IT IS the TV series which has caused visitors numbers to soar across the historic and eyecatching Scottish attractions featured in the last five years.
There is even a term for the way in which the five-year-old drama based upon author Diana Gabaldon's historical time travel book series has boosted the tourism economy of Scotland - "the Outlander effect".
The number of visitors flocking to the castles, palaces, mansion houses, heritage villages and country parks that are featured in Outlander are estimated to have risen by 67 per cent between 2013 and 2017 - from 887,000 to 1.5million.
READ MORE: Outlander star Sam Heughan to receive honorary degree
Now to further capitalise on the Outlander effect, Visit Scotland have revamped a locations map - to include a host of locations from the fourth season of the show.
A former parish church in Glasgow’s Merchant City is one of eight new locations that feature in the fourth season of the time-travelling romantic television adventure series starring Sam Heughan as 18th-century Scottish Highlander Jamie Fraser and his time-traveling wife, a 20th-century English doctor named Claire Randall Fraser played by Caitriona Balfe.
St Andrew’s in the Square, Glasgow, now home to the Centre for Scottish Culture and a popular wedding venue, stands in for the interior of the Wilmington theatre, North Carolina where Jamie and Claire attend a play with Governor Tyron. It is said that the production crew took 48 hours to give it a total overhaul in terms of the dressing, building a huge proscenium arch with rich red velvets and a huge gilded candelabra.
Also added is Calderglen Country Park which is home to a zoo, nature trails, golf course, gardens and historic Torrance House. But it also provided one of the most dramatic moments of the fourth series, as it doubled as the gloomy and dangerous forests of 18th-century North Carolina.
This is where Jamie Fraser and his young son in period costume go hunting and fishing with dangerous consequences.
READ MORE: Outlander fans dig deep to save Preston Mill
On the map too is the University of Stirling. The walkway between the university buildings became the Boston Airport walkway where Claire and Jamie's daughter Brianna Fraser meet Roger MacKenzie off a plane when he arrives to visit.
The Outlander map has more details than ever before to help visitors find precisely what they are looking for, including postcodes and whether the on-screen locations feature parking, toilet facilities, admission fees and eateries.
The set-jetting map now features 43 of the Scottish locations used in the hit Sony Pictures Television show for fans to explore.
Jenni Steele, film and creative industries manager at VisitScotland, said: “Outlander continues to have a massive effect on Scottish tourism with fans flocking to the sites that have appeared in or have a historical connection to the hit television show.
"With an astonishing 43 locations used over the past four series, there is so much of the country for fans to explore.
"Our new and improved guide gives visitors even more information about on-site facilities to allow them to plan appropriately to make the most out of their trip.
READ MORE: Stars celebrate 'world Outlander day'
Also added to the map, is the 17th century Palladian villa Newhailes House in East Lothian which serves as Governor Tyron’s home in North Carolina, where Jamie discusses the offer of a land grant in exchange for service to the English Crown, and where Jamie and Claire are introduced into Wilmington society.
Also featuring as the North Carolina wilderness is the 913 acre Beecraigs Country Park in West Lothian. This is where Jamie and Claire ride through after leaving River Run. On the journey through the forest, they became separated during a thunderstorm and Claire are haunted by the ghost of Otter-Tooth.
Arniston House in Midlothian (below), home to the Dundas family for more than 400 years, became the theatre entrance and lobby where Jamie and Claire attend a play in Wilmington with Governor Tyron and where Claire’s medical skills saved Edward Fanning’s life.
Gray Buchanan Park, Polmont – known locally as Parkhill also features. The woodland alongside the meandering Polmont burn doubled as a Charleston graveyard.
The woodlands at Dunkeld House Hotel in Perthshire were also used as North Carolina wilderness.
Ms Steele added: “Not all the filming locations used in the show are listed as some may be on private property, where the owners don’t want their involvement promoted. Other locations may be too small or delicate to cope with large numbers of visitors, while some may be too tricky or even dangerous for visitors to get to.”
Outlander author Diana Gabaldon received an award for boosting Scottish tourism through her fantasy saga in March.
The US writer, 67, received an International Contribution to Scottish Tourism award at the Scottish Thistle awards.
The Outlander Effect and Tourism paper, revealed that Doune Castle, near Dunblane, which doubles as the programme's Castle Leoch, has seen the largest surge of visitors as a result of the show's appeal - 226.5% between 2013 and 2017.
Numbers at Blackness Castle, near Linlithgow, which features as Black Jack Randall's headquarters, increased by 181.7%.
And Glasgow Cathedral's visitors increased by 66.8% after it was screened as a French hospital.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here