WIGTOWN’S Airbnb bookshop the Open Book Airbnb celebrated its tenth birthday this month.
Since welcoming its first holidaymakers in August 2014, nearly 450 guests have enjoyed the chance to run their own bookshop in Scotland’s National Book Town
The volunteer-run enterprise has become such a phenomenon that there is a two-year waiting list with would-be “tenants” eagerly awaiting each release of new dates.
What they love about the experience is that it is so much more than a holiday – with many getting drawn into the warmth of the Wigtown community.
Joyce Cochrane, of the nearby Old Bank Bookshop, meets and greets guests, shows them round the town and then offers to put their pictures up on social media. She said: “The Open Book has been a way of opening our doors to the world and because of that the world has been coming to Wigtown, and they love it.
“I’ll normally put a little notice up on Facebook, with a bit about the new guests, and just say ‘Wigtown weave your magic’, and it does.”
The initiative was the idea of author and filmmaker Jessica Fox, an American who fell in love with Wigtown and settled here. She wanted to raise the profile of Scotland’s National Book Town and bring in additional funds for Wigtown Festival Company (WFC) and the town’s annual book festival.
Jessica said: “I came up with the idea of Open Book because of my own adventure – which saw me come to Scotland’s National Book Town to stay in a bookshop. I thought others would enjoy the chance to do that too.
“It is a success because of Wigtown, the volunteers who make the guests so welcome, Rosemary and David Bythell, the owners of the building, who believed in my idea to begin with and the Wigtown Book Festival who have allowed it to thrive.”
Since opening ten years ago the book shop has grown to not only cover its costs, but now contributes around £10,000 a year to WFC’s charitable activities, as well as attracting tenants from as far away as Hawaii and Beijing.
The latest guests, Tracy and Richard Vine from Chelmsford, learned about The Open Book from a TV programme and loved it so much that this is their third visit.
Tracy said: “We loved the idea of it – the chance to have a holiday running your own bookshop was quite unique. And there’s no strings attached, no real responsibilities, you can enjoy the time however you like.”
- Photo by Colin Hattersley
