The seaside town of Oban may well be popular with visitors in its own right – but one local resident is doing more than his bit to attract tourists.
With around 6,000 followers on social media, Parsley the cat has become an attraction in his own right.
Now his owner is calling on the local tourist board to be “more cat-oriented” when dealing with his many legions of fans.
The wandering moggy has been fitted with his own tracker system and owner Fiona Campbell-Smith often has to collect him from various hotspots around the town.
A favourite haunt of the ginger Maine Coon is the Balmoral Hotel, where he can often be found entertaining tourists.
Ms Campbell-Smith eventually decided to set up a Facebook page for Parsley – and now people are travelling to Oban from all over the world just to see him.
Parsley merchandise in the form of prints, coasters and key-rings is even available in a local gift shop.
She said: “He is bringing in dozens of tourists who come to see him from all over the world. People are booking holidays from the States especially to see him. People might think, ‘nobody does that just to see a cat,’ but they do.
“It is amazing the number of people who come to see him. I put a status on his Facebook page asking people to comment if they had come to see him and say where they came from. The response was surprising.
“People were saying their sole reason for coming if not to Oban, even to Scotland, was because they were going to fit in a visit to Parsley.
“I’m printing all of this information out and taking it to Visit Scotland. People actually message Parsley’s page, saying ‘you are an expert on hotels, where do you recommend?’.
“He is a really important part of what’s bringing people into the town and that should be acknowledged. I will be letting the local tourist association know that its response to these people should be more cat-oriented.”
Parsley even volunteers at local soup kitchen Hope Kitchen, where he hosts his own “cat cafe” on Friday afternoons.
In recent weeks he has attracted visitors to the kitchen from all over Scotland including Glasgow, Aberdeen and Arbroath.
