Edinburgh has launched its first public-private sector 12-month advertising campaign to promote business travel within the Scottish capital.
The aim is to mitigate the impact of Brexit and a potential second Scottish independence referendum.
The Make it Edinburgh campaign has been made possible by the biggest every joint partnership between the private sector and public bodies in the city.
A £40,000 investment by the VisitScotland Growth Fund has match-funded support from flagship partners Convention Edinburgh, Edinburgh Hotel Association, Edinburgh Airport, Edinburgh International Conference Centre, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and Edinburgh Tourism Action Group.
Edinburgh’s Centres of Excellence, a key driver for business tourism, take centre stage in the campaign, focusing on six priority sectors: Progress and innovation across technology, life sciences, creative industries, food and drink, renewable energy and financial services will all be showcased throughout the integrated media and marketing campaign.
Amanda Ferguson, head of business tourism at Convention Edinburgh said: "Edinburgh has been criticised in the past for not being as ‘joined up’ as other competitor cities, but this campaign will prove otherwise. Never before has the city undertaken a marketing campaign on this scale, bringing together private sector partners, working collaboratively through Marketing Edinburgh, the city’s destination marketing organisation.
"The message we aim to promote is that Edinburgh is synonymous with innovation, discovery and thinking, a rich history of heritage, full of inspiring locations, buildings and people. Hence conference organisers should ‘Make it Edinburgh’. The campaign gives us a powerful collective voice that will help us develop our business tourism offering and promote Edinburgh’s world leading Centres of Excellence."
Neil Brownlee, head of business events at VisitScotland, added: "Business events are vital to the Scottish economy and are an integral way of promoting this country as a place to live, work, visit and invest. With its wealth of world-class venues, attractions and expertise, Edinburgh has a huge amount to offer the meetings industry and we are delighted to support this exciting new marketing campaign through the VisitScotland Growth Fund."
Convention Edinburgh and its partners secured 114 meetings for the city last year, generating over £74 million for the local economy.
