Nothing spooky about tourist spot's award win

ONE of the Capital's spookiest attractions has been awarded a top industry accolade.

Mary King's Close, which opened its doors to guided tours in 1995 and has been a fully-fledged visitor attraction for three years, has been awarded the Five Star Quality Assurance Award from VisitScotland.

Since 2003, visitor numbers have soared from the predicted 60,000 per year, to more than 150,000.

Officials from the attraction say that research among visitors also reveals further success with the levels of visitor satisfaction, which are consistently above 97 per cent, and more than 98 per cent of people would recommend a visit.

Lorraine Thomson, quality assurance manager at VisitScotland said: "Reaching five stars is an excellent achievement and so is maintaining the award after a busy two years. The Real Mary King's Close is an example of an exceptional-quality visitor experience. It is a real asset to the city and much work has gone in to keeping standards so high."