Scottish Literary Tourism

Scotland forms part of the United Kingdom, yet it still retains its own national identity, culture, legal and educational systems and language differences. As a nation which has long encouraged the literacy of its people, Scotland’s contribution to the world’s literary culture is significant. From the 18th century poet Robert Burns whose birthday is celebrated across the world every year on 25th January to the work of J.K. Rowling whose characters have spawned a global industry, Scotland’s literary associations are widespread. Writers such as Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle, Muriel Spark and J.M. Barrie are part of the literary canon while more contemporary authors such as Ali Smith, Irvine Welsh and Alexander McCall Smith reflect contemporary Scottish life. There is a strong culture of both urban fiction (e.g. Alasdair Gray and Ian Rankin) and works representing rural life and the fishing communities of the northeast (e.g. Lewis Grassic Gibbon and Neil Gunn).

This rich literary culture is also closely entwined with Scotland’s identity as a popular visitor destination for heritage, landscape, ancestry and culture and the national tourism organisation VisitScotland estimates that 6% of all visitors are influenced to make the trip by reading a book or literature featuring Scotland. Additionally, 62% of all adults in the United Kingdom believe that Scotland is a nation known for its famous poets and authors (VisitScotland, 2025). Literary tourism, therefore, happens “when authors or their literature become so popular that people are drawn to either those locations associated with the author…or those featured within their writings” (Hoppen et al., 2014; 37).

Consequently, visitors are motivated to pay homage to biographical sites associated with an author, whether they be birthplaces, writers’ homes or graves. They are, of course, also attracted to locations which have served as the settings described in literary works, enabling them to physically inhabit imaginary geographies. Additionally, the literary reputation of an area can lure visitors wishing to absorb a creative ambience and literary events and festivals, bookshops and libraries all play a part in creating prestige. Literary motifs are also used in the construction of new visitor attractions which may have no specific geographical link to an author or a work of fiction but capitalise on the pulling power of the theme. Therefore, literary tourism sites can be categorised as biographical, imaginative, reputational and socially constructed (MacLeod, 2024) and the range of experiences on offer include museums, writers’ houses, visitor centres, literary landscapes, artefacts, statues, graves, bookshops, libraries, literary hotels, themed trails and guided tours.

There are examples of each of the categories above within Scotland’s literary offerings and many of these have a long history of attracting fiction-inspired visitors. Sir Walter Scott’s gothic country house, Abbotsford, in the Scottish borders was one of the first author’s homes to be opened to the public as an attraction in 1833 although the writer’s fame had prompted much interest before then. It was not only his flamboyant home which generated attention from visitors - Scott’s romantic tales of adventure and heroism set in a very recognisable Scottish landscape encouraged a tourism boom in a country which had hitherto been considered remote, hostile and unappealing. In particular, his long poem, The Lady of the Lake published in 1810 broke contemporary publishing records and created a fashion for visiting the Trossachs where the poem was set. Scott’s role in the development of Scottish tourism has been acknowledged (MacLeod, 2024), and the regions that he popularised are still significant destinations today. His contribution is recognised in the towering Scott Monument in Edinburgh’s Princes Street (the world’s second tallest literary monument) and the naming of the city’s railway station, Waverley, in honour of his most famous novel series.

Touristic interest in the poet now considered to be the national bard, Robert Burns, was also demonstrated early with visitors seeking out the place of his birth, his various homes, his grave and even his surviving family in the years following his death in 1796. The Romantic poet John Keats further popularised the site with his 1818 poem “Written in the Cottage Where Burns was Born.” This humble birthplace within the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Alloway is a very popular site set with the wider Burns literary landscape of biographical and fictional locations and first opened in 1881. The poet’s fame is strengthened yearly with commemorative Burns Suppers taking place across the world every 25th January, involving millions of expatriate Scots and Burns fans. His songs and poems are performed regularly, and it has been estimated that activities related to the poet contribute £203m to the Scottish economy annually making Burns a valuable cultural and economic asset (Pittock & Ambroisine, 2019).

