Parliamentary chiefs happy as almost half a million of us visit Holyrood

THE number of people visiting the Scottish Parliament has soared.

A total of 420,982 people passed through the doors at Holyrood last year, a rise of nearly 27 per cent on the previous year.

The only year with a higher total was 2005, the first full year after the Holyrood building opened, when 442,865 people visited.

Figures also show the number of visitors taking tours of the parliament increased by nearly 30 per cent in comparison to 2008.

Parliament bosses put the rise in visitors down to the introduction of free tours of the building, the award-winning Festival of Politics and an event-filled tenth anniversary programme.

But the figures fall short of the up to 700,000 a year expected.

Presiding officer Alex Fergusson said: "2009 marked an extremely busy year for Holyrood, especially with our tenth anniversary activities. I would love to see the parliament welcome even more visitors and have a record-breaking year in 2010."