Whether you are living in Edinburgh as a local resident or a university student, you will be attuned to the influx of tourists that take to the city’s streets every day. With the whopping 17.79m nights spent in the city in 2024, by domestic and international visitors, there is no denying the city is hugely popular destination. Tourism obviously carries tangible benefits, however, with these figures on the rise, perhaps so is the following concern: is Edinburgh slowly transitioning into a city primarily designed for tourists, rather than for the people who actually live in it?
Perhaps most notably, conversations around over-tourism as a potential issue have gained traction through the topic of Greyfriars’s Bobby, and more importantly, his worn-out nose. For those not familiar, on the corner of Candlemaker Row and George IV Bridge sits a life size statue of Bobby, the dog who supposedly sat by his master’s grave for 14 years. Unfortunately, a harsh Edinburgh winter is not the only thing Bobby is exposed to. He also has to endure the heaps of tourists everyday participating in the “tradition” of rubbing his (now damaged, no-longer bronze) nose, in the hope that it brings good luck.
I stress that the word “tradition” sits in quotation marks because I am not convinced you can call a rumour started in 2012 as such. This wear-and-tear not only carries aesthetic consequences, but perhaps more significantly, financial ones. In 2013, it was reported the Edinburgh council spent £400 on restorations to the statue, only for it to be vandalised again in the following weeks. This futile diversion of council funds away from pertinent local issues and towards tourist-inflicted infrastructural damage, therefore, alerts us to the more damaging side of Edinburgh’s tourism industry.
This is certainly not to say that tourism does not benefit Edinburgh in a number of extremely significant ways. VisitScotland’s research, carried out on local attitudes towards tourism, revealed that 89% of residents perceived tourism as increasing employment opportunities, and 76 per cent welcomed tourism because it led to greater funding for city-wide events.
This last point most obviously pertains to the incredible turn out of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, occurring every August. It would be amateurish if we failed to recognise the impact tourism has on ensuring a lively and bustling Fringe experience, with people travelling from afar to participate in putting on, and experiencing, live performances. Whilst at times the crowds of tourists walking in huge groups along Edinburgh’s narrow streets can feel unbearable, at the end of the day, it is their money and presence that enables the festival to not only run, but to thrive, with enough funding and support for it to be sustained throughout most of August.
There is, nevertheless, a delicate balance between Edinburgh drawing attention to its culture for tourists to enjoy, and exploiting this culture for profit. It only takes a minute’s walk up the Royal Mile before you are bombarded by overpriced tweed shops, highland cow mugs and bagpipe ornaments.
Whilst of course, this iconography is famously ingrained in the city’s image, I do wonder whether these shops, and mass-produced consumer items bought by tourists, contribute to the commodification of Edinburgh’s culture. Does the purchasing of overpriced tartan attire (probably not even made in Scotland) tarnish the authenticity of Edinburgh’s image? Or does the issue of authenticity not really matter, if these shops are contributing to the livelihood of local residents supporting themselves in an extremely expensive city?
It seems, therefore, that we may have to accept the pavement-consuming silent discos, ghost tours, and red busses packed with tourists looking only through their camera lens, in exchange for the preservation and funding of the city, and the livelihood of local residents. Whilst it is easy to moan about the inconvenience that thousands of visitors in a relatively small city-centre can have, the truth is, choosing to live in a city which boasts such unique settings also means accepting that others, too, will want to visit and enjoy all that Edinburgh has to offer.
Photo by jim Divine on Unsplash
