May 2015
Featured in this insight: Culture, heritage & leisure, Conducting market research in Scotland
Most popular Scottish tourist attraction is The National Museum of Scotland, survey finds: A recent survey by Glasgow Caledonian University has found that The National Museum of Scotland is the most popular tourist attraction in Scotland, with over 1.6 million people passing through its doors in 2014.
The survey also found that approximately 55 million people visited Scottish tourist attractions last year. This is a 3.3 per cent rise on the year prior (2013).
The researchers claimed that the Commonwealth Games, and the country’s high profile during the event, has had a positive impact on Scotland's tourism sector.
Director of the Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism Business Development, Professor John Lennon, claimed that 2014 was a “winning year” for the Scottish travel and tourism industry and was also impacted by the Ryder Cup and Homecoming 2014.
Lennon said of the industry: "Many operators also saw positive impacts from the anniversaries associated with the First World War, which served to heighten Scotland's profile and destination awareness, nationally and internationally."
The survey also found that of the 687 tourist attractions in the survey, the ones with free admission were the most popular. Those which were free to enter had twice as many visitors as those with entry fees.
Of the free tourist attractions, The National Gallery of Scotland, Lomond Shores and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery were the most visited.
On the other hand, the most popular attraction with entry fees was the Edinburgh Castle, with around 1.5 million people visiting in 2014.
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