Dundee’s V&A has helped boost visitor numbers at nearby attractions by up to 40%, says new research.
In its first three months 341,265 people visited the £80 million museum, which opened in September 2018, with tourists also taking the opportunity to check out what else the city had to offer.
Visitor numbers in 2018 at nearby Discovery Point were up 40.5% on the previous year and there was a 31.2% rise in people visiting The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum.
The figures come from the 2018 Visitor Attraction Monitor, created by Glasgow Caledonian University’s Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism. They analysed the performance of 680 paid and free tourist sites around Scotland.
Overall, the number of visits to Scottish attractions fell to 61,419,965 in 2018, down 0.5% on the previous year.
Record-breaking temperatures over the summer months are being cited as the reason why. Indoor attractions in Glasgow suffered due to the hot summer with visitor numbers to Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, dropping 19.1% on the previous year to 1,054,562 in 2018, while the Riverside Museum was down 7.4% to 1,254,498.
The National Museum of Scotland was the top free attraction in 2018, with 2,227,773 people passing through the doors, followed by the Scottish National Gallery and St Giles’ Cathedral, also in the capital.
Glasgow’s Riverside Museum, Loch Lomond Shores, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, the National War Museum, the Regimental Museum of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and the Gretna Green Famous Blacksmiths Shop are also in the top ten.
Edinburgh Castle was the most popular paid attraction in 2018 with 2,111,578 visitors, while Stirling Castle was in third place with 606,281 and Urquhart Castle in fifth place with 518,195 visitors.
Other Highland attractions in the top ten last year were the Glenfinnan Monument and cruises on Loch Ness by Jacobite.
Apart from the Glasgow Science Centre the other top ten attractions were all in the Scottish capital and were Edinburgh Bus Tours, Edinburgh Zoo, The Royal Yacht Britannia and The Scotch Whisky Experience.
The report found that Scotland remains a value for money destination for visitors from North America, Eurozone countries and South East Asia, due to currency exchange rates.