In winter, it is a silent, frosted landscape, criss-crossed by single-track roads surrounded by vast open moorland and towering, jagged peaks capped with snow. The five-hour journey from Glasgow is spectacular enough, passing Loch Lomond, Glen Coe, Ben Nevis, the Five Sisters of Kintail and Eilean Donan Castle. But once you have crested the elegant hump of the Skye bridge, the island itself takes spectacular to a whole new level.
And that is what draws tourists here: the sheer beauty of a wild, dramatic landscape on the edge of the Atlantic.
But as winter recedes and summer greens the island bringing warmer, light-filled evenings, Skye’s modest population of 10,000 rockets to near 66,000 at its seasonal peak.
The burgeoning popularity of this Inner Hebridean island has left it struggling to cope and resulted in a backlash by natives forced to resort to crowdfunding for basic amenities such as car parks to make their daily lives more bearable in summer.
The rise in visitor numbers can be attributed to a number of factors, not least the island’s popularity as a location for films and music videos. In the past decade alone, Skye has provided an atmospheric backdrop to Outlander, The BFG, MacBeth, Stardust and even Kanye West.
But while tourism and plaudits for the destination are on the up, the island's infrastructure is creaking towards collapse.
Last month Kate Forbes, MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, held a community meeting in Portree in a bid to get businesses, public bodies and the local community to find lasting solutions to the problems created by the huge increase in tourist numbers.
“Ordinary residents who have to get to the shops or pick up children from school are facing traffic jams in the most remote areas of Skye because of the number of cars," said Forbes. "That gets even more dangerous if emergency vehicles can’t get through – then it becomes a matter of extreme urgency.
“It is also making a mess of the landscape, with a number of stories about unpleasant 'presents' left behind by those who can’t find a bin or a toilet,” she added.
Locals also complain about an increase in litter and lack of caravan sites and policing, with just three police officers reportedly manning the island - an area of more than 1,000 square miles - last year.
Recent efforts by the Staffin Community Trust and the Northern Lighthouse Board are tackling the perennial issue of parking at two of the island's most popular attractions, the Old Man of Storr and Neist Point.
Making use of the Scottish government’s Land Fund will help alleviate the problem in these locations, but it’s just a sticking plaster on a gaping wound, and a proper, long-term tourism strategy is needed if Skye is not to fall victim to its own success.
Sunday Herald food writer Shirley Spear is the owner of The Three Chimneys, a world-renowned restaurant with rooms on the shores of Loch Dunvegan.
A pioneer of Scottish cooking, Spear created her business around fresh local produce in an unsurpassed Highland setting, and its success has acted as a blueprint for the type of tourism that people now flock to Skye for.
As a business owner and resident since 1985, Spear has experienced the shift in Skye's fortunes first hand. Chair of SkyeConnect, a voluntary destination management rrganisation, she is also a high-profile supporter of FlySkye, a campaign group backing air links between the central belt and Skye.
“Skye is a major tourism destination, second only to Edinburgh and the whole of the Highlands in popularity," she said. "It deserves support and kudos for its importance to the nation. It's not some small backwater.”
SkyeConnect is seeking support from Highland and Islands Enterprise to fund a professional project leader position - costing around £35,000-£50,000 - in a bid to create a stronger voice advocating for essential investment.
Spear stresses that only a permanent destination management body that is backed by councillors, businesses and locals, will achieve notable change and that residents must understand that tourism is "everyone’s business".
For some time people have been campaigning for the re-opening of Ashaig Airfield to commercial flights as a means of easing tourist access to the island and improving the economic prospects of local businesses. “The challenge we have," said Spear, "is that our single-track roads, often the only route to famous beauty spots, are not handling the increased number of private vehicles, tour buses and camper vans.
“The airport plans are for two regular flights per day to and from Glasgow or Edinburgh on an 18-seater aircraft. We are the largest population in the UK living the greatest distance from a local air service,” she added.
Commercial flights have the potential to decrease the number of cars heading to Skye in the summer, and would also extend the tourist season, meaning that people could travel in winter months without the problems of driving in bad weather.
This year the Scottish government placed tourism at the top of its agenda, recognising the economic importance of the industry. A VisitScotland spokesperson said: “VisitScotland is committed to working with partners such as SkyeConnect and Highlands & Islands Enterprise to identify what infrastructure is needed in Skye to help grow the sector in a sustainable way.
“We are encouraging visitors to come at different times throughout the year and promoting other lesser known, but equally beautiful, attractions in the wider Highlands area.”
Fiona Hyslop, cabinet secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, was not available for comment.
Sky's top attractions
The Cuillins
Old Man of Storr
Neist Point
Fairy Pools
Dunvegan Castle
Fairy Glen
Claigan Coral Beach
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