Edinburgh pupils help Botanics with mapping project
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Great Days Out
Tourism in Edinburgh is resilient despite fresh challenges
By DONALD TURVILL
Local Democracy ReporterTHE COUNCIL has called on Westminster
to pay back more than £500,000 spent on
events in the city to mark the death of HM
The Queen.
The capital played a major role in
September as Her Late Majesty’s coffin
was transported from Balmoral for a
period of lying at rest in St Giles Cathedral
The city was an integral part of
Operation Unicorn, and incurred costs for
extra street cleaning, traffic management
and stewarding.
Much of the cost was borne by the
Scottish Government, but council funds
were also used.
Council officers said the total cost of
Operation Unicorn to the council
was £608,998. This includes an estimated
£42,000 in lost parking income over the
period 8-15 September.
Cllr Alys Mumford who originally asked
for information on the costs said: “It’s
good to finally get some information
about how much of this burden must be
borne by the council. We look forward to
further detail about how much the
council will be expected to pay towards
future royal events, so we can have an
open and informed discussion about
whether this is a spending priority while
the majority of our citizens experience a
cost of living crisis. And while we welcome
the information on costs, we’re concerned
the report doesn’t grasp the negative
impact of Operation Unicorn on citizens
beyond mild inconvenience: during the
period of the mourning schools were
closed, bus routes diverted, and peaceful
protest was suppressed.
“These are all impacts of decisions
made at the time, and the council should
acknowledge this and do much better
in future.”Government
asked to pay up
Proclamation of King
Charles IIIBy STAFF REPORTERVISITSCOTLAND Regional Director, Neil
Christison reflects on tourism in the Edinburgh
and the Lothians this year and how partnership
working can help ensure tourism remains
sustainable in 2023 and beyond.
He said: “We know that Scotland’s tourism
industry is facing fresh challenges, and this
comes having already experienced considerable
difficulty during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The rise in the cost of doing business is having
a significant impact on the industry, as well
as ongoing issues with staff recruitment
and retention.
“At VisitScotland, we continue to work with
partners in our tourism and events industry on
promoting activity that extends the season and
ensuring Scotland and Edinburgh & Lothians
remains front of mind for potential visitors.
“It has been fantastic to see the return of
domestic and international visitors over the
summer months to enjoy the return of
Edinburgh’s Festivals amongst other sights and
attractions across the region. The most recent
UK consumer sentiment survey has indicated
that there is growing consumer confidence for
visiting cities, with Edinburgh most likely to
benefit from those taking a domestic overnight
trip this winter.”
“We want to see this continue and at
VisitScotland we’re prioritising activities that
will stimulate demand and new bookings for
the industry to support its long-term recovery.
“Through our activity, we are developing
exciting relationships in order to reach a wideraudience. For example, this year we have
undertaken marketing partnerships to
encourage sustainable travel to Scotland with
Scotrail, LNER and the Caledonian Sleeper.
We’ve also worked with Hostelling Scotland,
National Museums of Scotland and Diageo to
jointly push their offering to potential visitors,
and continue to work with our regional
tourism partners on bespoke campaigns.
“In October, we launched our Great Days
Out campaign with the Association of
Scotland’s Visitor Attractions (ASVA) and
Historic Environment Scotland to encourage
people to take advantage of the discounted
rates and experience a day out at one of the
many fantastic attractions and experiences on
offer across the country. This includes A Wee
Pedal Cycle Tours, Edinburgh Castle, Go Quest
Adventures, The Real Mary King’s Close,
Johnnie Walker Princes Street, Silent
Adventures Walking Tours, Craigmillar Castle,
Forth Boat Tours, Dirleton Castle and
Glenkinchie Distillery & Visitor Centre.“Scotland’s award-winning UNESCO Trail
has been promoted as part of a dedicated
VisitScotland marketing campaign. Aimed at
potential visitors from the UK & Ireland,
Germany and France, the campaign encourages
people to discover more about the country’s 13
place-based designations, including the creative
city of Edinburgh and its World Heritage sites.
“We also recently launched a new-look guide
to film locations in Scotland which includes
details of the many places in our capital city
and surrounding area that have featured on the
big screen.
“Despite the ongoing challenges, there is
much to celebrate in the region. The region
continues to attract investment with Virgin
Hotels first European location in Edinburgh,
and exciting developments such as the creation
of a surf and leisure destination at Ratho in
West Lothian further down the line.
“By working together, we can ensure the
sustainable and long-term recovery of one of
Scotland’s most valuable industries.”SCHOOL PUPILS are helping to map
out a greener future for Scottish cities
by taking part in a Royal Botanic
Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) project,
part of wider research into health and
mental wellbeing.
The Good City project could help
shape Edinburgh’s future provision ofgreen spaces when the findings are
presented to city council leaders.
RGBE has worked with secondary
pupils from Edinburgh schools to
investigate the role of nature in urban
neighbourhoods. It focuses on young
people’s experiences along their route
to school and involves an onlinemapping survey where participants
input their data.
The first phase with around 200
pupils from Drummond, Boroughmuir
and St Thomas of Aquin’s High
Schools is now complete. The next
phase, working with young people
from other Edinburgh schools, willbegin soon. St Thomas of Aquin’s
Teacher, Kristine Bogomazova, said:
“We have thoroughly enjoyed taking
part in the Good City project which
gave our pupils a fantastic
opportunity to learn about and be
part of real-life science research,
putting knowledge into context.’’Forth Bridges Trail Launch: Caroline Warburton
VisitScotland, Tourism Minister Ivan McKee, Karen StewartAndrew Beveridge