Scotland’s oldest purpose-built visitor attraction, Camera Obscura and World of Illusions, is celebrating yet again after receiving VisitScotland’s sought-after five-star status.
Since opening the doors to its £1.2m expansion less than a year ago, the team has enjoyed countless reasons to crack open the champers from record breaking visitor numbers including the busiest month in its 175 year history and a 45% revenue increase, to being named ‘best family attraction in Britain’ by the Telegraph and rating as TripAdvisor’s top Edinburgh attraction.
In July last year, Camera Obscura and World of Illusions unveiled its ambitious renovation, which featured two new floors, a spectacular glass walkway and a host of brand new immersive exhibits, including a number of firsts for Scotland and the UK.
By the end of 2010, the attraction had achieved its busiest ever month in history with over 24,500 visitors through the door. It also smashed its all-time record of daily admissions with 1,200 visitors – 60% above the expected average. Since the launch, almost every month has been a record breaker with visitor numbers up as much as 62%. The success story looks set to continue throughout 2011 with visitor numbers already up by 32% on the previous year, and revenue up a massive 45%.
Get yourself along and see why it’s proving so popular. The newly styled attraction is not only proving a hit with visitors, but is also causing quite a stir in showbiz circles. It recently played host to celebrity guests, including Hollyoaks actors, Carley Stenson and Ricky Whittle, and has even managed to inspire legendary illusionist Derren Brown to pay a visit on more than one occasion.
Camera Obscura and World of Illusions is located on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, next to the Castle, and is open seven days a week from 9.30am until 6pm, 7pm on Saturday and Sunday.
Useful links:
Edinburgh hotels
Edinburgh B&Bs
Edinburgh self-catering
Edinburgh attractions
