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Visitor numbers fall at Scottish attractions
Attractions operators across Scotland remain cautiously optimistic about the prospects for 2009, despite VisitScotland reporting a 4.3 per cent decrease in overall visitor numbers for 2008.
The national tourism agency for Scotland revealed that 42.7 million people visited the country's attractions last year, with Edinburgh Castle and Glasgow's Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum named as the most visited paid for and free attractions respectively. However, Shetland bucked the trend with a 9.9 per cent increase in visitor numbers following the relocation of the Shetland Museum, which opened at Hay's Dock, Lerwick, in 2007. Orkney and the Kingdom of Fife both also reported increases.
Philip Riddle, chief executive of VisitScotland, said: "Like all sectors of business, the past year has brought a number of challenges to the tourism industry. Uncertainty in the economy has created difficulties but those difficulties and feeling of apprehension are now being replaced with a new found positivity within tourism. "The weak pound against the Euro and the dollar makes Scotland even more competitive and provides even greater value for money while all indications regarding the domestic visitor point to an increasing trend of holidays at home."
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