Continuum Attractions is taking over one of Scotland’s most iconic visitor attractions, the Loch Ness Centre & Exhibition near Inverness.
The company has announced plans to spend £1.5 million transforming the venue into a world-class visitor attraction over the next 12 weeks. It will reopen in spring 2023 as the Loch Ness Centre.
The Loch Ness Centre will become Continuum’s eighth attraction in the UK, joining the Real Mary King’s Close in Edinburgh, York’s Chocolate Story and the Emmerdale Village Tour in Leeds.
Its portfolio also includes Coronation Street The Tour in Manchester, Greenwood Family Park in North Wales, Oxford Castle & Prison, and the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth.
“Continuum tells the real stories in real places about real people,” said Juliana Delaney, Continuum’s chief executive. “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,” she added.
“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!
“So I will encourage everyone to ‘keep looking’.”
The Loch Ness Centre will tell the story of the freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands. It will explore the myths, history and scientific research that have turned the Loch Ness monster into one of the world’s most famous creatures.
Discovering the Loch Ness monster
Michael Golding, CEO at Visit Inverness Loch Ness, said Continuum Attractions will “ensure the story and experience are authentically local for our 1.6 million visitors annually”.
“The destination continues to attract significant investment and collectively this ensures the area remains a must-visit destination in any visit to Scotland.”
The exhibition was founded in 1980 by Ronnie Bremner and designer Tony Hamsworth. In 1981, a partnership was formed between the centre and the Loch Ness Project in collaboration with its leader, Adrian Shine. The Loch Ness Project’s laboratory and research centre remains a part of the site.
Chris Taylor, VisitScotland’s regional leadership director, said Loch Ness is “renowned the world over for its most elusive resident, Nessie”.
“Tourism is a force for good,” Taylor added. “It creates jobs, sustains communities and contributes significantly to the economy.”
Robert Bremner, the outgoing managing director, said Continuum has “outstanding capability in authentic storytelling and creating an exceptional visitor experience”.
“As a family we have been in control of the Loch Ness Centre and Exhibition for over 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,” he added.
Images: Continuum Attractions
