Highlands and Islands Thistle Awards host leadership excellence in the tourism industry event
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The Highlands and Islands Thistle Awards (HITA) hosted a leadership excellence in the tourism industry event at the Drumossie Hotel.
The event, that was curated by Highland News and Media (HNM), featured three exceptional panellists that shared their knowledge and expertise of the Scottish tourism sector ahead of this year’s HITA awards.
On the panel was Clare Winskill who is the owner of Coruisk House and co-chair of the institute of directors (IoD) Highlands and Islands and chair of the association of Scotland’s self-caterers.
Clare spoke about her love for the Highlands and fond memories of visiting her grandparents home in Assynt as a child.
In 2011 Clare moved to the remote fishing village, Elgol, on the Strathaird peninsula of Skye where she and her partner, Iain, have grown their businesses; Coruisk House, restaurant with rooms and Skye Fine Wines.
Joining her on the panel was Ben Thorburn, who was brought up in the picturesque west coast community of Lochcarron in the Scottish Highlands.
Ben is the head of marketing and co-owner of Wilderness Scotland and spoke passionately about the Highland landscape that ‘enthuses and feeds his soul’.
The final panellist was Guy Crawford, who is the chief executive of Highland Coast Hotels, a unique set of NC500 hotels. He is also the former chief executive of the Jumeirah Hospitality Group in Dubai.
Guy spoke about his love for Scottish culture and the key principles of success as a hotelier.
The insightful panel was led by Pennie Latin Stuart; broadcaster, producer and one of the creatives behind Adventurous Audio.
The four of them spoke to the audience with words of wisdom and encouragement to enter this year’s HITA awards after a delightful two course lunch was served by the Drumossie Hotel.
Director of business banking, North Scotland at the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Garry Munro, said: “A great event with a fantastic panel who understand the value of collaboration and are willing to share their knowledge and experience for the benefit of others in such a engaging and enthusiastic way.
“It is superb to see companies and organisations working together for the greater benefit of the sector and creating opportunities for the industry in the future.”
Entries for this year’s HITA are now open until April 28, 2024.
The shortlist for each category will be announced in July, with the winners announced at a gala dinner, at the Kingsmills Hotel, Inverness on Friday, October 4.
