AA Group Shot 2As The Royal Yacht Britannia, in Edinburgh, prepares to mark 20 years since opening its doors to the public in 1998, the team is also celebrating a remarkable achievement, ending 2017 with a phenomenal 390,482 visitors, the highest number of visitors ever recorded.

This also represents a 12% year-on-year increase on 2016.

Commenting on this success, Chief Executive of The Royal Yacht Britannia, Bob Downie said, “2017 was a phenomenally busy year and it’s a great tribute to the professionalism of our staff that we also retained our position as Scotland’s Best Visitor Attraction for a record 12th year in a row.”

2018 is due to be another landmark year for the famous ship, marking 20 years since opening its doors as a visitor attraction in Edinburgh, together with the opening of Fingal in summer, a major £3.5million luxury floating hotel and events venue by Britannia’s trading company, Royal Yacht Enterprises.

Bob continued, “This success could not have come at a better time, as we look forward to the launch of our new 23-bedroom luxury hotel accommodation and unique events venue, on the former Northern Lighthouse Board tender, Fingal, opening in the summer of 2018.”

Bob and his team at Britannia are wholly committed to providing an exceptional customer experience for visitors and delivering great value for time and money, as demonstrated by the very high percentage of Excellent Reviews on TripAdvisor. To date, over 5.6 million people from across the world have had the opportunity to experience the five star visitor attraction.

The Royal Yacht Britannia, announced yesterday that, for the 12th year in a row, it has been rated as Scotland’s Best Visitor Attraction by Scotland’s national tourism agency, VisitScotland.

The Queen’s former floating palace, now a popular visitor attraction in Edinburgh, takes great pride in delivering an exceptional customer experience to every visitor who steps aboard.

VisitScotland’s Quality Assurance Scheme is the official measure of quality for tourism businesses in Scotland, benchmarking visitor attractions, accommodation providers, and catering establishments across Scotland. Tourism businesses are assessed based on the welcome, attitude, knowledge and efficiency of staff, as well as audience level, interpretation, maintenance and cleanliness of the attraction.

The Royal Yacht is also celebrating its most successful year to date, since opening 19 years ago, with visitor numbers running 13% up on last year. To date, over 5 million people from across the world have visited The Queen’s former floating palace, since it opened in 1998. The iconic attraction has also featured in TripAdvisor’s UK Top 10 for the last 5 years, with over 16,500 reviews and the highest percentage of ‘Excellent’ reviews (72%).

Commenting on this outstanding success, Britannia’s Chief Executive, Bob Downie said, “To be the best in Scotland once is a fantastic achievement, but to do this for twelve consecutive years is a phenomenal tribute to our staff who go the extra mile to ensure that all our visitors have a great experience when they visit Britannia. The true test of any great organisation is consistency of performance, delivering great value for time and money, year in year out, and there is no doubt that our pioneering approach to providing great customer experiences has underpinned our success.”

Lord Thurso, Chairman of VisitScotland said: “This is a remarkable achievement for The Royal Yacht Britannia. To retain the accolade of Scotland’s best attraction for the 12th year running is no mean feat and very well deserved for such an iconic attraction. We need to think bigger about Scotland as a tourism destination to ensure we fulfil our potential – every visitor must get a quality experience every single time – and Britannia is leading by example and setting the bar high for excellence.”

The Royal Yacht Britannia Logo

The Royal Yacht Britannia announced today that it has acquired the iconic heritage vessel MV Windsor Castle.

In a near £1 million investment, this classically designed ship is to be converted into a 25 bedroom luxury ‘boatique’ hotel. She will be berthed permanently, adjacent to Britannia in Edinburgh’s historic port of Leith.

Launched in August 1963, she was the last ship built by the Blythswood Shipbuilding Company, Glasgow, and was previously the Northern Lighthouse Board’s (NLB) tender Fingal. She was Leith registered but spent most of her NLB service working out of Oban for 30 years, followed by her last 6 years, based in Stromness, Orkney.

At 239 feet long, she is nearly two-thirds of the size of Britannia. The vessel was sold by the NLB in 2000 to Tamahine Shipping and has been maintained to the highest standards ever since, at her berth on the River Fal in Cornwall.

The ship is scheduled to arrive in Leith during the week of 25 August, 2014, and undergo an 18 month conversion, scheduled to open in Spring 2016. Developing a floating hotel represents natural organic growth for Britannia, having the requisite management skills in-house, and servicing demand from both day visitors and evening event guests for quality accommodation, adjacent to the Royal Yacht. Officially Scotland’s best visitor attraction, for each of the last nine years, and the UK’s No.1 attraction (TripAdvisor 2014), Britannia is already renowned for delivering the highest quality of customer experience; and this hotel will fit neatly within the overall brand.

Britannia’s Chief Executive Bob Downie said, ‘After many years of searching for the right ship, we are delighted that we have been able to acquire this iconic vessel and look forward to opening Scotland’s first boatique hotel.  As a youngster growing up in Oban I have very fond memories of seeing the Fingal and I am delighted that the long-term future of another much loved classic vessel has been
secured.’