Britannia sails past rivals to be top attraction

THE Royal Yacht Britannia has won the highest rating ever awarded to a tourist attraction by VisitScotland.

The popular ship scored an impressive 95.6 per cent when it was rated recently, with inspectors hailing it as "outstanding" and "seamlessly integrated".

Managers today claimed the rating - which marks the tenth anniversary of Britannia being decommissioned - meant they now had officially the best visitor attraction in Scotland. The Royal Yacht, which last year was the seventh most popular paid-for attraction in the country has had a score of 85 per cent or above every year since it opened at Leith in 1998.

However, in the most recent assessment Britannia scored 10/10, or "outstanding", in 18 different areas, and 9/10, or "excellent", in all the others.

VisitScotland confirmed that this was the highest individual score ever awarded for a visitor attraction in Scotland.

Senior quality advisor Robert Cullen said: "An award of five stars represents outstanding customer service and facilities. Britannia offers visitors an experience that is seamlessly integrated with its topic.

"All aspects have been realised to the highest quality standards. It really is one of Scotland's outstanding visitor attractions."

Highlights of the yacht tour include the State Dining Room, Sun Lounge and Engine Room. In recent years the attraction has added audio tours in Hindi and Arabic to cater for visitors from India and the Middle East, and acquired the classic Rolls-Royce Phantom V car which took the Queen to official engagements.

The ship is cared for by The Royal Yacht Britannia Charitable Trust, whose chief executive, Bob Downie, said: "To achieve the highest score ever awarded to a visitor attraction by VisitScotland is a tremendous achievement and a fitting reflection of the enormous effort put in by our fantastic staff to ensure that we provide the very best customer experience on offer anywhere in Scotland."

Britannia was launched at John Brown's Shipyard in Clydebank in 1953. She carried the Royal Family on 968 official voyages to everywhere from the South Seas to Antarctica, travelling more than 1,087,623 nautical miles and calling at 135 countries.

In June 1994 it was announced that Britannia would be taken out of service and in 1998 it was decided that Edinburgh would be the yacht's new home, and she is now permanently moored at Ocean Terminal.