Does Royal Miles of Edinburgh need 72 gift shops?

Royal Mile is an ancient spine of Edinburgh, which is visited by five million tourists every year. The collective names for the four roads that thread through the old city of the city are the 900 -year -old palace, a palace and a Parliament home.

But those who live there claim that they are now looking at overtorism problems Experienced all over Europe,

Tourist shops come with tourists, and the BBC Scotland News sold everything from Kilts to the Highland Cow fridge magnets to count a total of 72 stores to the Royal Mile length.

They are part of an industry that supports more than 40,000 jobs in Edinburgh.

But local people say that so many shops at one place are symptoms of challenges that bring tourism on a large scale.

Gift shops – Most of which are run by three main operators – from postcards and soft toys to clothing, sell every imaginative Scotland or Edinburgh -theme items.

It includes two shops that sell only Christmas -related gifts.

The Royal Mile is also home to 42 cafes or restaurants, 13 times, eight jewelers and three kilty retailers.

It is in addition to museums, cathedral, court, primary school and houses located with vertical and narrow footpaths.

A person who is almost specific to understand the impact of tourism on Royal Mile is 77 -year -old Jimmy Robertson.

He refers to himself as a cangotian at the bottom of the royal mile, since birth and proudly.

Jimmy, who have lived in five different houses, can listen to “useful stores” that used to throw a stone.

They include hairdressers, butchers, groups and a doctors’ surgery – now a whiskey shop.

He said that it used to be a “normal area” where people lived and worked.

“It was probably in the 1980s, you saw many people coming out and started changing the road,” he explained.

Jimmy used to work in a wine furnace which is now the site of the Scottish Parliament.

He has long enjoyed sitting outside the 17th -century Cengate Kirk, where a bench has an inscription for his late mother.

Jimmy said: “I will sit on that bench and you will see the world, saying that you say to those you knew.

“Now I sit there and it seems that it is just a tourist who passes me.

“I am not against tourism, I think it has gone far away how it affects those who live here.”

Jimmy said that he now had to go out of the area to shop for his food, or trust relatives to bring it.

He said that the council was convicted for allowing more tourist shops to be opened in one area.

This is a point that some critics argue that data published by Edinburgh Council last year shows that it shows that it owns 35 shops with Royal Mile and has been hired, many of which are leased to tourism businesses.

Hannah Vesmanman stays away from Royal Mile and both of her children participate in Royal Mile Primary School.

In 2004, there were 165 students in this Victorian-era manufactured school, but now the role is below 118 students-below 210 capacity.

Hannah is not surprised by a 29% decline in students, who say that Old Town rapidly “does not feel like a good area to bring the family”.

Hannah put it under tourism pressure and explained the problem outside its flat by drugs and alcohol users, which requires regular calls for the police.

He said: “It seems that what is left here is shops for tourists, tourists and people who have many more complex needs.

“it [the Royal Mile] At our door, but we never go there because there is nothing for us.

“There were some useful shops, even charity shops, but now they are all gone and all I can see that there are gift shops that all start selling the same goods.”

Only London defeats Edinburgh in terms of the most popular places to travel in the UK.

Domestic visitors live for at least one night for the wholesale of tourists from the city – a total of 2.6 meters in 2023, 2.47 meters in 2015.

But these are foreign visitors who are running Edinburgh’s growing popularity.

After a dramatic decline over the Kovid years, Edinburgh now attracts one million more international visitors every year than a decade ago.

Combined with domestic visitors, which are a total trip in 2023 by all visitors.

Where these tourists have been the subject of warm discussion in the city over the years, especially in the Edinburgh festivals such as Edinburgh festivals.

Edinburgh saw a well -recorded growth in residential properties, which had been replaced for the holiday in the last decade.

Number of listing by airbnb in the city Jumped from 1,900 in 2014,

New laws require Short -term operators get license facility This tally has reduced but from data Inside AirBnB – An independent website that collects data on the operation of AirBNB – suggests that today there are still 6,000 listings for Edinburgh Properties.

BBC Scotland News earlier this month, earlier this month, counted 96 major boxes of types usually used for the royal mile.

The effect of holiday on people living in the most popular tourism areas is very familiar with Hannah and his family.

He explained: “They are not bad people, but they do not consider it as an area where people live as normal inhabitants.

“You can’t make a relationship with anyone for three days and I am really tired of going up every few days and saying, ‘Can you be silent, we have to go to work in the morning.”

While tourists have been given a lot of attention to the stay, where there is a dispute around the holiday, there are now 181 hotels in Edinburgh – there were many as more than doubled in 2005.

There is no doubt that tourism plays an important role in the city’s economy.

Hosting the world’s largest art festival every August is a big part of it, but tourism is now an entire year round industry.

It is estimated that an average night visitors spent £ 435 in 2023.

Supporting thousands of jobs, from coffee shops to taxi firms, filters a range of businesses.

A spokesperson of the Gold Brothers Group – who owns 16 shops on Royal Mile and appoints 340 people in the peak season – said a lot of tourists were claimed.

But he said that in August there was still capacity for more visitors than festivals.

The spokesperson said: “Our view is that many priority issues are being ignored due to a fixation on tourism numbers.

“Immediate priorities for residents, business owners and old city visitors are cleanliness because the place is dirty; anti -social behavior; and criminality including violence and a serious ‘theft’.

“Maybe the local population of Edinburgh may come and see and consider what Royal Mile had seen with low or investment with shops maintained years ago and then, without prejudice, now consider the quality of the outlet.”

The spokesperson called the city of Edinburgh Council to clean the old city more often and called for a “moving ahead of its game” and ensured that it is “safe and a joy to see”.

Council leader Jane Megher said that the local authority was determined that the royal mile was “clean and well maintained”.

He also informed that BBC Scotland News Old Town High Street was being completed.

Megher said: “Shopfronts are open, supporting local jobs and our economy, a major mix of businesses in the fields ranging from independent kiltmakers to homemade crafts.

“As one of the largest landlords in the region, we encourage this mixture and work to ensure that the properties are occupied.”

The council leader admitted that anti -social behavior is a matter of concern, but said that the local authority was working with the police Scotland to solve the problems.

Additional CCTV is also installed around Tron and Hunter Square.

Megher said: “We are also making Royal Mile a safe place for pedestrians and cyclists, while ensuring that it is clean and well maintained.

“Our renewal of North Bridge is a visible commitment to our plans to ensure that the area remains in the heart of the city’s heart, as the extra £ 1m we are investing to deal with garbage and graffiti in our communities this year.”

Funding includes additional resources for washing the pavement and closing in the old city.

Megher said: “Once Edinburgh’s visiting Levi has launched, we hope to invest even more money to manage the impact of tourism, to ensure that our city remain a great place to live and travel.”

The latest Scottish census suggests that only 9,000 people live in the Royal Mile and its surrounding areas.

It covers the long blocks of flats that on either side of the Royal Mile and near the Dambidak council-made property on both sides of the property, which has about 600 houses, but No shop, GP surgery, pharmacy or post office.

All these residents feel that direct pressure may bring tourism, but there are also widespread pressure on the city.

The jump of 8.4% has contributed to the city’s population from 10 years to 2023 Deepening of housing and homeless crisis,

Next year Edinburgh will present tourist tax type This is common around Europe and city leaders have promised to invest £ 50m, it is expected to increase the infrastructure every year.

It has been mostly welcomed, but some fear it may not be enough to help Edinburgh adapt to the increasing demands of tourism.