Continuum's 'The Real Mary King's Close' Adds to Industry Awards

Tuesday, 19th March 2019

Continuum's 'The Real Mary King's Close' Adds to Industry Awards

PRESS RELEASE March 2019

Continuum Attractions’ ‘The Real Mary King’s Close’ Adds to Industry Awards

Continuum’s Edinburgh based visitor attraction The Real Mary King’s Close was honoured with two accolades at the prestigious Scottish Thistle Awards finals, winning in the Best Heritage Tourism Experience category and gaining a Special Commendation for Best Visitor Attraction.  This fantastic news follows the recent announcement that Continuum’s Emmerdale Village Tour had won Visit England’s Best Told Story Award, adding to their raft of recent tourism industry wins.  Continuum announced in December that it had ended the year with a celebration of its largest haul of awards since the company was founded in 1984.

The award and commendation comes at the end of a record-breaking year for The Real Mary King’s Close, which has grown from 60,000 annual visitors 16 years ago, to a record 256,000 visitors this year.  

Juliana Delaney, CEO of Continuum Attractions, which operates The Real Mary King’s Close, said: ”The whole team is thrilled to receive this incredible honour. To be recognised as Scotland’s Best Heritage Tourism Experience is a true testament to the commitment our whole team has for our attraction. Every aspect of our guest experience is developed with love, a sense of pride, and an enthusiasm for both our rich history, and delivering outstanding customer service. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of our many guests, our peers within the industry, and VisitScotland for its continued support over the years.”

Eilidh Macleod, Marketing Manager at The Real Mary King’s Close, said: ”It has been an incredible year for The Real Mary King’s Close, and I couldn’t be more proud of our team and the exceptional experiences they deliver each and every day. We love bringing Edinburgh’s hidden history to life, and welcoming guests from all over the world to experience our unique city-centre attraction. The Scottish Thistle Awards represent the highest standards in our industry, so being recognised as Scotland’s Best Heritage Tourism Experience really is a fabulous accolade.”

The Scottish Thistle Awards is Scotland’s premier awards for the tourism industry, celebrating success, innovation, excellence and best practice in Scotland’s tourism and hospitality industry. The Best Heritage Tourism Experience award is sponsored by Historic Environment Scotland.  The Real Mary King’s Close team received their award at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on Thursday 14 March.  

ENDS

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Continuum Attractions develop and commercially operate attractions and experiences in England, Wales and Scotland.  The group portfolio is conceived, created and operated within the UK, which are wholly owned or developed together through relevant partnerships. 

For more details on Continuum Attractions, visit Continuum Attractions.

Continuum Attractions

Continuum Attractions brings stories alive for visitors and continues to create and manage diverse and market-defining visitor attractions across the country.  Starting in 1984 with the Jorvik Centre in York, Heritage Projects Ltd was born, setting the standard in creating visitor attractions commensurate with the needs, interests and desires of the evolving visitor market.  More successful attractions were created in 1988 with The Canterbury Tales and The Oxford Story, followed by The White Cliffs Experience in partnership with Dover County Council, and Enjoy a Day at the Wells in Royal Tunbridge Wells.  In 2000, the company was renamed the Continuum Group, eventually to evolve into Continuum Attractions, with the creation of The International Centre for Life in Newcastle under its belt.  From 2003 to 2017, other attractions benefiting from Continuum’s expertise included The Real Mary King’s Close in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council, Emirates Spinnaker Tower in partnership with Portsmouth City Council, Oxford Castle Unlocked in conjunction with Oxford Preservation Trust and the Heritage Lottery Fund, The Museum of Kent Life with Maidstone Borough Council, The Crystal with Siemens in London, York’s Chocolate Story, Emirates Air Line Cable Car in London, and in partnership with ITV, Coronation Street The Tour in Manchester and Emmerdale Village Tour and Emmerdale Studio Experience in Leeds, the Royal Mint Experience in London and the Greenwood Forest Park in Wales, plus other tailored consultancy projects. 

At Continuum, we believe the best memories come from great storytelling delivered well; we have found that people-to-people engagement delivers this best of all.  Our well-versed team of facilitators and interpretation specialists interact and engage with the visitor to make the experience both personal and memorable. 

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For more information on Continuum Attractions, please contact Kendra Grahame-Clarke at Kendra PR on 07920 124474 or email Kendra@kendrapr.co.uk