THE curtain comes down on the Edinburgh Festival tonight, and today is the last day of the Highland Games. If you like traditional Scotland, with tartan trimmings and shortbread on the side, you're too late.

But don’t water your whisky with tears: Scotland in the autumn is at its vibrant best. The leaves are turning, the northern lights are on show and the midges have gone along with the tourists.

And this year, there is a raft of new initiatives in Scotland: seaplanes, whale-watching and food festivals are replacing bagpipes and haggis as symbols of a revitalised tourist industry north of the border.

With more flights to Inverness, empty cabins on the overnight trains and off-season hotel rates, now is the time to see how Scotland is reinventing itself for tourists.

Aviemore

A DECADE ago, there were 200,000 skiers on Cairngorm mountain next to Aviemore: last winter there were 40,000. The Glencoe ski company also closed last year. Clearly, skiing in Scotland is on the rocks.

And so Aviemore is busy re-inventing itself as a year-round destination, hugely boosted by the opening of a £30-million resort which, when complete, will add three hotels, lodges, a golf course and leisure centre.

An arguably bigger boost to the area was the creation this year of the Cairngorms National Park, which, say locals, has focused minds on tourism potential for the region.

Bob Kinnaird, chief executive of Cairngorm Mountain Ltd, says: “Skiing is now an optional activity. There is a hard core of Scottish skiers but a new group of people attracted to the Highlands are coming for the scenery, nature, adventure — and all recognise this area as high value. In the past, we have undersold the natural attractions: now we are moving away from tartan and shortbread images.”

Sally Dowden, who runs Speyside Wildlife, says the drive to promote environmental tourism now dominates thinking. “It was a turning point five years ago when the idea of creating the Cairngorms National Park came up. It brought everyone together.

“People don’t know they can see 120 sorts of mammals and birds. I want to show people a pine marten one week, an eagle or osprey the next. To most visitors, Scotland is a vast wilderness and we take away that fear factor.”

Typical of new entrepreneurs in the area is G2 (www.g2outdoor.co.uk), set up by a former ski-instructor, Nick Etheridge, and a colleague, offering canoeing on the Spey, rock-climbing, gorge-walking, mountain-biking and rafting.

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