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READING Rhoda Meek’s Sunday National article, “Sustainable tourism must be rooted in community”, I found myself completely in agreement – the idea of incentivising local residents and community organisations to take the lead in tourism is something we already do in the Small Isles.
On Rùm, where I live, we have a 20-bed community-owned bunkhouse, glamping cabins and campsite, all run and managed by our trading company Rùm Enterprise. We also provide 10 moorings for visiting yachts.
Alex, our visitor services manager, is keen to expand into holiday experiences and next year there will be foraging, bushcraft and dark sky breaks, canoe and mountain bike hire – all community run.
The International Dark Sky Places status we have applied for is particularly exciting and we hope we can get the rest of the Small Isles on board too. All profits from Rùm Enterprise go back into community projects, ongoing costs and expanding what we offer.