The largest tourism infrastructure project of its kind ever undertaken in Easter Ross will open tomorrow (Fri 5 June) on the NC500 route, with visitor spend tipped to rejuvenate local communities.
The £1.8m Gro For You Community Innovation Campus, a new Visitor destination, in Tain, has been 7 years in the making, from concept to delivery.
Now, the attraction’s futuristic learning and events domes, dining areas, adventure playpark and Campervan stop will open, with profits to be re-purposed into creating youth opportunity to reverse outward migration.
Five full-time senior roles have been created through the Campus project to date, with 19 local building jobs sustained during the 15-month construction phase.
Uniquely, cash spent by visitors in the Attraction’s café, restaurant, playpark and events dome will be reinvested into apprenticeships to help stem the tide of young people away from the peninsula.
Until now, lack of facilities has prevented Tain from capitalising on the thousands of additional visitors which the NC500, described as Scotland’s ‘Instagram Highway’, has brought to the highlands.
However, the new destination, a key stop on the scenic route, includes Campervan-friendly parking spaces with welfare and waste facilities, and a tourist information hub.
And with cruise ship tourism at nearby Invergordon also bringing extra footfall to Easter Ross, it is hoped the Campus will prove a major draw and become a catalyst for wider community regeneration.
“The Campus is an opportunity for us to put Tain on the map and be bold about bringing visitors and promoting tourism, here, because we have the infrastructure to support it, now,” said Gro For You Co-Founder and CEO, Sarah Mackenzie.
“There is not an attraction of this size anywhere else nearby. When people come off the A9 they want a place to stop, they want good sustainable food, grown locally, they can have a shower which they might not always get in a campervan for example, and there is an adventure playpark where children can have fun and run around while, importantly, being safe.
“Tourist Offices have closed down across Scotland but we have one, here. People visiting can buy local gifts or foods, find other places to visit in the area and discover what is going on in our growing domes, herb garden, our orchard, wetland and biodiversity zones. Our aim is to bring people here and keep them in the area.”
Project leaders, Gro For You, is a community interest company with a track record in training, meaning the Campus will double up as a living learning environment as well as a new Visitor hotspot.
The restaurant kitchen will provide a Training hub for hospitality apprentices while the woodlands and growing domes will also feature as learning spaces for rural skills and food technology students.
The Campus received Nature Restoration funding for its on-site wetland, and vegetables grown in the Campus raised beds are to be used for soups and salads in the restaurant.
“When people spend money here, they are not just enjoying a coffee or a meal, they are actually helping to grow opportunities for young people in the area, which has long been a problem,” said Richard Jones, Gro For You Co-Founder.
Project leaders hope the attraction’s 50-seat Events dome, with panoramic views over the Dornoch Firth, will bring conferences, business events and family celebrations to the site.
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“The base is a perfect stop off point between Inverness and the north,” added Sarah Mackenzie.
“We’re aiming to bring corporate teams here as a venue for leadership and management workshops. The campus basically brings everything together on the one site.”
Profits made by the Campus project will help provide 240 apprenticeships per year in food technologies, hospitality, business and Renewables.
