Culloden Visitor Centre's gift shop is up for global accolade after being shortlisted for the international Museums and Heritage Award
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A souvenir shop at a major Highland tourist attraction is in the market for a top award.
The National Trust for Scotland’s Culloden Visitor Centre retail shop is a finalist for the international Museums and Heritage Award.
It is up against venues such as New York’s Museum of Modern Art and Bletchley Park – with the winners due to be announced at an online awards ceremony on Tuesday.
Raoul Curtis-Machin, Culloden operations manager, said: “The team established product categories around clear themes related to Scotland and the Culloden customer experience and invited local Scottish suppliers to engage with customers through product tastings, meet the maker events and the promotion of family history products.
“Many of the products are unique and can only be found at Culloden. We also developed product and customer welcome training for the team to ensure customers were well looked after.
“Many of the local suppliers only had social media platforms with little if any shop presence and working with/supporting these small suppliers on upscaling, marketing and pricing was time consuming but key to success.”
An example of a satisfied visitor came when a customer commented online that she had bought her first and most cherished souvenir at the Culloden gift shop during her 10-day trip. The item was made by a local artist who takes moss clippings or flowers and turns them into jewellery, which is presented with a card stating its origin.
The customer wrote: “I will never forget this trip and Culloden will be at the forefront of my mind when I think of Scotland.”
Mr Curtis-Machin said the nomination reflected the team’s hard work.