Scotland’s tourism attractions have seen a 21 per cent increase in visits in the previous year.
Data from the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions shows that Scotland saw 12 million visitors in 2023, being host to 20 per cent of the most visited attractions within the UK.
The National Museum of Scotland was the most popular Scottish attraction and was ranked 12th in the UK overall.
Edinburgh Castle was in 14th place, with the National Galleries Scotland just behind in 15th.
Edinburgh Castle saw a 41 per cent increase in visitor numbers, with the National Galleries seeing over 1.8m visitors, which was an increase of 44 percent.
ALVA director, Bernard Donoghue, said that “Scotland is outperforming the rest of the UK, which we’ve found consistently for at least ten years.”
The members of ALVA are the most popular attractions, galleries, and castles in the UK.
The Tourism and Hospitality Leadership group, also known as the ILG, was created by the Scottish Government to “support, grow, and realise the potential of Scotland’s tourism and hospitality sectors.”
Discussions in the ILG minutes from June 2023 noted that Richard Lochead, the Minister for Small Business, Innovation, Tourism and Trade, said the tourism industry was still facing significant challenges.
Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland, said, “Visitor attractions are an essential part of the tourism experience.
“Scotland’s galleries, castles, museums and historic sites showcase our incredible culture, heritage and history and are hugely important for the tourism industry and our local communities”
He went on to say:
“The latest ALVA figures give cause for celebration, with most attractions showing more visitors in 2023 than in 2022.”
“Alongside our existing attractions there have been several new openings in Scotland since the pandemic such as The Burrell Collection in Glasgow and Johnnie Walker Princes St in Edinburgh . . . with several blockbuster exhibitions last year including Banksy at Glasgow Modern Museum of Art and Grayson Perry at the National Galleries of Scotland reflected in these figures.”
“National Museum of Scotland” by y.fgl is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.