--- title: "Aberdeen Destination Marketing and Development Service" ocid: "ocds-r6ebe6-0000837836" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-r6ebe6-0000837836" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000837836.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000837836.json" source: "Public Contracts Scotland" current_stage: "Planning" buyer: "ABERDEEN CITY COUNCIL" published: "2026-07-20" --- # Aberdeen Destination Marketing and Development Service Buyer: ABERDEEN CITY COUNCIL Current stage: Planning OCID: ocds-r6ebe6-0000837836 [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-r6ebe6-0000837836) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000837836.json) ## Summary Aberdeen City Council is in the planning stage of potentially procuring a new Aberdeen Destination Marketing and Development Service, as announced on 20th July 2026. This initiative is categorized under "Recreation, culture and religion" and aims to boost Aberdeen's position as a premier visitor destination. The service, related to the city of Aberdeen (UKM50 region), is intended to be funded by the upcoming Aberdeen Visitor Levy starting 1st April 2027. Key focus areas include city promotion, visitor economy development, and business engagement, all intended to enhance the cultural, hospitality, and tourism sectors. While not yet a formal call for competition, this notice seeks market engagement to refine procurement strategies, with future notices expected around 10th November 2026. This procurement opportunity presents substantial growth potential for businesses specialising in destination marketing and tourism services. Companies with expertise in market intelligence, product development, and visitor engagement can leverage this contract to enhance local tourism and hospitality segments. Additionally, businesses capable of integrating services like business events and convention support will find notable opportunities to contribute to Aberdeen's economic development. Overall, firms that can align their offerings with the city's strategic aims while demonstrating innovation and effective use of the Visitor Levy proceeds stand to benefit greatly from engaging with this initiative. ## Notice Aberdeen City Council is seeking market engagement to inform the potential procurement of a city-focused Aberdeen Destination Marketing and Development Service, funded through the Aberdeen Visitor Levy, which is due to apply from 1 April 2027. The proposed service would support Aberdeen's position as a leading visitor destination by delivering destination marketing, city promotion, market intelligence, business engagement, product development and visitor economy development activity. It would seek to increase awareness of Aberdeen, grow visitor numbers and length of stay, support accommodation demand, amplify the city's cultural, events, heritage, hospitality, leisure and business tourism offer, and contribute to the city's wider economic transition. The service is expected to focus on Aberdeen city while recognising that the wider regional offer -- including landscapes, coastline, castles, golf, food and drink, outdoor activity and touring itineraries -- forms an important part of the destination proposition. The Council is also interested in how the service should interface with convention bureau and business events activity where this supports additional visitors, bed nights and economic value for the city. This Prior Information Notice is for market engagement only. It is not a call for competition and does not commit the Council to a procurement, contract award or any particular delivery model. ### Lot Information Lot 1 Aberdeen City Council is considering the procurement of an Aberdeen Destination Marketing and Development Service to support the objectives of the Aberdeen Visitor Levy and the sustainable growth of the city's visitor economy. The service is expected to be delivered as a city-focused programme for Aberdeen. Its purpose will be to promote Aberdeen as a distinctive destination for leisure and business visitors, encourage people to visit, stay longer and spend more, and support the development of a strong visitor offer across the city's venues, events, festivals, culture, attractions, hospitality and tourism businesses. The anticipated scope may include destination marketing and communications, city promotion, business engagement, visitor economy development, product and itinerary development, travel trade support, market intelligence, performance evaluation and reporting. Where included within the final scope, the service may also interface with convention bureau and business events activity where this supports additional visitors, accommodation bed nights and economic value for Aberdeen. The service will be expected to complement, rather than duplicate, wider regional destination activity, while maintaining a clear focus on improving Aberdeen's position as a visitor destination. It will also be expected to support transparent public reporting on the use and impact of Visitor Levy proceeds, including evidence of outputs, outcomes and performance against agreed indicators. This notice is intended to inform market engagement and procurement planning. Any future procurement will be subject to Council approvals, final service specification, available budget and the applicable procurement process. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Public Contracts Scotland | | Latest notice | https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=JUL560476 | | Notice type | OJEU - F1 - Prior Information Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Services | | Procurement method | Not Specified | | Procurement method details | Not specified | | Tender suitability | Not specified | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Planning | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 20 Jul 2026 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | 10 Nov 2026 | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | Not specified | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | £900,000 | | Lots value | Not specified | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | Not specified | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Planned | | Lots status | Planned | | Awards status | Not specified | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | ABERDEEN CITY COUNCIL | | Locality | ABERDEEN | | Post town | Aberdeen | | Postcode | AB16 5GB | | Country | Scotland | | ITL 1 | TLM Scotland | | ITL 2 | TLM5 North Eastern Scotland | | ITL 3 | TLM50 Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire | | Local authority | Aberdeen City | | Electoral ward | Midstocket/Rosemount | | Westminster constituency | Aberdeen North | | Delivery location | TLM50 Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 63 - Supporting and auxiliary transport services; travel agencies services - 75 - Administration, defence and social security services - 79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security ### Codes - 63513000 - Tourist information services - 75125000 - Administrative services related to tourism affairs - 79340000 - Advertising and marketing services - 79342000 - Marketing services - 79411100 - Business development consultancy services - 79413000 - Marketing management consultancy services - 79951000 - Seminar organisation services - 79956000 - Fair and exhibition organisation services ## Release History - 20 Jul 2026 at 00:00 - Planning - OJEU - F1 - Prior Information Notice - https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=JUL560476 ## Documents - https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/NoticeDownload/DownloadDocument.aspx?id=JUL560476&idx=1 20th July 2026 - Market Engagement submission Form - https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=JUL560476 Aberdeen Destination Marketing and Development Service - Aberdeen City Council is seeking market engagement to inform the potential procurement of a city-focused Aberdeen Destination Marketing and Development Service, funded through the Aberdeen Visitor Levy, which is due to apply from 1 April 2027. The proposed service would support Aberdeen's position as a leading visitor destination by delivering destination marketing, city promotion, market intelligence, business engagement, product development and visitor economy development activity. It would seek to increase awareness of Aberdeen, grow visitor numbers and length of stay, support accommodation demand, amplify the city's cultural, events, heritage, hospitality, leisure and business tourism offer, and contribute to the city's wider economic transition. The service is expected to focus on Aberdeen city while recognising that the wider regional offer -- including landscapes, coastline, castles, golf, food and drink, outdoor activity and touring itineraries -- forms an important part of the destination proposition. The Council is also interested in how the service should interface with convention bureau and business events activity where this supports additional visitors, bed nights and economic value for the city. This Prior Information Notice is for market engagement only. It is not a call for competition and does not commit the Council to a procurement, contract award or any particular delivery model. ## Notice URLs - http:// - http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk - http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=837836 - https://api.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/v1/Notice?id=ocds-r6ebe6-0000837836 ## Provenance This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-r6ebe6-0000837836. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000837836.json.