One-stop website just the ticket for Capital

The 700,000 site, mainly funded by the city council, will be the first of its kind and will allow visitors and residents to look at all events that are coming up in the city and book tickets together at the same time.

Next summer is expected to be the first time that all of the Capital's festivals will be able to sell tickets together on one site.

One part of the site will also recommend other events or concerts to people based on previous purchases.

It is hoped that the site will help venues to sell out more shows and ultimately lead to more events and acts coming to Edinburgh. Councillor Deidre Brock, the city's culture and leisure leader, said: "This is really going to be quite a landmark for the city and we will be the first in the UK to have something like this.

"Four million tickets are already being sold every year but hopefully we can help increase ticket sales for all arts venues, and that can help generate new events for the city.

"People will also be able to plan every hour of their stay here on this site. There are countless possibilities and this can make a real difference."

It is hoped that the site will help bring new visitors to the city, as well as encouraging people to attend more events. It will also showcase upcoming events to local residents.

The Edinburgh Portal Pilot Project (EPPP) is to be run by The Audience Business, using the main portal site of clicket.co.uk.

As well as the overview of cultural events, it will contain details about visitor attractions, transport, accommodation, food, venues and special offers.

The new site will help address one of the recommendations of the 2006 Thundering Hooves study, which outlined the growing threat of other cities looking to overtake Edinburgh as the leading festival city.

The full project budget is 700,000, with previously agreed council support through the City Growth fund of 500,000, as well as 160,000 agreed from council resources. Creative Scotland and Festivals Edinburgh have provided additional funding.

Jim Inch, director of the council's corporate services department, said: "EPPP aims to provide a straightforward and trusted overview of the arts and culture on offer in Edinburgh that persuades, encourages and motivates residents, commuters and visitors to enjoy it to the full.

"Many other cities have tried to develop similar concepts, all fragmenting due to a range of operational and technical difficulties. No other city has been able to combine the detailed information on events, real-time ticketing, personalised content and ongoing recommendations, which gives this project its unique, innovative status."