The Sir Walter Scott ferry on Loch Katrine

While Sir Walter Scott’s writing is nowhere near as popular now as it was in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, it has had a lasting impact on Scotland’s tourism industry as a whole. Most particularly it defined a new type of literary tourism. Originally most common literary tourism practices centred around visiting places significant to the author, such as his birthplace or grave. (James 94) After the introduction of Sir Walter Scott’s work people became more interested in touring places where the stories were set. In Loch Katrine, one of the main locations mentioned in ‘The Lady and the Lake’ and a stop on the tour, there is a small but lasting testament to Scott’s influence in the form of two Loch cruises. One is aptly named ‘the lady of the lake’, while the other is a 118-year-old steamship named after the author which is still in operation today ("Loch Cruises"). Even though Sir Walter Scott's writings are not the main draw to Scotland anymore, it is impossible to separate Scotland's popularity from Scott's influence, which may have helped to influence the public's view of Scottland that carried over in the Scottish tourist industry even to this day.