Doune gets benefit of Outlander effect
Doune is to receive a windfall of more than £200,000 – thanks to the television series Outlander.
Numbers of visitors to Doune Castle have shot up since it was used as one of the programme’s key locations during filming.
Now Doune is to receive a share of £2.8m from the second round of the Scottish Government’s Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund (RTIF).
The Doune tourism development project has received £239,560 for refurbishment of the village toilets, extensions to the path network between the castle and village and improved signage.
Tourism Secretary Fiona Hyslop announced schemes to benefit from the latest round of funding when she visited Doune Castle last week. She was accompanied by Stirling MSP Bruce Crawford and Trossachs and Teith SNP councillor Evelyn Tweed.
The Minister said Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority would also receive a £124,000 share for improvements to the toilets and litter disposal facilities at Balmaha Visitor Centre. It is hoped the changes will ease tourism volume pressure at Balmaha
A good, accessible set of public toilets is so important to any community
and Milarrochy Bay.
Used as the filming location for Outlander’s Castle Leoch, Doune Castle last year welcomed 142,091 visitors, an increase of 17 per cent on the previous year and a record for the attraction.
With Outlander fans coming from all over the world to visit Doune Castle, annual visitor numbers have gone up by about 50,000 in three.
The castle, parts of which date to the 13th century, has also been used as a location for the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail and briefly in Game of Thrones.
Historic Environment Scotland, operators of the castle, last month dropped plans for a catering unit there following an outcry from businesses in the village who feared it would hit trade.