Well, it's nearly time to hear that famous phrase again, 'and the winner is...'.  Yes, it's Oscar time for tourism as the award ceremony for the Thistle Awards approaches.  The Tourism & Environment Forum sat on the panel of judges to agree the short-list for the Tourism and Environment category, and the decision was not an easy one. 

The awards are open to all types of businesses and are widely recognised as the industry's ultimate accolade. This year the award, sponsored by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), recognises companies and projects that have provided relevant training and staff development work to increase staff awareness and understanding of Scotland’s natural heritage.  Each nominee also reveals how this increased staff knowledge of wildlife and environment enhanced the customer experience. 

The nominations are:

The Tweed Valley Osprey project, led by Forestry Commission Scotland in association with Kailzie Gardens, near Peebles, has been acknowledged for its comprehensive staff and volunteer training programme on ospreys and wider environmental issues. Training for staff running the Osprey Watch web site and Osprey Information Line, for example, enabled them to enthuse more visitors to watch and learn about the birds.

Cream o’Galloway has helped their staff raise awareness amongst visitors of the wildlife in the area, and demonstrated a clear environmental approach by the owners in managing their business.

The company’s wide-ranging environmental training programme for staff includes:

• environmental education training,
• identification of species and
• visits to nature trails and other wildlife tourism sites.

As part of a wider programme of environmental activity, the Perthshire Tourist Board has carried out a series of wildlife training and countryside familiarisation events for tourist information staff and many business members working in the front line. Feedback suggests that the events have generated much enthusiasm and pride as well as providing an ideal platform for further learning. For example, Kinross TIC has now put up bird feeders - staff are buying peanuts and mixed seeds from the RSPB and recording species attracted. The feeders also provide entertainment for visitors to the centre!

Bill Taylor, tourism officer at SNH said:
"Most people come to Scotland for its natural beauty, but one of the challenges we have is that many staff within the tourism industry do not have sufficient knowledge of the wildlife and countryside on their doorstep to be able to add to the visitor experience. We hope that other companies and projects will begin to realise the potential of promoting their surroundings in a sustainable way, to benefit both tourism and the environment."

The winner of the 2004 award will be announced at the Thistle Awards ceremony on Friday 29 October at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

For more information:

• Thistle Awards
• Tweed Valley Osprey Project
• Cream o'Galloway
• Perthshire Tourist Board