Mouthpiece: Promoting Capital is essential

We need to keep the city at the centre of world stage, says George Grubb

I AM just back from Sydney, Australia, where I visited with the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. The Tattoo had 1,500 performers, about twice as many as in Edinburgh. It was held at the Rugby Stadium which was packed out with 23,000 spectators every night – about three times as many as we can get on the Esplanade. The Australians had built a very realistic "Castle" as the setting and it was easy to imagine it was the real thing. The Tattoo was an overwhelming success and Australians and New Zealanders were flying into Sydney to see it.

Included in the party that went out from Edinburgh were representatives of Edinburgh Festivals, the City of Edinburgh Economic Development Department, VisitScotland and Enterprise groups. The Southern Hemisphere Tattoo was an opportunity to sell Edinburgh and Scotland to Australasia. It was not difficult, for the Australians and New Zealanders love everything Scottish. There was a fantastic opportunity to encourage inward investment into the city and to flag up the benefits of a holiday in the "Athens of The North". During our visit, we also received the good news about the old Royal High School and its potential development.

Edinburgh has just received yet another award for being a great place to visit. We punch well above our weight, but it is essential to go out and publicise our benefits to the world. In a time of recession it would be easy to just weather the storm. However, we are competing in a world market and a UK market where countless other cities are selling their wares. We cannot be complacent and we must not be afraid to spend money to show off our city. We are the capital of Scotland and our position should be at the front of the world's market place.

The Tattoo in Sydney was a sell out – and doubtless the Tattoo in Edinburgh this August will be too. We must retain Edinburgh's position as the major fixture in the world's festivals calendar.

• The Rt Hon George Grubb is Chair of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo