December 27, 2002
Just a few days after plans for the new £30m Aviemore Highland Resort were announced, tourism in the Highlands received another boost today (23rd) when CairnGorm Mountain Ltd. revealed that, by the end of December, a quarter of a million visitors will have used the new CairnGorm funicular in its first full year of operation. These numbers are very much in line with the operating company's own visitor forecasts for the £15m scheme that was opened officially in June by Mike Watson, MSP, the Scottish Executive's Minister for Tourism and Sport.
Said Bob Kinnaird, the company's Chief Executive: "What has been particularly encouraging for local tourism is that, so far, since opening, we have attracted 162,000 non-skiing visitors, many of whom were having their first mountain experience. In addition, almost 82,500 skiing and snowboarding visitors enjoyed an increased number of skiing days at CairnGorm last year thanks to our ability now to remain open in wind speeds in excess of what would have been possible with the old chairlifts. Between January and March, there were 37 days out of 83 when the old chairlift would not have operated but the funicular let us keep the hill open for skiing. In that respect alone, the new funicular has been a winner."
Speaking on the funicular's first birthday - the railway made its inaugural run on 23rd December last year - Bob Kinnaird revealed that prior, to the funicular being in place, summer visitors had been declining to "less than 45,000 in most years", a volume that had now been trebled. Further growth opportunities clearly exist as visitor patterns showed irregularities with, perhaps surprisingly, the Autumn "shoulder months" performing best of all relative to forecasts. Continued Mr Kinnaird "We will be looking closely at all of this information and targeting our promotional activities to develop new markets, such as the educational market where we already have specialists looking at ways in which we could develop our product to fit."
Mr Kinnaird also indicated that the company had not only achieved its target for visitor numbers but had also made a very positive impact both locally and nationally. He said, "Over 18 months ago, we set out to win the hearts and minds of the local community and then to move outwards from there. Many who were previously cynical have openly admitted their pleasant surprise at what we have achieved and it would be no exaggeration to claim that we have successfully introduced a change of culture into our customer care and visitor management practices."
Company chairman, Hamish Swan endorsed this view and complimented the management and staff on what had been achieved during the first year in which the new funicular operated. Said Mr Swan "We succeeded in building the funicular amidst some protracted opposition but, as soon as it was commissioned, we saw all that as being in the past. We sought to move forward and the only way in which that could be achieved was by creating a quality experience for every visitor who came to see us. There have been hiccups along the way and we have learned from them but all of us are immensely proud of what we have already achieved and the impact that CairnGorm Mountain has made on the local economy."
One of the most obvious features of the new visitor attraction is The Ptarmigan which, in less than a year, has added its own dimension to the area as a new venue for corporate entertainment as much as a mountain restaurant offering higher quality than would previously have been imagined. A Taste of Scotland accredited self-service restaurant by day, The Ptarmigan, with its spectacular panoramic views, became an up-market evening venue that attracted several major corporate functions, receptions and dinners as well as - perhaps surprisingly - three wedding receptions.
Commented Ian Whitaker, the company's Catering and Retailing Director, "Running a restaurant at 1,100 metres (c.3,500 feet) up a mountain is somewhat different from having the same size of operation in the middle of a town. Everything has to be brought up from the Base Station, and further, and that requires a lot of pre-planning and attention to detail. In doing so, we too have sought to add to the quality experience of each of our visitors by putting customer service at the forefront of everything."
"We have had evening ceilidhs in the summer months with loads of overseas visitors learning Scottish dancing and being totally enchanted by the wonderful views of Highland sunsets from the terrace. We have had wedding receptions, formal dinners and charity fund-raising nights … and we are planning to expand our activities next year with afternoon entertainment at weekends during the skiing season."
In addition to the Taste of Scotland award, CairnGorm Mountain has also won a Saltire Society commendation, recognition by Which Books as being "The Most Improved Ski Resort in Europe", and Four Star status from VisitScotland. But, bearing in mind its stormy past, Green Tourism's Gold Standard award has a special significance for the company as evidence of its on-going commitment to environmental and ecological conservation.
Nowhere is this better demonstrated than in the work of Dr Cathy Mordaunt, the company's in-house ecological specialist who spends much of her time outside measuring the impact that Man and his activities are having on the fragile and sensitive environment of the Cairngorms.
In demonstrating the effectiveness of the new Monitoring Scheme in assessing visitor impact on the designated European sites adjacent to the Ski Area, Dr Mordaunt also underlined the operating company's continuing commitment to prevent further permanent damage to any of these areas. “We are putting in place a very detailed scheme that will allow us to be fully informed of the way in which our visitors are in any way impacting on this very special ecosystem.” she said. "None of this is cosmetic but demonstrates a genuine concern to protect this unique and sensitive area."
Dr Mordaunt also showed how some of the rarer species could be found close to, or within, the Ski Area, pointing out that these were significant assets that reinforced the environmental message now given by the company. She continued, “The Ski Area is improving ecologically all the time, and we are working constantly to create harmony between our operations and the natural environment. In addition, we also pursue a policy of environmental education at all levels and ages. It is our intention to maintain an environmentally sustainable operation, with emphasis on improving the natural environment wherever and whenever possible."
As part of its on-going environmental awareness programme, CairnGorm Mountain has also created a high altitude mountain garden near to the Coire Cas Base Station as a further visitor attraction and has encouraged the re-introduction into the area of native plant species. In turn, these will also attract some of the area's native insects back to their former habitats.
Another example of this hands-on involvement was seen in September when 150 children from several local primary schools in Badenoch and Strathspey were on site, complete with trowels, to plant around 1,000 trees, all species of which are native to the Cairngorm National Nature Reserve. Included among the species planted by the schoolchildren in the newly designated Coille na Cloinne/The Children’s Forest near to the car park at Coire Cas were Caledonian Scots Pine, Birch, Juniper, Dwarf Birch and Willow, with the last being of particular significance as an actio species for Scottish Natural Heritage in its efforts to encourage insects back to the area, including the Bumblebee.
Said Hamish Swan: "Eight years ago, we started on a long journey - twelve months ago we achieved the first part of our objective with the inauguration of the funicular. A lot has happened in this first year, including each funicular carriage travelling a distance of some 15,000 miles - the equivalent of 10 return trips between here and Berne where they were built - with relatively few mishaps. But we are still on a journey and we are still learning. We look forward to being right at the heart of the new Cairngorms National Park; we look forward to the new developments announced last week for Aviemore; and, above all, we look forward to building on the success that CairnGorm Mountain has already achieved in this first year."
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