Exclusive:One Day: Arthur's Seat braced for rise in visitors as pressure mounts on landmark

The starring role of Arthur’s Seat in Netflix love story One Day is set to draw more visitors to the landmark already feeling the strain from its enduring popularity.

It is the mountain in the city that everyone loves – and the mountain at the heart of the love story One Day.

Now, Arthur’s Seat, the extinct volcano on the edge of the capital, is braced for a new surge in interest after taking a starring role in the Netflix adaptation of the David Nicholls’ novel which charts the 20-year romance between Emma and Dex who meet for the first time on graduation night at Edinburgh University and find themselves scaling the summit on the morning after.

The television show is forecast to drive more people to the site – just as heritage chiefs look for ways to divert people away from the “under pressure” landmark and into other parts of Holyrood Park, which already attracts up to 5 million visitors every year.

Ambika Mod and Leo Woodall as Emma and Dexter on Arthur's Seat, in the Netflix adaptation of David Nicholl's bestselling novel, One Day. Pic: Netflix

While Historic Environment Scotland has welcomed interest driven by the show, it has urged visitors to the landmark to be “responsible”.

A statement from Historic Environment Scotland said: “We’re pleased that Holyrood Park has played a starring role in another successful TV production filmed in Scotland, which is a fantastic opportunity to showcase our history and heritage to new audiences across the globe.

“Holyrood Park is not just a beautiful backdrop - it’s home to diverse wildlife, flora and fauna, as well as important centuries old monuments. We ask everyone visiting to follow responsible tourism practices to ensure this special place continues to thrive."

Arthur's Seat in Holyrood Park, which attracts up to 5m visitors a year. PIC: City and Color/Flickr/CC

Software company Bókun forecast an increase in visitors to Arthur's Seat on the back of the Netflix series, with a 251% increase in Google searches for One Day Edinburgh in one week following transmission with searches for Arthur's Seat going up 92 per cent in the four-week period after the show was aired.

The influence of television and film on Scotland’s tourism market – and historic sites – is well documented. In 2020, visitor expenditure on screen tourism activities sat at just under £65m as tourists sought out locations that appeared on screen. Around 700,000 domestic and international overnight visitors a year were influenced by a TV programme about Scotland.

Outlander is by far and away the biggest ‘set-jetter’ driver. The number of people visiting Outlander locations in Scotland rose from 1.47m in 2014 to 3.20m in 2020. Culloden Battlefield, managed by National Trust for Scotland, has been particularly impacted by visitor numbers.

Historic Environment Scotland has drawn up a draft management plan for Holyrood Park, with the paper projecting a rise in visitors and tourists, more pressure on services and operations and significant investment required as a result.

The paper added: “The path network across the park is under significant pressure from increasing user numbers and there is widespread damage and erosion across the core of the Park with user numbers far outweighing the capacity of the current paths. This is scarring the landscape, degrading habitats, damaging archaeology and negatively affecting user safety and experience.”

It suggested a need to “diversify and improve” the visitor and tourist experience to “reduce pressure on Arthur’s Seat and offer a wider range of experiences to reflect the diversity of the visitor population”.