Today, there is a wide range of traditional and contemporary literary tourism sites and experiences on offer in Scotland, attracting international and domestic visitors, celebrating national culture and promoting literacy. Some biographical, imaginative, reputational and socially constructed examples include:

The MacBeth Loop at Glamis Castle, Angus – a walking trail exploring scenes from William Shakespeare’s “Scottish play” in which MacBeth is the Thane of Glamis. The scenes are conveyed through carvings of the Three Witches, King Duncan, Macbeth, Banquo, Lady Macbeth and Macduff (an example of an imaginative literary site).

The Writers’ Museum, Edinburgh – a traditional city museum housed in a historic building. The museum opened in 1913 and began focussing specifically on the lives and works of Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson in 1962 (an example of a biographical literary site).

Outlander Tours of the Scottish Highlands – week-long commercial guided tours of literary and film sites associated with Diana Gabaldon’s time-travel novel series based in Scotland in the 18th century (an example of an imaginative and socially constructed literary experience).

Wigtown in Dumfries and Galloway – the town became Scotland’s first National Book Town in 1998 due to its many independent bookshops and a highly regarded annual 10-day long Book Festival (an example of a reputational literary site and experience).

In particular, the role of literature in determining a nation’s stature and prestige as a cultural tourism destination is evidenced through initiatives such as the City of Literature accolade. In 2004, UNESCO launched its Cities of Literature project as part of its Creative Cities Network. The aim of this network is to “promote the social, economic and cultural development of cities in both the developed and the developing world” and the cities in this network use heritage and creativity to realise UNESCO’s aim of nurturing cultural diversity (Cities of Literature, 2025).

Edinburgh was the first city to receive the City of Literature accolade and since then there have been a further 52 designated cities across 39 different countries in 6 continents. The basis of Edinburgh’s winning bid was its association with a wide variety of famous authors, its literary festivals, strong publishing industry, its universities which teach literature and creative writing and its literary prizes. The bid also focussed on the city’s numerous independent book shops, the wide range of literary visitor attractions and tours and its many libraries. A lasting legacy of the designation is the Edinburgh City of Literature Trust which is a charity specialising in literature, advocacy and international engagement. This organisation ensures that visitors and the community can continue to benefit from the power of the written word.

As indicated above, Scotland’s national tourism organisation, VisitScotland is also very aware of the attraction and reputational power of the nation’s many literary attractions and associations. Literary themes are incorporated into campaigns such as the recent Year of Stories 2022 which celebrated the range of narratives inspired by or written in Scotland. The objective of the campaign was to attract attention, create an emotional connection to Scotland through stories and to make the destination stand out amidst the mass of content now available to consumers.

Five themes were created to help visitors and the community discover a range of stories including iconic and classic tales, newly emerging stories, local legends, the influence of nature and the Scottish people and places which have inspired storytelling. Promoting the nation’s writers and their stories was a success for Visit Scotland with a wide media reach for the campaign and three quarters of attendees stating that they are more likely to visit places with a literary connection (VisitScotland, 2025).

Scotland is an example of a small nation with a large literary reputation and appeal which has been evident for many generations. Renowned authors brought visitors to Scotland from the earliest days of organised travel and storytelling along with landscape, history, ancestry and a strong national identity form the core of the national tourism product. Literature, along with other art forms, has allowed Scotland to tell its sometimes-troubled history and continues to reflect its contemporary identity. It is clear that this most ancient of human impulses – storytelling – is flourishing and continues to attract visitors to Scotland’s shores.

How to cite this dictionary entry: MacLeod, N. E. (2025). Scottish Literary Tourism. In R. Baleiro, G. Capecchi & J. Arcos-Pumarola (Orgs.). E-Dictionary of Literary Tourism. University for Foreigners of Perugia. https://doi.org/10.34623/zdg2-hn59