Edinburgh's warring factions must hold peace talks over tourists '“ Brian Ferguson

An almighty row over the '˜Disneyfication' of Edinburgh and the alleged hatred of tourists has broken out ahead of the Hogmanay celebrations, but both sides need to sit down together to sort out the city's problems because they escalate, writes Brian Ferguson.

Gordon Robertson, chair of Marketing Edinburgh.

In less than a fortnight, Edinburgh will be back in the global spotlight. A 75,000-strong crowd is expected to descend for one of the world’s most high-profile Hogmanay celebrations. The figures should speak for themselves: tickets expected to be sold in around 80 countries, one in four audience members travelling from overseas, visitors spending an average of three-and-a-half nights in the city and more than half the audience under the age of 35. With pre-Brexit gloom growing daily, the city is well set to serve up an antidote to the divisions over Britain’s departure from the EU.

The theme of the Hogmanay festival has acknowledged the bitter political backdrop, with its central “We Love You!” message due to be beamed around the world during the main events.

All this would make you think every effort in the city would be focused on rolling out the red carpet for its visitors, many of whom will be arriving in the city for the first time. But that sounds like a parallel universe compared to the reality of the city’s troubled tourism industry. Its Christmas attractions are providing the backdrop to an unfestive row over a sector worth £1.3 billion and employing 35,000.

Gordon Robertson, chair of Marketing Edinburgh.

A festive industry gathering has led to world heritage experts demanding one of the city’s leading tourism figures withdraw an “outright slur” over suggestions that it has a hatred of tourists. Edinburgh World Heritage, which made enemies and headlines of its own after warning the city was on its way to becoming the new Venice unless it brought the tourism industry under control, has failed to see the funny side of Marketing Edinburgh chair Gordon Robertson opening his address with a dig – then keeping on digging. To be fair, not many escaped his finger-pointing about the “tourism bad narrative” which he feels has come to dominate the industry. Businesses, residents, heritage bodies, newspapers – this particular journalist got a now-traditional special mention – and “politicians of all hues and administrations” were in the dock after a summer which Mr Robertson said may have left a visiting alien with the impression “everybody hates a tourist” is the city’s current strapline. He did not stop there, recalling “squabbling” and “huffs” over Edinburgh’s bid to bring in a tourist tax. But the inevitable headline grabber was an attempt to convince his audience that “Disneyfication” – one of the most common criticisms of tourism in Edinburgh – would not be a bad thing for the city and that those who “rail against” it instead want the city “preserved in aspic”.

Five years ago, when Mr Robertson was appointed, there would have been a different reacton to the storm which has engulfed him in recent days. You would have to have been living in Disneyland not to recall growing opposition, dismay and anger to new hotel developments, the impact of major events, crowd congestion on the streets and pavements, and the impact of Airbnb on the city centre. Two council reports, a city heritage blueprint endorsed by the Scottish Government and the city’s tourism strategy, two years old now, have laid bare most of the key issues.

It is blindingly obvious they need serious attention instead of trying to turn critics into pantomime villains. It also strikes me that the warring factions will need to sit around the table, along with other key players in the industry, if the city is to get to grips with the major issues before they escalate much further. Some festive handshakes are in order.