A record-breaking summer season at Grampian Trasport Museum drew to a close on Sunday 26th October surpassing the highest number of visitors ever recorded – 30,175 to date and counting! Museum manager Ross McKirdy is delighted “This is the first time in GTM’s history that we have welcomed over thirty thousand visitors in a season. It has been a very busy year and we still have our winter activities to come including Santa arriving on December 6th and our ‘The Best of Christmas’ food and local crafts fair on Sunday 7th.
“With our visitor numbers over 35% up on last year, GTM seems to be bucking the trend for similar visitor attractions and of course we are very pleased. It is not only good for us, it brings a lot of extra visitors to Alford and Donside, where there is so much to see and do.”
When asked what he attributed the success to Ross explained “The museum closes each winter to change around the exhibition so that it remains interesting and exciting, but during the closure last winter an amazing opportunity arose which we quickly grabbed. We heard that many of the vehicles previously seen in the popular TV programme ‘Top Gear’ were becoming available and we recognised that although they had been on display in a Hampshire museum for a number of years, that’s a long way for Scottish enthusiasts to travel and so we worked hard to bring them to Alford. They only arrived in January and it was a huge task for the GTM team to create the display which has brought so much joy to so many people this year. A lot of supporters of our self-funding charity helped us to achieve this coup and they must share the credit for this season’s success.”
Ross continued “It has been very interesting to see where all our visitors have come from this year. Our on-line booking system allows us to follow this more closely than previously and just chatting to people highlighted a higher than usual proportion of visitors from around the UK and oversees. When we asked one couple from the Netherlands how they had heard of Grampian Transport Museum we were surprised to learn that neighbours had spoken highly of the museum and that we were on their ‘to do’ list before they even left home. “You are internationally famous” she told me with a twinkle in her eye!
“Our TripAdvisor ratings have also been excellent. It is very rewarding for our team to see that all their efforts to make people (and their dogs!) feel very welcome are appreciated.”
Special events
The 2025 museum season has been extended and boosted with a number of additional activities. Events have included the very popular mid-week ‘Rides days’ for families, a record breaking AllFord at Alford in August, now Scotland’s largest gathering of Fords thanks to great support from TrustFord Aberdeen, and the instantly successful ‘Best of Grampian’ food market in July which attracted over 2500 visitors, surprising everybody. Stalls were selling out of food on the day! There will be a Christmas version on Sunday 7th December with ‘The Best of Christmas’, including some festive crafts – definitely not to be missed!
Santa at GTM
The Real Santa has made GTM his winter home in the North-East and arrives on Saturday 6th December. He will be here every weekend up until Christmas and bookings to see him can be made on www.gtm.org.uk/santa
A regional attraction
Chief Executive of Visit Aberdeenshire, Chris Foy, was delighted to hear of the museum’s success in 2025. “Visit Aberdeenshire works hard to promote all the excellent visitor attractions in our wonderful region and it is exciting and rewarding to see that GTM has enjoyed such a successful season. On a personal level, I thoroughly enjoyed a visit to experience “On that Bombshell” with my son earlier in the summer. We know that GTM have many exciting plans for the future too that will celebrate the connection between the region and motoring, motorsport and beyond. This helps to ensure that the North-East of Scotland will continue to attract visitors from all over the UK and overseas.”