City rings up another tourist attraction .. its charity shops

But the city can now boast another, rather unexpected, tourist attraction . . . its charity shops.

Groups of foreign visitors have started following a trail around the city's secondhand shops using maps showing the location of 97 of them.

Among the droves of bargain-hunters are Japanese and Chinese tourists looking for cut-price Burberry clothes and traditional Scottish items such as kilts. Some have even asked for organised tours to take them around the best thrift shops.

The maps were created last year to encourage city residents to make more use of them. The initiative was the first of its kind in Britain.

But, after dishing out 45,000 copies, shop managers have been delighted to see growing numbers of tourists looking for bargains.

Christopher Ferrier, assistant manager of the Marie Curie Cancer Care shop on St Patrick's Square, said: "I have seen a lot of tourists come in here with the maps in their hands and have been noticeably on the charity shop trail.

"Anything with a Scottish theme sells well with tourists - ornaments, clothing and so on, as well as the usual CDs and bric and brac. Tourists are definitely a massive market in charity shops in this area."

Jess Gildener, a project manager at Changeworks environmental initiative, which produced the guide, said: "We can't believe the response we have had - this is obviously a niche market. Most countries don't have charity shops in the same way we do, so this is something new to them.

"This summer has really seen charity shop tourism kick off, because people have started to discover the map.

"We would like to work with VisitScotland to create some kind of guided tours of charity shops."

Denise Buchanan, assistant manager at the PDSA shop on the Royal Mile, where more than half of the shop's business comes from tourists, said she had also seen evidence of "charity shop tourism".

Visitors from different countries tend to be after different kinds of bargains, she added.

She said: "We have seen a lot of Spanish and Italians this year. They tend to like things like china tea sets.

"The Japanese and the Chinese love their Burberry clothing, so any secondhand things with the Burberry check fly out of the door. They also love Scottish clothes to wear as a bit of fun while they are here."

Holidaymakers Jan and Ron Vandenbrink from Michigan, US, were shopping for clothes and gifts at the PDSA store.

Mrs Vandenbrink, who is retired, said: "You really get a feel for a city when you look at its charity shops."

A spokeswoman for Visit Scotland said: "Focusing attention on charity shops is an innovative way to attract shoppers."