---
title: "Association of Leading Visitor Attractions Benchmarking Survey"
ocid: "ocds-r6ebe6-0000846204"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-r6ebe6-0000846204"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000846204.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000846204.json"
source: "Public Contracts Scotland"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "Historic Environment Scotland"
published: "2026-10-21"
---

# Association of Leading Visitor Attractions Benchmarking Survey

Buyer: Historic Environment Scotland  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-r6ebe6-0000846204

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## Summary

Historic Environment Scotland commissioned a visitor-attraction benchmarking survey through its membership of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA). The survey benchmarks three of HES’s leading attractions—Edinburgh Castle, Stirling Castle and Urquhart Castle—against leading attractions across the UK. This is market research and visitor-attraction performance benchmarking, rather than a survey of a single site or general tourism research. The buying organisation is Historic Environment Scotland, based in Edinburgh. Delivery relates to the three named castles. The work provides comparative evidence on how these major visitor attractions perform against peers, supporting HES’s understanding of its attractions within the UK visitor landscape.

The procurement is complete and awarded to Ipsos (market research) Ltd; the contract is active. HES used a limited procedure without a prior call for competition, citing the absence of another supplier able to provide the ALVA benchmarking survey for technical reasons. The contract was signed on 21 October 2026, with a stated value of £40,000. The award record associates the contract with the single survey requirement covering all three attractions. The stated route was a direct award rationale under Scotland’s public procurement regulations, on the basis that no other economic operator provides the ALVA survey. No contract duration or separate evaluation criteria are recorded in the procurement details.

For suppliers considering comparable future work for Historic Environment Scotland, this award indicates demand for robust visitor-attraction benchmarking that can compare several major Scottish heritage sites with leading UK attractions. Credibility would depend on the ability to provide the relevant ALVA benchmarking survey, or an equivalent defensible comparison across the same peer group, with market-research capability suited to attraction performance data. The buyer’s stated rationale was that no other economic operator provided the ALVA survey, so a competitor would need to demonstrate a genuinely suitable alternative methodology and comparable coverage if the requirement were reconsidered. The work is a focused research service for three high-profile castles, not a general tourism promotion or visitor operations contract.

## Notice

ALVA (Association of Leading Visitor Attractions) Benchmarking Survey

### Lot Information

Lot 1

HES are members of ALVA (the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions). ALVA is a national framework representing tourism bodies across the country. ALVA benchamrking survey which benchmarks our 3 top attractions against the leading attractions within the UK.

### Procurement Information

HES intends to award to the Supplier on the basis that competition is absent for technical reasons as per Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 33.1.b (ii) No other economic operator provides the ALVA benchmarking survey

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Public Contracts Scotland |
| Latest notice | https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=OCT567047 |
| Notice type | OJEU - F15 - Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Limited |
| Procurement method details | Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 21 Oct 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £40,000 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Complete |
| Awards status | Not specified |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | Historic Environment Scotland |
| Locality | EDINBURGH |
| Postcode area | Edinburgh |
| Postcode | EH9 1SH |
| Country | Scotland |
| ITL 1 | TLM Scotland |
| ITL 2 | TLM1 East Central Scotland |
| ITL 3 | TLM13 City of Edinburgh |
| Local authority | City of Edinburgh |
| Electoral ward | Southside/Newington |
| Westminster constituency | Edinburgh South |
| Delivery location | TLM Scotland |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | Ipsos MORI |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

### Codes

- 79310000 - Market research services

## Release History

- 21 Oct 2026 at 01:00 - Award - OJEU - F15 - Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice - https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=OCT567047

## Documents

- https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=OCT567047
  Association of Leading Visitor Attractions Benchmarking Survey - ALVA (Association of Leading Visitor Attractions) Benchmarking Survey

## Notice URLs

- http://
- http://historicenvironment.scot
- https://api.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/v1/Notice?id=ocds-r6ebe6-0000846204

## 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-r6ebe6-0000846204. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000846204.json.