How Outlander actor Sam Heughan's favourite place in Scotland has become star attraction

Last year also saw the completion of a £200,000 upgrade of The Real Mary King’s Close, and it has been launching various new themed tours including one on medical history, and another led by lantern – while the mooted Edinburgh tourist tax remains a hot topic, with the Scottish Parliament having now passed legislation paving the way for it becoming reality.

Nixon is in addition boss of The Loch Ness Centre, which like The Real Mary King’s Close is part of the UK-wide portfolio of Continuum Attractions, and his previous roles include GM of hospitality venue Winton Castle in East Lothian, and discovery centre manager at the Scottish Seabird Centre.

It was recently the fifth anniversary of you taking the reins at The Real Mary King’s Close – what are your key duties and priorities? Is it not also quite a spooky place to be in charge of?

Look, listen, and react! Our signature tours largely remain unaltered, and are historically accurate and great stories. Constant analysis from the team and guest feedback is essential to both maintaining the quality of our experience, but also diversifying our offering. We actively review all guest feedback, and there is always something new to gleam from this important data.

Any dimly lit historic site has a certain atmosphere about it, but day to day it is not really spooky. During lockdown, however, I visited it on a weekly basis on my own. I walked the entire site (which was in darkness), bearing in mind that at this time the whole city resembled an apocalypse with the Royal Mile deserted and shops all shut. Descending the stairs onto Mary King’s Close on my own, with only the light from my phone to guide me, was lonely and my senses were heightened. Whilst there was nothing spooky around me, I would have been easily spooked!

The attraction enjoyed a record-breaking 2023 – what has been key in driving such growth, and how do you aim to continue this?

Key for us is authenticity and relevance, and guest needs and expectations evolve. Our newly developed premium heritage experiences like our Dr Arnott Sampling Sensation or our medical history tours are each rooted in interpreting former residents of the Close, whilst shining a spotlight on their fascinating and often unique stories.

Visitors to Edinburgh have a fascination with its rich heritage. As custodians of The Real Mary King’s Close, our job is to interpret and present the stories in an engaging and entertaining way. We have a sought-after attraction, and often our challenge is trying to schedule and fit it all into our programme. It is a very fine balancing act.

How much of a boost was it having Outlander actor Sam Heughan say The Real Mary King’s Close was his favourite place in Scotland? Who would your dream visitor be?

It was a huge boost for us, especially with American guests, but every time we open TripAdvisor or review our feedback forms we are met with overwhelmingly positive feedback. My dream visitor would have to be Walt Disney, one of the best storytellers of all time. I would have got two-for-one feedback from him on not only the quality of our storytelling, but also the quality of how we operate our visitor attraction.

You are also chair of the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions (AVSA). What are your aims in this role, and what, for example, is your view on introducing a tourist tax in Edinburgh?

The position of chair of ASVA is a privilege, but being a membership organisation, we are here as the voice of the industry, so, similarly to my role at The Real Mary King’s Close, I see my job as ensuring all voices from our members are represented. We also have a job to do with inspiring visitor attractions, which we deliver on a number of levels, from our annual ASVA conference to both in-person and online events.

On introducing a tourist tax in Edinburgh, any form of tax sparks opinion and debate, and when speaking to ASVA members it would be fair to say there are mixed feelings towards its introduction. The key for me here is “fairness”. Is the amount a fair amount? Will it be collected using a fair system? Will the funds generated be spent in a fair way that contributes directly back to the visitors’ enjoyment of the destination? For me, there are still more questions than answers here – and ASVA has an important role to play in asking those questions and seeking the answers.

You have spent your career in tourism/hospitality. What attracted you into, and then kept you in, the sector?

Like most people I fell into, but also fell in love with, this sector. Tourism and hospitality simply weren’t promoted as careers when I was at school. I came to Edinburgh to study drama and theatre (but not to become an actor!), and in drama you learn a lot about reading people, making them laugh and cry, and holding their attention. With time being more precious to people than ever, you have to craft those moments of interaction, and that’s what really appeals to me, be it with a member of my team or a guest – I love being in a people industry.