ASVA VISITOR TREND REPORT - JULY 2011/2012

OVERVIEW

 Visitor figures for JULY 2011/2012 were received from 241 sites.  There were 5 sites for which there was not comparable data for 2011, so the 2012 figures are shown below but have not been included in the calculations.  5 sites requested confidentiality, and although their numbers have been included in the calculations, they do not appear in the tables below.  The figures for the National Museum of are published below for information but they have not been included in the calculations as the site was still only partially open for most of July 2011, prior to the re-opening of the whole site on July 29th last year. If their figures had been included in the calculations, the decrease reduces to 6%.  The figures for the National Galleries of Scotland are shown in the table but were not included in the calculations. As the data supplied is shown as one figure, the numbers from the National Portrait Gallery appear to have been included in the 2012 figure but the site was closed throughout much of 2011 for extensive refurbishment.  Comparable data was received from 233 sites. The total number of visits recorded in July 2012 was 3,611,908 this compares with 3,922,987 in 2011 and shows a decrease -7.9%.

July 2012 across Scotland was dull and cool with higher than average rainfall. Aviemore saw the lowest daytime temperature in the UK at jut 10.3C on the 7th, whilst at Tulloch Bridge the coolest overnight temperature was just above freezing at 0.8C on the night of 30/31 July. Overall the country had 136% of average rainfall (except for the far north of the country which was unusually dry) and the sun was an infrequent phenomenon too, with just 61% of average sunshine recorded. Eskdalemuir had just 48 hours of sunshine in July, a new UK record low. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/aug/05/weatherwatch-july-rainfall-sunshine-temperature

JULY 2011 JULY 2012 % change SCOTLAND TOTAL (233) 3,922,987 3,611,908 -7.9% Table 1 – Scotland July 2011/2012

Against the continuing inclement weather conditions, it is hardly surprising that almost 70% of respondents reported a decrease, but such a large decrease is problematic as loss of turnover in a peak trading month is unlikely ever to be recovered. Up and down the country weather dependent sites including country parks, gardens, and boat trips noted a decline in their visitor numbers. The is showing a downturn of over 50% in numbers but it should be noted that in July 2011 it had just opened its doors for the first time to record numbers. If we take the Riverside Museum figures out of the equation, the overall decrease looks somewhat improved at -4.2% Alongside the overall gloomy picture, some larger sites showed some decent increase which helped to mitigate the national figures somewhat – Edinburgh Zoo (37%) thanks to the pandas, Glasgow Cathedral (10%), Highland Wildlife Park (45%) continuing interest in the new polar bears, Johnson’s of Elgin (25%), Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum (20%), Strathclyde Country Park (10%) and the Royal Yacht Britannia (15%).

