Scottish historic sites are feeling the ‘Outlander effect’ as they celebrate a significant surge in visitor numbers. The start of the summer season 2017 has seen sites in the care of Historic Environment Scotland which have a starring role in the hit TV series record dramatic increases from the same period last year. Continue reading Scottish locations feeling the ‘Outlander effect’
Horses, knights and lances are at the ready as Spectacular Jousting returns to Linlithgow Palace on 1st and 2nd July. To help celebrate the year of History, Heritage and Archaeology, visitors can take part in a thrilling festival of horsemanship, pageantry and music as a host of colourful, historic characters battle it out to be crowned the King’s Champion. Continue reading Spectacular Jousting comes to Linlithgow Palace
A new report on what heritage means to Scots has been published by Historic Environment Scotland (HES) and reveals which of Scotland’s places, buildings and monuments should be recognised and celebrated. Continue reading What’s Your Heritage? results announced
Entries now open for Scottish Heritage Angel Awards 2017
Nominations have opened for the third Scottish Heritage Angels Awards in a bid to find those groups and individuals – or ‘Angels’ – from Edinburgh who have played a special part in caring for, recording and celebrating the nation’s historic environment. Continue reading Search is on to find Edinburgh’s ‘Heritage Angels’
World Heritage Day celebrations set to kick off at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
Visitors to Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow will have the opportunity to be transported to the heart of Scotland’s World Heritage Sites as part of a special event to mark World Heritage Day. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum will host a full day of free activities on Tuesday 11 April to celebrate Scotland’s rich heritage, in the run up to World Heritage Day on 18 April. Continue reading Counting down to World Heritage Day
Cairnpapple Hill in West Lothian is one of more than 30 historic sites preparing to open its doors once more for the summer tourist season. On 1 April, castles, cairns and brochs across Scotland will welcome visitors as the Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology gets into full swing. Continue reading Historic attractions reopen today
Edinburgh Castle retains No. 1 position
Edinburgh Castle has retained its position as Scotland’s top paid for visitor attraction, and jumped up two places in the rankings to be named as the 16th most visited attraction in the UK overall in 2016. Footfall at the historic site exceeded 1.7 million visitors, a 13% increase on 2015.
Scotland’s staffed heritage and cultural assets were well represented in the 2016 leader board, as a total of 14 new Historic Environment Scotland managed attractions joined the rankings for the very first time.
New additions included filming locations Doune and Blackness Castles, better known as Castle Leoch and Fort William in the hit historical time-travelling TV series, Outlander. Both attractions are benefitting from their stardom as a record 90,172 and 30,053 people explored the sites for themselves, a surge of 32% and 39%, respectively, compared to the same period for 2015.
These figures were amongst those released today – Monday 27th March – for UK wide member sites of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA). The association, which releases its figures annually, counts some of the UK’s biggest tourist attractions as members, also revealed that Scottish attractions had one of their best years on record, reporting the greatest increase of 16% and a total of 15 million visitors.
Strong visitor numbers for the same period were recorded at heritage attractions throughout the country. In Inverness, the ruins of Urquhart Castle attracted 396,397 people, St Andrews Cathedral was up 25% year on year to over 46,000 visitors. Elsewhere the 5,000 year old Skara Brae hit a total of 93,375 visitors and more than 52,000 people turned out at Melrose Abbey in the Scottish Borders.
Stephen Duncan, Director of Commercial and Tourism at Historic Environment Scotland and ALVA Board Member, said: “These latest figures from ALVA for last year show that Scotland is a major player in the UK tourism sector. It’s fantastic that Scottish member attractions collectively reported a 16% increase in footfall year on year, with over 15 million visits taking place in total.
“Heritage tourism is a key element in this wider success story. Together our iconic castles, abbeys, palaces and other historic sites, which represent thousands of years’ worth of Scottish history, welcomed over 3.7 million visitors in 2016 alone. Our visitor offering is stronger than ever before and it’s something that we will continue to build upon during 2017 as we mark Scotland’s Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology.”
Bernard Donoghue, Director of ALVA, added: “Like the 2015 figures, Scotland has continued to outperform the rest of the UK with a substantial increase in their visitor numbers. 2016 was a great year for Scottish Tourism – proving that Scotland is reaping the benefits of significant capital investment in attractions and creative programming by its institutions.”
People in Edinburgh are being encouraged to get up close and personal with their history this year as Historic Environment Scotland (HES) unveils a programme of events and initiatives to show that heritage is for all as part of Scotland’s year of History, Heritage and Archaeology. Continue reading Celebrate Scotland’s history
Scotland’s historic sites break tourism record
Scotland’s staffed heritage attractions have drawn in more visitors than ever before. Over the last 11 months a record-breaking four million people have flocked to historic sites across the length and breadth of the country – and more than 1.6 million of them visited top attraction Edinburgh Castle. Continue reading Four million welcomes
A project encouraging closer collaboration between Scotland’s metal detecting community and the heritage sector has just published the first ever report to outline the extent and character of metal detecting in Scotland. Continue reading Dig this: project forges links between treasurer hunters and heritage professionals
