09/05/2008 01:36:00
The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow has been revealed as Scotland's busiest tourist attraction in 2007.
According to VisitScotland, who carried out the research, 2.23 million visitors descended on the free Glasgow museum last year, while 45 million visits in total were made to all of Scotland's attractions.
The second and third most popular free Scottish attractions were the National Gallery of Scotland and the National Museum of Scotland, both in Edinburgh.
On the other hand, the most visited paid-for attraction in Scotland in 2007 was Edinburgh Castle, with Edinburgh Zoo and Edinburgh Bus Tours following close behind.
Other top performing Scottish visitor attractions last year included the Scottish Sea Bird Centre in North Berwick and St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, which is situated on the famous Royal Mile.
In addition, the Falkirk Wheel - a rotating boat lift that links the Forth and Clyde Canal to the Union Canal - saw a 17.5% increase in visitors from 2006.
Chief executive of VisitScotland, Philip Riddle, stated: "Scotland has some of the best visitor attractions in the world, attracting millions of visitors from home and abroad each year.
"Visitor attractions are a crucial part of our tourism sector, and will play a significant role in helping the industry achieve its shared ambition of 50 per cent growth in tourism revenue by 2015."
In 2003, the Kelvingrove closed for three years to undergo a major refurbishment. Since its re-opening in 2006, it has remained Scotland's favourite museum and art gallery.