An Australian initiative to help make future civic tourism leaders more collaborative, pro-active and self-reliant is set to be unveiled in Edinburgh next week.
The Edinburgh Tourism Action Group conference will hear details of a new "destination leadership programme" course pioneered in Melbourne to be rolled out in Edinburgh and St Andrews, with support from Scottish Enterprise and Edinburgh's Napier University.
A pilot project will test the programme as well as industry demand.
The two-year pilot has been credited with transforming the performance of Australia's second city Melbourne, now widely recognised as a world tourism leader offering "an outstanding global visitor experience".
Details of the Scottish scheme will be revealed by Eddie Brogan, tourism director of Scottish Enterprise. The conference will include presentations from Sue Bruce, chief executive of the City of Edinburgh Council; Brigadier David Allfrey, producer of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo; and Bernard Donoghue, director of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA).
Edinburgh is currently implementing its 2020 strategy, under which the city aims, by that year, to increase the number of visits and visitors by one-third, increase average visitor spending by 10% per visitor trip, and achieve 50% of the additional visits from October to March.
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