Tourism up in the North East

Aberdeenshire tourist attractions are attracting more people this year than last year.

Figures released by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) show nearly 98,000 people visited Crathes Castle in 2016 – up from 42,311 in 2015 – a upturn of 134.5% in 12 months.

Drum Castle in Banchory saw an increase of 87.5% more visitors in 2016 than in 2015 – while Ellon’s Pitmedden Gardens saw an upsurge of 112.5% to attract 33,095 visitors.

With the National Trust For Scotland (NTS) reporting a national increase of 7%, the news that the tourism industry in Aberdeenshire is booming is being welcomed.

Stuart Donaldson, MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, said: “The upsurge in visitor numbers to Crathes and Drum Castle is incredible.

“As the slogan goes, we are ‘Scotland’s Castle Country.’ With 19, we have more castles per acre than anywhere else in the UK.

“Visit Scotland have done some fantastic work in driving up tourism within Aberdeenshire by creating a castle trail and their project is clearly working.

“Scotland is a beautiful country and the economic benefits of tourism, both from a local and national perspective, cannot be underplayed. “

Aberdeenshire East MSP Gillian Martin is also thrilled with the news that Pitmedden Gardens is drawing the crowds back in.

The Great Garden is said to date back to 1675 when it was originally laid out by Sir Alexander Seton.

It was re-created in the 1950s based on 17th-centure plans of the gardens at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.

And Martin said: “The North East has an abundance of tourist attractions which many people simply do not know about.

“It’s great to see a boost in visitor numbers of more than 100%. Pitmedden Garden is one of my constituency’s best kept secrets and it is brilliant that more and more people are discovering this hidden treasure.”

Iain Hawkins, the National Trust for Scotland’s Genera Manager for North East Scotland, said:

“It has been good to see visitor numbers increase across all NTS properties by around 7% in the last year.

“Improvements in the North East though have been pretty exceptional.  This is due to a range of factors but for Drum and Crathes Castles in particular, our events programming has definitely played a part.

“We are giving more people more opportunities to come back regularly to enjoy their  heritage through one-off events and seasonal programming, notably at Easter and Halloween.

“In the case of Drum, the fact that we are hosting some of Aberdeen Art Gallery’s collections during its refurbishment has attracted many people out to see this fabulous, historic property.

“The heritage of the North East is truly exceptional and it is great to see so many people coming out to enjoy it.”