Visitor numbers have soared over the past year at Dumbarton Castle.

Last year, 27,033 visits were made to the attraction, compared with 24,061 in 2016, a year-on-year rise of 12.4 per cent, according to the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions (ASVA).

Susan Loch, head of visitor operations and community engagement at Historic Environment Scotland, said: “This trend of increasing footfall has also been replicated at many of our sites across the country, demonstrating the continuing value of Scotland’s historic places within the country’s wider tourism offering.”

The number of visits to Edinburgh Castle, for example, breached the two million mark, an increase of 16 per cent, while the number of visits to Stirling Castle rose 17.7 per cent.

ASVA, which represents the interests of more than 450 key visitor attractions in Scotland and collates visitor numbers, indicated that this country-wide rise in the number of visitors to castle and heritage sites was partly due to last year being the Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology.

One big draw for visitors to Dumbarton Castle last year was its fourth annual Rock of Ages event held in June.

More than 2,200 visitors gathered to celebrate 2,000 years of history in the west of Scotland.

Douglas Walker, chair of ASVA, said the visitor attractions sector in Scotland is “in robust health”.

He added: “Attractions that have invested in their visitor offer by developing innovative new products and services and launching inspiring events and exhibitions programmes, supported by creative and effective marketing campaigns, are not only reaching new visitor markets but are actively encouraging their existing visitors to return time and again.”