Is Fort William still alive?

And they were left scratching their heads when someone enquired: "Is there anyone here who speaks Australian?"

On another occasion, a confused tourist asked for directions to "Loch Lomond and the Trollops" when he meant the Trossachs, hilly open country around the famous loch.

A VisitScotland spokeswoman said staff tried their best to answer all the questions but admitted that sometimes it was difficult.

She said: "People who work in the tourism industry have to deal with some fairly unusual requests almost every day, but they are very resourceful and try their best to be as helpful as they can."

Elsewhere, tourist information staff in the west of Scotland could not believe it when they were asked: "Where is Edinburgh in Glasgow?"

Hair-raising experience

In Glasgow itself, a visitor asked: "Where are the northern lights and what time do they get switched on?"

In the Highlands, a tourist wanted to know what time the town of Pitlochry closed.

Tourists have also asked for directions to "Glasgow Castle".

VisitScotland also released details of some of the hair-raising experiences quality advisers who rate bed and breakfasts and hotels have had.

Loch Lomond and the "Trollops"

One worker was shocked when a vole came into his bedroom at night and began rummaging through his belongings.

The following morning, he told the landlady of the bed and breakfast about the tiny rodent on her premises, but was shocked by her response.

The spokeswoman said: "She covered her face in horror, went white and started to explain her husband's confusion as he often can't find his way back to his own room during the night. She was relieved that it was only a vole."

Another quality adviser asked staff at a youth hostel where he could have a shower and was given directions to a waterfall a mile away.

The spokeswoman added: "Our team of quality advisers work very hard and have to visit a lot of different places, so it's inevitable that they are going to have some unusual experiences.

"But it's things like that which make the job really interesting and extremely worthwhile."