Free Weekend success

25 April 2007

Historic Scotland is delighted to announce an impressive turnout for its annual Free Weekend when visitors can see 75 great heritage attractions without paying a penny.

Provisional figures show that 73,900 people enjoyed a free day out at castles, abbeys and other ancient monuments on 21 Saturday and Sunday 22 April 2007.

This was the second highest ever Free Weekend number, well ahead of Historic Scotland’s own target of 60,000 – and figures from some sites are still coming in.

It was also 16,450 above the average Free Weekend turnout of around 57,450.

Fiona Docherty, Head of Visitor Services and Business Development at Historic Scotland said: "We are thrilled that the Free Weekend was such a success. It shows how much people treasure Scotland’s fabulous heritage."

The Free Weekend attracts people of all ages and from all walks of life to make the most of the historic attractions at the heart of their communities.

Extra staff were on duty at key sites and special arrangements – such as a park and ride option at Stirling Castle – were put in place to handle to the crowds.

Fiona continued: "Even though the Free Weekend brings exceptionally high visitor numbers, we strive to make sure their experience is as special as on any other day of the year. And I would like to thank all the Historic Scotland staff who volunteered their services over the weekend to help us handle the extra visitors. They made sure that people were welcomed with a smile and that the drizzle did not dampen our visitors’ spirits."

Attracting nearly 74,000 was especially pleasing as this year’s Free Weekend did not coincide with a normally busy period, such as school or bank holidays.
Fiona added: "Our targets are always geared to achieving a major increase in the number of visitors who would normally be expected for the time of year. This year’s target was ambitious and it is great to see that we not only passed it, but reached our second-highest ever figure."

The 2007 Free Weekend was supported in communication by a nationwide TV campaign reaching all over Scotland and the North of England.


Notes for editors
The Free Weekend of 2005 attracted 49,000 visitors. Last year, however, broke all the records with 103,000 visitors due to a special combination of factors meaning that it took place at the start of the Easter school break and at the opening of the tourist season.

A list of visitor numbers for some attractions involved in the Historic Scotland Free Weekend on 21 and 22 April is given below. Please note that the Palace of Holyrood House, Holyrood Abbey and Duff House (Banff) were not included in the Free Weekend.

The Free Weekend 2006 attracted new visitors to historic sites, with 20% having never visited an Historic Scotland attraction previously. Overall, visitor satisfaction ratings during the weekend were extremely high with 95% or more visitors citing they were ‘very satisfied’ with the service and overall experience at each of the attractions.

Historic Scotland has 345 outstanding properties in its care, including some of the country’s leading visitor attractions - Edinburgh, Stirling and Urquhart castles, Fort George, Linlithgow Palace and Skara Brae. Some 75 of these visitor attractions are admission based and 270 are free entry. Visitor numbers can only be monitored at staffed sites.

Property	Year 2007	2006	2005
Dumfries and Galloway
Caerlaverock Castle	969	807	559
Cardoness Castle	179	137	82
New Abbey Corn Mill	287	194	144
Sweetheart Abbey	190	209	103
Borders
Dryburgh Abbey	616	559	315
Hermitage Castle	144	124	141
Jedburgh Abbey	500	485	366
Melrose Abbey	855	1033	640
Smailholm Tower	283	418	227
Edinburgh and Lothians
Blackness Castle	1394	1719	485
Craigmillar Castle	1151	1936	363
Dirleton Castle	1105	1922	754
Edinburgh Castle	25604	37404	21023
Linlithgow Palace	5118	6432	2023
Tantallon Castle	1090	1260	523
Glasgow, Clyde, Ayrshire
Bothwell Castle	500	343	89
Dumbarton Castle	472	945	212
Newark Castle	549	305	96
Rothesay Castle	545	158	113
Central and West
Argyll's Lodging	1988	3035	921
Castle Campbell	545	613	387
Doune Castle	790	1663	531
Dunstaffnage Castle	254	388	223
Iona Abbey	97	216	156
Stirling Castle	11390	17850	7728
Fife
St Andrews Castle	1777	2724	1070
St Andrews Cathedral	941	1185	500
Perthshire, Kinross & Angus
Arbroath Abbey	597	655	288
Edzell Castle	521	449	348
Elcho Castle	412	508	222
North and Grampian
Corgarff Castle	269	168	135
Elgin Cathedral	782	927	372
Urquhart Castle	2859	3703	2333
Orkney
Bishop's & Earl's Palaces	296	186	132
Broch of Gurness	213	204	145
Maeshowe	281	259	269
Skara Brae	661	629	453