourism aspects: leaflets, brochures, maps, postcards, crafts, signposts, tours, information pack, website, digital mapping, tours, etc.)

Northmavine Information Pack

The Northmavine Information Pack is designed at tourists and intended to enrich their experience of Northmavine. The pack includes aspects of Promotion, Interpretation and Information with the aim of linking up the whole of Northmavine’s Tourism Resources. The objective is to get visitors to know more about Northmavine and, consequently, stay longer in the area and the overall aim is to generate more money in the Northmavine Community through tourism.

• Top 10 Northmavine (Seasonally) • What’s On (Monthly) • Northmavine DVD (can be watched at outlet points - or alternatively keep DVD at outlet locations so visitors can watch them when they visit the outlets – does not have to be in pack) • Northmavine Leaflets/ Brochure (and any other necessary information*) • Pass Card (adaptable + flexible: for tourism outlet points and perhaps visitor attraction**) • Postcards of Northmavine with Stamps • Discounts for accommodation, cafes, transport, tours, services at tourism outlet points, etc. (These could vary to give various providers a chance) • Promotional Northmavine Material (and possibly external promotional material)

*Other Information would include that which may not be given on the leaflets/brochure – i.e. Opening and Closing Times, Info and Location of tourism outlet points, walking zones, local crafts and other facilities etc.

**The Pass Card can allow free internet access, use of digital mapping, charging of IPod, printing of digital maps, and access to any visitor attractions, etc.

91 Tourism Outlet Points

To be used in accordance with the Northmavine Information Pack, which allows the tourism outlet points to be used for internet access, use of digital mapping, general printing and printing of digital maps (possibly also downloading maps onto GPS). If a DVD of Northmavine is developed, they can be kept at the outlet points for visitors to watch (.i.e. on the PC) As well as the above services, the outlets would sell the information packs, provide leaflets/brochure information and interpretation on each outlet’s specific area, toilet facilities, possibly accommodation booking, bike rental, food and drink, arts and crafts, perhaps the occasional event (i.e. music, storytelling). They will also be used as an Information Point where there will be up to date information on daily events and weather forecasts within Northmavine and a point where visitor enquiries can be answered. Additionally, Visitor Surveys will constantly be present (perhaps on the computer) to get regular and continuous feedback and visitor statistics will be recorded. The main idea with the tourism outlet points is that they are designed to be locations to gain money from visitors and/or allow them to use facilities they have already paid in the Information Pack.

Possible Tourism Outlet Points*

- Brae Community Centre - Northmavine Development Company Office - Northmavine Interpretive centre (if and when) - The Booth (Da Böd). - St Magnus Bay Hotel - Braewick Cafe - Eshaness Lighthouse - North Roe and Lochend Hall - Ollaberry Hall - Eshaness Community hall - Sullom and Gunnister Hall - Collafirth Pier Shed - Ollaberry Shop - Hillswick Shop - Hoohevd Studio Gallery, Eshaness - Sunbanks Gallery, Sullom - The Smithy, Hillswick - North Roe Primary School& Urafirth Primary School

*Some of these are included in the SWOT Analysis given in the Digital Mapping Report and the Northmavine Tourism Action Plan Report

92 Top 10 Northmavine

(Possible to develop one themed to spring, summer (i.e. Ronas for Simmer Dim), autumn and winter – perhaps with a talisman prize at the end of it. Add on coded map at the end and information on what each ‘to do’ has to offer and why visitors should do it)

1. Try throwing a stone from North Sea to Atlantic Ocean at Mavis Grind.

2. Enjoy the laid back atmosphere of The Booth (Da Böd) and have a look at the Seal Sanctuary next door.

3. Walk around the Ness of Hillswick for some excellent views.

4. Get a bite to eat (recommend a particular meal/snack depending on the season) at Breiwick Cafe.

5. Visit Eshaness and walk around its spectacular cliffs

6. Go along the Tangwick haa Museum and view the history of Northmavine.

7. Catch some fish at Eela Water, near Ollaberry.

8. Have a picnic down by Rønies Voe.

9. Climb Shetland’s highest hill, Ronas (Rønies) Hill

10. Walk from the end of the road in North Roe to Da Haaf Fishing Stations in Fethaland – the most northerly point of Shetland’s Mainland (or take the official Fethaland Tour around the area!)

