EDINBURGH Castle enjoyed its most successful year ever in 2007, say Historic Scotland figures.
Visitor figures were up two per cent on 2006, with 1,229,703 visitors heading to see the attraction. This is slightly higher than their previous best figure in 2004-5, when 1.226 million people came through the doors.
Castle chiefs have just compl
eted a £2.7m project to cut queues at the attraction and offer online booking of tickets. A new reception area and dedicated front of house team for visitors were also introduced in the overhaul.
Visitor numbers at Urquhart and Stirling castles also increased last year, according to statistics produced for the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions.
Peter Bromley, Historic Scotland director of properties in care, said: "I would like to thank all our staff for their hard work which helped achieve another excellent year for three of Scotland's most popular visitor attractions.
"The figures show that despite tough competition in the UK and overseas markets, and the fluctuating fortunes of the tourism industry, our properties rate as must-see destinations which are hugely popular with visitors to Scotland and the people of Scotland."
The full article contains 198 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
