A seven-point action plan to boost tourism in the West Midlands was launched today (May 8th) by Regional Minister Ian Austin MP and the Chair of Tourism West Midlands, Brian Summers, at the West Midlands Tourism Summit at Gaydon.

The action plan sets out how £25 million is being spent by Advantage West Midlands to boost the tourism sector across the West Midlands including:

• £1 million TV advertising campaign with the first-ever regional television advertisements to bring domestic visitors to the West Midlands

• A £12 million campaign to attract new conferences, exhibitions and events, with £3m to boost business tourism through Marketing Birmingham

• £1 million Celebration of Imagination Festival and Event Programme, celebrating the region's wide range of significant anniversaries in 2009

• A pilot project with the Department for Work and Pensions to boost skills and promote employment in tourism in the West Midlands - particularly for young people

• A new partnership between the airport, hotels, theatres, shopping centres and attractions to promote short "city-breaks" from elsewhere in Britain and Europe

• New partnerships between major attractions on joint promotions and ticket offers, making it easier for visitors to get information and book tickets on-line

• New action plans to boost business tourism and capitalise on the Olympics, ensuring people visiting Britain for the games travel to the West Midlands

Ian Austin said: "We've got world-class attractions, first-class shopping, fantastic theatres and beautiful countryside here in the West Midlands.

"Tourism is our fourth largest industry bringing in £6 billion each year to the West Midlands, supporting 115,000 jobs across 30,000 companies. The business tourism sector is worth another £6.8 billion on its own.

"The downturn is having a real impact and our action plan sets out the real help we're providing to get the industry through the recession, with our first ever TV advertisements, a major campaign to attract more conferences and events and more city-breaks.

"I want to increase tourism in the region, make sure we bring more visitors to the West Midlands, boost our economy and create more jobs."