The Edinburgh
Forever Edinburgh is the City of Edinburgh Council's official destination marketing service, operating edinburgh.org to promote Edinburgh as a tourism destination. It serves visitors, residents, students, and travel trade clients through content, planning tools, and government-funded campaigns.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded-
- HeadquartersBurwick, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What The Edinburgh does
Forever Edinburgh is the City of Edinburgh Council's official destination marketing service, operating edinburgh.org as the authoritative visitor platform for Edinburgh, Scotland's capital and a UNESCO World Heritage city. The service promotes Edinburgh's tourism, culture, events, and business sectors to domestic and international leisure visitors, Edinburgh residents, university students, corporate event planners, and travel trade intermediaries. Core operational surface is the edinburgh.org website, complemented by active social media presences on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, X, and TikTok, an email newsletter, and a Media Centre supplying free editorial assets.
The product portfolio centers on the Forever Edinburgh Website, which delivers curated content across Inspire, Things to Do, Food & Drink, What's On, Neighbourhoods, Accommodation, and Planning sections. Supporting products include the Stay Different three-year destination marketing campaign (2025-2028), the Resident Rewards loyalty programme for EH-postcode residents, City Passes for bundled attraction access, the My Itinerary interactive planning tool, dedicated B2B surfaces for Business Events and Travel Trade, and a LinkedIn Business Spotlight series launched in 2024 to profile local tourism businesses such as Signature Group, Fingal Hotel, Craigies Farm, Lost Shore Surf Resort, The Scotch Whisky Experience, and Edinburgh Gin Distillery. The platform is built on a WCAG 2.1 accessibility foundation providing keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility, screen magnification, and voice command support. Website design, build, and the My Whereverly business-listing back-end are provided by long-term technology partner Whereverly.
Forever Edinburgh is a non-commercial government service with no consumer pricing and no direct transactions. The City of Edinburgh Council is the primary ongoing funder, while the UK Government, through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, specifically finances the Stay Different campaign. Business registration on edinburgh.org is free, City Passes are sold through standard attraction-ticketing rather than a Forever Edinburgh storefront, and integrated campaign delivery is outsourced to a core agency stack consisting of BIG Partnership (marketing communications), Union Media (media planning), and Spirit Media. There is no founder/management team, headcount figure, or balance-sheet detail disclosed in the input; the organization operates with 11-50 staff at Waverley Court, 4 East Market Street, Edinburgh.
The Edinburgh firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- The Edinburgh
- Legal name
- City of Edinburgh Council
- Website
- https://edinburgh.org
- Company type
- Private
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Forever Edinburgh is the City of Edinburgh Council's official destination marketing service, operating edinburgh.org to promote Edinburgh as a tourism destination. It serves visitors, residents, students, and travel trade clients through content, planning tools, and government-funded campaigns.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
The Edinburgh industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Destination Marketing Services
- NAICS
- Travel Agencies (561510)
- SIC
- Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Destination Weddings & Social Groups (Non-Corporate Groups) (THAHADAL)
Keywords
Where The Edinburgh is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Burwick
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
The Edinburgh business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others
Revenue model
- Government Funding: Funded by the City of Edinburgh Council as the city's official destination marketing service. The Stay Different campaign is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels8 records
The Edinburgh product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Forever Edinburgh operates the official destination marketing website (edinburgh.org) for the City of Edinburgh, providing visitors with comprehensive information on attractions, events, accommodation, food and drink, neighbourhoods, and travel planning. The organization runs destination marketing campaigns (Stay Different 2025-2028), operates the Resident Rewards loyalty programme for EH postcode residents, sells City Passes for bundled attraction access, and provides B2B services for corporate event planners and travel trade professionals.
Product overview
Forever Edinburgh is the City of Edinburgh Council's destination marketing service operating a comprehensive tourism website and multiple marketing campaigns. The core product is the Forever Edinburgh Website (edinburgh.org), a unified destination marketing platform offering visitor planning tools, event discovery, accommodation booking pathways, and neighbourhood guides. Supporting products include the Stay Different Campaign (a three-year marketing programme running 2025-2028), the Resident Rewards loyalty programme for EH postcode residents, City Passes for bundled attraction access, the My Itinerary trip planning tool, Edinburgh City Guides, and dedicated B2B services for Business Events and Travel Trade professionals. The Media Centre provides press resources for media partners. Together, these products serve visitors, residents, and industry professionals with tools for trip planning, loyalty benefits, and Edinburgh promotion.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Stay Different: A three-year programme designed to inspire longer, more meaningful stays in Edinburgh, supporting the city's 2030 Tourism Strategy and promoting sustainable, year-round tourism.
- Resident Rewards
Products and services
- Forever Edinburgh Website The official destination marketing website for Edinburgh providing comprehensive information about attractions, events, accommodation, food and drink, neighbourhoods, and travel planning for visitors and residents.
- Stay Different Campaign A three-year destination marketing campaign (2025-2028) designed to inspire longer, more meaningful stays in Edinburgh by highlighting diverse experiences across the city's neighbourhoods and promoting sustainable, year-round tourism.
- Resident Rewards A loyalty programme for Edinburgh residents with EH postcodes offering exclusive benefits, discounts, and special access to local attractions, tours, and experiences.
