Budget blow for new city tourism body

edinburgh’s new tourism body will have a budget of less than half of what was originally planned after the private sector failed to come up with cash.

Marketing Edinburgh, formed by the merger of the Destination Edinburgh Marketing Alliance with the Edinburgh Convention Bureau and Edinburgh Film Focus, was expected to have around £3 million a year to spend promoting the Capital.

But chief executive Lucy Bird has admitted the private sector has yet to put any money behind the new body and she is likely to have a budget of just £1.2m for the foreseeable future. The equivalent body in Glasgow has a £4.9m budget.

Ms Bird said: “The budget we have is minuscule compared to other cities, I know that. However, I am only a couple of months into the job. At the moment it is about building relationships within the public and private sectors and developing new partnerships.”