Bid to '˜spread out' Edinburgh festivals wins backing

There have been calls to extend the Festival period to ease hotel demand and ease congestion.

The body responsible for protecting Edinburgh's world heritage site has thrown its weight behind the idea of the city's festivals being spread out '“ weeks after it warned the city was at risk of being over-run with tourists.

Edinburgh World Heritage wants the city to conduct an experiment of staging its major events at different times to ensure the Capital properly balances the needs of local residents and businesses.

It believes Edinburgh’s main tourism season could be extended if the move is introduced as part of an agreed plan for protecting the historic heart of the city.

The conservation charity has drawn comparisons between Edinburgh, which hosts most of its festivals in August, and Genoa, which decided to spread its events throughout the year as part of a new strategy for the Italian city.

While the Film Festival changed dates, the EIF has now matched the Fringe. Picture; Lisa Ferguson

Edinburgh World Heritage sparked controversy last month by saying the city needed to take action to avoid it “suffering the same fate” as Venice, which it described as a “hollow museum shell”. At the time, it said work needed to be done “to better understand the capacity limits of our fragile, historic city”.

Tommy Sheppard: Changing festival dates could be beneficial

It has backed the suggestion of “stretching out” the festivals from June through to September to ease congestion in the city centre, help visitors find accommodation and allow more locals to attend events. The suggestion has been put forward by Edinburgh MP Tommy Sheppard.

He has called for a “big think” to be instigated by the city council and has urged the authority to “take a lead” on the debate.

Adam Wilkinson, director of Edinburgh World Heritage, said: “If changes are made and they don’t work out, you can always move them back.

“Our colleagues in Genoa made a point of spreading their main cultural events across the year as part of their overall tourism plan with the clear objective of lengthening the tourism season.

“Piecemeal changes without a clear plan agreed across the city (including its residents) would, however, be illogical.

“I think these ideas are worth exploring as part of a wider, co-ordinated approach to the visitor economy of the city, and understanding what will be best for the city as a whole, balancing the needs of residents and the needs of the businesses that sustain the city’s wider economy.”

Edinburgh World Heritage, the city council, VisitScotland, Marketing Edinburgh and the Edinburgh Hotels Association are all represented on the Edinburgh Tourism Action Group (ETAG).

Its most recent strategy, published last year, warns that a “failure” to address the large variation of visitor numbers between the peak season and the surrounding months in Edinburgh was one of the biggest barriers to further growth and to increasing the sustainability of the tourism sector.

The 2020 industry blueprint also states: “The popularity of Edinburgh’s core Old and New Town area is creating increasing challenges as visitor numbers grow, resulting in a high density of visitors during peak periods.

“There is a danger that this will start to impact of the quality of the visitor experience and create friction between the local residents and the tourism sector, as well as limiting growth due to capacity issues.

“While Edinburgh provides a very high level of visitor experience, there are elements that must be improved, particularly wi-fi access, wayfinding and the cleanliness and quality of environment. Failure to deliver on these hygiene factors is a threat to future growth.”

Mr Wilkinson added: “There’s an ebb and flow to the city. At some times of the year, there is peace and quiet, and at other times there is madness. Some people celebrate it and others run and hide.

“But there are bigger questions over what kind of city we are and what kind of city does Edinburgh want to be.

“There is an enormous challenge for the city council at the moment at this time of year.

“They have all the responsibilities for infrastructure, but don’t get any financial benefit from the festivals being here, from what I can tell.

“It ends up with local residents and businesses footing the bill for the clean-up and everything else. There is an issue over who benefits the most from the sheer number of visitors here.”

Manuela Calchini, regional director of VisitScotland, said: “While some interesting points have been raised regarding changes to dates, the simultaneous nature of the festivals