One Highland councillor is calling on the region’s population to be much more positive about the NC500.
Duncan Macpherson said locals must be more tolerant towards visitors to the area, after he recently received complaints from the world-famous route.
While agreeing that anyone using the route must be “good” visitors, he said there needed to be a little more understanding for those visiting the area.
Mr Macpherson, who represents Inverness South, said: “In the last few days I have had three constituents come to me to tell me three very different stories about their experience of the NC 500.
“The first was a man with terminal cancer who can no longer go away for long holidays but likes to go out for the day with his partner.
“They had gone to Ullapool for the day, and on the way back he felt tired so they set up home for the night in a parking place.
HGV drivers peeped at campervan
“As they settled down to sleep not one, but two, HGV lorries peeped and peeped at them, one after the other.
“They were not parked in a place that stopped or hinder anyone else driving along the road. He felt the HGV drivers were trying to make him uncomfortable.
“The following morning the man was so annoyed that he went to the ferry terminal at Ullapool to see if he could locate the drivers.”
The man saw the two vehicles, matched them up with photos he had taken. It was a Aberdeenshire business, so he phoned the HGV drivers office to complain.
“He has since had a full apology.”
The next person to approach the councillor was a man who hails from the north of Scotland.
He said: “This man is also ill, but wanted to get out to visit the north of Scotland, so off he went in his campervan.
“At the very north of Scotland, and on the NC500 route, a man stopped and gave him a mouthful of abuse about littering and defecating outside. Neither of which the man in his campervan had done.
“The man answered him in his broad Caithness accent, and the other man apologised, but continued to bemoan tourists in the area.”
Impact on locals
Last year, The Press and Journal did a special report into the NC500 to assess the impact on locals.
It was discovered that a number of problems had arisen and looked to find some solutions.
Mr Macpherson said the third person to approach him was a person whose family member had tried to book accommodation in Inverness.
“When he couldn’t get anything he had to hire a campervan, and at the cost of £1,000-a-week. It was still less than paying for accommodation in the city,” he continued.
“What we must be very careful of is people’s attitudes towards tourists. Let’s not kill the golden goose here. Let’s not punish all the tourists for the few bad eggs.
“We need to ask ourselves, ‘are we doing our very best’ and not putting tourists off from making a return trip to the Highlands.
“Tourism is the beating heart of our economy, and we want people to come back again and again.”
Conversation