The little UK seaside town with empty shops that’s abandoned by tourists

Just six years ago, more than two million tourists poured into Ayrshire, the UK coastal region home to the once bustling town of Ayr. In 2023, that number had plummeted to just 770,000 overnight tourism visits, leaving locals with a town that feels far removed from its days as a lively hub for seaside tourism.

Located on the picturesque Scottish coast with serene beaches and charming castles nearby, it’s quite surprising that Ayr was voted the country’s worst town by the sea and the 10th worst across the UK according to a survey conducted by Which?

Now home to a neglected shopping centre and empty stores lining its high street, Ayr has witnessed a staggering decline in the amount of local shops. Back in 2017, nearly a quarter of shops in the town stood empty, a figure that has only worsened.

A quick browse of the towns business directory is enough to see the damage. Most independent and big chain stores have gradually been closing their doors since 2016, leaving the town with little appeal for both tourists and residents.

Unfortunately, many locals feel the same way. Speaking to The Daily Express, a worker from a local travel agency summed it up bluntly: “The only thing that Ayr’s got for it is the beach, that’s about it”.

When asked about when she believes the issues within the town first started, she said “Oh, this has been, I would say, probably the last 20 odd years”.

She further went onto detail how she feels ashamed by the current state of her town, where she has lived and worked for over 50 years. She explained: “You get a lot of people that go to Craig Tara, one of the holiday parks, probably about a 15 minute drive from Ayr, and you get a lot of people that go [there] on holiday with their kids that come from, England, Ireland and it’s embarrassing when these people are coming into town and there’s just not many facilities, not many shops for them any longer”.

Similarly, the owner of a local baby care shop described how Ayr’s local high street is “pretty run down, empty shops, just a lack of people about and when you think of what the town used to be like a good number of years ago, it was thriving, and in comparison to now it’s just pretty run down."

Both businesses admit that their footfall has not been the same since challenges emerged in the town centre. However, what is impressive is their resilience in the face of adversity. The travel company explained: “If we’re not getting a footfall, we are very, very on top of our Facebook pages.”

A dedicated Facebook group celebrating and supporting local businesses has flourished into a thriving network of more than 6,000 passionate members.

Still, as the travel agent points out, there’s only so much that a social media page can achieve and it’s the businesses further down the road that are bearing the brunt of the problems.

She explained: “I mean, we've got that big building that used to be Hurston's, an absolute fantastic, beautiful big building, and it is just sitting there ratting ruin. And there was talk that they were going to put something in near the council, there was talk of them putting something in the Kyle Centre, but it's all talk, basically.”

Both businesses called on the council to try and save the city centre whilst they can, urging them to make encouraging people to visit Ayr a priority and to improve the conditions of the town centre. Although the travel agent revealed how she believed that the town might never return to its original thriving self by describing the situation as being “Too long gone now”.

However, the local business owner shared some optimism for the town centre’s future saying: “Hopefully fingers crossed that we can do something about it before it sort of gets beyond. You just hope, keep hoping that, you know, we can sort of get the town revived again."

A South Ayrshire Council spokesperson said: “Like most town centres in the UK, Ayr needs to adapt. The way people shop has irrevocably changed, and the Council has prioritised encouraging people back into our town centres for social, cultural and economic activity. To achieve this, we are focusing our efforts on key projects within the town centre to generate increased footfall. For example we’re working with traders in Newmarket Street to improve the streetscape and the shopping experience. We also provide business support grants and Employer Recruitment Incentives (ERIs) to local businesses.

“We’ve recently been awarded £16 million by the UK Government as part of their Levelling Up Fund. The funding will be used to regenerate Burns Statue Square an important gateway into Ayr, a shopfront improvements scheme and to develop active travel routes. There will also be wider improvements to the public realm through the Accessible Ayr project. We’re staging high profile events like the International Ayr Show – Festival of Flight this September. Events like this will help act as a catalyst for investment from the private sector.”