ASVA VISITOR TREND REPORT - OCTOBER 2010/2011

OVERVIEW

 Visitor figures for October 2010/2011 were received from 216 sites.  10 sites requested confidentiality, and although their numbers have been included in the calculations, they do not appear in the tables below.  16 sites noted that they were closed for the season. The Riverside Museum in Glasgow was not open in 2010 so their figures for 2011 are shown in the table below for reference but have not been included in the calculation. And following discussion with colleagues, we have published the 2010 and 2011 figures for the National Museum of Scotland but these have not been included in the calculations. The reason for this decision is that the site was only partially open in 2010 whilst it was undergoing major refurbishment and upgrade, prior to the re-opening in the summer of 2011. As can be seen, the increase in visitor numbers is over 300%, and to include these considerable numbers in the calculations would skew the national figure and appear to indicate a substantial increase nationally (see below).  Comparable data was therefore received from 198 sites. The total number of visits recorded in October 2011 was 1,678,890 this compares with 1,778,740 in 2010 and indicates a decrease of -5.3% for the month. (If the figures from the National Museum of Scotland re included, this shows an increase of 4.2%)

Weatherwise, October was largely wet and overcast. Rainfall was well above the average and sunshine amounts were well below normal. This is in marked contrast with much of England which enjoyed exceptionally high temperatures for the month and below average rainfall. http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/hi/uk_reviews/newsid_9630000/9630505.stm

October 2010 October 2011 % change SCOTLAND TOTAL (198) 1,778,740 1,678,890 -5.3% Table 1 – Scotland October 2010/2011

The largely inclement weather appears to have had an adverse effect on visitor numbers especially on those sites that are weather dependent. (By contrast during the first half of October 2010, the weather was settled so those better conditions enabled more visits during the mid-term schools’ break.) Significantly 60% of all respondents showed a decrease and this does seem to have impacted more on largely outdoor attractions including: Chatelherault Country Park (-27%), Culzean Country Park (-24%), Drumpellier Country Park (-13%), Glentrool Visitor Centre ( -53%), Highland Wildlife Park (-31%) and New Lanark World Heritage site (-19%); as well as some other larger sites National War Museum (-28%), People’s Palace (-52%)and Provand’s Lordship (-67%). Of the remainder who noted an increase, most were modest but some meaningful increases were noted at Burrell Collection (46%), Camera Obscura (20%), Camperdown Wildlife Centre (51%), Glasgow Cathedral (31%), Iona Abbey (786%) and Stirling Castle (32%), so helping to ameliorate the overall decrease.

AVERAGE SPEND DATA

We would like to thank everyone who submitted their spend on admission, retail and catering to Lynn Jones Research (LJR). This has allowed them to average these out across the country and for the first time, we are able to publish these (with confidence in their accuracy) which will allow you to start benchmarking your own figures with the national average. Figures are shown exclusive of VAT.

AVERAGE FOR OCTOBER 2011 (the number of sites contributing to each category is shown in brackets)

SPV = Spend Per Visitor Spend Per Ticket Sold = ticket income divided by number of tickets sold

No. of visitors Ticket SPV Spend per ticket sold Retail SPV Catering SPV 7317 (169) £1.65 (132) £5.28 (62) £1.91(90) £1.38 (14) Table 2 - average spends October 2011

LJR has done further breakdowns per attraction type and region (using the information supplied by you) but this has not been published as not every category has sufficient data to be meaningful.

It is hoped that as more sites contribute data over the coming months, more detailed benchmarking across sub-sector and geographic area will become available.

