Published on : Thursday, July 26, 2018
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.
Tags: Scotland