Will Nessie’s Death Kill Tourism in Loch Ness Region?

Today Gary at Ghost Theory posted “The end of Nessie: Researchers fear Loch Ness monster may be dead.”

Gary started off his article saying how, as a kid, the idea of the Loch Ness Monster fascinated him. Me too. But, also like Gary, the older I’ve gotten the less inclined I’ve been to believe something could exist that long and go undetected.

However, being the optimist that I am, I always held out hope that eventually something would turn up to explain Nessie. And, like many others, I hoped it would turn out to be some sort of dinosaur that miraculously survived extinction and then alluded people all these years…until science and technology finally found a way to either capture it or proof of its existence.

Well, my heart sunk reading that hope may now be lost altogether. The Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club’s president, Gary Campbell, reported only one credible sighting in 2009. The diminished sightings over the last few years, and that there was only one report last year, indicate to some Nessie experts and enthusiasts that means Nessie may be no more. MonsterQuest even did a show about it last year entitled “Death of Loch Ness.”

Yet the question many seem to be asking is not, “So what was Nessie?” or “Where are the remains?” but rather, “What does Nessie’s death mean for tourism in Scotland overall, and the Loch Ness region in particular?”

As Amy Willis pointed out in her article “The Loch Ness Monster – a money spinners dream”:

Thousands of tourists visit Loch Ness every year in the hope they might catch a glimpse of the beast. Few do. Yet so-called “monster” tours and “Nessie” museums are still as popular today as they were 50 years ago.

Big money is at stake. The Loch Ness monster, despite uncertainty about her existence, makes about £6million a year in tourism. Real animal attractions like Knut the polar bear make only £4million.

With those kinds of numbers, I can see why Nessie’s death would be concerning. However, here’s what I wonder:

1. What if there’s something to the geomagnetic influence theory Autumnforest has recently proposed on Ghost Hunting Theories? (See “Geomagnetic Coincidences with World Events?” and “Geomagnetic Activity Continued”.) What if it pertains not just to paranormal activity like ghosts, but also to cryptozoological activity like that at Loch Ness and it’s because of that, not because Nessie’s dead, that explains the lack of sightings? As Autumnforest has explained, the geomagnetic activity has been quiet lately. When it picks back up again, maybe so will Nessie sightings?
2. If people think there are remains to be found, why wouldn’t they search for them? Seems to me that’d still draw people in. Also, tour companies could reinvent themselves. Instead of taking people to try and spot Nessie, they could take people to Nessie’s possible resting places.
3. Why not hold a Nessie memorial service? Then it could become an annual event. That would draw people back over and over again too.

The way I see it, there’s still plenty of potential to make money off Nessie–or off her legacy at least. (See, there goes the optimist in me again!)

INTERESTING LOCH NESS MONSTER LINKS

• Legend of Nessie Official Website
• Nessie of Loch Ness – The UnMuseum
• Loch Ness “monster” – The Skeptic’s Dictionary

Courtney Mroch

Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.

Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.