Hinterland winning a Regional Thistle Award for Best Cultural Event was a spiriting way to round off a year of overwhelmingly positive and inspiring public responses.

The Scottish Thistle awards seek out the best of the country’s tourism industry, and are organised by VisitScotland in association with the Aberdeen City and Shire Tourism Awards, Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards, HIT Scotland, Scotland Food and Drink, Scottish Licensed Trade Association, Scottish Tourism Alliance, sportscotland and Wild Scotland.

The winners of the five regional programmes will progress to the National Final in March.