Three projects including an event to boost to city centre footfall, further targeting of the Love Local Card, and trips for cruise ship visitors including a seabird safari with potential dolphin spotting are to take place in the next few months.
Aberdeen City Council’s Finance and Resources Committee agreed on Wednesday February 12 to spend £135,700 on the projects – Freebie Fortnight, Love Local Card, and the development of the travel trade tours offered by the council’s Countryside Ranger Service.
Co-leader Councillor Ian Yuill said: “The council is committed to working with city centre businesses and others to drive up occupancy levels on Union Street and make our city centre an even better place to visit, work, shop, live , invest and do business.”
Committee convener Councillor Alex McLellan said: Aberdeen City Council is continuing to support business in the city centre and increase footfall through these initiatives which have been developed in partnership with the business community.”
A report to committee said £115,000 is to be allocated to Freebie Fortnight, which is aimed at strengthening local entrepreneurial ecosystems and supporting the development of SMEs.
Freebie Fortnight proposal will be run in co-ordination with local retail and hospitality businesses to boost city centre footfall, visitor numbers, and local spend.
The aim is to have about 20 local retailers participating in Freebie Fortnight. Each will be asked to select an in-store offering of value up to either £5 or £10, to be made available to a set number of customers per day over the period, for free. Customers will need to use a verbal code to access the offering. The funding from UKSPF would meet the cost of this offering, reimbursing each participating business.
There will be a particular emphasis on targeting businesses adjacent to current city centre works and disruption on Union Street Central and the new market building. It is expected that funding will support about 20 businesses to take part, and criteria will be set around these being local SMEs with fewer than three stores, rather than national chains.
The report said a total of £10,000 is to be spent on Love Local Card online development and promotion. There are more than 300 businesses in the city signed up to the Aberdeen Gift Card which is the most successful in the UK for the second year running.
Aberdeen Gift Cards can be used in both local independents as well as national chains and offer the opportunity of aggregate spend, in person in the city, and not online. The Gift Card is therefore a major boost to the local economy, local spend and visitor numbers.
To continue this momentum, a key area for growth for the Aberdeen Gift Card is corporate sales. Where organisations and businesses adopt the Gift Card for use as staff gifts, staff benefits and staff rewards, there is opportunity for increased spend and awareness of the Gift Card. The grant money will be used to support Aberdeen Inspired to target corporate sales growth of the Gift Card by developing and launching a webpage including video and case study content and increase engagement.
The travel tour fairs by the Countryside Rangers Service was awarded £10,700. Last year, the service began working with the Council’s Tourism Officer to introduce new tours targeted at the travel trade, with cruise tourism being a catalyst for the activity. The initial offer is focused on a seabird safari with potential dolphin spotting, a minibeast safari looking at insects and woodland areas, and a night-time moth-spotting trail.
The grant funds will be used to purchase equipment and kit to support the existing programme, expand the offer to include a wider area, and enhance the night-time tour with telescopes. The tours align to the Destination Strategy developed with VisitAberdeenshire which includes a focus on outdoor and adventure tourism experiences distinct to the region.
The grants were from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund managed by Aberdeen City Council.