The past is history as space age pulls crowds

Published on Sunday 12 May 2002 01:00

HISTORY is in danger of becoming history. Thousands of tourists avoided many of Scotland’s ancient attractions last year in favour of the nation’s art galleries and a new breed of science centres.

Traditionally historic buildings have been a big draw, especially with foreign tourists keen to sample a flavour of the past at the many castles and monuments for which Scotland is famous.

But the number of people visiting castles, forts, monuments and other historic properties fell by up to 10% last year, according to the 2001 Visitor Attraction survey which annually monitors the winners and losers in the tourist trade.

In contrast, many art galleries enjoyed soaring attendance figures, and there was a staggering 47% increase in visitors to science and technology centres.

The monitor - to be published this week by VisitScotland - also reveals a tale of two cities.

Glasgow - often dismissed as the cultural poor relation of Edinburgh - enjoyed a bumper year at most of its major attractions.

Edinburgh’s fortunes took a dive with big drops in attendances at most of its A-list attractions.

Star performers around the country included the Hunterian Art Gallery in Glasgow where its Walking with Dinosaurs exhibition saw an astonishing 82% surge in numbers.

An exhibition of botanical studies by the popular Glasgow-born architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Mackintosh Flowers, which is due to open on May 17, is also likely to arouse substantial interest among the public and could prove a further boost the gallery’s visitor figures.

The Museum of Transport was another of Glasgow’s star performers. Admissions there grew by 25% last year. Cultural commentators said many galleries had now modernised their approach to such an extent they were attracting a new generation of younger leisure seekers. Science centres were also reaping the benefits.

"Many of the galleries are making themselves more populist without dumbing down, which is greatly to their credit," said art critic Iain Gale.

"We are now getting a whole new range of educational attractions that really reach down to children."

Edinburgh’s poor year even affected the city’s world-class tourist attraction, the castle. Although it managed its position as the top paid admission in Scotland, there was a 6% decline in visitors.

Other paid attractions in Edinburgh also fared badly, including the city’s zoo, although it was closed down for several weeks following the foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in February.

Even the three-year-old science attraction Our Dynamic Earth saw a significant drop, reflecting the apparent lack of visitors in the capital. The Palace of Holyroodhouse suffered a 19% fall.

Only free attractions performed well, with the Royal Museum of Scotland enjoying a 14% upsurge after the scrapping of admission charges. The National Gallery on the Mound also saw visitor numbers increase by 15%.

In Glasgow, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, recognised for its fine natural history and Scottish history collections, along with its strong British and European art collection, retained its number one spot at the top of the table of free attractions. The Gallery of Modern Art also had a 10% increase as did the Burrell Collection, the People’s Palace and St Mungo’s museum.

Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre, which opened in March 1999 with the help of a grant from the Scottish Arts Council National Lottery Fund to provide working space for artists and designers, as well as exhibition space, also witnessed a rise in visitor figures of around 10%, as did Aberdeen Art Gallery.

"They seem to be moving away from esoteric exhibitions that frightened people towards putting on shows they really want to see," said Gale. "Aberdeen’s collection is as good as you will find in any major city."

Star of the science centres was the new Glasgow Science Centre, which comprises an interactive science mall, the GSC IMAX theatre and the 400-foot Glasgow Tower offering views across to Loch Lomond on a fair day. The centre threw off the effects of a delayed opening to claim fourth spot in the paid admissions list.

Although only open for half the year, it managed to get 400,000 through the doors, only just behind the established Our Dynamic Earth in third place. Its performance was central in the whole sector rising by 47%.

Scientists said they were "delighted" the centre was doing so well and reflected a general interest in scientific subjects.

"The old dusty fossil science centres didn’t really do it for anyone but the new ones are very jazzy and sexy," said John Brown, the professor of physics and astronomy at Glasgow University and Scotland’s Astronomer Royal.

"I don’t necessarily like the fact that they charge to get in but they seem very popular and have a great role to play in getting young people interested in science."

Ian Baxter, a lecturer at the tourism study centre at Glasgow Caledonian University, said the centre was vital to Glasgow’s growing image as a science and technology base.

"In the country as a whole, Glasgow definitely won out last year," he said. "The science centre was a big, big attraction and typical of the way the city is now being marketed. A lot of time and effort is being put into aggressively selling the place and it is paying off."

The city had also benefited from the rise in short-break holidays and the use of Prestwick airport by low budget airlines. "All of these things mean more and more people using Glasgow attractions," Baxter said.

The biggest losers last year were historical attractions.

As well as Edinburgh Castle’s tumbling figures both Stirling Castle and Eilean Donan Castle, on the Kyle of Lochalsh, were well down.

But the National Trust for Scotland said it doubted that people were turning away from history.

"Easter this year was better than Easter 2000," a spokesman said. "History always has a history of bouncing back."