A Tall Ships Races Aberdeen 2025 evaluation report – prepared ahead of a council finance and committee meeting – has revealed that the economic impact of The Tall Ships Races Aberdeen exceeded all expectations.

Aberdeen successfully staged the Tall Ships Races Aberdeen 2025 and attracted more than 500,000 visitors.

In 2024, the council set several goals, which included staging a world-class event, recruiting more than 400 volunteers, and driving economic growth.

Now, the local authority has revealed several statistics which indicate that Tall Ships Races exceeded the scale and scope of Tall Ships Races in 1997 and therefore,  has now become the largest event ever to be held in the city.

Tall Ships Races Aberdeen in numbers:

•  496,000 visits to the event
•  94 per cent of visitors rated their experience as excellent (71 per cent) or good (23 per cent)
•  91 per cent agreed that the event had a positive impact on their perception of Aberdeen
•  86 per cent agreed that the event increased their pride in the city
•  91 per cent strongly agreed that the event should be repeated
•  0 arrests resulted in Aberdeen being called “the friendly city” in national media
• It was determined that 320 volunteers would be optimal for event delivery. The volunteers were selected from more than 1,400 applicants.

According to the report, in August 2024, the council estimated that the event’s original budget from 2022 was projected to cost £2.99m (including 15 per cent contingency) with council contribution estimated at £1.18m and liability for a £955,000 funding gap. A potential total cost to the council of £2.14m.

Further examination outlined an increase in cost to £3.85m (including 15 per cent contingency) with a council contribution of £1.18m and liability for a £1.97m funding gap.

Post-event analysis has shown that the contribution from the council included core support of £1.18m, plus a further £702,000 from the funding gap. The total cost to the council of the event was therefore £1.8m, including a five per cent contingency pending some final invoices and income payments.

Twelve months ago, the council projected that the event would bring between £12m and £20m gross value added (GVA) but figures suggest GVA stands at £32.2m. What’s more, local businesses said that the event was good for their business with 44 per cent seeing increased turnover.

As a result, the council now plans to capitalise on the success and legacy of Tall Ships Races and proceed with plans for Festival of the Sea 2026.

Image: Tall Ships Races Aberdeen