Bleating in Durness Hall tomorrow

Given that sheep outnumber people round much of the NC500 route it should be no surprise that a whole lot of bleating goes on.

However, there will be even more if Coldbackie based entrepreneur Toby Eve succeeds in his latest enterprise.

Not through the voice of the woolly quadrupeds but another sort of BLEAT – Business Leaflet Exchange Advertising Tourism – which he is launching in Durness Village Hall tomorrow between noon and 3pm.

A series of 11 further events around Sutherland and Caithness and onwards via Inverness to Ullapool are scheduled by the end of March.

The venture is an offshoot of Beyond Nessie, a trip planner and local directory for the Highlands designed and produced by Toby which, in addition to online interactive maps, gives direct contact to businesses, potentially with links to their booking, reservation and ticketing platforms.

Accessed through a desktop or mobile internet browser, and further enhanced when on the move with an iOS or Android App, Beyond Nessie offers something new for a growing clientele, some now visiting the far north and west for the second or even third time and looking for additional reasons to linger along this popular route.

So what contribution will BLEAT make to further development of the route?

Toby says: "Whether we are operating in the digital or the more traditional marketing world, our mission remains clear. We aim to help hospitality and service providers to further develop, improve and promote the services they are offering in the expanding Highland tourist market."

To achieve this BLEAT will offer a cheap and effective way for local businesses, including accommodation providers, pubs, restaurants, cafes, activity and hospitality providers and events organisers, to share all manner of business information around the route so that, whichever their direction of travel, visitors will have an increased opportunity to access whatever is coming up ahead.

Participants at the BLEAT meetings are asked to bring along their promotional material for sharing on the day of the first event and to hear how Toby’s innovative plan to distribute these will work.

Further details of BLEAT and of the planned meetings may be accessed via Toby’s mobile phone on 07553 177030, by e-mail at bleat@beyondnessie.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pg/highlandbleat/events/

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