Loch Ness Centre to get £1.5 million upgrade

THE The Loch Ness Centre & Exhibition at Drumnadrochit is undergoing a £1.5 million investment.

Ronnie Bremner and designer Tony Hamsworth opened the centre and its first exhibition in 1980.

Now, the Bremner clan is handing over the reins to Continuum Attractions, which runs The Real Mary King’s Close in Edinburgh.

The centre is due to reopen in the spring following its upgrade.

Outgoing managing director Robert Bremner said: “As a family, we have been in control of the Loch Ness Centre & Exhibition for [more than] 40 years and my brother David and I felt the time was right for us to hand over the reins to Continuum to develop the new and improved offering, which will allow visitors to experience the history of the Loch Ness monster by exploring Scotland’s geological past and folklore like never before.

“This is an exciting time for the Loch Ness Centre & Exhibition – retaining the authenticity of the attraction was always our priority and we know we’re in safe hands working with the award-winning team at Continuum, [which has] outstanding capability in authentic storytelling and creating an exceptional visitor experience, with a focus on tourism operators, while retaining the families ownership of this historic site.”

Continuum Attractions chief executive Juliana Delaney added: “Continuum tells the real stories in real places about real people – the search for Nessie encapsulates all three.

“Having had tremendous success with the award-winning Real Mary King’s Close on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, I was keen to seek out another great Scottish story to tell – we found it on Loch Ness.

“This is a magical place – it could be our Jurassic Park, and if a monster hasn’t been found here yet, this is the place in which it will be discovered.”

Continuum also runs Oxford castle and prison, Spinnaker tower in Portsmouth, GreenWood family park in North Wales, the Coronation Street tour in Manchester, and the Emmerdale village tour in Yorkshire.

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