awards winners
Edinburgh's award-winning walking tours
We don’t like to brag....but...
It's true that we’re the most decorated walking tour company in Scotland. Each award is testament to our commitment to brilliant service and exceptional tours. The hard work of our amazing team guarantee the 5 star experience you enjoy.
We’re always looking for ways to improve across the whole Mercat experience. From first welcome to final farewell, there’s a team of dedicated people making sure that everything works smoothly.
It’s all that hard work that makes us one of the top 11 attractions in Scotland. Here are just a few of the awards we’ve won:
Living Wage ' Local Champion Award 2023
In a troubled world it can be tough to know how to make a difference. At Mercat we choose to 'control the controllable', to do all we can to support our team and our community. The Living Wage Scotland movement binds a powerful and growing group of like-minded businesses who believe in positive activism and business for good
Scottish Excellence Awards 2023
Scottish Excellence Award for Team Wellbeing recognises our culture and how we nurture and support our people to enjoy their jobs and a healthy work/life balance.
FSB Award - Family Business 2023
Federation of Small Businesses Award - Family 2023, applauds our achievements in supporting our team, visitors and communtiy to thrive base don our family values, grounded since 1985.
FSB Award - Larger Small Business 2023
Federation of Small Businesses Award - Larger Small Business 2023, marks our success in building our team and visitor experience to the highest quality.
Environmental Champion Badge
LIVE 2023! We're launching a new partnerhip with social enterprise The Edinburgh Remakery to offer visitors a unique opporutnity to 'Craft Memory'; Tour & Workshop'.
Hospitality Health Charter
The Hospitality Health Wellness Charter is a certificate that recognises a business is doing the right thing for the team.
Tiqets Most Innovative Venue Award
“From the very start, Tiqets has been a champion of sustainable tourism and it’s fantastic to award Mercat Tours with The Most Innovative Venue trophy. Their work on building a charitable Pay It Forward campaign that unlocks the city and stories of Edinburgh for its vulnerable community members, is exactly what we want to support.”
UKInbound Individual Attraction of the Year
'UKInbound Awards for Excellence recognise and celebrate the companies and organisations that have made a significant contribution to the continuing success of our sector, and we were delighted to name Mercat Tours Best Individual Attraction 2022'
The Green Tourism - Gold
RE-AWARDED 2023 There’s no greener way to enjoy the city than on foot – and walking tours are at the heart of our business. We’ve won gold from the Green Tourism year since 2012 – recognising our commitment to environmental and economic sustainability.
Visit Scotland - 5 Star Tour
Awarded 5 stars continuously since 2007 it recognises that we're always improving our tours and experiences for our visitors and team.
Responsible Business
Being a responsible business, employer & neighbour is at the heart of what Mercat Tours is all about!
Accredited Living Wage Employer
We are an accredited Living Wage Employer, paying our team above the Real Living Wage since 2016. Employers choose to pay the Real Living Wage on a voluntary basis. The rates apply to all workers over 18 – in recognition that young people face the same living costs as everyone else.
Scottish Business in the Community
We won this award for our commitment to improving Scots’ lives. Naming us SME (small or medium business) of the Year in 2014, SBC CEO Jane Wood said “Clearly the concept of responsible, accountable and sustainable working practice is embedded in the DNA of Mercat Tours. This small, second generation family business is a worthy winner of our SME of the Year award.”
Scottish Thistle Award
We won the Scottish Thistle Award for Skills and Training Development, for the detailed and thorough training of our expert Mercat guides, as well as the rest of the team. We’re not short of dedicated people: a third of our staff have been with us for over ten years. And having a happy, focused, dynamic team means we can deliver the best visitor experience.