By Oakwood Manager Karyn Simpkinson
As I write this, the sun is setting on a pleasant autumnal day that held a few showers and the early signs of colour in the leaves. Perfectly typical for this time of year.
Our season began in typical fashion too, with beautiful weather and spring flowers as abundant as visitors. Our visitor numbers in the first quarter (April – June) in 2023 – despite the absence of the ferry – were up 14% on 2022. Numbers this year have again risen to 3,576 from Easter weekend to the end of June; a 22% increase.
Thank you to to our team of committed volunteers, who have continued to ensure people see the best of where we live and who we are. Our summer, unfortunately, was anything but typical. The wet weather does drive people to seek refuge (and a fridge magnet) within Oakwood, so we did not want for visitors here. However, it was harder to convince some of the wonders awaiting them in our great outdoors! Oakwood is frequently the first port of call (after the toilets!) for visitors to the area and so it is often their first impression of the local folk and how we might welcome them.
Time and again I am thrilled to hear the fantastic feedback our volunteers receive, for their friendly service as well as the lovely crafts on display. We also see first hand how much people value local knowledge, the craic and the many leaflets and tourism information we provide. People still love paper!
Community tourism is vital for places like Sunart and we are reaping the benefits by putting our community’s small businesses directly in front of our visitors.
As always, this is only possible with the time given by our volunteers, and we are always happy to hear from anyone who might be interested in being part of our team.
We have also welcomed new items into Oakwood from both new and existing crafters and more still to come in time for Christmas shopping – make sure to pop in and ShopLocal!