Rosslyn Chapel Visitor numbers less than expected

During our trip in may this year we visited Rosslyn Chapel and found the place crowded with visitors. Of course after reading the book our interest was bigger than it normally would have but even without reading the Davinci Code Rosslyn Chapel is worth visiting. Rosslyn Chapel is simply unique and worth the trip. We didnt find the castle behind the chapel although we did make a walk along the track passed the graveyard..

As said, there were lots of visitors. Where in 1997 600 visitors visited Rosslyn Chapel, they expect it to rise to a staggering 200.000 after the book and movie The Davinci Code. There is however a but, I found an article in the Scotsman today about the actual "lack of visitors" in Rosslyn Chapel

Quote: Following an almost universal panning by Hollywood film critics, The Da Vinci Code movie may have received the most telling condemnation of its quality so far. Rosslyn Chapel has reported that the hordes of visitors expected after the film's release have failed to show up.

The Chapel Trust had braced itself for a big increase in visits from Da Vinci "codies" following screenings of the film, starring Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou, which climaxes with scenes shot at the 15th-century chapel. But foot-traffic is well below projections.

"We haven't seen any sudden hype after 19 May," said Stuart Beattie, of the Rosslyn Chapel Trust. "While we are having more visitors than last year, it's less than we expected, and not a result of the film coming out."

April figures showed an 86 per cent increase in visitors to 15,000. Although the numbers were higher in May, at 19,000, it was only a 58 per cent increase year on year, and lower than expected.

The Da Vinci Code movie, directed by Ron Howard, has been a worldwide blockbuster despite almost universally bad reviews. It has grossed almost $600 million worldwide.

Tourist officials had hoped that the film would have a similar effect on visitor numbers as other Hollywood movies set in Scotland. The Aberdeenshire village of Pennan, for example, saw swathes of tourists after featuring as the setting for Bill Forsyth's 1983 hit Local Hero. And retailers in Stirling report that tourists continue to be drawn by the legend of William Wallace, as portrayed in Mel Gibson's Braveheart.

But while these films highlighted the allure of Scotland, The Da Vinci Code hardly makes mention of Rosslyn Chapel's location outside Edinburgh.

The Scotsman's film critic, Alistair Harkness, said: "There's not really any indication in the movie that the chapel is even in Scotland. You'd think it's a suburb of London. If you read the book, Brown mentions specifically where the chapel is. In the film, London and Paris get a good show, but there's really nothing to point film-goers to Scotland."

He added it should come as no surprise that the film had failed to attract a devout following similar to that of Dan Brown's novel. Mr Harkness said: "Frankly, the film is pretty awful. That might explain why people have not been enthused.

"While the book is very fast-paced, the film is slow and ponderous. It's a thriller that doesn't thrill. So if you haven't read the book and you see the film, you'd probably wonder what all the fuss is about. And you certainly wouldn't be inspired to go and see all the locations in the film."

A spokesman for VisitScotland said it was still too early to assess the film's impact. "Since the publication of The Da Vinci Code in 2003 and the making of the film last year, the global interest in Dan Brown's fictional search for the Holy Grail has been an excellent opportunity to raise the profile of Rosslyn Chapel in Midlothian and Scotland as a whole.

"Although the chapel does not play a major role in the film, one of the central characters, Sophie Neveu, is seen wrapped in a tartan rug at what is quite obviously a Scottish location. In relation to the impact of the film on visitor numbers, it's still early days. The movie has only been on release for just over a month and most people would have had their summer holidays booked by now. So let's look at the figures in say four to six months to get a more accurate reading of how the film has affected visitor numbers."

Despite a lack of impact from the movie, fans of The Da Vinci Code continued to arrive in large numbers, Mr Beattie said. Already, the chapel had seen 140,000 fans visit this year. In 2003, the year the book was released, the number was 9,500. But Mr Beattie added all the indications were that the visitors would continue to be followers of Dan Brown's text.

"I don't think there was a vast queue of people waiting to see the film before deciding to come to Rosslyn. It's the book, not the movie, that seems to have inspired many of our visitors," Mr Beattie said. quote