Funding to help transform the Lecht into year-round adventure tourism hotspot
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
PLANS to transform a Moray mountain resort into a year-round hotspot for adventure tourists have received a funding boost.
The £73,125 of funds are being delivered by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) on behalf of the Scottish Government to help businesses, communities and social enterprises on their journey to net zero.
The money will be used to install electric vehicle (EV) charging points – powered by its existing wind turbine, build a new play park, enhance catering provision and create a family-friendly mountain bike run.
The Lecht is also moving away from paper-based ticketing to a fully-automated online digital system.
The project will support the Lecht ski centre to diversify further from a predominately winter snow-sports destination to a year-round draw for adventure tourists.
Angie Smith, HIE's head of business growth for Moray, said: "We have been working with the Lecht for a number of years now and it is an incredibly important part of Scotland's wider ski industry and tourism sector.
"The centre provides valuable rural employment and these developments will safeguard these jobs while helping with tourism's transition to net zero.
"I am delighted we are able to support this project and look forward to seeing the new facilities."
Pieter du Pon, managing director of Lecht Ski Company, said: "The support from HIE is exceptionally helpful for the various projects that we are in the process of completing either this year or early next year.
"Ski centres especially need to do all we can to reduce the effect of climate change and these projects keep us going in the right direction.
"This winter will see the start of the changes, with the ticketing system moving away from waterproof paper tickets to an online system. This will also allow customers, with their ticket cards, to be able to go straight to the slopes without having to come into any ticket office.
"Next year will see the installation of EV charging points which will greatly help the coverage of these units in remote areas of Scotland.
"These are major and expensive changes that would have been very difficult to do without HIE support."
The net zero tourism investment is part of a £3.95 million pledge made to boost Scottish tourism in March and is one of 10 areas of priority within the Scottish Government's £25 million commitment to deliver the Tourism Taskforce recommendations and national tourism recovery.
