Scotland visitor attractions outperform rest of UK

Visitor attractions in Scotland have outperformed the rest of the UK, with a high increase to visitor footfall, new figures suggest.

Attractions in Scotland saw an increase of 19.07% and for the second year running, was higher than the UK average (8.68% for 2018).

The National Museum of Scotland was the most visited attraction outside of London, with Edinburgh Castle just behind. The Scottish National Gallery also saw a 9% increase in footfall.

The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) announced its members’ visitor figures for 2018 today.

The very hot weather in the summer is said to have benefited some of  Scotland’s outdoor attractions. The most visited garden in Scotland was the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh which saw 929,140 visits and a 2.5% increase.

Elsewhere in Scotland, V&A Dundee opened in September and had already received 341,265 visits by the end of 2018.

Four of the top 7 ALVA sites with the most growth in the whole of the UK were National Trust for Scotland sites. The introduction of the Weehailes children’s playpark at Newhailes, near Musselburgh, East Lothian resulted in an phenomenal increase of 1168.7% (68,360 visits) and the Wa-Hey for play facility at the Burns Birthplace Museum in Alloway, Ayr saw a 62% increase to 266,369 visits.

While Historic Environment Scotland’s Doune Castle in Stirlingshire, which was a location in the very popular TV series Outlander, saw a 14% increase to 142,091 and the Highland Wildlife Park in Inverness-shire saw a 51.5% increase 205,930, which was due to the huge popularity of Hamish the Polar Bear, who was born in 2017.

Mackintosh 150 – a year-long programme of events and exhibitions – celebrated the 150th anniversary of the birth and incredible architectural, artistic and design legacy of one of Scotland’s great cultural icons. Scotland Street School Museum was Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s last assignment in Glasgow and is considered by many to be one of his architectural masterpieces, so it was no surprise that it saw an increase of 21% with 61,846 visits.

Bernard Donoghue, Director of ALVA, commented: “Attractions across the UK have shown that by investing in their buildings, gardens and staff, presenting globally significant exhibitions, and working together to bring iconic artefacts – whether poppies or dinosaurs – to more people, has been hugely successful.

“It’s also clear that the bad weather at the beginning of 2018 – ‘the Beast from the East’ – the very hot summer and the impact of the World Cup resulted in some of our members experiencing a fall in visitor numbers, especially at outdoor attractions. I’m so delighted that every year, more and more people, from here in the UK and from overseas, are experiencing the astonishing array of our leading attractions in every part of the UK.

“Tourism is our fifth biggest industry and 3rd largest employer and ALVA members are proud to be the principal reason that overseas visitors cite when choosing to visit the UK. ”

The new V&A Dundee, which recorded 341,265 visits by the end of 2018, will welcome Videogames: Design/Play/Disrupt on April 20.

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum will be the first UK venue to exhibit the Linda McCartney Retrospective, curated by Paul, Mary and Stella McCartney, from July 5, following the success of Dippy the Dinosaur’s touring visit to Glasgow.

Scotland’s Tourism Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “Our galleries, castles and museums showcase Scotland’s incredible culture, heritage and history and it’s thanks to the hard work of those in the industry that we have seen this impressive increase in visitor numbers.

“With the ongoing uncertainty of the EU exit, the Scottish Government recognises we cannot take tourism success for granted.

“We will continue to work to support sustainable growth of the industry as it creates jobs, boosts the local and national economy and builds on our strong international reputation.”