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Edinburgh heads list of top 10 Scottish tourist attractions
Edinburgh heads the list of top 10 Scottish tourist attractions . Edinburgh Castle and the National Museum of Scotland topped the list of the most popular attractions in Scotland . There were four million more visitors to Scotland’s main tourist sites last year, according to new research. Numbers soared to 47 million with the opening of Riverside Museum in Glasgow and the relaunch of the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.
The national museum was the busiest attraction with nearly 1.5 million visitors.
The 141% rise on the previous year’s figure followed a major refurbishment.
Researchers from Glasgow Caledonian University’s Moffat Centre based their findings on 649 tourist sites across Scotland.
They found the new Riverside Museum in Glasgow attracted more than one million visitors since its opening in June 2011, while St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh enjoyed a 20% rise to more than 851,000.
Historic Scotland’s Edinburgh Castle was once again the biggest paid-admission attraction, with more than 1.3 million visitors.
Stirling Castle enjoyed a rise of 14.9% to 433,393, following a £12m refurbishment of the Palace Apartments.
The National Trust for Scotland’s Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Alloway, on the outskirts of Ayr, saw an increase of 49.1% to 444,947, following its relaunch in 2010.
Prof John Lennon, director of the Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism Business Development, said: “Partly as a result of the new and upgraded attractions, the Scottish tourism industry continues to develop and we see positive trends.
“In previous years’ we’ve had shocks such as the volcanic ash cloud and security issues which have negatively impacted on the figures.
“No doubt the recession and fuel costs have also taken their toll, particularly on the smaller and more remote attractions without a secure source of funding.”
VisitScotland chief executive Malcolm Roughead said: “These are extremely encouraging figures, helped in no small part by the continuing trend for Scots holidaying at home and the ‘daycation’ market, which last year contributed £6.2bn to the Scottish economy.”
Top 10 Scottish visitor attractions 2011 |
|
|---|---|
| Source: Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism Business Development | |
| 1. National Museum of Scotland | 1,494,728 |
| 2. Edinburgh Castle (paid admission) | 1,302,825 |
| 3. Riverside Museum | 1,068,986 |
| 4. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum | 981,787 |
| 5. Scottish National Gallery | 925,575 |
| 6. St Giles’ Cathedral | 851,375 |
| 7. Royal Botanic Garden | 790,545 |
| 8. Gretna Green’s Blacksmith’s Shop | 723,576 |
| 9. Gallery of Modern Art | 606,989 |
| 10.Edinburgh Bus Tours (paid admission) | 554,117 |
Controversial new film Killer Joe premiered uncut at Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh International Film Festival has today announced that the latest film by The French Connection and The Exorcist director William Friedkin, the “shockingly cool and blackly comic” noir thriller Killer Joe will open the festival this June.
Killer Joe will be the Opening Gala for the 66th edition of the festival on Wednesday, 20 June. The EIFF runs from 20 June to 1 July 2012.
The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Gina Gershon and Thomas Haden Church.
EIFF artistic director Chris Fujiwara said: “We’re delighted to be opening this year’s Festival with Killer Joe.
“For my first year as artistic director, I intend to deliver a diverse programme that will spotlight filmmaking of real artistic distinction. William Friedkin’s exhilarating, intense, and brilliantly crafted film is absolutely in keeping with this ambition.”
The film will have its UK premiere at Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre, with William Friedkin and cast in attendance, before opening nationwide on June 29.
Friedkin said: “Killer Joe is about the Good and Evil in everyone, the struggle for our better angels to triumph over our demons. Often lost. The thin line between the policeman and the criminal.
“It’s also a riff on the Cinderella story, wherein she finds her prince, but he turns out to be a hired killer.
“I would also like to thank the Edinburgh International Film Festival for honouring our film with this screening, uncut, of a film the Motion Picture Association of America has expressed a desire to censor.”
