Scotland is not short of beautiful and interesting attractions, but it’s the Royal Yacht Britannia that tourists like to visit the most.

The craft has been voted most visited for the 10th consecutive year by tourism organisation Visit Scotland.
It’s received a mark of 96%, the highest ever been given to a Scottish attraction.

Almost 309,000 people visited the yacht in 2015, the highest number since it opened in 1999.

“To be the best in Scotland once is a fantastic achievement, but to do this for 10 consecutive years is a phenomenal tribute to our staff who go the extra mile to ensure that all our visitors have a great experience when they visit Britannia.” said Britannia’s chief executive Bob Downie.
“The true test of any great organisation is consistency of performance, delivering great value for time and money, year in year out, and there is no doubt that our pioneering approach to providing great customer experiences has underpinned our success.”.

Image: Daniel from Galashiels, United Kingdom (Royal Yacht Britannia, Edinburgh) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The Royal Yacht Britannia was built by the John Brown & Company shipyard in Clydebank and was launched by Queen Elizabeth II on 16 April 1953.

The Royal family used the yacht for holidays and state visits for 44 years before it was decommissioned in 1997.

The Royals have however used the yacht since. Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall hosted a drink reception ahead of their nuptials aboard the ship in July 2011.

During its time in service it steamed a whopping 1,087,623 nautical miles.

The Royal Yacht Britannia is currently moored at the Ocean Terminal in Leith, a short drive from Edinburgh city centre.