Concorde is star attraction at museum

Published on Monday 24 July 2006 12:39

THE arrival of Concorde in the Lothians has helped a visitor attraction to earn a top tourism award.

The Museum of Flight at East Fortune, East Lothian, has been granted four-star status by Visit-Scotland.

Only 41 other attractions in the Lothians, including John Muir's birthplace in Dunbar, hold the four-star rating, while another 15 are rated five star.

The quality adviser who assessed the attraction for Visit- Scotland praised the displays and presentations surrounding Concorde, the world's first supersonic airliner.

She said: "The Museum of Flight has been upgraded to a four-star attraction largely because improvements to the Concorde Experience have added greatly to the visitor experience at the museum."

The museum has seen visitor number rocket since the Anglo-French-designed Concorde arrived at East Fortune in 2004. Last year, the number of people visiting the museum shot up by 115 per cent to more than 150,000.

Amanda Jopling, general manager at the Museum of Flight, said: "We put a lot of thought into everything at the museum, from the exhibits themselves, our events programme and our interactive displays right through to our shop, caf, signage and car parks.

"Staff work hard to ensure that the visitor experience here is as enjoyable as possible and it's extremely rewarding to have this recognised through our new Visit-Scotland rating."