A new data-driven platform being developed in Edinburgh could help ease the transport and accommodation pressures of major Scottish events.
Edinburgh’s Smart Data Foundry has received £35,000 in funding from the Scottish Government’s CivTech programme to develop a ‘festival planner’ map-based dashboard, aimed at helping cities and event organisers co-ordinate major events.
The annual Edinburgh Festivals, blockbuster concerts by artists such as Taylor Swift and Oasis, and sporting fixtures including the Six Nations, are to benefit from a live dashboard displaying transport capacity and accommodation availability.
It will support festival and events planners to spread the benefits – and challenges – more evenly, boosting accessibility and economic impact.
Dougie Robb, CEO of Smart Data Foundry, said: “Scotland’s festivals attract millions of visitors every year, and play a key role in our vital tourism sector. This brings us incredible cultural and economic benefits, but it can place a lot of pressure on transport, accommodation and residents. This prototype has real potential to take some of that strain off cities like Edinburgh and support Scotland’s pioneering cultural sector to grow sustainably.
“Something as simple as expanding evening and late-night transport could have a strong positive impact, opening up accommodation further afield and improving the experience for visitors, businesses and local communities alike. The technology could be applied to major, multi-site events such as the Commonwealth Games and major festivals like Glastonbury across the UK.”
The idea for the platform grew out of recent research by Smart Data Foundry, which revealed significant gaps in how accommodation and transport are planned during peak event periods. The analysis found that more than half of people hoping to attend future festivals in Edinburgh and surrounding areas may struggle to find accommodation within a 90-minute commute, largely due to limited late-night public transport options.
The research highlighted the potential of a joined-up, data-led approach, using near real-time insights to help organisers manage large scale events more effectively. The proposed live dashboard takes this one step further, bringing together intelligence on transport capacity, accommodation availability and workforce capacity. It will support festival and events planners to spread the benefits – and challenges – more evenly, boosting accessibility and economic impact.
Tourism plays a major role in the Scottish economy, with 4.4 million international visitors in 2024 bringing £4 billion into the Scottish economy.