Dutch tourists rate Capital a favourite haunt

DUTCH tourists have rated Edinburgh as one of their favourite cities in the world.

News and travel websites based in the Netherlands have ranked Edinburgh above popular tourist haunts, including Barcelona, Berlin and London.

The current rating for the Capital is 8.5 out of 10 on the Dutch travel sites www.vakantiepanel.nl and www.nu.nl.

The online polls praise Edinburgh's pubs, historic old town, public transport and good-value attractions alongside friendly people as the secret of the capital's success. Around 140,000 Dutch visitors come to Scotland every year - which is worth 58 million to the nation's economy.

Sinead Feltoe, regional director for Edinburgh at VisitScotland, said: "We are delighted that Edinburgh has become so high-profile in the Netherlands."