Press release -
Visitor attractions up 5 per cent
VisitScotland has today welcomed news that Scotland’s visitor attractions saw a 5% increase in visitor numbers between 2012 and 2013.
The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) has revealed that the National Museum of Scotland, in Edinburgh, was the UK’s most popular visited free attraction outside London, having welcomed 1,768,090 visitors in 2013.
The glorious summer weather had an effect on outdoor attractions, which saw an 8% increase, while indoor locations had a 5% increase overall.
Edinburgh Castle was the most popular paid-for attraction outside London with 1,420,027 visitors, following an increase of 15%. Edinburgh Zoo, which became a member of ALVA last year, bucked the trend of a giant panda zoo in year two, seeing only a small decrease of 6%.
Its visitor numbers still remain 40% higher than pre-panda visitor numbers. Among the National Trust for Scotland’s locations, Glencoe saw a 41.7% increase – possibly due it being featured in 2012 James Bond movie Skyfall.
Other Scottish attractions in the UK top 50 are the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Scottish National Gallery, Riverside Museum, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the National War Museum.
Mike Cantlay, Chairman of VisitScotland, said: “Scotland has a plethora of diverse and fascinating visitor attractions and it’s great to see that so many saw an increase in visitor numbers last year, with the 15 per cent increase reported by Edinburgh Castle particularly encouraging.
“With The Helix in Falkirk due to open this summer and the V and A Museum in Dundee in 2017, Scotland’s visitor attraction offering is truly world class and going from strength to strength.
“We enjoyed some fabulous weather last summer which resulted in a lot of people getting out and about to our stunning beaches, landscapes and parks, making the most of the Year of Natural Scotland.
“These ‘natural’ attractions are not recorded in this list, but are of course an integral part of the allure of Scotland. With an overall increase in the number of visitors to Scotland in 2013, we look forward to building on this success this year – when we welcome the world with the 700-plus events of Homecoming, the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.”
ENDS
For further information, visit www.alva.org.uk
For further information from VisitScotland, please contact Tom Maxwell on 0131 472 2409 or email tom.maxwell@visitscotland.com
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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
