HIT TV series Outlander has helped Scotland outperform the rest of the UK in attracting visitors to historic sites.

Fans of the historical time- travelling TV series have flocked to Doune and Blackness Castles, which feature in episodes. Both attractions are benefitting from their stardom as a record 90,172 and 30,053 people paid visits – a surge of 32 per cent and 39 per cent respectively compared with the same period for 2015.

The boost meant the castles joined the rankings for the first time.

Edinburgh Castle retained its position as Scotland’s top paid-for visitor attraction, jumping up two places to be named as the 16th most visited attraction in the UK overall in 2016. Footfall at the historic site exceeded 1.7 million visitors, a 13 per cent increase on 2015.

The figures were among those released today for UK-wide member sites of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (Alva). The association, which counts some of the UK’s biggest tourist attractions as members, said Scottish attractions had one of their best years on record, reporting a total of 15 million visitors – an increase of 16 per cent – and outperforming the rest of the UK.

Strong visitor numbers for the same period were recorded at heritage attractions throughout the country. In Inverness, the ruins of Urquhart Castle attracted 396,397 people while St Andrew’s Cathedral was up 25 per cent year-on-year to more than 46,000 visitors. In Orkney, the 5000-year-old Skara Brae site welcomed a total of 93,375 visitors and more than 52,000 people went to Melrose Abbey in the Scottish Borders.

The National:

Doune Castle

“These latest figures from Alva for last year show that Scotland is a major player in the UK tourism sector,” said Stephen Duncan, director of commercial and tourism at Historic Environment Scotland.

“Heritage tourism is a key element in this wider success story. Together our iconic castles, abbeys, palaces and other historic sites, which represent thousands of years’ worth of Scottish history, welcomed over 3.7 million visitors in 2016 alone. Our visitor offering is stronger than ever before, and it’s something that we will continue to build upon during 2017 as we mark Scotland’s Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology.”

Alva director Bernard Donoghueadded: “Like the 2015 figures, Scotland has continued to outperform the rest of the UK with a substantial increase in their visitor numbers. Scotland is reaping the benefits of significant capital investment in attractions and creative programming by its institutions.”