Fresh Water Top Up Scheme

We are delighted to share this initiative from our friends at the Visit Inverness Loch Ness Tourism BID as we’re sure it will also be of interest to many city centre businesses:

As you know, Loch Ness is home to some of the best hiking in the world and attracts visitors from far and wide. Not only amazing for hiking, Inverness and Loch Ness offer a diverse destination in a stunning, natural landscape.  Our visitors head off on their journeys, some long and some short, and it is unknown how they stay hydrated through their visitors in the area.

Instead of water fountains, a more sustainable and business friendly option is to top up tap water into our visitors bottles along both the Loch and in Inverness itself.

With that in mind the ‘Fresh Water Top Up’ aim is to introduce a sustainable project to allow individuals to top up their water supply whilst they are visiting with ease. The objectives are;

• For visitors and locals alike to access water points in sociable hours, to enable them to stay longer and keep safe and hydrated on their adventures
• To increase footfall in the area with more reliable water points
• To remain a climate friendly destination
• To raise awareness of the wonderful businesses in the area

There are 2 project angles.

Aimed at accommodation providers – 1.

Aimed at Cafes, Shops & Restaurants – 2.

1. Accommodation Providers  The desired outcome would be for accommodation providers to educated visitors that the accommodation taps provide excellent highland drinking water and encourage that they fill their bottles for their days out rather than using single use plastic.
2. Cafes, Shops and Restaurants around Loch Ness 360 The desired outcome would be for cafes, shops and restaurants within the Loch Ness 360 area, including Inverness, to take part in a wider scheme to offer active visitors water top up points whilst walking/wheeling/biking part or, or all of the Loch Ness 360 trail. This would encourage more trips to the area with the ease of knowing they can plan reliable water stops on route.

Each business taking part in either the accommodation provider scheme, or Loch Ness 360 scheme would receive the following;

• A ‘Fresh Water Top Up’ sticker to display in their windows to make visitors aware they can pop in to top up their bottle with ease
• A place on our dedicated website page to ‘Fresh Water Top Up’ mentioning the business and address they can visit to top up their bottles with information on whether this is just for guests, or for the public too
• The business will be part of our ‘see and do’ map online, where visitors will be able to filter which businesses are part of the scheme to plan accordingly
• VILN will create a video to promote the scheme, visiting some of the business’s taking part to feature in the filming
• A digital poster at the airport with QR code to direct visitors to the dedicated website for more information on the ‘Fresh Water Top Up’ scheme
• An indoor or outdoor plaque to feature next to appropriate taps to show they are available for water top ups – particularly useful for outdoor taps

If you would like to take part in the project and be one of the many contributing businesses of the Fresh Water Top Up scheme then please simply fill out THIS FORM so we have an accurate idea of where you are placed for our listing on the website.

We aim to launch the project by mid- July, and stickers and plaques will be sent out before the end of July for you to proudly place as a contributing business. The project is free, and the aim is simple- to make it even simpler for our visitors to enjoy themselves- both within the comfort of their accommodation and the great outdoors!

We look forward to hearing from you!

Visit Inverness Loch Ness