TOURISM leaders are to launch a campaign to tap into the explosion of apps like Airbnb, Uber and meal-sharing community VizEat.
It comes as the first Collaborative Economy and Scottish Tourism Report on how to benefit and Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Tourism alliance was launched at conference held by the Edinburgh Tourism Action Group.
The report found variations on how tourism-related areas such as accommodation, transport, food and meals, tours and activities and on-demand domestic service are benefitting or suffering from the sharing economy.
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It found Glasgow has highest use of so-called sharing apps in Scotland with 39 per cent sharing in some form, followed by North East Scotland, 41 per cent of adults, and Lothian with 40 per cent.
One in five - 20 per cent - of over-55s have never used a sharing platform like long distance ride app BlaBlaCar.
More than a third - 35 per cent - of Scottish adults have used such apps, and over half who have used a sharing app are aged between 18-34.
Robin Worsnop, chairman of ETAG, said: "The collaborative economy presents a number of opportunities for the tourism sector in Edinburgh to create and promote experiences that are unique to the city, which is a key element in our Edinburgh 2020 Tourism Strategy.
"As an industry, we are always seeking to create the right balance to ensure the whole city benefits from our visitors. Tourism is an important contributor to the economy, providing over 34,800 jobs and generating £1.4 billion in visitor spend."
Marc Crothall, chief executive of the Scottish Tourism Alliance, said: "We need our tourism businesses to become more digitally capable to keep up and indeed get ahead of the game in relation to connecting with today’s visitor and delivering these new expectations and of course this new and evolving part of our economy must develop with the support of the right legislation and regulation by government and local authorities."