Edinburgh Fringe Visitors Down on 1997

Initial tourist board estimates from the first week of the Edinburgh Fringe, which officially began 9 August, show that the number of visitors to the city is down, compared to the same period last year.

Several factors have been blamed for the drop - including the World Cup (many visitors appear to have spent their holiday time and money in France last month), the poor summer weather in Scotland, the strong pound and the downturn in the Asian economy. The volume of Japanese tourists to the country has been falling since the beginning of the year and is now down on last year by more than six per cent.

Despite the fewer numbers of visitors, Fringe administrators say that audience figures do not appear to be suffering. Concrete house figures have not yet been confirmed, but box office takings at the Fringe office - which acts as a central source for tickets in addition to box offices at each of the 200+ individual venues - are up by 50 per cent.

The new timetable for the Fringe is also likely to have impacted the tourist draw in the first week. For the first time ever, the Fringe jumpstarted its parent, the Edinburgh International Festival, beginning one week before the traditional simultaneous opening. The International Festival starts Sunday, 16 August and runs to 5 September 1998.

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