Macduff Marine Aquarium has shown once again that it deserves its reputation as one of the top visitor attractions in the north-east of Scotland, by netting a prestigious national tourism award. Macduff Marine Aquarium has shown once again that it deserves its reputation as one of the top visitor attractions in the north-east of Scotland, by netting a prestigious national tourism award.
The aquarium scooped the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions' Best Visitor Experience 2008 award at a recent awards ceremony held at Dunblane Hydro in Perthshire.This is the first time the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions (ASVA) has offered the award, which was sponsored by The Royal Yacht Britannia.Many top attractions, including three based in Edinburgh, were judged on the kind of experience they offer to visitors and how the attraction monitors and improves its service.
The top prize is a free place on the Scottish Enterprise Tourism Executive Seminar at the Schindlerhof Hotel and Conference Centre in Nurnberg, Germany in January 2009. Claire Matthews, Macduff Marine Aquarium's education and marketing officer, collected the award in front of a large crowd of industry specialists.She said: “We are thrilled to have won this best visitor experience award, especially as the other contenders were of such high quality and located in the capital.”Witek Mojsiewicz, aquarium manager, was delighted with the award and praised his hard-working staff for all their efforts.“To have won this award is a real accolade for the aquarium,” he said. “Our staff work extremely hard to ensure that our visitors have a fun but also educational experience at the aquarium and they show great enthusiasm and passion for what they do.”
He added: “This award is a confirmation that we are achieving the standards for which we strive and we are over the moon to have been recognised in this way.”Macduff Marine Aquarium is owned by Aberdeenshire Council and features the marine life of the Moray Firth in a variety of fascinating displays, including a 5m deep circular kelp reef exhibit, which is the only one of its kind in the UK.Richard Stroud, chairman of Aberdeenshire Council’s Education, Learning and Leisure Committee was delighted to hear about the award and congratulated staff at the aquarium on their success.
“This is a fantastic achievement for Macduff Aquarium,” he said. “I would like to congratulate the hard-working and dedicated staff who have helped secure this prestigious accolade.“The award recognises a high standard of customer service and visitor experience which staff at all of Aberdeenshire Council’s facilities provide to our residents.”The aquarium opened a new jellyfish display earlier this year and leads the way in exhibiting Scottish deep-water invertebrates that are not shown in any other aquarium in Britain.The aquarium operates an education programme and is a big hit with schools as well as the general public, attracting around 50,000 visitors per year.
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