Helen Webster, co-founder of Walkhighlands being presented with the Thistle award by comedian Ronnie Corbett and Eddie Brogan from Scottish Enterprise

A Scottish walking website received an award for innovation in the ‘tourism Oscars’.

Walkhighlands was presented with the award at a ceremony in Edinburgh. The site is credited with generating £1m for small and medium-sized businesses in the Highlands. Walkhighlands beat finalists the Culloden Battlefield Guide and Wilderness Scotland’s Sea Kayaking scheme to take the Thistle Award for innovation.

The website is run by husband and wife Paul and Helen Webster from Staffin, on Skye. It was given start-up funding by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts.

It features more than 500 walking routes, along with help pronouncing Gaelic names.

Walkhighlands was praised for its design and collaboration. Mr Webster said: “We’re amazed to have won.

“Building the site has felt like scaling a mountain range at times, but this makes it worthwhile. It’s brilliant for a small business like ours to be recognised in this way and we look forward to working with more tourism providers to bring business to the Highlands in the future.”