SITE NAME OCT 10 OCT 11 % CHANGE Aberdour Castle 1013 779 -23.1% Aberlour Distillery 486 566 16.5% Alloa Tower 1274 123 -90.3% Almond Valley Heritage Trust 9653 8859 -8.2% Angus Folk Museum 223 232 4.0% Arbroath Abbey 1154 724 -37.3% Arduaine Garden 805 504 -37.4% Argyll's Lodgings 1523 1353 -11.2% Auchindrain 395 415 5.1% Bachelors' Club 17 Balvenie Castle 75 Bannockburn 4744 4882 2.9% Barry Mill 179 285 59.2% Bishops & Earls Palaces 541 291 -46.2% Black House 461 371 -19.5% Blackness Castle 1410 924 -34.5% Blair Athol Distillery 3578 3771 5.4% Bonawe Iron Furnace closed closed Bothwell Castle 812 579 -28.7% Branklyn Garden 195 163 -16.4% Brodick Castle, Garden & Country Park 3436 3439 0.1% Brodie Castle 1723 1730 0.4% Brough of Birsay closed closed Broughton House & Garden 1447 1199 -17.1% Broughty Castle Museum 3055 2612 -14.5% Burrell Collection 11991 17475 45.7% Caerlaverock Castle 2395 2118 -11.6% Cairnpapple Hill closed closed Callendar House 2141 1774 -17.1% Camera Obscura & World of Illusions 19.6% Camperdown Wildlife Centre 3908 5911 51.3% Cardoness Castle 180 107 -40.6% Cardhu 178 408 129.2% Castle Campbell 1226 971 -20.8% Castle Fraser, Garden & Estate 1723 1353 -21.5% Castle Semple Centre 5864 5227 -10.9% Chatelherault Country Park 46705 34099 -27.0% City Art Centre 5112 7976 56.0% Clatteringshaws Visitor Centre 5430 4266 -21.4% Clynelish 175 147 -16.0% Corgarff Castle 106 107 0.9% Cragganmore 260 305 17.3% Craigievar Castle 170 684 302.4% Craigmillar Castle 1751 1202 -31.4% Craignethan Castle 178 175 -1.7% Crarae Garden 642 470 -26.8% Crathes Castle, Garden & Estate 4279 4630 8.2% Crichton Castle closed closed Crossraguel Abbey closed closed Culloden Battlefield visitor centre 9838 9295 -5.5% Culzean Country Park 17288 13215 -23.6% Dallas Dhu Distillery 463 455 -1.7% Dalwhinnie 2119 2794 31.9% David Livingstone Centre 2745 2564 -6.6% Dewar's World of Whisky 3112 2795 -10.2% Dirleton Castle 1601 1734 8.3% Discovery Point 5789 5355 -7.5% Doune Castle 2470 2690 8.9% Drum Castle, Garden & Estate 147 260 76.9% Drumpellier Country Park 68665 59779 -12.9% Dryburgh Abbey 1093 1230 12.5% Dumbarton Castle 1012 822 -18.8% Dumfries Museum & Camera Obscura 1202 1267 5.4% Dunblane Cathedral 1345 982 -27.0% Dundrennan Abbey 128 26 -79.7% Dunfermline Palace 996 688 -30.9% Dunstaffnage Castle 1253 787 -37.2% Edinburgh Butterfly & Insect World 7852 7231 -7.9% Edinburgh Castle 106592 103681 -2.7% Edzell Castle 404 332 -17.8% Elcho Castle 99 92 -7.1% Elgin Cathedral 460 1119 143.3% Falkland Palace & Garden 4135 4235 2.4% Forestry Commission-Glenmore Forest Visitor Centre 8098 Fort George 3967 3486 -12.1% Fyvie Castle 1165 1647 41.4% Gallery of Modern Art 41576 39289 -5.5% Geilston Garden 445 473 6.3% Georgian House 4932 4615 -6.4% Gladstone's Land 6290 5209 -17.2% Glasgow Cathedral 10094 13255 31.3% Glasgow Museums' Resource Centre 742 1249 68.3% Glasgow School of Art 1999 2016 0.9% Glen Ord 991 1748 76.4% Glencoe 2922 2924 0.1% Glenfinnan Monument 2352 1942 -17.4% Glenluce Abbey closed closed Glentrool Visitor Centre 7180 3404 -52.6% Greenbank Garden 2860 2372 -17.1% Groam House Museum 625 752 20.3% Gurness Broch 355 266 -25.1% Hackness 51 10 -80.4% Haddo House 321 351 9.3% Hermitage Castle closed closed Highland Folk Museum, Newtonmore 5795 5579 -3.7% Highland Wildlife Park 12250 8505 -30.6% Hill of Tarvit Mansionhouse & Garden 351 891 153.8% Holmwood 268 361 34.7% House Of Dun 751 976 30.0% House of the Binns 64 113 76.6% Hugh Miller Museum & Birthplace Cottage 54 348 544.4% Huntingtower Castle 739 854 15.6% Huntly Castle 863 883 2.3% Inchcolm Abbey 872 1799 106.3% Inchmahome Priory 781 805 3.1% Inveresk Lodge Garden 1010 85 -91.6% Inverewe Garden & Estate 3178 3408 7.2% Iona Abbey 343 3038 785.7% J M Barrie's Birthplace 627 391 -37.6% Jacobite