Its not just getting them here, its what we do once they have arrived that matters

The idea that Edinburgh needs a new single promotion body is flawed on two counts. That's before the problem of the money we would spend on creating a new body which could be spent on things we really need for the tourist industry.

We don’t need a new body because visitscotland already have more than 20 post dedicated to that task. Even after their restructuring caused by their alignment with the new economic bodied created by the restructuring of Scottish Enterprise (oh how we love a good restructure to make us feel we are doing something) there will be the same amount of staff time dedicated to promoting Edinburgh.

We don’t need a new body because the issue is not promoting ourselves to others, though that's important. The real challenge is promoting oursleves once folk are here. Its the difference between destination marketing, of which we have loads and destination management, which is where we need to do better. That's making sure people who come here are made welcome, given lots of good advice about what to do, where to eat and how to get to where they want to go quickly, cheaply and comfortably. More marketing won’t do that. Trouble is, what will do that will take some tough decisions and printing some new brochures is a much easier task.