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Posted by Brydon Thomason on Friday 20th December 2024 | News

Hello and welcome to our end of season blog which we are delighted to begin wishing you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Once again, we were thrilled to see how busy our core season was, just how many visitors we shared our islands and their wildlife with- and how far they had come.  Canada, the USA, Brazil, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand, not to mention a host of European countries, such as Norway, The Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy and Spain to name but a few!

Before sharing a brief summary of 2024 highlights, we want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has been with us this year, whether on a week-long package holiday, a photo-tour or one of our day-trips. Without you wildlife loving and island-hopping people, we would not be able to do the wonderful work we do- thank you, from us all!

Our core season holidays

We were once again humbled this year to see all our core season holidays sold out, however we did end up with a space left on our shoulder-season birding tours. Interestingly, although ‘wildlifers’ remain our bread and butter, we are seeing an exciting increase in interest in the itineraries we have evolved to feature more of our cultural heritage. Though all our team and itineraries have always included a broad range of cultural as well as natural heritage themes, since 2012 we began to collaborate with a growing network to take our visitor experience even further, from artisans to historians, chefs to musicians and crofters to fishermen. We are so proud to celebrate our islands in this way and never tire of inspiration to continue to do so.

Through itineraries such as our Discover Shetland, The Shetland Islands Walking Holiday and especially our very popular collaborations with Kate Humble, Wild & Wooly and Up Helly Aa our guests get to experience eclectic insights into our cultural heritage so our guests enjoy a more authentic and exciting Shetland experience.

Visit our holiday program for availability, which is already limited or sold out on some dates.

 Photo-tours

You can enjoy the fantastic images taken by photo-tour participants this year across the many itineraries on our 2024 photo-tour season blog and for a review of our Shetland Otter Photography season blog

General News

We admit to not being proactive in pursuing awards, (something we should perhaps redeem in the future) so were delighted to be awarded Trip Advisors Travelers Choice again. We are also proud for our continued Five Star accreditation in Visit Scotland’s quality assurance scheme.

Brydon received some exciting news back in autumn when he received the 2024 Carl Zeiss Award, from the British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC), for his submission of the Pacific Diver which he discovered off Fetlar while leading the 2023 Shetland Spring Birding tour in May.

We are continuing to try to do our bit on our journey to be a more nature positive business. Across several of our itineraries we visit Peatland restoration sites where we get hands on, planting sphagnum mosses and learn the important role of peatland habitats. We also try to do our bit against marine plastic pollution with a quick beach clean on our holidays, where appropriate and continue supporting rewilding work, and the Carbon Neutral Britain scheme.

And lastly, before I thank the many businesses and accommodation providers we work with, a quick few words about the team of tour leaders I feel honored to work alongside- without whom we would not be the company we are known to be. Josh Jaggard, our photo-tour manager has this year been with us for a decade- which neither he nor I can believe! We welcomed a couple of new team members this season too, young Theo De Clermont, on something of a ‘sabbatical’ from our good friends at Nature Scotland (over on Mull). Another new addition to the team was Gina Scanlin, a Shetland resident for many decades.

Probably the most important element to the experience we offer is our accommodation providers, staff and hospitality and so we once again say a massive thank you to everyone at The Sumburgh and St Magnus Bay Hotels who both go above and beyond on every tour, as do Gord Guest House on Fetlar, Voe House and Boardanoost Lodge – thank you all!

Equally, the boat tour excursions to both Noss and Mousa truly are exceptional. We are extremely grateful to Shetland Seabird Tours and Mousa Boats and Compass Rose– their seamanship, knowledge and enthusiasm make every excursion a standout highlight – thanks guys!

And last but by no means least, Chris Dyer (Garths Croft), James Tait (Island Trails), Shetland Rural Experience, Burra Bears, Joanna Hunter Knitwear, Brae Up Helly Aa committee, Hjaltadance (for many a fine tune and enthralling yarn), Unst Heritage Centre and Boat Haven

Book your Shetland experience for 2025

We are already looking forward to 2025, and the encounters, and experiences it brings – we hope you will be among them! Get in touch or browse our holidays and photo tours to find the holiday that suits you best.

Wishing you all the very best for Christmas and the New Year,
Brydon Thomason and all at Shetland Nature.