A DRAGON'S Den-style event is to be held to come up with ideas for increased collaboration between Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The move was announced today by Barbara Smith, manager of Edinburgh Castle, as she took over as chairwoman of the Edinburgh Tourism Action Group.
The group aims to boost tourism revenue in the Capital by £1 billion in the next eight years.
Th
e event, to be called "Innovation eg", will kick off in February with teams of young tourism professionals pitching business plans to a panel of experts.
The winning team will walk away with £3000 to develop their project.
Ms Smith said: "The two cities have a tremendous amount to offer and already attract enormous numbers of visitors each year. But we believe that so much more could be achieved by working together more closely.
"Innovation eg is a great way of harnessing the energies and enthusiasm of young professionals in a way that will benefit Glasgow and Edinburgh."
Ms Smith today launched ETAG's latest action plan, which aims to boost the value of Edinburgh's tourism from the current £1.7 billion to £2.77 billion by 2015.
The plan identifies four priority areas for tourism growth - the city centre; festivals and events; the Waterfront; and business tourism and conferences.
And it presents a range of projects to be delivered by ETAG or by partner agencies, including a programme of events to put Edinburgh at the heart of the Scotland-wide "Year of Homecoming 2009".
Other proposals include a second "Taste of Edinburgh" event to be held in the city, a new portal to market and sell festival venue tickets, and pilot projects to give information to tourists using podcasts, mobile phones and PDAs.
Ms Smith, who took over the helm of ETAG from Richard Jeffrey, said: "We are committed to ensuring Scotland's capital remains a 'must-see' tourist destination in an increasingly competitive global marketplace.
"A strong, dynamic and inspiring Edinburgh is vital if we are to achieve our ambitious goals for tourism revenue growth for our capital, and for our country."
She added that successes in the past year gave grounds for optimism. In 2007, Edinburgh Festival ticket sales, Edinburgh Castle visitor numbers, hotel occupancy levels in the city, and airport passenger numbers had all equalled or exceeded previous records.
City council leader Jenny Dawe said: "Our capital is the gateway to the country for most tourists visiting Scotland."
The full article contains 409 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