ATTRACTION NAME JULY 2011 JULY 2012 % change

Aberdour Castle 2414 2617 8.4% Aberlour Distillery 813 982 20.8% 1170 922 -21.2% Almond Valley Heritage Trust 19318 18361 -5.0% 799 694 -13.1% Arbroath Abbey 1790 2309 29.0% Arduaine Garden 2587 2484 -4.0% Argyll's Lodgings 2113 2572 21.7% Auchindrain 1009 933 -7.5% Bachelors' Club 152 170 11.8% Balvenie Castle 1251 987 -21.1% Bannockburn 6762 6280 -7.1% 344 312 -9.3% Benmore Botanic Garden 7294 5650 -22.5% Bishops & Earls Palaces 2788 2656 -4.7% Black House 2994 2200 -26.5% Blackness Castle 2637 2236 -15.2% Blair Athol Distillery Visitor Centre 6962 6290 -9.7% Blair Castle 21110 21144 0.2% Bonawe Iron Furnace 1133 823 -27.4% Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway 6826 8302 21.6% Bothwell Castle 1927 1430 -25.8% Branklyn Garden 1317 936 -28.9% Brodick Castle 6627 6277 -5.3% Brodick Garden & Country Park 10260 8552 -16.6% Brodie Castle 3531 3671 4.0% Brough of Birsay 2178 1365 -37.3% Broughton House & Garden 2317 1702 -26.5% Museum 6052 5562 -8.1% Caerlaverock Castle 6074 5472 -9.9% Cairnpapple Hill 627 88 -86.0% Caithness Horizons 7456 Callendar House 5038 4911 -2.5% Camera Obscura and World of Illusions -3.3% Camperdown Wildlife Centre 15293 14128 -7.6% Caol Ila 255 Cardoness Castle 893 921 3.1% Cardhu Distillery 759 Castle Campbell 2822 2073 -26.5% Castle Fraser, Garden & Estate 4070 2819 -30.7% Chatelherault Country Park 77633 63045 -18.8% 5433 4544 -16.4% Clyde Muirshiel - Greenock Cut Visitor Centre 9842 3946 -59.9% Clyde Muirshiel - Muirshiel Country Park 4153 3288 -20.8% Clynelish Distillery Visitor Centre 616 509 -17.4% Corgarff Castle 1097 660 -39.8% Cragganmore Distillery Visitor Centre 417 264 -36.7% Craigievar Castle 2182 2091 -4.2% Craigmillar Castle 2996 2860 -4.5% Craignethan Castle 964 858 -11.0% Crarae Garden 1382 1253 -9.3% Crathes Castle, Garden & Estate 14389 12911 -10.3% Crichton Castle 721 330 -54.2% Crossraguel Abbey 605 496 -18.0% Culloden Battlefield visitor centre 18402 18271 -0.7% Culzean Castle 15209 14527 -4.5% Culzean Country Park 32827 28900 -12.0% Dallas Dhu Distillery 2118 2065 -2.5% Dalwhinnie Distillery Visitor Centre 5196 2745 -47.2% 4044 3285 -18.8% Dawyck Botanic Garden 3086 2558 -17.1% Dewar's World of Whisky 3785 3708 -2.0% Dirleton Castle 4540 4163 -8.3% Discovery Point 7175 7886 9.9% Doune Castle 6834 6481 -5.2% Drum Castle, Garden & Estate 3569 3474 -2.7% Drumpellier Country Park 118375 116188 -1.8% Dryburgh Abbey 4242 3619 -14.7% Dumbarton Castle 2322 2524 8.7% & Camera Obscura 2359 2077 -12.0% Dunblane Cathedral 1871 1241 -33.7% Dundee Science Centre 10667 11061 3.7% Dundonald Castle 1809 1548 -14.4% Dundrennan Abbey 484 589 21.7% Dunfermline Palace 2430 2534 4.3% Dunstaffnage Castle 3430 2876 -16.2% Edinburgh Butterfly & Insect World 11576 13688 18.2% Edinburgh Castle 203940 164075 -19.5% Edinburgh Zoo 79775 109059 36.7% Edzell Castle 1186 1119 -5.6% Elcho Castle 1289 891 -30.9% Elgin Cathedral 6381 5468 -14.3% Falkland Palace & Garden 9296 8404 -9.6% Forestry Commission - Clatteringshaws Visitor Centre 3603 2795 -22.4% Forestry Commission - Glenmore Forest Park Visitor Centre 10097 11132 10.3% Forestry Commission - Glentrool Visitor Centre 6260 4083 -34.8% Forestry Commission - Kirroughtree Visitor Centre 6817 4036 -40.8% Fort George 10419 9329 -10.5% Fyvie Castle 4723 3928 -16.8% Gallery of Modern Art 62992 62071 -1.5% Geilston Garden 1811 1138 -37.2% Georgian House 7166 6382 -10.9% Gladstone's Land 7591 6707 -11.6% Glasgow Cathedral 26928 29567 9.8% Glasgow Museums Resource Centre 1418 1189 -16.1% Glasgow Science Centre 54987 59609 8.4% Glen Ord Distillery Visitor Centre 3278 2679 -18.3% Glencoe 5939 4763 -19.8% Glenfinnan Monument 3899 3490 -10.5% Glenkinchie Distillery Visitor Centre 3882 2550 -34.3% Glenlivet Distillery 6835 6823 -0.2% Glenluce Abbey 190 250 31.6% Grampian Transport Museum 5863 5340 -8.9% Greenbank Garden 5026 3771 -25.0% Groam House Museum 1132 1174 3.7% Gurness Broch 2484 2218 -10.7% Hackness 529 130 -75.4% Haddo House 803 974 21.3% Hermitage Castle 1040 939 -9.7% Hidden Treasures, Lead Mining Museum 1424 1006 -29.4% , Newtonmore 13119 12050 -8.1% Highland Wildlife Park 15797 22849 44.6% Hill of Tarvit Mansionhouse & Garden 1290 1471 14.0% Holmwood 605 473 -21.8% House for an Art Lover 1068 1245 16.6% House Of Dun 1653 1994 20.6% House of the Binns 1088 