A BRAND new website has been launched to attract more tourists to the Kilcreggan area.

The site, part of the Visit Kilcreggan campaign, is the work of Mark Irvine, who decided to launch the campaign recently after moving to the area five years ago.

Mark told the Advertiser: “Since we moved here tourist numbers have been falling off the face of the earth.

“The campaign aims to get people to come visit the area and see what’s happening.

“We want to get some people here to stay here at a hotel or caravan park and see how beautiful the area is.”

Since setting the campaign up in May, Mark said that it has been well received by the local community, with people and businesses keen to get involved.

He also explained that he had received positive feedback from the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society after promoting their afternoon tea event on social media.

“In just a few weeks people have been seeing more tourists,” he said.

“About 20 people came to the country dancing event and the organiser came up to me in the village to thank me for what we have been doing because it was busy.”

Despite aiming to attract more visitors to the area, Mark explained that the recent closure of the Kilcreggan Hotel is a loss for the local community as it leaves only one hotel in the area.

He added: “It’s had a massive impact.

“I’m not saying that this [campaign] would have saved the business but maybe it could have shown the community we need to pull together. We are hoping that someone steps in to buy it.”

However, Mark remains positive and believes a good ferry service and advertising local businesses will only be a good thing by bringing more people to the area.

“People don’t need a Disneyland,” he said, “but what we do need to do is get our story all in one place for tourists telling them ferry and bus times, where there is to eat in the area and what there is to do for kids.

“The Kilcreggan Hotel, for example, was used as a hospital during the Second World War and we want to gather all these things for tourists to find out all about everything in one place.”

To get involved with the project and help it grow, go to visitkilcreggan.com or search for ‘Visit Kilcreggan’ on Facebook or Twitter.