Museum's Tourism Award

Staff at the Highland Folk Museum enjoyed a night of triumph at the 2007 Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards, returning home with one of the top prizes.

The Highland Council-owned attraction, based in Kingussie and Newtonmore, won the Tourism People Development Award  - sponsored by the UK Atomic Energy Authority - due to the their commitment to staff development.
Museum operations manager Helen Powell accepted the prize of an engraved crystal plate on behalf of the museum at the ceremony held at the Drumossie Hotel in Inverness on Friday.

She said: "We are all extremely pleased to have won. Even to make it to the short leet is itself a significant achievement, and we value the judges' very positive appraisal.

"For us it's all down to real teamwork and a high standard of staff training and participation. We are very fortunate to have excellent staff who have been with us for a good number of years, and who enjoy passing on their skills and knowledge to new recruits through our mentoring system.
"That gives us a continuity of expertise from year to year. If staff can be confident and enjoy themselves at work, then their enthusiasm is felt by visitors."

Judges praised the overall excellence of customer care, which they felt was a consistent feature of the visitor experience at the Highland Folk Museum, which has free admission this year as part of the Highland Year of Culture celebrations.