Scotland's major tourist attraction (apart from the rolling hills and vast unspoiled landscapes) is far from being a dispelled myth...
Taking all the logistical pooh-poohs out of the equation (water volume vs. sustained habitat, phoney sightings etc) the actual thought of a prehistoric beastie living in a lake is far too romantic and set-in-stone to disappear overnight.
You can imagine how it began... probably with a tale around a log fire to scare the kids from going near the water. Then one thing leads to another and BAM... you've got a mythical creature living in the loch.
Our Eastern buddies who have dragons, Godzilla and the likes absolutely lap it up. However, I am quite sure the notion of a huge mammal living beneath an inland water body unseen for all these years is something which scientific thinkers will only believe if they see it. However, up until now, there's not much (if any) evidence.
And sure—you can dispel belief in Santa—pah! Whadda you all know? Who do you think eats that mince pie and leaves all the pressies. At least we have PROOF that Santa exists...
No offence to Scots is meant by this post, I'm just having a laff. I've never even really toured Scotland—but I'd love to—but I'm just trying to point out that Nessie seems to dominate the stereotypical 'outside world' view of the country 