Last month Robin Worsnop unveiled a new strategy to ensure the growth of the city’s tourism sector. Here, he writes about his hopes for the plan.

I think the past 20 years have undoubtedly seen an outstanding transformation in Edinburgh‘s tourism industry, where the economic, social and cultural benefits to the city have been many.

Critical to keeping momentum going is a strategy that aims to deliver on every level, which is what the ETAG is committed to doing with the recent unveiling of Edinburgh 2020: The Edinburgh Tourism Strategy at its seventh annual conference.

Held at the John McIntyre Conference Centre, Edinburgh, on January 25, the conference was attended by over 150 delegates from across the city’s tourism sector, including transport, accommodation providers, bars, restaurants, theatres, conference events and festivals.

Fergus Ewing MSP, Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism, officially launched the innovative strategy, which outlines ETAG’s key priorities for the city’s tourism sector between now and 2020.

Supported by Scottish Enterprise and representing a partnership of tourism businesses, including public and private stakeholders, ETAG is dedicated to boosting the growth of Edinburgh’s tourism industry. Despite the tough economic challenges of recent years, tourism in the capital continues to go from strength-to-strength.

However, in a globally competitive market, there’s no room for complacency or singing the praises of past and present achievements – it’s paramount that the focus remains on moving forward at all times.

After extensive consultation, collaboration, research and preparation, ETAG set out three core objectives the Edinburgh Tourism Strategy needs to deliver on, each critical to creating job opportunities, generating further inward investment and maintaining Edinburgh’s standing as an internationally leading destination. These are:

• Increase the number of visits and visitors by one third by 2020, representing 4.39 million visitors per annum in 2020 compared to 3.37 million in 2010

• Increase the value of visitor spend by 38 per cent, up from £1015 million in 2010 to £1404 million in 2020

• Reduce seasonality across the sector by generating an additional 150,000 trips and 318,000 visitor nights, resulting in an additional spend of £33 million per annum, between the months of November and March, by 2020.

Over the last two decades the volume and value of tourism in the capital have grown dramatically. In 2010, visitor spending was a staggering £1 billion per annum, compared to £250 million in 1990. Employment in tourism now accounts for about 12 per cent of the city’s workforce, no less than 32,000 individuals, with the potential to create a further 6500 new jobs by 2020.

ETAG has effectively issued a call to arms, urging its supporters to provide the financial input that is crucial to implementing the strategy and in doing so, ensuring Edinburgh, and indeed Scotland, remains a leading global player, especially given the economic downturn and the emerging destination tourism markets in Asia and the far east.

ETAG’s conference provided a valuable platform to showcase the achievements of our vibrant tourism sector, but more importantly, it emphasised how future growth must be generated and the ways in which this can be achieved.

The Edinburgh Tourism Strategy clearly sets out our thinking. Today’s tough financial uncertainties demand a much more collaborative and cohesive approach if we are going to create opportunities. This will allow us to continue to remain competitive and grow an industry that’s not seasonal or cyclical in nature, but an all-year round offering, which is critical to attracting national and international visitors.

I am hugely encouraged by the response to the strategy. There’s a real feeling of alliance combined with a dogged determination to deliver on all fronts.

Edinburgh 2020: The Edinburgh Tourism Strategy is available to download at Edinburgh Tourism Action Group’s website.