Festival-goers are actually not that good for business - Kevin Buckle

The Royal Mile during the Fringe. Picture: Lisa FergusonThe Royal Mile during the Fringe. Picture: Lisa Ferguson
The Royal Mile during the Fringe. Picture: Lisa Ferguson
I know I’ve said this before at this time of year but there needs to be a rethink from all concerned about how Edinburgh copes with its visitors in August.

The assumption in August that Edinburgh is “The Festival” is now quite simply wrong. Edinburgh is a prime holiday destination all year round and the deciding factor in previous years has been the lack of accommodation and the expense should you be lucky enough to find somewhere.

That has all changed now with more hotels being opened every year and all the empty student accommodation being utilised, which is especially popular with those intending to spend some time in Edinburgh for the Festival.

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The well paid performers in the Festival were early adopters of Airbnb, renting flats for the weeks of their performance, and many still do so, but for those wishing to attend shows the student accommodation route is far cheaper and more accessible.

What this has meant for families is that hotels have become affordable in August while nobody would ever say cheap, and it is one thing that always strikes me when folk try to argue that a tourist tax would put people off as that is certainly not the vibe I get from people when they talk about their visit.

The only complaints I hear from customers in the shop is that the streets are too crowded and that the number of interesting shops on offer is disappointing. Now of course the bottleneck outside the Waverley Market has been a problem for years and won’t be resolved until the roof is developed, but it is by no means the only problem with issues in several other areas in the city centre.

What makes a bad situation worse is the street performers and those trying to promote their shows who then clog up what would already be busy streets in the summer.

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From a shop viewpoint it is a simple fact that the serious Festival-goers are never that good for business as their entire focus and spend is on the shows. Even the restaurants don’t benefit with most meals being purchased as takeaways.

What I have certainly found now though is that the families that can now afford to visit in August can also afford to shop and parents are more than happy to treat their children to a record, CD, t-shirt or poster, often buying several things and even returning to buy more before they go home.

I have always argued that the Waverley Market roof was far better suited to catering for families rather than stag-dos and hopefully that will soon be the case assuming the council approves new ideas the owners have for the roof.

With more hotels planned Edinburgh potentially will be able to cater for even more visitors, but unlike Venice and several other European cities that have started to come up with ideas of how to cope, Edinburgh does not seem to have a plan at all.

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Too many people is a problem many cities would love to have but is an issue that will only get worse for Edinburgh the council and other relevant authorities. Organisations need to address matters now before there is a serious incident that brings matters to a head.

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