Scottish outdoor attractions fare better during Covid slump

Edinburgh Zoo was the most popular paid entry visitor attraction in Scotland

Outdoor visitor attractions fared much better than indoor venues as visitor numbers continued to plunge last year due to the Covid pandemic.

Figures from the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions (ASVA) showed that overall numbers were more than 47% down on pre-pandemic levels.

The most-visited paid-entry attraction was Edinburgh Zoo.

While the top free attraction was the National Museum of Scotland, despite numbers being well down on 2019.

Top paid-for visitor attractions

1. Edinburgh Zoo

2. Edinburgh Castle

3. Glenfinnan Monument

4. Culzean Castle and Country Park

5. Highland Wildlife Park

6. Stirling Castle

7. Robert Burns Birthplace Museum

8. Crathes Castle

9. Urquhart Castle

10. Almond Valley Heritage Centre

Top free visitor attractions

1. National Museum of Scotland

2. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

3. Greyfriars Kirkyard

4. Riverside Museum

5. Scottish National Gallery

6. Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum

7. National War Museum

8. St Giles Cathedral

9. Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art

10. Old Calton Burial Ground

The ASVA, along with Glasgow Caledonian University's Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism Development, said that paid entry attractions saw just over nine million visitors across Scotland in 2021, compared to more than 20 million in 2019 - a fall of 55%.

Free venues had 20.2 million visitors last year compared to 35.5 million in 2019 - a drop of 43%.

The National Museum of Scotland was the top free attraction

The number of tourists who visited Edinburgh Castle fell from more than two million in 2019 to 423,866 in 2021 - a drop of more than 80%.

Edinburgh Zoo took the top spot in the paid attractions with 632,122 visitors last year.

The zoo, which saw visitor numbers rise by 15% compared to before the pandemic, joined the Highland Wildlife Park, near Aviemore, in the top 10 list of paid admission attractions as the only attractions to have their visitor numbers rise from 2019 levels.

Scotland's top free attraction was the National Museum of Scotland, with 660,741 visitors in 2021 - a decline of just over 70% compared to 2019 figures of almost 1.3 million tourists.

Glasgow's Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum had 288,212 visitors in 2021 - a 84.3% fall from 1,543,885 visitors pre-pandemic in 2019.

Support for attractions

Gordon Morrison, the chief executive of ASVA, said that the figures reflected how difficult the pandemic was for the attractions sector and wider tourism industry.

He said: "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, the director of the Moffat Centre, warned that for businesses in the sector to recover, they would depend on the support of Scottish and UK visitors.

He 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.

"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."