Tourism and events are among Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire’s most valuable industries, writes David Jackson, VisitScotland Regional Director for Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.
Their success creates a ripple effect which powers a vibrant visitor economy. It is more than simply going on holiday. Our data shows that in 2023 total spend (including day visitors), totalled £724million for Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray Speyside.
This sustains communities, stimulates investment, creates jobs, enhances Scotland’s global reputation, and boosts visitors’ and our own health and wellbeing.
And it is this cumulative impact which highlights why growing the visitor economy is so important. It is something that benefits us all.
Despite encouraging international figures – almost a third (29%) of all visitors to Aberdeenshire in 2023 were international - many working within the tourism and events industry are facing ongoing challenges as a result of the cost of living and of doing business, which continues to affect the UK.
As an economic growth agency, we are focusing on four key priorities to drive the visitor economy, growing its value in a sustainable way that benefits not just visitors to the region but the people who live and work here too.
These are organisation development, market development, place development and business and experience development.
For market development this means growing and diversifying Scotland’s reach in key international and domestic markets, promoting Scotland through our own channels and that of our partners, as a much-visit, must return destination.
For a city such as Aberdeen where, according to our Scotland Visitor Survey 2023 almost 60% of visitors are believed to be international, this represents a significant opportunity. Overseas visitors often stay longer and spend more.
But as well as inspiring and attracting visitors, we also need to make sure as a destination, we are capable and comfortable of welcoming visitors and that all areas of the region benefit.
This includes the Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund (RTIF) which we administer on behalf of the Scottish Government. Recently completed local projects include the creation of a car park, all-abilities path and interpretation panels for seal watching at Newburgh and parking and toilet improvements at St Cyrus National Nature Reserve and takes the total number of RTIF-supported projects across the regions to five. This creates significant and long-lasting improvement to local visitor infrastructure.
We will continue working closely with our partners to support regional tourism strategies and encourage investment in terms of facilities and events.
We are already starting to see the benefits of this with Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire’s impressive 2025 events line up. This kicked off at the start of the year with SPECTRA, which was supported by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Industry and Events Directorate. For the past 11 years this annual light show has brought locals and visitors alike flocking into the city centre during a traditionally quieter time of year to marvel at the array of beautiful light installations.
Here in the city, we also have the magnificent Tall Ships Races Aberdeen to look forward to in July, also supported by EventScotland - part of our industry and events directorate. This will be one of the biggest events in the city and the North-east for the last 30 years and will bring 400,000 visits to Aberdeen. These visitors - whether here for a day or longer - will all contribute to our visitor economy by booking accommodation, shopping, or dining out.
In March, Aberdeen also hosted Scottish Golf Tourism Week for the first time, with over 100 Scottish golf businesses and 90 international tour operators from over 30 countries taking part.
Finally, through business and experience development we’ve been reviewing our approach to business support. This includes the launch of our new business support programme, a year-round programme of free-to-access support, which will help businesses to grow, develop and connect with new audiences.
We will also continue to help businesses to do this through our flagship travel trade show, VisitScotland Connect, which returned to P&J Live last month. The two-day event brought together tourism businesses, including almost 30 from Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, face-to-face with over 250 tour operators and travel agents from across the world who want to promote Scotland to their clients.
We remain steadfast in our support for the visitor economy and the people and places who rely on it and by working together, we can ensure that Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire remain a must-visit, must-return destination year-round, driving the visitor economy without pause.