Record-breaking year for Skara Brae

February 27, 2019 at 9:43 am

The neolithic village of Skara Brae is world-renowned, being enjoyed by thousands each year.

Skara Brae was the sixth highest visited heritage site in the country, according to Historic Environment Scotland (HES) figures published today.

It was a record-breaking 2018 for the site, the best preserved Neolithic settlement in Western Europe, welcoming 111,921 visitors — a two per cent increase on 2017.

It means that Skara Brae sits comfortably inside the top ten visited staffed HES sites in Scotland.

Maeshowe also recorded an increase in footfall of 11 per cent, welcoming more than 28,000 visitors last year.

The figures follow a nationwide trend with HES reporting a five per cent overall increase in footfall across its staffed sites throughout the country, totalling more than five million people.

Stephen Duncan, director for commercial and tourism, said: “2018 was another fantastic year for Scotland’s heritage sites, with visitor numbers continuing to grow.

“These incredible figures show the importance that the historic environment has on local communities with the vast majority of economic growth generated by the increase in high-spending international visitors.”