914 -16.0% Hugh Miller Museum & Birthplace Cottage 913 865 -5.3% Huntingtower Castle 1391 1230 -11.6% Huntly Castle 2452 1962 -20.0% Inchcolm Abbey 6988 4491 -35.7% Inchmahome Priory 4216 3090 -26.7% Inveraray Castle 15408 12981 -15.8% Inveresk Lodge Garden 382 395 3.4% Inverewe Garden & Estate 15987 14642 -8.4% Iona Abbey 322 492 52.8% J M Barrie's Birthplace 1098 859 -21.8% Jacobite Cruises Ltd 27266 22018 -19.2% Jarlshof 3907 4247 8.7% Jedburgh Abbey 4108 3525 -14.2% Johnstons of Elgin 14636 18226 24.5% Kellie Castle & Garden 3121 3333 6.8% Kelvingrove Art Gallery 94991 113792 19.8% Kildrummy Castle 1470 981 -33.3% Kirriemuir Camera Obscura 878 628 -28.5% Kisimul Castle 1794 1155 -35.6% Lagavulin Distillery Visitor Centre 1082 938 -13.3% Lauriston Castle 8321 8307 -0.2% Linlithgow Palace 20291 13164 -35.1% Loch Leven 5172 4564 -11.8% Logan Botanic Garden 3670 2949 -19.6% Low Parks Museum 2563 3195 24.7% Macduff Marine Aquarium 8205 8869 8.1% Maclellans Castle 1056 1198 13.4% Mcmanus Galleries 14275 13683 -4.1% Meigle Museum 687 515 -25.0% Melrose Abbey 9660 8755 -9.4% 874 843 -3.5% Moirlanich Longhouse 161 184 14.3% Mount Stuart 4409 5233 18.7% Mugdock Country Park 69218 59407 -14.2% Museum of Childhood 35618 36812 3.4% 5112 5274 3.2% National Galleries of Scotland 139497 165367 National Mining Museum Scotland 5652 5725 1.3% National Museum of Costume 2566 2720 6.0% National Museum of Flight 19134 19674 2.8% National Museum of Rural Life 8901 7553 -15.1% National Museum of Scotland 108315 208358 72380 64381 -11.1% Nelson Monument 5044 3912 -22.4% New Abbey Corn Mill 695 923 32.8% Visitor Centre 8437 8118 -3.8% New Lanark World Heritage Site 40320 35500 -12.0% Newark Castle 777 658 -15.3% Newhailes 2001 1330 -33.5% Oban Distillery Visitor Centre 6772 5789 -14.5% Paisley Museum 2009 2090 4.0% Palacerigg Country Park 76016 76814 1.0% Peoples Story 6615 8128 22.9% Pictavia 526 538 2.3% Pitmedden Garden 4537 4415 -2.7% Pollok House 5850 6035 3.2% Preston Mill 814 469 -42.4% Priorwood Garden 1590 1433 -9.9% Provand's Lordship 9262 8512 -8.1% Queensferry Museum 800 510 -36.3% Riverside Museum 302606 137606 -54.5% Robert Burns Birthplace Museum 44891 40967 -8.7% Robert Burns Centre 2318 3282 41.6% Robert Burns House 1558 1755 12.6% Robert Smail's Printing Works 495 416 -16.0% Rothesay Castle 1330 1436 8.0% Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 107840 68824 -36.2% Royal Burgh of Culross 2430 2237 -7.9% Royal Lochnagar Distillery Visitor Centre 2083 1667 -20.0% Scotland Street School Museum 4425 5754 30.0% Scotland's People Centre 2111 1813 -14.1% Scotland's Secret Bunker 6746 6664 -1.2% Scott Monument 12058 10827 -10.2% Scottish Crannog Centre 3626 Scottish Dolphin Centre 17565 Scottish Fisheries Museum 12515 10389 -17.0% Scottish Seabird Centre 42199 36778 -12.8% Seton Collegiate 443 275 -37.9% Skara Brae 16084 15395 -4.3% Smailholm Tower 752 791 5.2% Souter Johnnie's Cottage 304 377 24.0% Spynie Palace 1465 1199 -18.2% St Andrews Castle 10849 10450 -3.7% St Andrews Cathedral 7906 5521 -30.2% St Giles' Cathedral 118896 122308 2.9% St Serfs 705 487 -30.9% St Vigeans 133 84 -36.8% Stanley Mills 1853 1655 -10.7% Stirling Castle 201252 184860 -8.1% Strathclyde Country Park 570041 628975 10.3% Strathisla Distillery 1561 2100 34.5% Summerlee Museum 37922 29422 -22.4% Sweetheart Abbey 1484 994 -33.0% Talisker Distillery Visitor Centre 9384 8087 -13.8% Tantallon Castle 5231 5352 2.3% Tenement House 2424 2555 5.4% The 22888 19262 -15.8% The Falkirk Wheel 83776 65471 -21.8% The Glasgow School of Art 3352 3617 7.9% The Hill House 3753 3910 4.2% The Museum of the University of St Andrews 4484 5479 22.2% The People's Palace Museum 26489 34318 29.6% The Royal Yacht Britannia 35370 40810 15.4% The Scotch Whisky Experience 36904 30340 -17.8% The Scottish Parliament 30277 34220 13.0% The St Mungo Museum of Religious Life And Art 12999 15341 18.0% The Willow Tea Rooms 13860 13612 -1.8% Thomas Carlyle's Birthplace 279 110 -60.6% Threave Castle 3142 2586 -17.7% Threave Estate 8451 8413 -0.4% Tolquhon Castle 1033 960 -7.1% Tomatin Distillery Visitor Centre 2738 3075 12.3% Tormiston Mill 4783 4942 3.3% Urquhart Castle 64159 54428 -15.2% 1857 1428 -23.1% Weaver's Cottage 250 283 13.2% Writers Museum 6103 5100 -16.4% SCOTLAND TOTAL 39222987 3611908 -7.9% Table 2 – individual site listing 2011.12