* Create a Map of Northmavine with coded ‘to do’ points

93 Current and Potential Future Tourism Markets Market Origin Markets’ Northmavine Familiarity Level of Dependency Interest in NMavine - International - First time Visitors - Independent Traveller - General Interest - Domestic - Return Visitors - Dependent Traveller - Niche Interest - Local

(How do you develop & design (What distribution channels should (how do you design the (again, how do you design the product, promotion, physical be used to access both first time and entire marketing mix* to the entire marketing mix* evidence (i.e. interpretation) repeat visitors? How should promotion cater for both these to cater for both these and people (language skills, etc.) be done differently for both groups? needs?) needs)** differently to cater for these How should the product be designed What is the future tourism market needs?) to cater for both? potential in this area?) How can physical evidence, people and even price be designed to cater for both?)

- The target market issue of age should also be incorporated into each of these categories - *The Marketing Mix (7 Ps Model: Product, Price, Place, Promotion, Physical Evidence, People (internal), Process - **Note the fact that this can affect even areas such as accommodation, tours, etc. List of Visitor Comments

EXPLAIN IMPROVEMENTS - A Access for walking, etc. - Access to fethaland as before Shetland place for tents - a tent protects to rain but a strong gail blows it away + a picnic table Transport - this needs to be improved Poor Weather days - local hotel/public house signposting - more of them needed along the walk, not just at the beginning Signposting - when walking off road the way posting was either non-existent or possibly worse - started off okay but then petered out. Signposting - signposts are at Junctions rather than approaching junctions AccessShetland signs are good but not very common shops - newspapers rare and not enough choice with other items Eating out - the best meal was at the booth (a charity who asks for donations only)

EXPLAIN IMPROVEMENTS - B Sing posting was quite good but would like to see more walks clearly signposted Poor weather day - Remind visitors to take rubber boots and waterproofs - weather didn't stop us! Brown tourist signs just stopped in Fethaland and no indication for parking to walk from improve local transport - We do not have a car and go on foot More interpretation Public transport - not much of it and not readily accessible (although we didn’t research it too thoroughly) more museums signposting at sites is virtually non-existent. Maps/area signs show sites but when you get there you can't find them Walks in Northmavine - rewrite needed - details of walks, landmarks for walkers, paths, etc. Wet weather - travelled to Lerwick as did not know of anything here site information - feel more information/marketing could be given One wouldn't really expect to find wet weather entertainment. Need a good rain coat musical evening, country dancing, choirs - there aren't any Not many outlets or much of acceptable quality Eating out - only braewick café (v.g.) busta house (v.g.) but not in northmavine Eating out - very few places to eat out but not a problem if know in advance more organised activities in towns/villages musical or cultural entertainment - nothing was on in hall or other venues at this time we found few places for a bar meal and a drink Apparent lack of local arts/crafts (e.g. no art galleries, workshops, etc.)

EXPLAIN IMPROVEMENTS - C Information boards at sites please - more sign posting and more funding for the booth Maps - we had to go back to Brae to buy an O.S. Map of this area at the garage shop Signage - need to be improved Quality local arts/crafts required - perhaps sold in cafes, etc - pots, etc. Musical evenings only more near Lerwick Local Information - this is perhaps a little unfair but we found the only medium was The Shetland Times Local information - seems a lack of information sources transport in Northmavine - no public transport except to Lerwick

WAS THERE ANY ACTIVITY YOU FELT WAS NOT PROVIDED FOR WELL OR NOT PROVIDED AT ALL - WHAT ACTION IS NEEDED No signpost to collafirth hill Excellent provision, esp. Breiwick Café Toilets in North Roe As we came for general relaxation, I was quite happy with it as it is Weather - but not controllable by anyone! Kayaking is too expensive for us No - very well provided General signs are good but when you actually get there signs don't exist tourist sites/places of interest, etc. need to be better marked. No activity was missing - but the silly book of walks in Northmavine was hopeless. Where were the paths it mentions? Too much barb wire on fences. If there were any musical events, we did not hear about them None - excellent Separation of waste paper/plastics/metal, etc. (saw only one in Bixter! Put up a toilet sign in Brae! A new info panel at ronas hill - current panel faded an evening meal, access to beaches with parking, more view points more stiles for walking round coast - particularly in areas publicised Have musical evening, often held during fortnight's visit but none this year play area for children in eshaness area art and crafts

