Scottish Association Survey 2024/25
Executive summary
VisitScotland, in collaboration with leading conference venues and convention bureaus across Scotland, closely monitors the performance of high-value inbound association conference events.
Scotland’s association conference sector continues to deliver significant economic value and year-round impact, building on record performance in recent years.
Key findings:
In 2024/25, Scotland hosted 305 association conferences, generating £296.7 million in net economic impact and attracting almost 118,000 delegates, resulting in over 400,000 delegate days.
The sector remains a key driver of business events, with each conference contributing on average over £800,000 in additional spend.
International conferences remain vital to the sector, accounting for 64% of all delegates while representing just over a third of events, and a strong, steady UK market helps maintain a balanced and diverse mix of events.
Association conferences also play a key role in supporting regional economies and extending the visitor season, with 42% of events taking place between October and March.
Scotland’s strengths in innovation, academia and key growth sectors remain central to success. Over half of conferences are hosted in academic venues, and sectors such as life sciences alone account for 59% of delegate days, alongside representation from finance, technology, energy and the creative industries.
With 83% of delegates likely to return and a significant proportion extending their stay, association conferences continue to enhance Scotland’s reputation as a world-leading destination for impactful, knowledge-driven events.
Full Scottish Association Survey 2024/25 report. | PDF 2.5MB
Read here the Technical Appendix 2024/25. | PDF 0.2MB
Methodology
The Scottish Association Survey provides insights into the scale and economic impact of association conferences held in Scotland. Conducted annually, the survey is coordinated by VisitScotland, which invites convention bureaus, conference venues, and hotels to submit details of relevant events hosted within their cities and venues.
Value calculations incorporate Scottish Government and industry recognised “Delegate Expenditure Benefit” multipliers which have been adjusted to current prices using the HM Treasury Price Deflater.
All submitted data undergoes a thorough audit by VisitScotland, with any non-qualifying events removed from the final dataset.
In this survey we have in places used “delegate days” to describe the impact association events have in Scotland. Delegate days is a measure that looks at the total number of delegates who have attended each event, and the number of days the event they have attended was held over and assumes full attendance.
Read here the full Rationale & Methodology. | PDF 1.9MB
Previous Years
- Read here the full 2023/24 Scottish Association Survey report. | PDF 2.1MB
- Read here the full 2022/23 - 2021/22 Scottish Association Survey report. | PDF 4.7MB
- Read here the full 2019/20 - 2020/21 Scottish Association Survey report. | PDF 0.9MB
- Read here the full 2018/19 Scottish Association Survey report. | PDF 2.6MB
For any further information on the Scottish Association Survey please contact us at business.events@visitscotland.com.
VisitScotland would like to extend a huge thanks to all our partners in Scotland who helped make this survey possible. If your business hosts association events and was not able to submit data for this report, please get in touch so we can ensure you are included in future.
