Accommodation Oban

News and Events

Friday 30 January 2009

New Website for Oban


In my role as chair of the local marketing group - OLTA - for the tourism industry in Oban I'm feeling pretty chuffed that our new http://www.oban.org.uk/ website is up and running. It's always been very popular but now the back end of the site has been redesigned so users can select not only the type of accommodation they wish to stay in but also refine their search by criteria such as: distance from Oban, star rating, wifi access, pets welcome, children welcome and disabled access.

OLTA has a new logo too - as you can see it's brighter, cleaner and more contemporary than our old one. The marketing group has a lot of exciting projects on the go in 2009. We are carrying out a re-branding exercise for Oban, which will be positioned as 'The Seafood Capital of Scotland'. We're running full colour half page ads in the Herald and Scotland on Sunday and rolling this programme out to regional papers in Newcastle and Yorkshire.

There's also other exiting projects underway in Oban which OLTA supports:
  • Oban Bay Marine have full planning permission for their developement of a short stay marina in Oban Bay.

  • Dunollie House has a major event planned for Homecoming 2009 and its Heritage Centre plans are well underway

  • The new golf course development to the north of the town centre (between Connel and Oban) looks likely to go ahead

  • The cycle route between Oban and Fortwilliam has many sections completed already and work is underway on joining the various routes up

  • Oban Hogmanay's event was voted 3rd best in Scotland and is now a firm feature in the calendar

  • Homecoming 2009 sees plenty of events and festival in Oban this year so check out their website for full details.
If you have not been to Oban for a few years you will see many changes for the better in and around the town. For that matter, if you have not been to Cologin for several years you will find us much improved as well. In this business, as in life, you can never afford to stand still - otherwise you go backwards!

Friday 2 January 2009

Happy Hogmanay!

What a Hogmanay! The bonfire at Cologin was huge and with no wind and a lovely clear starry night (albeit very chilly) we brought in the New Year with flames, fun and fireworks. The Brass Monkeys played to a full crowd in the Barn and our 'Heath Robinson' extension provided extra space and room for the kids who could enjoy the music without coming into the pub itself. My dancing feet gave up around 4am but there were still plenty of folk around with more stamina bopping away when I left.

I blame my bout of flu but New Year's Day passed me by and for once I did not make it down to the point for the annual Glen BBQ. Such a shame as the weather was glorious - thick frost everywhere and lovely winter sunshine. In Oban. the street party went off without a hitch and my daughters report that numbers were around 7,000 so well done to the organising committee as there had been doubts that the town could support an event of that size. Having the Red Hot Chilli Pipers as the star attraction helped bring in visitors to swell the local numbers and with good weather the party certainly was a festive finale to the old year and a fitting start to the Year of Homecoming 2009.

It's now the 2nd January 2009 and a couple of chalets have already left with the majority departing tomorrow. We will then be very quiet for a few weeks - always a shock after Hogmanay with people everywhere. At least the weather has warmed up slightly as the clouds have rolled in this morning. It's still dry and the sky is still blue but I guess we won't see such heavy frosts overnight tonight. Now all I have to do it to catch up with the emails and bookings. A lot of our Hogmanay guests book for next year as they are leaving - which is lovely as we get to know them better each year. And that's one leaving now so I had better get back to work!