Outlander 'an amazing phenomenon for Scottish tourism'

Outlander has had an “absolutely huge” role in pushing the $65 million sector of tourism in Scotland, the country’s national tourism organisation says.

The TV series is based on books written by Diana Gabaldon, first published in the 90s, and follows WWII nurse Claire Randall as she's transported back to 18th Century Scotland where she falls in love with warrior Jamie Fraser.

The show, which stars Caitriona Balfe as Claire and Sam Heughan as the Jacobite, features Scotland's landscapes, historical buildings and castles.

Visit Scotland’s survey shows one in five people travel to the country because of a film or television show shot there, with Outlander being one of the commonly cited alongside Braveheart, Harry Potter, Highlander and The Da Vinci Code.

"Outlander has just been an amazing phenomenon for Scottish tourism," film and creative industries manager Jenni Steele tells Culture 101.

But it’s not just the locations people want to visit, they’re also keen to learn about traditions like kilt-making and Gaelic language and discover their Scottish ancestry, Steele says.

Although the books were popular too, the TV show heightened that appeal because it showcased the mix of landscape, history, heritage and scenery in a new way, she says.

“People were wanting to find out about the real Scotland, about Jacobites, about the history, battles, clans.

“One really interesting point is about the whole ancestry, because obviously a lot of people in New Zealand have very strong Scottish ancestry, and that really takes people back to discovering their own family heritage,” Steele says.

“When we saw the kind of visitor numbers [increase], it was certainly US, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, France, and then the UK and other markets kind of caught up as it got released.”

While the plot has gone abroad across its seven seasons, most filming still took place in Scotland, she says, including the use of a historic port in the Kingdom of Fife as a French port.

Stately homes like 14th century Doune Castle, near Stirling, and Blackness Castle, which doubled as one of the prisons where Jamie was incarcerated, saw visitor numbers go “through the roof”, she says.

“We saw some properties that had over 300 percent increase in visitor numbers.”

The outpouring of love from fans has even helped secure crowdfunding for restoration work at Preston Mill, which featured early in the series, she says.

“Within a few days, it had exceeded its target because so many Outlander fans loved that scene, they wanted to help restore it. One specific fan, I think, matched what everybody else had put in.”

Every year at Highland Folk Museum, an Outlander Day is held to showcase life in that period of the 1700s in Scotland.

“Fans come from all over and just take part in that sort of living history. It's just so nice to see that being recreated and it's really kind of revived some of the older skills and Gaelic language, music, song traditions, which it's really important to keep alive.”

Responsible tourism is high on their agenda, so acquiring permissions and facilitating visits has been crucial, Steele says. But some fans discover unlisted private filming spots, so they ask people to be respectful of the environment.

“I think for communities or people there, it might then start to kind of give film and TV maybe a sort of negative connotation and you think, well, you want to encourage crews and people to come back and do more, but it needs to be something that's a benefit for everybody.”

There have been other benefits for the local economy too, with Outlander establishing a training programme in collaboration with Screen Scotland for new talent in the film industry.

While there are new productions coming through Scotland, like Dept. Q and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the older ones still prove to be very popular, Steele says.

“I think that comes down to the beauty of them being shown on a number of networks, on streaming networks.”

Outlander’s eighth and final season is set to premier next year.