Olympic rings on the Mound in Edinburgh
After one false start the Olympic rings are to be featured on the Mound in Edinburgh. A set of 8m (26ft) Olympic rings are to be sited on The Mound after plans were approved by councillors. The UK government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport applied to place the huge aluminium rings as a focal point for Olympic celebrations.The DCMS said it planned for the rings to be illuminated at night.Plans for a 60-metre tall Ferris wheel in Princes Street Gardens have also been given the green light. Ticket sales for the Olympic football matches at Hampden have been slow so far with less than 10% of the tickets being sold.
The initial plan is for the wheel to be open from April to October, with the possibility of making it a year-round attraction in the future.
The Olympic rings are being funded by the UK government. It follows a plan to put the rings on Edinburgh Castle, which was withdrawn after meeting public opposition.
An offer to put the rings at the Hillend Ski centre in Midlothian was rejected.
The Mound is an artificial hill in central Edinburgh which connects Edinburgh’s New Town and Old Town.The Olympic rings will be visible throughout much of the centre of the city, especially the main shopping street Princes Street.The Olympic torch will be visiting Edinburgh on 13 June, where there will be an evening celebration.
Edinburgh Corn Exchange wins Large Venue Award
Edinburgh Corn Exchange has beaten off stiff competition to win the Scotland’s Best Large Venue award in the Prestigious Scottish Event Awards.
The Edinburgh Corn Exchange re-opened as an events venue 11 years ago with eight flexible spaces ranging from 70 square metres to 1,400 square metres that can be used for a wide range of events, including conferences, concerts, product launches, weddings, and parties. It can host intimate weddings for 30, conferences for up to 1500 delegates, dinners for 1,000, and concerts for 3,000 people.
The Edinburgh Corn Exchange beat the Scottish Exhibition + Conference Centre (SECC) in Glasgow to take the accolade of Scotland’s Best Large Venue.
Scott Snedden, Venue Manager at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be named Best Large Venue in Scotland, especially when you consider the competition, it definitely puts this award into perspective. We were initially delighted to play host to the awards, the first time they have been held in Edinburgh, but to be named as winners certainly puts the icing on the cake!
Managing Director Paul Demarco added: “To attract the industry awards to our venue has been a great opportunity to showcase the diversity we have to offer, and it has been a real occasion to shine among the company of our contemporaries.”
In 2010/11, the Corn Exchange hosted 350 events for more than 320 clients, welcoming more than 120,000 local, national and international guests. Conferences have included the British Wind Energy Association, HIT Scotland Emerging Talent, Business Gateway, and the Scottish Government. Among the expo’s hosted this year have been the Edinburgh Wedding Fair, Skills Development Scotland, the 1st Scottish Tattoo Convention and the Scottish Enterprise Fair.
Recent concerts have included Beady Eye, You Me At Six, and The Script, and coming up later, the Corn Exchange will host the Scottish Creative Awards, the Daily Record Health Awards, and the Edinburgh Art Fair
Edinburgh travel disruption expected from gale force winds
Edinburgh has been put on alert to expect widespread potential travel chaos caused by gale force winds forecast to hit the capital today.
There were fears too that trees could be uprooted, buildings damaged and possibly localised flooding in some parts.
Gusts of up to 70mph have been forecast to hit the region as the tail end of Hurricane Katia which began to reach Scotland early this morning on its path eastwards.
Forecasters said the worst was predicted to hit Edinburgh and area sometime between 3pm and 9pm.
At the moment there are delays of up to an hour on flights coming into Edinburgh Airport but no cancellations.
Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service issued an early warning urging drivers in particular to take care.
It said: “With severe weather warning in place we urge you to take care when travelling today. Driving conditions may be adversely affected.”
Speed restrictions were already in place by 10am this morning at the Forth Road Bridge which closed to all high-sided vehicles.
Other traffic was being limited to travelling at just 40mph because of the strong winds already being recorded.
Traffic Scotland – who had teams of experts monitoring the picture – said the restrictions had already caused delays of more than an hour during the peak morning rush.
ScotRail said train services in and out of Edinburgh were at risk of disruption caused by any problems with overhead cables or flooding.
But they said extra crews were already in place to try and cope.
They said: “ScotRail advises customers to check our website before travel.