Scone Palace, the crowning place of Scottish Kings, has retained its five-star status as one of Scotland's top visitor attractions following an audit by VisitScotland.
This is the first audit since the implementation of VisitScotland's revised grading scheme which places more focus on visitors' needs and expectations as well as the needs and ambitions of the tourism sector.
The Palace achieved consistently high scores during the audit at the end of April. In particular, the venue was praised by VisitScotland for offering ‘a genuine welcome' upon arrival and the guide staff for being ‘friendly and knowledgeable'. The excellent customer experience continued in the Coffee Shop and Gift Shop with staff being described as ‘helpful, courteous and amiable'.
VisitScotland also highlighted Scone Palace's ongoing decoration and maintenance work including new lighting, flooring and décor in the retail outlets.
VisitScotland awarded the Palace membership of Taste Our Best again, a quality assurance scheme which ensures that visitors always receive the very best quality, seasonal local produce and receive information on where the food has come from.
Welcoming in excess of 100,000 visitors from all over the world every year, the team at Scone Palace understand the importance of 
offering all their visitors a warm welcome. Stephen Brannigan, Head of Palace and Events at Scone Palace, said:
"We pride ourselves on offering all of our visitors a memorable experience when they come to Scone Palace and it is wonderful for our team to have received such glowing feedback from VisitScotland. Earlier this year we invested in staff training with a particular focus on customer care and Disability Equality Training, so it is great to see the positive impact of training come to fruition."
VisitScotland's audit comes at the beginning of a busy summer period for Scone Palace. The Events team are getting ready for a paws-itively brilliant event at the end of June. Paws at the Palace, organised in partnership with Dog Friendly Perthshire, will feature doggy fun and games, parades of different breeds, agility classes and some four-legged demonstrations for dogs and their owners to enjoy. The all-day event on Sunday 30th June will also include food stalls, cool-down areas for dogs, and a host of stall holders selling doggy gear and gifts. Tickets for the event, which are selling fast, are available on the Palace website.