Scotland should count visitors as boon not bane

Thursday, July 26, 2018

When we talk of hefty figures, it’s the cities that are actually propelling up the statistics. London succeeded in attracting 64 million visitors. Therefore, it boasts as the UK’s top 10 visitor attractions in terms of numbers. However, the 11th and 12th slots were both in Edinburgh, with the National Museum of Scotland and Edinburgh Castle. These two attractions, for the first time attracted over two million visits apiece in last year.

 
As per Bernard Donoghue, director of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, people were quite desirous to come here. Nevertheless, new air routes and the fall in the value of sterling are helping.

 
“The UK and Scotland in particular is an aspirational destination,” he says
“It’s on practically everybody’s shopping list – they want to come here at some point. New air routes and Scotland becoming more affordable has made that more of an opportunity.”
Also, he considers that Scotland is reaping the dividends of years of investment from its prime attractions.

 
“The National Museum of Scotland, for example. For the first time in a number of years, all of its galleries were open after years of refurbishment. That meant it was able to present itself to the world afresh,” he said.

 
Glasgow’s much-loved Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and the stunning Riverside transport museum which was opened for public in 2011, welcomed over1.3 million people in 2017.

 
However smaller, privately-run attractions in the popular cities got benefited as well. Mary King’s Close – “a warren of hidden streets frozen in time” in Edinburgh – witnessed its numbers rising 9% to more than 245,000.

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