Coo Van on the mooooove in Shetland

A number of Shetland’s visitor attractions – including Sumburgh Lighthouse, Unst Heritage Centre and Scalloway Museum - are to be visited by one of VisitScotland’s Coo Vans next week.

‘Heather’ – one of the national tourism organisation’s small herd of Coo Vans offering mobile information provision – will be in Shetland from Monday 2nd July until Thursday 5th July.

Heather will be joined by members of VisitScotland’s team of specially-trained Coo-visors, who are responsible for steering the coos around the country over the summer.

Northlink is working with VisitScotland on this visit by transporting Heather and the Coo-visors to and from Shetland via a Northlink ferry. The Coo-visors will be on hand to offer visitors advice on what to see and do in Shetland.

Coo van itinerary:*

Monday, 2nd July: 9am – Lerwick iCentre, Market Cross; 11am – Braewick Café; 1pm – Eshaness Lighthouse; 3pm – Tangwick Ha Museum

Tuesday, 3rd July: 10am – Old Haa Museum (until 11.10am); 12.20pm – Victoria’s Tea-rooms, Haroldswick; 1.45pm – Hermaness Nature Reserve car park; 2.45pm – Unst Heritage Centre; 4pm – The Viking Unst Project

Wednesday, 4th July: 10am – Sumburgh Lighthouse; 12.30pm – Quendale Mill; 2.30pm – Hoswick Café/Visitor Centre

Thursday, 5th July: 9am – Lerwick Cruise Ships (based at Victoria Pier); 11.30am – Scalloway Museum; 1.30pm – Burland Croft Trail, Trondra; 3.30pm – Shetland Jewellery.

*Itinerary timings may be subject to alteration due to extenuating circumstances, including inclement weather

The vans – Hamish, Archie, Morag and Heather – hit the road at the end of March and have already attended a number of events, including the Cairngorms Nature Big Weekend, Angus Agricultural Show, Rock of Ages at Dumbarton Castle, Lanark Lanimer Day and Thirlestane Castle Vintage Rally.

They will also attend a number of planned events through the summer, including the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival, Anstruther Harbour Festival, European Pipe Band Championships, Foodies Festival in Edinburgh, Stonehaven Highland Games and the Lonach Gathering.

On top of these, they will also visit many different visitor attractions, partner sites and tourism hotspots on a day-to-day basis and will appear at many more before finishing up for the year at the end of October.

The Coo Vans are part of VisitScotland’s strategy to provide inspiration to visitors in new and innovative ways and in doing so extend a ‘personal touch’ to outreach marketing activity, passing on distinctive information about things to see and do throughout the country.

Steve Mathieson, VisitScotland Island Manager, said: “I know from talking to our Coo-visors that they are very much looking forward to their trip to Shetland, to meet and offer information to visitors which we hope will then inspire them to visit again in the future.

“We have been mobilising our workforce to deliver the best information to every corner of Scotland through face-to-face and digital channels, including our online community platform, a fleet of coo vans and other outreach activity.

“The Coo Vans, in particular, have become a real talking point among visitors to events across Scotland, and they will be a popular addition to the many events and locations they attend over the coming months.

“The Coo Vans have a great following on social media and are particularly popular with children in Scotland. Having them here is a great way of showcasing our islands to potential visitors from all over the world - but is not trying to portray Shetland as the home of the Highland Coo!”

For more information on VisitScotland’s outreach programme, visit: http://www.visitscotland.org/what_we_do/visitor_information/information_provision.aspx

For more information on Northlink Ferries, visit http://www.northlinkferries.co.uk/