Published: Friday, 2nd October, 2009 8:00am

Five stars for Drumlanrig

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Drumlanrig Castle & Country Estate has ended a successful visitor season on a high note after having been officially awarded five stars by the country's tourism development agency VisitScotland.

The Dumfriesshire home of the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, near Thornhill, has recently received VisitScotland's supreme Five Star award. Drumlanrig Castle & Country Estate staff and management team earned the five star grading by consistently exceeding visitor expectations and ensuring they provide the highest of standards.

The award, which is reserved only for those select attractions whose product is deemed by VisitScotland's Quality Assurance assessors to be of an 'exceptional' standard, places Drumlanrig Castle and Country Estate with an elite band of five star visitor attractions in Dumfries & Galloway and throughout Scotland.

The prestigious award follows an extensive programme of product development at Drumlanrig which has seen the Castle and Country Estate improve its visitor experience and develop its wide range of facilities and activities. This development has encompassed refurbishment and upgrading of the Stableyard Café, the Visitor Centre, the Scottish Cycle Museum and the Castle Gift Shop, improving the interpretation of the Castle, its history and collections as well as the introduction of new features such as children's castle tours, a new events programme and provision of new outdoor activities on the Estate.

Estate Manager Mark Coombs comments, "Having revealed a number of new activities, events and upgraded facilities for the 2009 season, the visitor services team are delighted to see our efforts recognised officially by the Quality Assurance team at Visitscotland."

He continues, "During such challenging economic times, we felt it was important - and indeed, vital - to invest in the products and services here at Drumlanrig in order to enhance the visitor experience; offering visitors more and giving them even better value for money. As a result of the upgraded facilities we have enjoyed increased visitor numbers throughout the season as well as great visitor feedback on our new range of experiences."

This year's visitor season has been very successful for Drumlanrig Castle and Country Estate with visitor number increasing by over 26% compared with the same period in 2008.

Buccleuch have a double reason to celebrate as its sister property Bowhill House and Country Estate located in the Scottish Borders has also just achieved the 5 star status.