Edinburgh sees two million fall in visitors after Festival closure

EDINBURGH saw a two million slump in visitor numbers in August with the absence of 25,000 performers and the demise of “the after-work pint” contributing to the fall.

The number of people on the streets of the capital was down to 700,000 in August compared to 2.7million in the same month last year.

The Edinburgh Hotels Association said the average occupancy was down to just 50 per cent in August – at a time when they would normally be almost full.

The average price of a hotel room was just £76 – down 52 per cent on the same period in 2019 – as prices were slashed to try to drum up business.

Association chiefs described the situation as ‘much worse than expected’.

City centre leaders said the many businesses are now in ‘survival mode’ following the ‘double whammy’ of the festivals cancellation and the lack of office workers.

The new figures have emerged as organisers of the Edinburgh International Festival predicted they may have to rely on local audiences in 2021.

More than 1.2 million people watched the Festival shows online last month despite having no live events in its 2020 programme due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Work created in cultural venues across Edinburgh was seen in 47 countries, including the United States, Canada, Austria, Germany and France.

Director Fergus Linehan said: “I don’t think it’s going to be a question of turning a tap on or off. It’s going to be a gradual journey back.”

Roddy Smith, chief executive of footfall monitoring firm Essential Edinburgh, said: “August and December are always the busiest months so it is not surprising the numbers are so heavily down considering the lack of festival activity as well as the significantly reduced number of tourists and office workers in the city centre. The majority of retailers and hospitality businesses are in purely survival mode and need the support of residents, workers and tourists. Although there are signs of recovery, it is going to be many months before the city returns to normal operations.”

Garry Clark, development manager at the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “City centre businesses have reported that the double whammy of the festivals cancellation and the lack of office workers has had a material impact, with trade at a fraction of normal levels for August.

“By contrast, there are more

The majority of retailers and hospitality businesses are in purely survival mode

encouraging signs reported by businesses in suburban areas, where increased home working seems to be having a more positive effect.”

Hotels association spokesman Russell Imrie said: “The very large drop in average rate at which each room was sold was much worse than expected and was a symptomatic of the large number of hotels trying to attract substantially reduced numbers of visitors.”

Louise Maclean, sales and marketing director at the Signature Pub Group, said: “The city centre venues miss the office workers dreadfully and the lunch time trade is particularly poor. The demise of the after-work pint and grabbing a bite in a bar spontaneously has, for the moment gone, and we would love that back.

“Spontaneous hospitality in general appears to be a long way off and whilst we understand the reasons why and wholly support the measures to keep everyone safe, we do miss those days.”