Hollywood movie locales account for every fifth tourist to Scotland

London, July 5 (ANI): Hollywood movies and television series have opened up Scotland's tourism industry to the world, raising its revenues to one billion pounds.

According to The Sun, latest tourism figures have revealed that one in five overseas tourists travel to Scotland after being inspired by images on screen.

The visitors spend around 30million pounds-a-year, providing employment to 8,000 people.

Movies like Braveheart, The Da Vinci Code and TV hits including Balamory and Monarch Of The Glen have showcased the beauty of the place and attracted visitors from all over the world.

Ghost story The Awakening, with Brit stars Dominic West and Rebecca Hall, is the latest big budget film to be shot in the region.

The production is expected to spend upwards of 500,000 pounds during the month-long shoot in East Lothian and Berwickshire.

"It's our job to persuade people to use Scotland as a location," the paper quoted the firm's locations manager Belle Doyle, as saying.

Visitor numbers increased by 72 per cent following the release of Dan Brown book in 2003.

In 2006, after the release of the movie, visitor numbers reached a staggering 175,000. .

The paper also stated that almost 10 visitors a day come to Nicholsons Cafe where JK Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book back in 1990, asking to see where she sat.

"Our locations are a wonderful means of advertising Scotland and attracting visitors from across the globe," a Visit Scotland spokeswoman said. (ANI)