Heritage visitors’ £620 million tourism boost

Growing numbers of visitors are visiting Scotland’s historic gems – and bringing in £620 million.

Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has reported an increase in footfall with 5,229,049 people visiting its staffed sites in 2018 – a 5% increase from the previous year.

The most-visited staffed site was Edinburgh Castle with 2,111,578 visitors. Stirling Castle was the second-top visited site with 605,241 visitors, followed by 518,195 visitors to Urquhart Castle. This is the first time Urquhart Castle has welcomed over 500,000 visitors in a single year.

Sites featured in the TV show Outlander have continued to see record-breaking numbers, with Blackness Castle reaching 50,000 visitors for the first time – an increase of 36% from the previous year, while Doune Castle and Craigmillar Castle have also experienced an increase in footfall.

HES also had a record number of memberships in 2018 which peaked at over 200,000 – up from 5% in 2017.

Stephen Duncan, director for commercial and tourism, said: ‘2018 was another fantastic year for Scotland’s heritage sites, with visitor numbers continuing to grow.

‘As well as the ‘Outlander effect’ bringing international visitors to Scotland to explore its rich history, we have also seen an increase in the number of Scots visiting heritage sites as evidenced in our highest ever membership figure. With Scotland being used as a filming location for productions such as Outlaw King and Mary Queen of Scots, we hope visitors will continue to be inspired to explore the history of the sites they see on the big screen.’

HES looks after 300 heritage sites, including 77 staffed Historic Scotland attractions. Despite the ‘Beast from the East’ having an impact on sites at the beginning of 2018, there has been a steady increase in footfall, with half of the heritage body’s staffed sites seeing record visitor numbers last year.

Stephen added: ‘As part of our investment plan we have been working on enhancing the visitor experience at our sites. This included a £332,000 investment project at Edinburgh Castle to open ‘Fight for the Castle’ – our first new permanent exhibition at the Castle since 2002.

Edinburgh Castle is still Scotland’s top tourist attraction

‘Another commitment was to reach new audiences, particularly with the Year of Young People. We launched Knight at the Castle, the first after-hours event at Edinburgh Castle targeting young people, and our touring LEGO exhibitions were a huge success across our regional sites with Aberdour Castle seeing a 42% increase in visitors from the previous year.’

In addition, staffed HES sites have generated £620 million of local tourism expenditure across Scotland in 2018 – up £30 million from 2017 – and supported more than 18,000 FTE jobs.

Stephen continued: ‘These incredible figures show the importance that the historic environment has on local communities with the vast majority of economic growth generated by the increase in high-spending international visitors. From abbeys in the Borders to Norse settlements in Shetland, the appeal of Scotland’s cultural heritage reaches far and wide and is there to be enjoyed by all.’

Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs Fiona Hyslop, said: ‘I would like to thank all those who contribute to caring for our precious and unique heritage.

‘Scotland’s historic environment is a catalyst for economic growth – driving tourism, regeneration and sustainable development, and fuelling improvements.

‘I am delighted Historic Environment Scotland has seen an increase in visitors and memberships.’

The 2018 calendar year top ten staffed heritage attractions (location, visitor numbers, increase/decrease in visitors) are:

1, Edinburgh Castle, 2,111,578, 2%; 2, Stirling Castle, 605,241, 7%; 3, Urquhart Castle, 518,195, 6%; 4, Glasgow Cathedral, 482,783, 24%; 5, Doune Castle, 142,091, 14%; 6, Skara Brae, 111,921, 2%; 7, Linlithgow Palace, 94,718, 9%; 8, St Andrew’s Castle, 91,302, 1%; 9, Fort George, 71,906, -5%; 10, Iona Abbey, 64,183, -3%.