Visits to Scotland’s visitor attractions on the rise

The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) has released the visitor figures of its members for 2023.

It shows that in Scotland, the most-visited free attraction continued to be the National Museum of Scotland, which was 12th in the UK and saw an 11% increase to 2,186,841.

Edinburgh Castle was the most visited paid for attraction in Scotland in 14th position with a 41% increase welcoming 1,904,723 visits and National Galleries Scotland: National had a record-breaking year and saw a 44% increase to 1,836,057, which they attributed to their Grayson Perry exhibition and the opening of the new Scottish galleries.

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.

“The latest ALVA figures give cause for celebration, with most attractions showing more visitors in 2023 than in 2022. This aligns with our domestic consumer tracker which shows that people are increasingly interested in visiting cultural attractions.

“However, we know there are continuing challenges in the sector, and that many attractions have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. We are working in partnership with the industry to encourage people to get out and about and explore what Scotland has to offer.”

The full figures can be found here: https://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=618

ENDS