Visitor Survey

NC500 Ltd’s mission is to promote the North Highlands and foster sustainable regional growth. While the organisation is proud of the economic benefits generated, it acknowledges the valid concerns surrounding the effects of increased visitor numbers on local communities and the environment. Addressing these issues is critical to the long-term success of the route and its local communities.

To guide future development, NC500 Ltd has commissioned BiGGAR Economics to create an Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework. This framework, which measures an organisation’s holistic impact on the environment, communities, the economy, and corporate accountability, will evaluate the NC500 Ltd’s sustainability and ethical footprint. As a visitor of the NC500 route, your input is highly valued, and we would be grateful if you could please complete this short survey regarding your experience of the route. Please note that responses must be submitted by midnight on the 23rd of December 2025.

We want to reassure you that your privacy is protected: we will not ask for any personal information that could identify you, and all data provided will be aggregated and analysed alongside findings from our separate surveys for businesses and residents along the NC500 route. Thank you in advance for your input.
Trip Details

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* 1. How many times have you visited the NC500 in the last 10 years?

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* 2. When was your most recent visit to the NC500 route?

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* 3. On your most recent trip, how many people did you visit the NC500 with?

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* 4. On your most recent trip, how many days did it take you to complete the NC500?

NC500 Ltd's Influence on Trip
Officially launched in 2015, the organisation “NC500 Ltd” is the official body behind the North Coast 500 route and was created to promote business growth in the North Highlands.

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* 5. On a scale of 1 to 5 (No Influence to Strong Influence), how influential was the NC500 route on your decision to visit the north of Highland?

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* 6. Where did you hear about the NC500 route?

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* 7. Which of the following did you use the NC500 website for? Please tick all that apply.

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* 8. On a scale of 1 to 5 (No Influence to Strong Influence), how influential was the NC500 website on choosing the following providers for your NC500 trip?

  1 - No Influence 2 - Low Influence 3 - Moderate Influence 4 - High Influence 5 - Strong Influence
Accomodation
Food and Drink
Activities

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* 9. If you had not travelled the NC500 route as part of your trip, what would you have done instead?

Sustainable Tourism Outcomes

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* 10. Sustainable tourism is the management of visitor activity to take full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts. Sustainable tourism can be defined by the long-term positive outcomes it helps to achieve.

Please rank the following sustainable tourism outcomes in order of importance to you, from top (most important) to bottom (least important).

Engaged Communities

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* 11. On a scale of 1 to 5 (Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree), please select the answer which most closely reflects your feelings on the following statement.

"I trust the NC500 Ltd leadership team act in the best interests of the local area.".

Carbon-neutral Tourism

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* 12. Did you rent a vehicle for your NC500 trip?

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* 13. What type of vehicle did you use to travel along the North Coast 500 route?

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* 14. Please select the fuel source associated with this vehicle.

Adequate Infrastructure

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* 15. On a scale of 1 to 5 (Never to Always), how frequently did the public facilities along the NC500 route meet your demands?

  1 – Never 2 – Rarely 3 – Sometimes 4 – Often 5 – Always
Toilets
Parking
Roads

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* 16. On a scale of 1 to 5 (Never to Always), how frequently did the private/commercial facilities along the NC500 route meet your demands?

  1 – Never 2 – Rarely 3 – Sometimes 4 – Often 5 – Always
Food shops
Campsites
Things to see and do

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* 17. If you used an electric or hybrid vehicle, on a scale of 1 to 5 (Extremely Easy to Extremely Difficult), how easy was it for you to find somewhere convenient to charge your vehicle along the NC500 route?

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* 18. On a scale of 1 to 5 (Never to Very Often), how frequently did you encounter traffic congestion from other vehicles using the North Coast 500 route, which detracted from your enjoyment?

Economic Prosperity

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* 19. Where did you primarily stay overnight along the route?

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* 20. How many nights did you spend in paid accommodation (including campsites and paid designated parking) on your NC500 trip?

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* 21. In total, how much did your group spend on accommodation providers (including campsites and paid designated parking) during your NC500 trip?

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* 22. Roughly, what was your groups average daily spending on your NC500 trip (including restaurants, activities, and shopping etc)? Please exclude accommodation and fuel costs from this estimate.

'Leave No Trace'/No Waste

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* 23. Are you aware of the "Leave No Trace" or the NC500 Visitor Pledge Principles?

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* 24. Where did you dispose of the majority of your waste during your trip?

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* 25. On a scale of 1 to 5 (Very Difficult to Very Easy), how difficult was it to find bins and domestic litter disposal facilities along the NC500 route?

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* 26. On a scale of 1 – 5 (Never to Very Often), how frequently did you observe issues with littering or inappropriate waste disposal during your trip?

A Flourishing Environment

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* 27. Please select the option which best describes your use of campfires and BBQs during your trip.

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* 28. Did you see any visible signs of human impact on the environment during your NC500 trip (eg. damage to roadsides, erosion of footpaths)?

Responsible Behaviour

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* 29. On a scale of 1 to 5 (Never to Very Often), how frequently did you observe irresponsible driving associated with people using the NC500 during your trip (eg. speeding vehicles, slow moving vehicles/vehicles not using passing places)?

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* 30. On a scale of 1 to 5 (Never to Very Often), how frequently did you observe activity that could lead to a wildfire during your trip?

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* 31. Did you encounter any irresponsible behaviour during your trip to the NC500, which detracted from your enjoyment (eg. out of control dogs, anti-social behaviour)? Please specify and provide detail on how often this occured.

Thriving Places

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* 32. On a scale of 1 to 5 (Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree), please indicate how strongly you agree or disagree with the following statements.

  1 - Strongly Disagree 2 - Disagree 3 - Neither Agree not Disagree 4 - Agree 5 - Strongly Agree
"Spending time talking to local people enhanced our trip."
"I formed a long-term connection with someone who lived locally to the NC500 route."
"We didn't have much opportunity during the trip to engage with local people."
"Many of the places we visited along the NC500 route felt lively and positive."
Closing Questions

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* 33. On a scale of 1 to 5 (Extremely Unlikely to Extremely Likely), please indicate how likely you are to take the following actions.

  1 - Extremely Unlikely 2 - Unlikely 3 - Neither Likely not Unlikely 4 - Likely 5 - Extremely Likely
Return to the NC500 route.
Recommend the NC500 route to others.

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* 34. Is there anything else you would like to tell us?

Many thanks for participating in this study. Your input is highly valued.

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