Tourism, Technology & Data

To assist Edinburgh-based tourism businesses in their efforts to recover from the impact of COVID-19, we developed data-driven insights into key visitor markets that intend to visit Edinburgh and Scotland post-COVID-19, focusing on markets that can afford the visit. The insights generated can be used for strategic decision-making and marketing communication activities. In order to ensure that as many businesses as possible benefit from the insights, we developed an accessible and free online visualisation tool: tourism-insights-scotland.co.uk. This project, a collaboration between Edinburgh Tourism Action Group (ETAG) and the cluster members, was funded by the Data Driven Innovation (DDI) programme.

Working with the Destination Management Organization (DMO) for the Isle of Skye, we have developed a bespoke blueprint for a digital vehicle and visitor tracking system for hot spot sites on Skye. The tracking system generates data that could be analysed for forecasting and planning purposes by local stakeholders. It could also serve as a live streaming tool for optimising the timing of visits by patrons, essentially helping visitors in the scheduling of their visits to different sites of interest by nudging/dispersing them to various sites. Via this innovative digital solution, more sustainable and safer tourism can be promoted on Skye, while visitor experience is also enhanced.

This project was funded by Interface.

The Festival Mobility Project is a collaboration between members of The Edinburgh Festivals Transport Forum, which includes Transport Scotland, Transport for Edinburgh, The Edinburgh Festivals, Festivals Edinburgh, Transport Providers, Tourism Stakeholders, The University of Edinburgh’s Data Driven Innovation Programme (DDI) and The List. We aim to help festivals and transport providers make more informed decisions to improve public transportation, initially with specific attention to the three-week busy August Festival Period. The project has significant potential to provide a wider understanding of mobility into, around and within the City Region with the ultimate goal of improving year-round understanding of flows within the city, to inform future planning and placemaking.