Great Tapestry attracts less than half of expected visitors
- Published
The Great Tapestry of Scotland visitor centre cost more than £7m
Less than half of the anticipated visitor numbers have paid to view the Great Tapestry of Scotland during its first year.
As part of the business case for the Galashiels centre, consultants estimated it would attract 51,000 paying customers annually.
Live Borders chief Ewan Jackson has revealed that 24,000 bought tickets.
He said: "The tapestry numbers are challenging as the targets and business case were done prior to Covid."
A visitor centre for the Great Tapestry of Scotland was initially planned for a site near the railway station in Tweedbank.
Following strong opposition about the cost of the project, a rethink led to Galashiels being identified as the best option for creating an attraction.
About 1,000 stitchers created the 143-metre tapestry
Scottish Borders Council members voted to support building on a brownfield site adjacent to the town's former post office.
Almost £7m was committed to the project from the Scottish government's Regeneration Capital Grant Fund, the Borders Railway Blueprint programme and the Borders local authority.
The business case, prepared by Jura Consultants, forecasted that 51,000 people would pay to see the history of Scotland told through 160 eye-catching panels.
They also estimated that the new visitor centre would generate an additional £900,000 of net expenditure each year in and around Galashiels, and lead to an additional 8,000 visitors staying in the area.
This week Mr Jackson revealed that the targets created by the Jura estimations were "extremely challenging".
'Gradual increase'
He added: "When we first opened last August we were all still wearing masks and business was slow.
"The Jura report could not have foreseen Covid.
"What is encouraging, is that there has been a gradual increase month on month from the slow start we had."
Mr Jackson pointed out that the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions (ASVA) recently found that similar attractions across Scotland had reported an average downturn in numbers of 31%.
He also added that the Tapestry's adjoining café and retail area had "performed well" during the first year with more than 60,000 transactions being recorded.