Destination Marketing by Festivals: The Edinburgh Experience

Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland, has long used festivals as a means of attracting visitors. This is to say that festivals are the means by which Edinburgh markets itself to the world. While the city has a castle and some notable old districts, it is the festival scene that has drawn visitors to experience the place.

The numbers attending the capital's year-round series of 23 festivals in 2010 had reached 5.5 million people—more than the total population of Scotland. This represents a jump of 1 million people compared to events that took place in 2009, so clearly the marketing power of Edinburgh's festivals is substantial. Among the festivals to record rising attendances were the Fringe (an arts festival geared toward the more youthful attendee), Edinburgh International Science Festival, Edinburgh Mela, and Edinburgh International Book Festival. However, there were signs that some festivals had started to feel an impact from the general economic downturn, with the Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival, and Edinburgh International Jazz and Blues Festival suffering a slump in attendances. Nevertheless, city leaders hailed the overall rise in visitor numbers as a sign of the capital's continuing position as a world-leading festival city.