2023 WINNERS

Over the past 30 years, the Scottish Thistle Awards has crowned hundreds of businesses and individuals as winners. See our latest winners below, or check out our Winners’ Academy to view winners from years gone by.

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National Winners

Best Bar or Pub
The Cross Keys Inn Ettrickbridge, Selkirk

Best Eating Experience
Edinbane Lodge, Edinbane

Best Luxury Experience
Airhouses, Lauder

Best Outdoor or Adventure Experience
Wilderness Scotland, Aviemore

Best Visitor Attraction
The Burrell Collection, Glasgow

Climate Action Award
Wilderness Scotland, Aviemore

Best Self-Catering Accommodation Experience
Arden Holiday Cottage, Dumfries

Celebrating Thriving Communities
Rediscovering the Antonine Wall Project, West Dunbartonshire Council, Dunbarton

Inclusive Tourism Award
Glasgow Science Centre, Glasgow

Innovation in Tourism Award
Camera Obscura & World of Illusions, Edinburgh

Outstanding Sporting Event
Genesis Scottish Open, East Lothian

Tourism Individual of the Year
Melanie Allen, Nithbank Country Estate

Outstanding Cultural Event or Festival
Fringe by the Sea, North Berwick

Tourism & Hospitality Employer of the Year
SEA LIFE Loch Lomond, Alexandria



The Silver Thistle Award was presented to David and Wilma Finlay.  

Wilma and David are partners in family farm Rainton Farm in Dumfries & Galloway – home of The Ethical Dairy, the first farm in Europe to successfully implement cow calf dairy farming at a commercially viable scale. They are widely respected as pioneers in ethical agricultural techniques. 

They have also created two exceptional food product ranges that have origins in the land of Galloway, as well as a successful visitor attraction – Cream ’ Galloway. The couple has recently retired and sold their successful ice-cream making business, which has opened under new ownership. 

They undertook groundbreaking work – and continue to do so – linking their business and the visitor economy with what would now be referred to as responsible tourism. They would be described as way ahead of their time in this respect. They have been a huge contribution to net zero through their collection of businesses by achieving carbon negative, implanting regenerative techniques and sharing best practice with others. They have also shown a real commitment to their local community – community renewable energy trials, employment and skills shared and developed. 

Wilma and David Finlay are regarded as true ambassadors for tourism in Scotland and continue to inspire and encourage others to follow in their footsteps.

Regional Winners

Tourism Individual of the Year
Alan McDougal FIH, Crowne Plaza
Ian Pithie, The Gordon Highlanders Museum
Katie Scott, The Real Mary King's Close
Melanie Allen, Nithbank Country Estate
Michael Golding, Visit Loch Ness Inverness