Edinburgh Hogmanay boost put at £39m

The economic impact of Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations on the city was more than £39 million, a report has found.

A study carried out for organisers Underbelly noted 165,994 people from 80 countries attended the Scottish capital’s most recent programme of events to welcome in the new year.

It calculated the economic impact of the celebrations on the city itself at £39.2m, up more than 40% on the £27.9m recorded when the figure was last measured in 2010.

The value to Scotland as a whole was found to be £39.8m, a rise of more than 22% over the same period.

The 2018 Hogmanay programme was the first to be directed by Underbelly, one of the largest events organisers at Edinburgh’s annual festival Fringe.

It was surrounded by a variety of other events, including the Torchlight Procession and the Loony Dook in nearby South Queensferry.

The research was carried out by BOP Consulting.