Festival chief warns over ‘anti-tourist’ city risks
● Mccarthy suggests event cannot be held responsible for ‘over-tourism’ issues
Edinburgh is at risk of being seen as‘ anti-tourist’ in the wake of campaigners raising concerns about the impact of festivals and events on the city, the chief executive of the Fringe Society has warned.
Shona Mccarthy hit back at critics of what is claimed to be a growing “festivalisation” and “exploitation” of the city centre for major events, describing some of the criticism s that had been raised as “a bit weird”.
She insisted the Fringe should no tb eh el dr esp onsible for the management of tourism numbers in the city, but warned that its welcoming reputation was “seriously in danger” due to an ongoing debate about the industry.
Born in County Down, in Northern Ireland and appointed chief executive in 2016, Ms Mccar thy said the Scottish capital had to be“very careful” about how it was perceived and stressed the importance of Edinburgh remaining “international and outwardlooking” in future.
She highlighted that although there were a record 63 countries in the program me ,744 of the 3841 shows due to be staged were being made in Edinburgh, out of 963 Scottish productions.
It has emerged that the number of performers appearing at the event had almost doubled in size in the space of a decade and is set to attract a three million-strong audience for the first time this summer if recent growth trends continue.
Ms Mccarthy has defended a lucrative new sponsorship deal with whisky giants Diageo, which will see a Johnnie Walker Club Bar created on Princes Street, ahead of its transformation of a former department store into a new visitor attraction next year. The firm, which has hailed the Fringe as “second only to the Olympics” in terms of ticket sales, will be installing statues of its Johnnie Walker “striding man” logo at locations across the city.
A record 3,841 shows will be staged this year - up eight per cent on last year’s tally - with the number of performances up five per cent to almost 60,000, compared to 31,000 in 2008.
The Fringe programme was launched against a growing backdrop of debate about the impact of events and tourism on the historic heart of the city. Edinburgh World Heritage and the Cockburn Association are among the organisations who have warned the city is at risk of suffering the same overtourism problems as Venice, Barcelona and Amsterdam.
In March, Pete Irvine, one of Scotland’ s leading tourism, festival and event experts, warned that Edinburgh was already in the grip of “overtourism.” Citizen, a campaign to “defend” Edinburgh against over-tourism and festivalisation, which launched in April, claimed it had become “a city of capital disfigured by exploitation” and a “theme park.”
Ms Mccarthy said: “As someone who comes from Northern Ireland, a place that has struggled for tourism, I think we have found ourselves in a weird moment in Edinburgh. We are seriously in danger of being anti-tourist. I would counsel the city to be really careful about that.
“There is always a conflation of the Fringe with over-tourism. This is June and Edinburgh is really busy. It’s a city with a castle with a medieval city and it’s bloody gorgeous. People come all year round.
“The idea that a three-week festival has to take on the responsibility for things that are year-long issues and that the Fringe is responsible for over-tourism in Edinburgh is a bit weird for me.
“It is about better manage - men to ft our is min the city rather than having an antito urism agenda. I think it’s very important for a city to be international and outwardlooking and to have cultural diversity. We don’t have a growth agenda, but it’s important to point out our biggest audience growth is in Edinburgh and Scotland.”
The sponsorship deal with Johnnie Walker, the value of which has not been disclosed, was described by the brand as “a celebration of all that is great about Scottish culture.”
Ms McCarthy said :“The Fringe is not a subsidised festival. We have to work with commercial partners in order to make the economics of the festival work and able to provide the services that we provide support artists and the arts to come to Edinburgh.”
Oliver Davies, the Fringe Society’ s head of marketin ga nd development, added :“The important thing to stress about the Johnnie Walker Club Bar is that it will not be an exclusive bar that is only for certain people. It will be open to everyone.”
“We are seriously in danger of being antitourist. I would counsel the city to be really careful about that” SHONA MCCARTHY