Honour for tourism's prime mover

SCOTTISH tourism's biggest honour has gone to the long-serving head of transport giant FirstGroup.

Sir Moir Lockhead, chief executive of the Aberdeen-based bus and rail operator for the last 21 years, has been awarded the industry's Silver Thistle prize just weeks after announcing his retirement.

He has been given VisitScotland's major award for an outstanding contribution to tourism two years after being awarded a knighthood.

According to the tourism agency, bus travel among visitors to Scotland went up by 55 per cent between 2009 and 2010, while rail travel increased by 26 per cent over the same period.

Sir Moir has been at the helm of the company as it has grown from a municipal bus operator in the north-east of Scotland to become a global player carrying 2.5 billion passengers every day.

Its workforce numbers some 137,000 in the UK and US, and the company boasts revenues of an estimated 6 billion a year.

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Durham-born Sir Moir, who started work as an apprentice mechanic after leaving school at the age of 15, was previously in charge of Glasgow's bus and underground network, before leaving to work as general manager of Grampian Regional Transport. He led a successful management buyout of the firm in 1989.

First is now the biggest provider of bus and rail services in the UK and has expanded into the United States, where it is the largest operator of school buses.

Sir Moir, 65, one of the longest-serving chief executives in the UK, said: "FirstGroup is much more than just a public transport operator. We are crucial to tourism in the areas we operate.

"We are responsible for moving millions of visitors around Scotland every year.

"ScotRail alone moves more than 77 million passengers per annum. And according to our ScotRail customer profile, more than six million of those are using our services while on holiday.

"A good transport network helps encourage people to visit and return to Scotland."

Previous winners of the Silver Thistle award include Brigadier Melville Jameson, former producer of the Tattoo, restaurateur James Thomson, hotelier Peter Taylor and event organiser Peter Irvine.

The Scottish Thistle Awards, which have been running since 1992, last night saw business owners, event organisers, visitor attractions and retailers honoured for the contributions to tourism over the last year.Glasgow scooped a number of the top awards, including best international event for the Mobo Awards.

Glasgow School of Art was lauded for both the best heritage experience and the best retail offer, while Glasgow Science Centre was honoured for its business tourism work.

The Isle of Eriska Hotel at Benderloch in Argyll was rated the best for food and drink, while the Scottish Seabird Centre, at North Berwick in East Lothian, was honoured for its marketing campaigns.

The Edinburgh-based bus tour firm Rabbie's Trail Burners was named the most innovative tourism business.