THE pandemic has continued to devastate Scotland's visitor attractions, with the slump in international visitors expected to last until 2025, new data has revealed.
New figures, published today by ASVA, the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions, in conjunction with Glasgow Caledonian University’s Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism Development, reveal overall visitor numbers were more than 47% down on pre-pandemic levels.
Last year’s most visited paid-entry attraction was Edinburgh Zoo, with 632,122 visitors, whilst the National Museum of Scotland was the country’s top free attraction, with 660,741 visitors.
READ MORE: Here are Scotland's most popular visitor attractions in 2021
Paid-entry attractions welcomed just over nine million visitors during 2021, compared to more than 20 million in 2019 (a drop of 55%), while free venues had just over 20.2 million visitors last year compared to 35.5 million in 2019 (a drop of just over 43%).
Outdoor visitor attractions with grounds and open-air activities fared much better than predominantly indoor sites, showing the public's continued concerns about Covid transmission rates.
READ MORE: ‘Scotland starts here’ campaign to boost tourism to Borders and Dumfries and Galloway
Indoor venues were hit badly by the pandemic. Stirling Castle had 148,581 visitors in 2021 – an 88.1% increase from its 2020 total of 79,000 – however it saw a 75.6% decrease from its 2019 total of 609,698. Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum had 288,212 visitors in 2021, an 84.3% drop from its 2019 pre-pandemic total of 1,543,885.
Gordon Morrison, chief executive of ASVA, which represents more than 500 sites across Scotland, said: “Whilst visitor numbers in 2021 were up on the previous year, the latest figures highlight what a uniquely challenging time the visitor attractions sector, and wider tourism industry, has experienced over the past 12 months.
“The data provides clear evidence that our sector has been hit extremely hard for a considerably extended period of time due to the consequences of the pandemic. Although we’ve seen some very welcome positive signs that business at a number of attractions is beginning to bounce back, so many of our operators are still in survival mode, and the vast majority unfortunately still face a very long road ahead to recovery.”
Professor John Lennon, director of the Moffat Centre at GCU, said: “We don’t foresee overseas visitor numbers returning to pre-pandemic levels until 2025 – so attractions will continue to be heavily reliant on the domestic market.
“Business recovery will depend very much on the custom of the people of Scotland and the UK.
“Visiting Scottish attractions not only demonstrates support of them, it helps safeguard the future of a sector that’s a vital contributor to the country’s economy and also performs a crucial custodial role in protecting Scotland’s heritage, culture and identity.”
ASVA has urged the UK and Scottish governments for additional assistance to stimulate recovery within the sector. The association is calling for a continuation of reduced level of VAT for attractions, as well as a continuation of 100% business rates relief.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here