The Royal Deeside home of iconic Highland coos has been named best visitor attraction in the UK.
Aberdeenshire Highland Cattle (AHC), trading as Aberdeenshire Highland Beef, was ranked favourite by North American customers of Irish-owned travel group CIE Tours.
The annual excellence accolades are based on post-stay customer feedback on around 200 tourism providers throughout the UK.
Merit awards are earned by all partners achieving more than 90% in customer satisfaction. Those with the best satisfaction score in each category win a gold award.
Where is Aberdeenshire Highland Cattle based and who runs the business?
AHC is based at Lochton of Leys Farmhouse, Banchory.
The business is run by Grace Noble, who had early exposure to crofting and farming during her childhood on the Isle of Raasay, near Skye. She launched AHC in 2012.
She knows all of her Highland cattle by name, keeping some of them to show at agricultural events throughout Scotland and others for premium beef production.
Offering tours, talks, tastings and selfie opportunities, Grace and her family give visitors the chance to get up close to one of the most iconic symbols of Scotland – and taste their beef too.
The farm’s Highland cattle, lambing and sheep shearing experiences are a big hit with people of all ages.
Meanwhile, meat from the business is used by chefs in restaurants, cafes and hotels across the north-east.
New Jersey and Dublin-based CIE Tours is one of the largest carriers of US visitors to the UK.
It also reported a significant increase in satisfaction ratings from its customers.
And the company recently launched a Sustainability Action Fund to support environment-friendly projects in the locations its tours visit across Scotland.
CIE Tours’ awards celebrate ‘quality of experience’ for visitors to UK
Its latest awards celebrate the hoteliers and tourist experience operators who were singled out by the 12,000 visitors on its UK tours last year.
CIE Tours managing director Stephen Cotter said: “2024 was another successful year for us.
“Visitor numbers remained strong, despite inflationary pressures on our partners and customers.
“A major reason for this is the quality of experience our customers are receiving from our providers, as evidenced by the significant increase in the number of UK providers receiving a higher than 90% customer satisfaction rating.”
Mr Cotter added: “In 2023, 53 UK businesses received greater than 90%, which jumped to 75 in 2024.
“Year-on-year, huge effort is made by our partners to improve and enhance their offerings based on the feedback we provide to them from our annual visitor surveys.
“Their dedication and commitment help to maintain the UK’s reputation as a leading destination for US visitors.”
Glamis Castle and two Perthshire hotels among other award winners
Scottish tourism operators dominated the prize list. Other winners include Crieff Hydro Hotel (best hotel accommodation), Atholl Palace Hotel, Pitlochry (best overall hotel service and hospitality), Glamis Castle (best overall castle experience) and the Edinburgh Military Tattoo (best special event).
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