The absence of a direct rail link to Glasgow Airport "undoubtedly" deters airlines from choosing the city for new routes, according to a tourism leader.
Peter Duthie, chairman of Glasgow Tourism Partnership, said a transport link that "didn't rely on the roads" was also vital to give visitors and tourists "more certainty over timings".
He said there were "not many cities you would expect to fly into across Europe" that did not have this in place.
Mr Duthie spoke exclusively to the Herald after the launch, today of a new seven-year strategy to grow Glasgow's tourism sector. He said improving public transport was key to achieving a 10% growth in tourism revenue by 2030.
He said the plan relied on Glasgow Aiport being able to encourage more airlines to bring people into the city.
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He said that while public sector finances were challenging, the city "had to find a way" to improve the connectivity of buses, trains and the subway.
"I think we absolutely need to look at public transport across the city," said Mr Duthie, who is also chief executive of the SEC.
"It needs to be improved, it needs to be enhanced, there needs to be a real focus on improving connectivity.
"There are conversations going on about car traffic coming into the city but we've got to be very, very careful we don't do the wrong one first.
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"If we stop cars coming in without providing the alternatives, all we are going to do is impact the city negatively.
"It will require investment for sure," he added. "But despite the fact finances are challenging in the public sector, we have to find a way to improve connectivity."
In April, the Scottish Government unveiled multi-billion-pound plans to improve Scotland's transport network over a period of 30 years.
Transport Minister Michael Matheson said the scheme would link people "from Clydebank to Cambuslang".
The plan could see tram lines opened in Glasgow for the first time since the 1960s, alongside upgrades to the existing rail network across eight local authority areas.
Faster and more frequent trains linking the city centre and suburban areas would be created under a plan to introduce "heavy metro" services.
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A new light railway to link Glasgow Airport and Glasgow city centre was also mooted.
"The biggest thing that has been talked about for years is a link to the airport that doesn't rely on the roads to give people more certainty over timings and just to make that whole journey easier," said Mr Duthie.
"There are not many cities you would expect to fly into across Europe and not have a direct link from the airport."
He said there were various conversations going on but it was a case of finding the right solution and "finding a way to fund it."
He said: "There is absolutely an aspiration to achieve it but part of this strategy relies on Glasgow Airport being able to develop new routes and encourage airlines to bring people into the city and that will all be enhanced and made more straightforward by improving that connectivity."
Asked if he believed the absence of a link was affecting the airport's ability to secure new routes he said: "Undoubtedly, it must do.
"It's a difficult one for the airlines in many senses because they have restricted and limited resources and developing new routes is not straightforward.
"We need to demonstrate that the market is there for new routes and there has been some success recently with more routes coming into Glasgow."
In May Glasgow Airport confirmed it was running at 86% of its pre-Covid levels which was said to be leaving Scotland with ‘poor connections to global business’ and preventing opportunities to boost tourism and hospitality sectors.
Labour leader Anas Sarwar accused the SNP of ‘sitting on its hands’ while the country's airports and the communities they serve ‘struggle’.
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