An ambitious £350,000 tourism strategy has been unveiled in a new effort to deliver a bigger slice of the multi-million-pound industry to Oxfordshire.

With Oxford already receiving seven million visitors a year, the emphasis will be on trying to tempt more tourists to attractions throughout the county.

Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council will together contribute £235,000 to get the initiative off the ground, and it is hoped tourist boards and other agencies will bring in more than £100,000 over the next three years.

The first fruits of the strategy will be the appointment of a tourism manager in July and a marketing officer in September.

A new steering group will be created and an action plan drawn up to review how Oxfordshire markets itself. It will also try to reduce tourist overcrowding in Oxford by encouraging people to visit attractions around the county.

There are plans to invest in improved signposting, tourist information and training opportunities for staff employed in the tourist industry.

It will also try to tackle the problem that a high proportion of visitors spend less than a day in the county.

Oxford tourism delivers £365m to the local economy each year. Beyond Oxford, the rest of the county attracts 1.5m staying visitors, who bring in an estimated £212m.

A report to the city council's executive heralded the plan as "Oxfordshire's first tourism strategy."

It said the initiative has been born out Oxford's bid to be European Capital of Culture in 2008, which has seen councils, businesses and tourist agencies working closely together in an unprecedented way.

Maureen Christian, the city council's executive member for tourism, said: "This is the direct result of research by Oxford Inspires, the co-ordinators of the bid.

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