Our city can stand on its own merits

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON wrote that "Edinburgh is what Paris ought to be". Yet all too often the French capital is a place to which Edinburgh is compared in a rather negative fashion by those who say they want to see growth, development, and.. er.. more hotels built in the city.

It's obvious why "experts" want to make the comparison. What is there not to like about Paris? It's remarkably beautiful, its architecture is breathtaking and its wide open streets and green spaces give the place a lightness that can leave the spirit truly uplifted.

Yet the problem with trundling out cities like Paris, or even Prague, as our tourist rivals is that that's just what they are not.

If someone wants to go to Paris and see the Mona Lisa, no matter what VisitScotland does (and I don't believe they have a stock of inflatable Louvres), that's where they're going to go.

If they want to see where Jim Morrison is buried, then they ain't going to find him at Piershill Cemetery. If they want Champs-Élysées-style shopping and dining, they are not going to find it on Princes Street.

Paris is not, and never can be, a rival. Recent warnings from tourism and business experts about Edinburgh "falling behind" because Paris has ten times more hotels than us is just nonsense.

You'd expect one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, with over 30 million foreign visitors per year, to have far, far more hotel accommodation than Edinburgh.

Paris is also populated by 12 million people (taking suburbs into account, although central Paris alone is home to 2.1 million). As a result, the Paris region produces more than a quarter of the gross domestic product of France, hosts 36 of the Fortune Global 500 companies and the city's La Défense is the largest purpose-built business district in Europe.

Edinburgh is mighty small beer by comparison. But that doesn't mean that it should be compared in negative terms to other major capitals. It's not even the largest city in Scotland – but without a doubt it punches above its weight in terms of its importance in the UK and also in Europe.

Our Capital may have a population of just 449,000 – a figure which is restricted in growth given the city's natural boundaries – but thanks, in the main to the annual festivals, there are 3.52 million visitors from the UK and abroad a year.

It's a World Heritage Site, UNESCO's first city of literature, the fourth largest financial centre in Europe and the second most visited tourist destination in Britain after London.

So where does this need to compare our city in negative terms to other major capitals come from? It's time for our business and tourist leaders to stop talking Edinburgh down in comparison to other, much larger places.

Cities such as Paris are beautiful and wonderful, but so is Edinburgh in its own way. Of course, the city needs continually to strive to do better, but building another five-star hotel will not make people come here. Selling the idea of our Capital as the best place to visit in the UK will.

From the National Galleries to the Old Town; the new shopping districts of George Street and Multrees Walk to the architecture of the New Town; the Castle, the Palace, even the Scottish Parliament. There are so many reasons to visit Edinburgh, that comparing it to Paris et al just does it a disservice.

As Stevenson wrote about Edinburgh: "Every step is a revelation – an alleyway which reveals an ancient courtyard, or a wynd which opens up a new panorama. Yet within this sweeping elegance is a compact city, a bustling city, above all a city which rewards every visitor."

Who needs Paris?
MIND you, one thing Paris does have that Edinburgh doesn't is C&A. I could hardly believe my eyes at the weekend when I saw the familiar logo, and given that the French – Parisians in particular – like to think of themselves as stylish, it made me wonder why C&A pulled the plug in the UK.

Hugh Henderson, who was manager of the massive Princes Street store, said at the time it closed in 2000 that despite changes in stock the chain couldn't "get rid of the Man at C&A image".

Yet inside the Paris store the clothes are cheap and cheerful, giving H&M and Primark a run for their money. Come back C&A all is forgiven.

Get ready to cringe
I CAN'T wait for the new series of The Apprentice to start later this month. I don't want to miss a minute of watching the overbearing, arrogant and generally useless candidates get their comeuppance from Sir Alan.

I confess to revelling in the schadenfreude of it all while, at the same time, being bemused at the idea that the contestants are supposedly the best young business brains in the country.

This time, though, there's an Edinburgh businesswoman involved, which has the potential to add a certain cringeworthy element. I only hope that the certainty of Lucinda "I will win" Ledgerwood is backed up by her having the goods. If her Hyacinth Bucket hairdo is anything to go by, the rest should be worried.