Press release -
Visitors dig Scotland's gardens
To paraphrase the famous song, how many holidaymakers will you find, flying to and fro, in a Scottish country garden? The answer, according to new research, is hundreds of thousands!
A VisitScotland survey released today has revealed that, in 2012, a total of 687,000 British holidaymakers visited a Scottish park or garden as part of their trip, with a further 35,000 coming to Scotland with the express purpose of sampling the country’s horticultural delights.
Those who enjoyed a stroll through Scotland’s gardens spent £206 million during their holiday, with over 65s comprising nearly a quarter (23%) of those people who visit a park or garden as part of their trip.
Forty-five to 54-year-olds accounted for 22% of these visitors, while 35 to 44-year-olds made up 18% of this figure. Other visitors were aged 55-64 (16%), 25-34 (13%) and 16-24 (8%).
According to the Moffat Centre Visitor Attraction Monitor (which records total footfall), the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, is the most popular Scottish garden, with 704,642 visitors (including overseas and repeat visitors) passing through its gates in 2012. Glasgow Botanic Gardens was second on the list with 400,000 visits and David Welch Winter Gardens in Aberdeen third with 300,651.
Mike Cantlay, Chairman of VisitScotland, said: “This country boasts some truly stunning gardens and parks and it is wonderful to see so many people of all ages visiting them as part of their holiday. This year’s Homecoming celebrations contain a strong horticultural element, including the Scottish Snowdrop Festival and the Fife Garden Festival, and I would encourage anyone to cultivate an interest in our parks and gardens.”
Information within the report was collated by VisitScotland’s Insights team from the Great Britain Tourism Survey (GBTS) 2012, which collates data from people living in Scotland, England and Wales, and from the Moffat Centre Visitor Attraction Monitor.
ENDS
For further information contact:
Tom Maxwell, Corporate Press Officer 0131 472 2409
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- corporate communications
- statistics
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors:
- Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
- VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
- The organisation has three key roles:
- To market Scotland to all parts of the world to attract visitors
- To provide information – and inspiration – to visitors and potential visitors so they get the best out of a visit to Scotland
- To provide quality assurance to visitors and quality advice to the industry and partners to help the industry meet and strive to exceed customer expectations
- VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
- The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
- 2014 is the year Scotland welcomes the world, when it hosts the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles and more than 800 Homecoming events throughout the country.For more information on Homecoming Scotland 2014, go to www.visitscotland.com
- The VisitScotland Information Centre network is a unique face-to-face channel engaging with around five million visitors and locals each year. Everyone who uses a VisitScotland Information Centre goes on to spend an additional £5.35, generating over £24 million for Scotland’s economy.
- According to a recent Deloitte study, tourism employs 270,000 people in Scotland in 20,000 diverse businesses. The same study calculates that the industry contributes £11 billion annually (direct and indirect impact, including day visits) and supports around 10 per cent of employment in Scotland. Almost 16 million tourists take overnight trips to Scotland.
- For VisitScotland’s press releases go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.aspx, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/
- Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh)
- For holiday information on Scotland go to www.visitscotland.com
- For information about business tourism in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com
- For more information on VisitScotland’s annual review please go to www.visitscotland.org/about_us/our_focus/annual_report.aspx
