Attractions see growth in Northern Isles visitors

Shetland and Orkney both enjoyed substantial growth in visitor numbers in 2007 compared with 2006, the latest VisitScotland Scottish Visitor Attraction Monitor has revealed.

Shetland visitor attractions enjoyed a 41% while neighbouring island chain, Orkney saw visitor numbers rise by 15.1%.

Attractions throughout Scotland as a whole were visited by more than 45.5 million visitors in 2007, while the newly opened Shetland Museum and Archives, which is understood to be largely responsible for the overall 41% growth, saw 57,196 visitors and the Sumburgh Head RSPB Reserve welcomed 29,000 visitors over the same period.

Among the top Shetland performers in terms of growth in numbers from 2006 to 2007 were Muness Castle on Unst with a 29.3% growth in visitors, and Unst Boat Museum, with 22.3%.

In Orkney the top performers were the Italian Chapel which saw 89,964 visitors while Skara Brae welcomed 69,990 visitors over the same period.

Among the top Orkney performers in terms of growth in numbers from 2006 to 2007 were the St Magnus Cathedral, which reported an impressive 231% growth in visitors, attributable in large part to an improved visitor monitoring system, while the Barony Mill in Birsay enjoyed a growth of 32.8% and the Corrigal Farm Museum saw a growth in visitor numbers of 15.9%.

Tourism Minister Jim Mather said: “This is great news for Scotland. Our visitor attractions are renowned across the world and these latest figures show that Scotland is continuing to draw in the crowds.

“We want to show the world that the whole of Scotland has something to offer, and these figures show that this approach is beginning to pay off. Visitors are demonstrating that they want to visit our biggest cities, as well as more remote parts of Scotland. If we are to continue to see growth in years to come, industry needs to continue to innovate and look at new ways of attracting tourists. If they do, we will see real growth in Scottish tourism in years to come.”

The annual Visitor Attraction Monitor is compiled on behalf of national tourism agency VisitScotland by the independent research body the Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism Business Development and represents approximately 700 visitor attractions across the country.

* Go to the VisitScotland.org web site for the full findings and regional and sector figures