WHAT WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF YOUR TRIP TO NORTHMAVINE Fethaland and the Booth and Wildlife Sanctuary Seeing puffins at Sumburgh Head - missed them last time Wildlife, birds, cliffs, walks Tangwick museum Walking Bjorgs at Lochend Seeing the otters outside the cottage scenery to be able to walk around ther coast and wander over the hills and round the inland lochs The coastline (wildlife, views, walks) View I think the camping bods are of excellent standard but not the Northmavine one welcoming people Its beautiful scenery seashores wonderful coatal scenery and very friendly people Nibon Penisular Cliffs Eshaness Stenness Walk along cliffs at Eshaness Lighthouse countryside Cliffs at Eshaness Fethaland views

96 The view from Ronas Hill on a clear sunny day Hospitality hospitality we received from the holiday owners good sighting of an otter at close quarters visit to eshaness Nibon cottage clean beaches Birdlife the walking walking along the cliff walks homemade blackcurrant jam! ronas hill - geology and flora/fauna

WHAT COULD HAVE IMPROVED YOUR VISIT/WHAT COULD BE DONE Upgrade road to fethaland to allow for car access to enourage less able visitors to this beautiful place Access to Fethaland by car fo younger/less able visitors and signpost to collafirth hill Better information about size of parking at say lighthouses, big enough for a camper van to turn and park Shetland place for tents Couldn't be improved (unless you can switch the wind off!) More signage, more toilets and a place to eat in North Roe Encourage removal of "No dogs" signs. No objection to dogs on lead but I find these signs objectionable Public house within walking distance provided services are satisfying competition of new campsite at eshaness will be fantastic!! Not much. Perhaps a few more stiles over coastal path fences No it was great, lovely campsite Fresh fish in a restaurant/pub Stop overnight caravan/camper van parking at eshaness lighthouse and other beauty spots - keep them to designated spots Better luck with weather Nothing needs to be done - it's brilliant nothing really - it was brilliant Some signposting on walks would be helpful + some stiles more information more info about eating places try not to make too many changes No opinion, will come back anyway open up hillswick hotel for food and wine! Nothing - it's perfect More hotels/cafes nothing Nothing. We like it as it is and will definitely return More sun public toilets, play park or equivalent for children more café information - where are they? Ensure that attractions highlighted on maps and booklets are open more places to eat out more café type outlets

WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO VISIT NORTHMAVINE Eshaness, Ronas Hill, Fethaland, Seal Sanctuary Eshaness, Ronas Hill, Fethaland The walks, Cliffs, wildlife quietness, coastline, good for walking, birdwatching Walking, Birdlife Scenery and the people Had no particular knowledge of any specific part of shetland Cottae close to water Wilderness/roughness of nature, cliffs, flowers, the changeable weather wilderness, birds, scenery Coast walks and wild life We knew we were camping and the picture of Breiwick Campsite looked great! hiking, Birdwatching, scenery Campsite - personal recommendation Girlfriends family Opportunity to say in Eshaness ligthouse and the scenic beauty stunning unspoilt scenery peace and quiet remote area Landscape and space Landscape Absence of lots of tourist attractions - the whole area is an attraction It was central for the Shetland Islands where it is situated, I did not know much abouth the area itself before we visited countryside Eshaness recommended in guide book - good walks Phoned abut 20 other hosts - everything else was fully booked beautiful scenery, peace and quiet, cottage appeal Walking, birdwatching, scenery, remoteness the peace and quiet relatives and the most beautiful part of Shetland The house which is rented is unique in providing facilities for erecting radio mastsv(+ no near neighbours) Wild nature of the area, excellent accommodation and kind people Experience of accommodation and hosts Remote places/able to get away from it all wild and remote Peace and tranquility and wilderness of the area. Location of chalet we rented also an attraction. Nibon Cottage lovely house, beach, peace and quiet previous knowledge/visit. Walking and wildlife walks, beaches and coastal scenery coastline, countryside, remoteness the cliffs, sea, hills location: good centre eshaness, ronas hill, spectacular cliff scenery scenery and good accommodation

98 Notes