Cruises 8763 8847 1.0% Jarlshof closed closed Jedburgh Abbey 1263 1159 -8.2% Kellie Castle & Garden 976 1063 8.9% Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum 75355 72786 -3.4% Kildrummy Castle closed closed Kinneil Museum 503 681 35.4% Kirriemuir Camera Obscura 37 90 143.2% Kirroughtree Visitor Centre 7050 4347 -38.3% Kisimul Castle closed closed Lauriston Castle 4541 4244 -6.5% Linlithgow Palace 3276 3137 -4.2% Lagavulin 682 788 15.5% Loch Leven Castle 1209 1202 -0.6% Lochnagar 1024 1325 29.4% Low Parks Museum 2845 2506 -11.9% Maclellans Castle closed closed Malleny Garden 0 265 Mcmanus Galleries 16031 15542 -3.1% Melrose Abbey 3627 2846 -21.5% Mills Observatory 1237 1027 -17.0% Moirlanich Longhouse 11 19 72.7% Mount Stuart 3265 2792 -14.5% Muirshiel Centre 1079 485 -55.1% National Mining Museum Scotland 4112 5656 37.5% National Museum of Costume 1945 1751 -10.0% National Museum of Flight 6908 6300 -8.8% National Museum of Rural Life 7976 6011 -24.6% National Museum of Scotland 57905 234752 National War Museum 53925 38675 -28.3% Nelson Monument 1765 552 -68.7% Nevis Range 8679 7016 -19.2% New Abbey Corn Mill 303 296 -2.3% New Lanark Visitor Centre 6903 5772 -16.4% New Lanark World Heritage Site 35450 28715 -19.0% Newark Castle closed closed Newhailes 106 188 77.4% Oban Distillery 2710 2861 5.6% Paisley Museum 2369 2740 15.7% Palacerigg Country Park 39107 42433 8.5% Park Gallery 1407 1657 17.8% People's Palace 22187 10653 -52.0% People's Story 5531 5040 -8.9% Pictavia 389 171 -56.0% Pitmedden Garden 469 471 0.4% Pollok House 5874 4920 -16.2% Preston Mill 74 71 -4.1% Priorwood Garden 861 930 8.0% Provand's Lordship 11463 559 -95.1% Queensferry Museum 510 559 9.6% Riverside Museum 11964 Robert Burns Birthplace Museum 38750 35343 -8.8% Robert Burns Centre 2031 1694 -16.6% Robert Burns House 911 616 -32.4% Robert Smail's Printing Works 419 502 19.8% Rothesay Castle 577 682 18.2% Royal Burgh of Culross 1069 992 -7.2% Scotland's People 2623 2231 -14.9% Scotland Street School Museum 5162 3943 -23.6% Scott Monument 6256 5650 -9.7% Scottish Fisheries Museum 7134 6500 -8.9% Scottish Seabird Centre 21696 20547 -5.3% Seton Collegiate closed closed Skara Brae 2095 1852 -11.6% Smailholm Tower 220 229 4.1% Souter Johnnie's Cottage 153 51 -66.7% Spynie Palace 153 172 12.4% Summerlee 12932 11687 -9.6% St Andrews Castle 3129 2526 -19.3% St Andrews Cathedral 790 1922 143.3% St Giles' Cathedral 65617 66260 1.0% St Mungo Museum 14521 7224 -50.3% St Serfs closed closed St Vigeans 74 53 -28.4% Stanley Mills 1485 1300 -12.5% Stirling Castle 26393 34872 32.1% Strathclyde Country Park 406213 404318 -0.5% Strathisla Distillery 758 772 1.8% Sweetheart Abbey 621 299 -51.9% Talisker 3825 4139 8.2% Tantallon Castle 2092 2049 -2.1% Tenement House 2559 2220 -13.2% The Glenlivet 2328 2650 13.8% The Hill House 2279 2429 6.6% The Scotch Whisky Experience 23516 24742 5.2% The Scottish Parliament 23516 35105 49.3% Thomas Carlyle's Birthplace 28 49 75.0% Travelling Gallery 2265 2008 -11.3% Threave Castle 869 721 -17.0% Threave Estate 5663 4990 -11.9% Tolquhon Castle 210 237 12.9% Tomatin Distillery Visitor Centre 1552 1605 3.4% Tormiston Mill 950 731 -23.1% Trinity House 0 65 Urquhart Castle 18221 18656 2.4% Verdant Works 1100 1402 27.5% Weaver's Cottage 19 20 5.3% Writers' Museum 3407 3630 6.5% TOTAL SCOTLAND 1705175 1614114 -5.3%

YEAR TO DATE

Scotland excl Scotland excl % Scotland incl Scotland incl % NMS 2010 NMS 2011 change NMS 2010 NMS 2011 change Jan-Sept 18,038,750 18,125,800 0.5% 18,257,806 18,837,868 3.2% October 1,705,175 1,614,114 -5.3% 1,763,080 1,849,486 4.9% YTD 19,743,925 19,739,914 0.0% 20,020,886 20,687,354 3.3% Table 4 – Year to Date 2010.11

The table above shows the year to date both including and excluding the fully re-opened National Museum of Scotland.