Outlander star highlights the attractions of his homeland

Outlander star Sam Heughan believes his home corner of Scotland has more to offer than many might think.

As a keynote speaker at the South of Scotland Destination Alliance's (SSDA) annual conference, the 45-year-old actor said he was getting a "bit annoyed" at the number of people who ignored the region.

Having recently acquired the Crafty Distillery in Newton Stewart, rebranding it the Galloway Distillery, he clearly hopes more people can be tempted to head to the area.

He told the conference that it was an "amazing place" which he believed had huge untapped potential.

Heughan was born in Balmaclellan and lived in New Galloway before embarking on his acting career.

And he is now a proud ambassador for the places where he grew up.

"It's the part of Scotland that's got, I'm going to say, more history than all the rest," he said.

"It really is this amazing little place and everyone goes past it - they travel past it.

"I have been a great supporter of Scotland and I've been, you know, trying to spread the word about what a great country we are.

"But I'm getting a little bit annoyed now because everyone goes north and they don't go south."

In an interview recorded for the conference he said the area had "so much to offer" from its coastlines to its hills and its "amazing community".

"I want to really push people to come south when they land at one of our airports and come and visit us," he said.

"I think they will also fall in love with it - they'll lose their heart to Galloway."

The actor added that he had ambitious plans for his distillery which he hoped could benefit the wider region.

"We want to extend our premises, give us more production, but also highlight the surrounding area and the surrounding businesses," he said.

Heughan added that included sending people out on an itinerary of his favourite places to visit or featuring different places in their monthly newsletter.

"Hopefully people will finally get a picture of what actually the south of Scotland has got to offer," he said.

And he urged fellow business owners attending the event at the Easterbrook Hall to play their part.

"I think we've got a really great opportunity to encourage more people to come and enjoy the part of Scotland that I love the most," he added.