The September Sigh of Relief!

So we're into September, the Royal Mile is back to normal and there is more than an Autumnal feel in the air.

RMKC Team celebrate record numbers in the style of Olympic champion Usain Bolt

For most tourism businesses and restaurants in Edinburgh, a collective sigh of relief is taken in the first week of September as the many festivals of August have finished and the tourists and performers have long gone home.  For us here at the Close, we're back to normal opening hours - 10am to 9pm (last tour) rather than 9am to 11pm (last tour) and we're reflecting on the August whirlwind! 

We welcomed a record number of people, exceeding our previous records for amount of tickets sold in a day and the amount of visitors on the tour in a day.  We've had some great feedback with 95% of our visitors saying they would recommend a visit to their friends or family, which is a testament to our fantastic team of tour guides, retail staff and managers.

One of our tour guides, Marc McKinnon who plays Walter King, the Foul Clenger, put it well -

"So the Fringe Festival has been and gone, and what a busy time it has been. Luckily for us Foul Clengers, we are used to treading through thousands of bodies each day, so it was just another day at work!

Although a completely hectic time of year, both for tourists and attractions alike, it has been so much fun to see all the staff come together and work long hours and deliver some brilliant results on tour - to the masses - daily.

Extending our opening hours as usual allowed more people to come on tours and allows more people to experience our amazing attraction. So, when all is said and done, it has definitely been a win/win, for our tourists and for our attraction, and I feel privileged to be part of our guiding team at the Close"

The 'Hoff' and the team!

One of the highlights of August at the Close was welcoming a special guest to the Close.  Of course all of our visitors are extremely special but we welcomed the legendary David Hasselhoff and his team to the Close for a tour.  The Hoff was a treat, spent time having his photo taken with staff and was a welcome morale boost at a frantic time of year!