The David Welch Winter Gardens in Duthie Park, Aberdeen, has attained 14th place in the latest figures reflecting Scotland’s top 20 free tourist attractions, according to VisitScotland’s Scottish Visitor Attraction Monitor, which was announced earlier this month.
Attracting 309,786 visitors in 2006, the Winter Gardens made the top 20 alongside other top Scottish tourist attractions including Glasgow Botanic Gardens, the Falkirk Wheel and St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh.
The top free attractions included Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum with 1.88 million visitors followed by the National Gallery of Scotland Complex and the National Museum of Scotland.
Top of the list of paid attractions again for 2006 was Edinburgh Castle, which has topped the list since 1991 when the report was first compiled. Edinburgh Zoo and Edinburgh Bus Tours also make it into the top three paid attractions.
Across the whole of Scotland there was a rise in the number of visitors to attractions to 45.3 million visitors - a rise of 6 per cent, compared with 2005.
Other attractions in the North East which performed well in 2006 include Findhorn Heritage Centre, with visitor numbers up 43.6% on the previous year, Corgarff Castle in Strathdon boasting a 27.2% growth on 2005, Huntly Castle with 26.5%, the Speyide Way Visitor Centre in Aberlour at 13.6%, and Aberdeen Art Gallery with 13.2%.
Ian Dunlop, Area Director for VisitScotland Aberdeen and Grampian said: “Aberdeen and Grampian’s wide range of visitor attractions are an essential part of our tourism industry here in the North East, attracting visitors from Scotland, the rest of the UK and around the world. Renowned for its abundance of castles and whisky distilleries, the region also boasts some of the finest parks and gardens in the country, as reflected in the Winter Gardens’ rightful place amongst Scotland’s top 20 free attractions. Each and every attraction plays an integral role in helping the tourism industry to reach its shared ambition of growing revenues from tourism by 50 per cent by 2015.”
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.
