Recently I attended the launch of Shep 1, which is framework for the day-to-day work of organisations that have a role and interest in managing our historic environment. (Click here for details)

The launch took place in the magnificent backdrop of Edinburgh Castle, which itself stands proud atop the World Heritage Site that is Edinburgh’s Old Town and visited by millions of visitors every year.

The event was timed to start at 8am, with the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, Patricia Ferguson, making the announcement at 8.30am to the press and the assembled audience. Once the official business was complete, most of us were heading back down the Royal Mile before 9am.

What struck me at that point was that nothing seemed to be open or even preparing for opening. Closer inspection of shop opening times, indicated that most places opened 9.30am at the earliest and some even at 10.30am. And yet there were people about.

On my way up the hill to the launch, there was a small coach loading visitors for an 8.15am departure to Loch Ness, just before the entrance to the castle, but apart from Starbucks and a few other cafés, little else was open for the visitor to enjoy.

While this is not high season and there may not be the demand for early opening now, in peak season do those premises open early for visitors? I can only hope so as if they are not, they may be losing the opportunity for additional business.

When VisitScotland took responsibility for the TIC network, it commissioned research to try to ascertain what (if any) additional operating hours visitors might want. Not surprisingly, the feedback was that people did want extended operating hours in the summer months. However, what was surprising was that the TICs should open earlier in the morning, rather than in the evening. Visitors on a leisure break, it seemed, wanted to make the most of their time and start early.

It is therefore conceivable that if some of the busier ‘honeypot’ TICs were opening at 8am, they might be able to recommend other sites that were also open to visitors. Is this an opportunity? It follows that once there, those visitors might even buy their mid-morning coffee there after their visit.

Perhaps this is a very simplistic view which doesn’t take into account staff rotas and operating logistics. But in these highly competitive days, is it worth thinking about? The old adage about the early bird catching the worm comes to the fore.

Eva McDiarmid