SCOTLAND’S most popular tourist attractions have been revealed as visitor numbers soared by 53.5% last year.
While the country recorded more than 48.6 million visitors last year as many venues ended restrictions, numbers still remain 16% lower than pre-pandemic levels.
Edinburgh Castle remains Scotland’s most popular paid tourist destination as it saw a 217.6% surge in visitor numbers, jumping to 1.3 million in 2022.
In terms of free attractions, The National Museum of Scotland, also located in the capital, claimed the top spot, welcoming 1.9 million visitors.
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The figures, released by Glasgow Caledonian University, showed that paid entry attractions saw more than 15 million visitors across Scotland in 2022, up 63.2% on the previous year.
Meanwhile, free venues welcomed more than 33.6 million visitors last year compared to around 22.4 million in 2021 – an increase of 49.5%.
Other popular paid attractions include Edinburgh Zoo and Stirling Castle. The latter took in 418,180 people while Urquhart Castle in the Highlands was visited by 357,154 people, marking an increase of 233.6%.
In Glasgow, attractions Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum as well as the Riverside Museum, posted increased visitor numbers of 237% and 275% respectively.
The Burrell Collection, which reopened last year after a £66 million revamp, recorded 482, 984 visits.
Professor John Lennon, director of the Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism at GCU said: “This survey evidences a recovering visitor attraction market dominated by domestic demand.
“Scottish visitor attractions face a very daunting trading environment characterised by cost inflation and labour shortages – problems that have been slow to abate.
“Recovery is likely to continue but will remain highly dependent upon UK customers for the medium term.”
Gordon Morrison, chief executive of the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions (ASVA), said: “Whilst it is encouraging to see somewhat of a recovery for the attractions sector, performance in 2022 was quite patchy.
“Not all operators enjoyed a successful year, and with visitor numbers still considerably down on pre-pandemic levels, there is a long way to go before we can talk of a full sector-wide recovery.
“Concerns about what the ongoing cost-of-living crisis will mean for visitation and spend remain for many.”
ASVA is calling on the UK and Scottish Governments to take further action to support the industry in the face of rising costs and to revisit any policy decisions that may increase the financial burden on business.
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