Promotional and Marketing Activities in Travel
and Tourism
Edinburgh Castle case study
Background information can be found in the Edinburgh and Edinburgh Castle
‘Popular Destinations in Scotland’ case study.
The Market
Edinburgh Castle is Scotland’s top visitor attraction with 1.2 million visitors per
year.
Edinburgh Castle’s market (2003/4):
The Scottish population
9%
Visitors from the rest of the UK
27%
Visitors from overseas
63%
Marketing Objectives

To attract visitors to Edinburgh Castle and other Historic Scotland properties

To raise income for Historic Scotland to support its conservation activities

To raise awareness of the importance of Scotland’s built heritage
Products and Services
The Executive Manager of Edinburgh Castle stated in March 2005:
“Edinburgh Castle is the gateway to a holiday or visit to Scotland. It sets
the first impression to visitors as the nation’s premier visitor attraction. We
are working hard to set the standard through vigorous staff training,
encouraging front line staff to interact & engage with visitors and ensuring
first rate visitor service is achieved through methods such as mystery
shoppers”.
source: www.historic-scotland.gov.uk
Product Development
Amenities for visitors are continually being improved, such as the introduction at
Edinburgh Castle of a multi-lingual audio guided tour system, using state of the
art technology.
There is also a huge shift within heritage organisations in terms of how the
information about the venue is presented and Edinburgh Castle is part of this
change. The trend is that visitors want to read less, and see and hear more. A
new ‘Prisoners of War’ exhibition has therefore been developed at Edinburgh
Castle. This is a real audio-visual experience featuring smells, sights such as
swinging hammocks, straw on the floor, special lighting, and sounds to conjure
up the image and experience of the castle gaol as it would have been during the
18th century.
Here is an extract from the Historic Scotland website www.historicscotland.gov.uk
The new, permanent Prisoners of War visitor experience and exhibition, housed in the new Queen
Anne building in Crown Square, is now open to the public.
Enter the vaults through the Queen Anne building where you will be greeted by an
introductory video. Voices and shadows will then call visitors down an original 17th century
staircase to the vaults below.
Also part of the experience is an exhibition exploring more of the Castle’s complex story, with links to
John Paul Jones, renowned as the father of the US Navy.
Another fascinating part of the display will be the turbulence of revolutionary Europe at the end of the
1700s.
The new visitor experience adds to Edinburgh Castle’s reputation for being a world class
attraction.
Education Service
The Education Service team is part of the Historic Scotland Marketing
Department. Over 60,000 free educational visits are organised each year to
Historic Scotland properties. There is a well established Education Department at
Edinburgh Castle. Edinburgh Castle, along with many other Historic Scotland
properties, offers a free educational visits scheme with resources for schools
such as school packs for use as part of pupils’ studies. There is special emphasis
on producing materials that tie in with the 5-14 curriculum. There is also a
programme of special activities for school children, linked to the curriculum, and
a free quiz for children visiting with their families.
Price
For 2005 the cost of entry to Edinburgh Castle was £9.80 for adults, £3.50 for
children and £7.50 for concessions.
The website encourages potential visitors to buy their tickets on-line. It provides
an on-line retail service that encourages visitors to the site to fill a ‘shopping
basket’.
Promotional Activities
Marketing of Edinburgh Castle and the other Historic Scotland properties is coordinated through the Historic Scotland Marketing Department. An external
advertising agency is used for paid advertising campaigns.
Other promotional activities for Edinburgh Castle include:

Press and radio campaigns for key events

Advertisements in VisitScotland and Regional Tourist Board publications

Bus shelter advertising in Princes Street

Free brochure distributed throughout Scotland, Northern Ireland, North of
England, ferry terminals and VisitBritain offices overseas

Welcome to Edinburgh bedroom folders and leaflets printed in 7 languages

Features and promotions in the national and international media run by the press
and publicity office

Living history events

Partner in VisitScotland £1.5million Autumn Gold promotion giving two-for-theprice-of-one admission in October and November

Venue for various television programmes including the BBC’s Hogmanay
coverage

Castle esplanade venue for the Edinburgh International Tattoo and major
concerts

Edinburgh Castle section to Historic Scotland website www.historicscotland.gov.uk

Leaflets and brochures promoting the Historic Scotland Schools Programme and
Secondary Schools programme
Below is the front (reduced by 70%) of the well designed, ‘conference style’ pack
used for educational materials for school visits to Edinburgh Castle.
Historic Scotland also produces promotional brochures for their Schools
Programmes for Primary and Secondary Schools. Here is the front page
(reduced by 50%) of the 2004/5 Programme for Primary Schools. The high
quality, full colour, 20 sided A4 brochure is sent by direct mail to schools.
Christmas 2004 promotional campaign
Special, seasonal campaigns are an important way to attract visitors. This is how
the Executive Manager of Edinburgh Castle described the Christmas 2004
promotional campaign.
“Edinburgh City’s ‘Capital Christmas’ initiative was mainly focused on
Princes Street – the skating rink, German market etc, and we wanted to
encourage visitors to come up the hill to the castle while visiting Edinburgh
for the festivities.
The Castlehill Partnership was set up as a result of this – a collection of
businesses gathered around Castlehill including the Castle itself, Camera
Obscura, The Hub, The Scottish Whisky Heritage Centre, The Witchery
and the Scottish Weaving Centre.
We focus on collaboration instead of competition to encourage visitors to
come to this part of Edinburgh and enjoy all the experiences. The group
now meets monthly. Successful projects have included special lighting
effects to draw attention to the area from Princes Street over the Festive
period. The group can share ideas, solutions and new project ideas.”
Further information about Edinburgh
Castle is available from the website:
www.historic-scotland.gov.uk