A BAN on coaches entering Edinburgh Castle's esplanade could have a serious impact on visitor numbers to the attraction, it has been warned.
Historic Scotland is looking to ban coaches in order to reduce traffic around the Castle entrance, and is set to run a trial scheme later this year.
Tourist organisations have warned that the plans will cause considerable difficulty for elderly v
isitors to the Castle, and could lead to many companies missing out the famous landmark.
The move follows discussions between the tour organisations and Historic Scotland over concerns about the amount of traffic in the area round Castlehill.
While the coaches will be banned from the Castle Esplanade, a coach drop-off point will be created at the top of Johnston Terrace, with loading and unloading restricted on Castlehill during the day to further reduce traffic.
Historic Scotland will be providing staff at the top of Johnston Terrace to support the arrival of visitors, and also plans to put on a courtesy vehicle service for disabled visitors.
But tour groups from around Britain wrote to the council to express their concern that the new drop-off point was too far from the Castle entrance.
The changes could be further affected by plans to ban coach parking further down on Johnston Terrace, over concerns about loose boulders from Castle Rock.
Patricia Blaine, director of the Scottish Tourist Guides Association, said there were fears it could hit the number of people visiting the Castle.
"The problem is at the moment we have a lot of tourist coaches taking visitors right up to the esplanade and that will no longer be possible," she said.
"The courtesy bus will not cover a lot of our clients, most of whom are over 50.
"We will have to take a longer route, and buses could take longer to arrive at the proposed pick-up point outside the Hub if they are no longer to park on Johnston Terrace. The cumulative effect of all of this is that it will be a lot more difficult, and a lot more time- consuming, to take groups of visitors to Edinburgh Castle and that could have a knock-on effect.
"It happened in Paris when similar restrictions were brought in around Notre Dame Cathedral – we saw a lot of companies simply stop running tours there."
A spokeswoman for Historic Scotland said: "The aim is to design a pedestrian and traffic management system which meets everyone's needs and improves the experience for all visitors to what is an integral part of the World Heritage site.
"It is hoped that this initiative will enhance the experience of visitors to Edinburgh as well as pedestrians, local workers and businesses."
• www.historic-scotland.gov.uk