V&A Dundee attracts 100,000 visitors in the space of three weeks

 The waterfront attraction is already a fifth towards meeting its first-year target of half a million visitors.

More than 27,000 people visitor the attraction in its first week alone, while a further 26,000 people attended a free two-day festival which was staged at the city’s new Slessor Gardens to celebrate the opening of the museum.

Tourism chiefs say V&A Dundee has already “cemented” a reputation as one of the UK’s most exciting new attractions and heralded the dawn of an “unmissable new era” for the industry in the Tayside area.

City council chiefs said the “absolutely amazing” numbers of visitors to V&A Dundee illustrated the huge impact the project would have on the city, with the new museum already having a spin-off effect on other attractions in the city.

One in three visitors to V&A Dundee are believed to have been from outwith Scotland, with around a third from within the Tayside area.

It is hoped that V&A Dundee, which took three and a half years to complete, will generate at least £11.6 million for the economy each each year, based on annual visitor numbers of 350,000, after the level of interest during its opening year eases.

V&A director Philip Long said: “I’m very proud and delighted that in just over three weeks 100,000 people have already visited the museum.

“The feedback we have received from visitors has been fantastic and means so much to all of the team here at V&A Dundee.

“It’s been a joy to see people enjoying the galleries, exhibitions and learning activities as well as exploring the wonderful building designed by our architect Kengo Kuma and enjoying all it offers.

“We are very much looking forward to welcoming even more visitors to Scotland’s first design museum.”

National tourism agency VisitScotland has previously predicted that V&A Dundee can be a “gamechanger” for the tourism industry if it leads to the development of new cultural attractions and experiences to ensure “there is enough to keep visitors in the city after seeing V&A Dundee.”

Chief executive Malcolm Roughead said: “V&A Dundee has cemented its reputation as one of the UK’s most exciting new attractions, welcoming a staggering 100,000 visitors in under a month.

“This is a fantastic achievement for the museum, its staff and also the city and surrounding areas.

“The arrival of such an iconic attraction heralds an unmissable new era for tourism in Dundee, propelling the east of Scotland into the global spotlight and shining a light on all this incredible corner of the country has to offer.

“This represents an unprecedented opportunity to showcase Scotland’s cultural offering, in turn growing the local economy, creating jobs and sustaining communities.”

Dundee City Council leader John Alexander said: “I’m over the moon with the visitor figures and they illustrate the huge and positive impact that Dundee’s newest asset will have on the city.

“Of course, within this figure will be a large cross-section of the city as well as visitors to Dundee and I’ve spoken to so many Dundonians who are proud of what has been achieved so far. It is absolutely amazing.

“V&A Dundee are well on their way to achieving the projected visitor numbers and we need to work with our businesses and communities to ensure that the benefits of this footfall are felt far and wide.

“We’ve already heard from other attractions that numbers are up significantly and I’m hopeful that more jobs and investment will come as a result.

“We’re committed to making Dundee a destination, working with our partners such as the DCA, the McManus, the Science Centre and RRS Discovery.

“The city and the region have so much to offer. There’s not many places that can boast an international design museum, dolphins, historic castles, long sandy beaches, rolling hills and acclaimed golf courses. We need to make sure all of this delivers for the city.”