The boss of a top north-east visitor attraction forced to scrap its 25th anniversary celebrations has vowed to “stay positive”.
The Museum of Scottish Lighthouses in Fraserburgh was due to mark a quarter of a century in existence this month with a visit from the tender ship Pole Star, which would have docked at the harbour for tours.
The attraction is part of Industrial Museums Scotland, which along with the Scottish Community Heritage Alliance and Museums Heritage Highlands, called for urgent support from the Scottish Government earlier this week.
The collection of independent museums operate on limited reserves and most income is generated by visitors and education programmes between April and September.
For the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses, lockdown came just as the 11-strong team was gearing up for the start of their busy summer season – with new exhibitions and more coach trips than ever before lined-up.
Now, manager Lynda McGuigan and collections manager Michael Strachan are the only two members of staff who have not been furloughed.
Ms McGuigan said: “I was quite relieved when lockdown was announced to keep everyone safe, but it was going to be a big year for us.
“We had a huge event lined up for May for our 25th anniversary.
“We were bringing Pole Star, one of the North Lighthouse Board’s tender ships, into the harbour at Fraserburgh and were going to run a 24-hour event and get the castle light on.
“There was a huge amount of planning involved, but that won’t put us off and we hope to do it next year instead.”
Ms McGuigan and Mr Strachan are working to ensure the national collection of treasures at the museum are protected during the closure, while also planning new exhibitions to reopen with.
“The tourism landscape is going to be very different after this,” she said.
“We’re not going to get the foreign visitors that we usually do. It’ll more likely be regional visitors from around Scotland.
“For attractions like ours, Easter is normally a busy time, but it was just as lockdown came in.
“That’s a critical time for many of us. We make a lot of money at that time and it’s just wiped out our income for this year.
“I can’t imagine we’ll be open much before July or August but we’re keeping our chins up and trying to remain positive.”
To make up some of the lost revenue, a range of stationery featuring Kinnaird Head will be available to buy online in the coming weeks.
Ms McGuigan is also the chairwoman of Discover Fraserburgh, which promotes attractions, tours, hotels and restaurants in the area.
She said: “Fraserburgh has always been reliant on business tourism, with the fish and oil filling the beds.
“We’ve been working to expand that, and bring in more visitors.
“It was in its infancy but we could see the green shoots over the last couple of years and it’s important that we push on with that when this is over.”
