ONE Tourism

🚀 Regional EDGE North East has officially launched through a partnership of The Scottish Government, Scottish EDGE and Opportunity North East Limited. ❓ Are you a business, social enterprise or charity in north east Scotland, either pre-trading or within your first five years? 🏆 Apply to Regional EDGE before 20 January for the chance to secure between £10k and £50k in funding. 💻 Join the Regional EDGE workshop on 16 December, to learn more about the competition and get advice on everything from meeting the entry and assessment criteria to crafting a great application. ℹ️ Learn more, sign up for the workshop, and apply at: scottishedge.com/regional

👏 The economic impact of tourism in north east Scotland has grown by 32% in the past four years and reached £1.1 billion in 2023. 📈 The region attracted more than three million staying visitors in 2023, +47.1% on 2019, 2.5 million day visitors (+18.7%), and employed 11,000 people (+16.7%). 🤝 Opportunity North East Limited has invested in the sector over the past eight years with regional and national partners: including core funding for VisitAberdeenshire, developing and leading the North East Adventure Tourism (NEAT) project, building the sector’s talent pipeline with the Hospitality Apprenticeship North East (HANE) programme, and growing food tourism with the Provenance Festival. 💬 Jennifer Craw, CEO of Opportunity North East Limited, said: “These figures demonstrate positive momentum. The progress achieved with visitors staying longer and spending more is due to the ambition, commitment and dedication of those working in tourism. It is a key growth sector for the region and vital to long-term economic diversification. The region has a rich and growing offer for UK and international visitors – from food and drink and city breaks to adventure tourism and heritage, all set in an outstanding natural environment. ONE will continue to support and seek additional resources to enable the people and businesses leading tourism in the region to fulfil their full potential and deliver high-skill jobs.” 📊 The latest figures come from independent research conducted by Global Tourism Solutions (GTS) using their Scottish Tourism Economic Activity Monitor (STEAM) model. 🏨 🛏 🛎 Key information was gathered from bed stock, occupancy data and visitor attractions data, as well as intelligence from festival organisers, festivals and events, venues and transport providers to provide an aggregated overview of activity in the region in the last year. 💬 Chris Foy, Chief Executive at VisitAberdeenshire, said: “It is extremely encouraging to see clear evidence that tourism is not just bouncing back, but is a burgeoning, vibrant sector that is making a difference to lives and livelihoods from Aberdeen to Alford and from St Cyrus to Sandend. A combination of investment in high-quality infrastructure by the public and private sector and investment in VisitAberdeenshire’s work by Opportunity North East and our local authorities is bearing fruit. At the heart of this story is the resilience, ingenuity and vision of tourism and hospitality businesses who are collectively employing more than 11,000 people in jobs that fit with lifestyles and open up new career prospects as the North East economy continues to diversify.” #tourism #visitoreconomy #Aberdeen #Aberdeenshire #adventuretourism #northeastadventuretourism #foodtourism

📅 Now is the time to get involved in Provenance Festival 2024, which will run for 10 days in September across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire and create unique connections between north east Scotland's food and drink manufacturers, producers, and consumers. ℹ Find out more and get involved 👇 Opportunity North East Limited VisitAberdeenshire