- City Passes Combined ticket packages offering discounted access to multiple Edinburgh attractions, providing visitors with savings on entry fees across the city's top sites.
- My Itinerary An interactive trip planning tool allowing visitors to save and organize attractions, events, and experiences to build a personalized Edinburgh itinerary.
- Business Events Platform A dedicated section for corporate and meeting planners offering information about Edinburgh as a business events destination, including venues and MICE facilities.
- Travel Trade Portal A dedicated section for travel trade professionals including tour operators and travel agents, providing resources and information for selling Edinburgh to their clients.
- Media Centre A library of high-quality images and press materials available for media and marketing use, showcasing Edinburgh's attractions and events.
Companies that use The Edinburgh
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
The Edinburgh technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
The Edinburgh partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- BIG PartnershipcoreMarketing communications agency partnership for integrated campaign delivery of the Stay Different campaign, including digital content, out-of-home, video on demand, and radio advertising.
- Union MediacoreMedia agency partnership for the Stay Different campaign delivering integrated marketing communications across multiple channels.
- Spirit MediacoreMedia partner for the Stay Different campaign providing integrated campaign delivery services.
- Signature GroupminorLocal hospitality business featuring over 20 bars, restaurants, hotels and luxury apartments, with its own brewery Cold Town Beer, featured in Business Spotlight series.
- WhereverlycoreWebsite design and development partner. Also provides business listing platform (My Whereverly) for local businesses to register on edinburgh.org.
- Edinburgh Festival Fringe SocietycoreCollaboration to promote Edinburgh's largest festival event featuring 3,649 shows across 258 venues.
- Edinburgh International FestivalcorePartnership to promote the world's leading performing arts festival featuring 147 performances from artists across 46 countries.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
The Edinburgh competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Amsterdam Marketing: Amsterdam's city-level destination marketing organisation, a peer in European heritage-city destination promotion with comparable emphasis on dispersing visitors beyond the historic core and managing overtourism.
- Tourism Toronto (Destination Toronto): Toronto's official destination marketing organisation, directly comparable as a city-level DMO combining visitor information, MICE/business events sales, content marketing, and festival promotion.
- NYC & Company: New York City's official destination marketing organisation — a comparable major-city DMO model running integrated multi-channel campaigns, CityPASS partnerships, and neighbourhood-level content to disperse visitors across the city year-round.
- Visit Wales: Wales's national tourism organisation, a UK regional DMO peer with similar public-sector funding model and comparable remit to promote regional attractions, events, and dispersal from larger gateway cities.
- VisitScotland: Scotland's national tourism organisation, the closest functional peer to Forever Edinburgh — both are government-aligned DMOs promoting Scotland's tourism economy to domestic and international visitors with year-round campaigns and regional/neighbourhood-level storytelling.
- Destination DC: Washington DC's official destination marketing organisation, comparable as a city-DMO with a multi-channel content platform, neighbourhood guides, and event-driven campaigns targeting domestic and international leisure and business events demand.
- Visit Dublin: Dublin's official city DMO (Fáilte Ireland-aligned), a comparable capital-city destination marketing body promoting cultural events, neighbourhood experiences, and MICE business across domestic and international markets.
- Visit Copenhagen: Copenhagen's official tourism organisation — a comparable Northern European capital-city DMO with similar sustainability, neighbourhood, and event-led positioning, and a similar mix of consumer-facing website plus B2B travel trade services.
- VisitBritain: The British Tourist Authority, the UK national DMO — a direct peer to Forever Edinburgh as a publicly funded destination marketing body driving inbound tourism promotion, working alongside regional DMOs such as Forever Edinburgh within the same UK visitor economy.
Regional players
- Visit Flanders: Flanders' regional tourism organisation — a comparable publicly funded European DMO, but focused on a wider regional geography rather than a single city, making it a regional-scale peer rather than a direct city competitor.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
The Edinburgh social profiles
Digital presenceThe Edinburgh financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
The Edinburgh leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
The Edinburgh funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
The Edinburgh M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about The Edinburgh
What does The Edinburgh do?
Forever Edinburgh operates the official destination marketing website (edinburgh.org) for the City of Edinburgh, providing visitors with comprehensive information on attractions, events, accommodation, food and drink, neighbourhoods, and travel planning. The organization runs destination marketing campaigns (Stay Different 2025-2028), operates the Resident Rewards loyalty programme for EH postcode residents, sells City Passes for bundled attraction access, and provides B2B services for corporate event planners and travel trade professionals.
Is The Edinburgh a public or private company?
The Edinburgh is a private company. It is classified as state government owned and is currently operating.
When was The Edinburgh founded?
The Edinburgh was founded in -1. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is The Edinburgh based?
The Edinburgh is headquartered in Burwick, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does The Edinburgh make money?
One revenue line is on record: government Funding.
Who are The Edinburgh's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Amsterdam Marketing, Tourism Toronto (Destination Toronto), NYC & Company, Visit Wales, VisitScotland, Destination DC, Visit Dublin, Visit Copenhagen and VisitBritain. Visit Flanders is listed as a regional player.
Does The Edinburgh have an API?
No public API is recorded for The Edinburgh.
What industry is The Edinburgh in?
The Edinburgh's product category is Destination Marketing Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAHADAL, Destination Weddings & Social Groups (Non-Corporate Groups). Its NAICS code is 561510 and its SIC code is 7990.