Tourism bible names Nairn as a global holiday hot spot

CHARLIE Chaplin, Charlton Heston and Burt Lancaster were all well aware of its many charms before it faded as a holiday destination.

But the resort of Nairn, on the Moray coast, is about to undergo an extraordinary resurrection after being voted the second-most favoured global destination for 2010.

The accolade has been bestowed by TripAdvisor, the world's most influential travel website, which quizzed 3,000 online users on their choice as the hot vacation spots for the coming year.

Perhaps surprisingly, Nairn took the second spot, behind the glorious white beaches of Troncones, the idyllic resort nestling between the Mexican jungle and the Pacific Ocean.

In the "Top Five World Destinations for 2010" rankings, Nairn was also placed ahead of the Unesco world heritage site of El Chalten, Patagonia, the beaches and Roman remains of Patara in Turkey and the unspoiled medieval town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Germany.

But Nairn's success came as no surprise to locals, who have long realised that their town, with its elegant bandstand, popular Highland Games, low rainfall and championship golf course, has much to offer.

"We have a wonderful beach, two great golf courses and historic castles all around," said Sandy Park, convener of Highland Council and a former provost of the town. "I am absolutely delighted the town has now been recognised in this way."

According to Park, Nairn – known in its Victorian heyday as the Brighton of the north – is in line for a 1 million project to smarten up the town centre.

"Nairn is going to be even better, so it's great that the town is going to become one of the hot world destinations for 2010. Visitors will not be disappointed, wherever they come from," he said.

"Charlie Chaplin used to love the place and used to stay at the Newton Hotel and drive around in his Roller in the 1950s. He knew a good place when he found it."

Chaplin and his various wives and children were regular visitors to Nairn, as was the Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. Willie Whitelaw, Margaret Thatcher's faithful deputy, grew up there and was the junior champion on the famous links golf course that boasts some of the fastest greens and thickest gorse in Scotland.

Hollywood devotees have included Heston and Lancaster, who greatly enjoyed his time in the town while shooting the film Local Hero nearby.

Today a touch of glamour is provided by Nairn's most famous resident, the actress Tilda Swinton, who last year founded the film festival Ballerina Ballroom Cinema Of Dreams in the town.

Some natives, however, were disappointed that their town had been beaten into second place by a tropical upstart.

To them, Troncones may be soaked in sunshine, but it has nothing on Nairn beach with its blue flag status, benign climate, views of the Black Isle and the occasional sighting of bottle-nosed dolphins.

"I may be a little bit biased as I am Nairn born and bred, but I would argue that it should be number one, not second," said Fiona Stewart, the consumer PR manager for North America at VisitScotland.

"It has a mild climate and wonderful beaches. Americans love it because it has great scenery and culture and good food – and they also get a chat with the locals. They get a very friendly welcome here."

A touch of Shakespeare is provided by Cawdor Castle of Macbeth fame, while the Culloden battlefield offers an emotive insight into the slaughter of Bonnie Prince Charlie's Jacobite army.

"The Cairngorms National Park is close by and there are castles such as Ballindalloch and Cawdor close at hand," Stewart said. "The Culbin Forest is also not very far away and that's great for walking."

Like many American visitors, Chaplin was an admirer of the town's golf courses, the most famous of which hosted the Walker Cup in 1999.

"Nairn golf course is world renowned and there are other courses in the area, such as Royal Dornoch, that golfers love to come to," Stewart said. "There's also an annual jazz festival and a film festival hosted by Tilda Swinton. Nairn has a bit of everything so people who go there are spoilt for choice."

The research by TripAdvisor suggests that Nairn ought to brace itself for an American invasion. It showed that half those surveyed expected to travel more next year 92 per cent planning to take two or more trips in 2010.

But even the Americans appear to acknowledge that Nairnians' well-earned reputation for the warm welcome they extend to tourists may well be severely tested.

According to the survey, 25 per cent of those polled admitted to being the most "irritating" travellers, beating the French (9 per cent), the Japanese (8 per cent), the Chinese (7 per cent) and the Germans (6 per cent).

Nevertheless, most Americans consider themselves the most friendly tourists, followed by Australians (16 per cent), Canadians (9 per cent), and the English (8 per cent) and the Irish (4 per cent).