Edinburgh Castle has reported its best August for four years. 190,266 visitors passed through the castle’s doors in August, a 6.1% increase on this time last year.
The castle also experienced one of its busiest days for seven years. 7,911 were recorded on the first Tuesday of this year’s festival (10th August), closely rivalling the most recent daily record of 8,047 in 2007-2008 - a difference of just 136.
Minister for Culture and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop said;
“Edinburgh Castle is often regarded as a barometer for Scotland’s tourism industry, so it is extremely encouraging to see these figures.
“Scotland continues to be a must see destination, with both domestic and international visitors growing last year, whilst many other markets have experienced a decline.
“Within this, Scotland’s heritage sector has a huge role to play – both culturally and economically, and the appeal of this most iconic of buildings continues to be far reaching – providing a shop window for Scotland to the rest of the world.”
The figures reinforce an impressive performance for the capital this summer. Figures released by the City of Edinburgh Council saw the Royal Mile experience its busiest ever week during the festival, with footfall up by more than a third on last year in the first three weeks of August. Record breaking figures for the festivals have also been recorded.
Barbara Smith, Executive Manager for Historic Scotland at Edinburgh Castle, who manage the property said;
“We have had a fantastic August.
“The city is certainly benefiting from low cost flights from Europe, and we are seeing a direct correlation in the origin of visitors at the castle. Meanwhile the cruise ship market has certainly increased this year, with more cruise groups visiting the castle than ever before. But we have also seen a marked increase in walk up visitors to the castle which is great.
“We are hugely aware that the castle can often be a visitor’s first experience of Scotland, so we are focussed on providing a world class welcome and building a platform for demonstrating Scottish hospitality at its very best.”
Scottish domestic visitors were up 2.6% in 2009 – Source: The UK Tourism Survey, TNS on behalf of the statutory tourist boards of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
Scottish international visitors were up 2.1% in 2009 – Source: International Passenger Survey, Office for National Statistics.
The global market has experienced an estimated 4% decline over the same period. Source: UN World Tourism Organisation.