Visitor numbers at the Inverness Castle Viewpoint are over and above projections by almost 30%.
The visitor attraction, which gives 360-degree views of Inverness and beyond, opened its doors to the public in mid April.
Lesley Junor, High Life Highland’s operations manager responsible for the Inverness Castle Viewpoint, said she was “very pleased” with visitor numbers at the city’s newest tourist attraction.
She added: “Based on our full season projections, we would have expected to achieve an attendance of 9,000 visitors to the end of July, so we’re pleased to be around 11,500 visits at that stage. With a further four months’ figures to be added, we are hopeful to continue to be above projections as we head into the autumn.”
The figures were revealed in a report due before Highland Council’s people committee on Wednesday.
More than 5,000 people visited the tower in July alone, and there has been sufficient customer interest to open for an extra two hours a day in June, July and August.
The report also states that the attraction is already scoring 4.5 out of five stars on popular ratings website Tripadvisor.
The viewing platform is part of wider plans to turn Inverness Castle into a tourist attraction of “national significance” which Stuart Black, Highland Council’s director of development and infrastructure, said previously could become the “V&A of the north”. National Galleries and National Museums Scotland are currently exploring ideas for the transformation of the castle.
Mr Black has also said that the aim will be to fully open the castle as a tourist attraction in the early part of the next decade.
At present the main castle building solely serves as the city’s courthouse, but the court service wants to move into the new justice centre in the city’s Longman Road in 2019.
A total of £15million from the City Region Deal will be used to convert the castle. An application will be sent for lottery funding as part of the project.
The council boss hopes to furnish the new tourism centre with artefacts from across the Highlands in a bid to encourage tourists to travel farther afield.