Scottish economy benefits from increase in museum and gallery attendance

Museum and gallery visits in Scotland have risen by 3.2 million since 2012, bringing a 40% increase in the economic impact – up from the £631m reported that year, to an estimated £891m in 2014. Using data generated by the tourism agency Visit Scotland, the Visitor Attraction Monitor Report 2014 calculates  £780m of this to be due to visitors’ subsequent expenditure on accommodation, food, drink and travel after their visit, with only £111m relating to expenditure at and by the museums themselves.

Whilst there is huge variation between them, on average there are more unpaid than paid staff running these organisations. More than half of all staff last year were volunteers (56%) and less than half were paid. Of the paid staff, more than one in five were seasonal, and only half were employed full-time.

Produced by the Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism Business Development at Glasgow Caledonian University, the report is based on data collected by self-complete questionnaire surveys from 323 of Scotland’s 460 galleries and museums. It provides a wide-ranging analysis of the museums and galleries sector in Scotland, covering visitor attendance, marketing activities, the impact of admission charges, commercial revenues and employment, as well as estimating economic impact. Visitor figures are examined in detail, with numbers found to have grown from 24.4 million in 2012 to 27.6 million last year. Athird of visits originated from within an hour’s drive-time; 30% from elsewhere in Scotland; 22% from the UK; and the rest from outside the UK.