AVERAGE SPEND DATA

We would like to thank everyone who submitted data on admission, retail and catering spend to Lynn Jones Research (LJR). This allows them to calculate averages and we are able to publish these below (with confidence in their accuracy). In turn, this will allow you to start benchmarking your own figures with the national average. You may notice that month on month there are variations in the average spend, this is because the sample size for each month is different. It is hoped that as more of you start to supply monthly figures, the bigger data set will note less of a variation. This will be further helped once we have year on year comparative data (in 2013). Figures are shown exclusive of VAT.

AVERAGE SPENDS IN JULY 2012 (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 – please contact us if you need more information on how these figures are reached and the difference between them.

No. of visitors Ticket SPV Spend per ticket sold Retail SPV Catering SPV Gift Aid 16566 (244) £3.54 (150) £5.50 (73) £1.31 (109) £0.77 (37) £0.45`(9) Table 3 - average spends JULY 2012

Further breakdowns per attraction type and region (using the information supplied by you) has been done but not 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.

CUMULATIVE YEAR TO DATE

January – June cumulative 11887033 11980231 0.8% July 3922978 3611908 -7.9% Year to date (Jan – July) 15810020 15592139 -1.4% Table 4 – cumulative trends 2011.12

OTHER ANECDOTAL COMMENT (not noted above)

DiscoveryPoint “Continuing disruption due to extensive road works and ongoing city development work.”

Dundee Science Centre “We performed well against budget both in terms of revenue and admission targets. Our headlining Summer Robots exhibition and wet weather resulted in the increase.”

Groam House Museum “Visitor numbers were up 3.7% on the previous year but sales were down 19.3%. We feel that the recession is really biting this year.”

Highland Folk Museum “Numbers down year on year - usual suspects- economy, Olympics, weather, fuel costs.”

Scotch Whisky Experience “Olympics had negative impact on monthly number.”

Greenock Cut Visitor Centre “Main access road closed.”

Inveraray Castle “Numbers down by 15.8% on last year's figures. We had been ahead on visitor numbers up until the end of June and attribute the fall in visitor numbers to the Olympics. A number of overseas coach operators were not bringing groups back until after the Olympics due to the price of flights and hotel beds in London and domestic visitors were just not out and about.”

Forestry Commission – Clatteringshaws Visitor Centre “closed for 8 days due to emergency maintenance work.”

Paisley Museum “Main permanent exhibition space is currently closed for refurbishment”