Increase in Stirling Castle visitors

There's been a sharp rise in the number of people visiting Stirling Castle.

Figures from the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions show nearly 420,000 people visited the historic site last year.

That's a 181% increase from 2021.

Stirling Castle is in the top 10 most-visited attractions in Scotland.

The figures show 55,484 people visited Doune Castle last year, as the site re-opened after the pandemic.

27,512 visitors flocked to Bannockburn Heritage Centre.

Overall, figures were below pre-pandemic levels.

Bernard Donoghue, Director of ALVA, commented: “These figures show that visitors flocked back to their favourite places in 2022 to breathe, heal, repair and to enjoy special moments with special people in special places. The year ended strongly with attractions reporting a very busy Christmas, strong visitor numbers and strong retail sales. People clearly wanted to create special memories with their loved ones after two difficult years and a challenging economic climate.”

“Many attractions are still not back up to 2019 visitor levels due, mainly, to the absence of international visitors, notably from China and the Far East, but I am confident that they will return this year and we will see a continuing healthy recovery."