The teams behind eight major attractions in Edinburgh have voiced their support for a so-called tourist tax.

Edinburgh Cultural Venues (ECV), made up of museums, music venues and theatre companies, said such a levy would help maintain the reputation of the city's world-famous festivals.

The group's chairman, Duncan Hendry, spoke out after the new director of Festivals Edinburgh, Julia Amour, said a visitor fee could be a viable way to secure funding for major events.

Mr Hendry said the eight venues - the Filmhouse, Festival Theatre, King’s Theatre, National Museum of Scotland, Queen’s Hall, Royal Lyceum Theatre, Traverse Theatre, Usher Hall and National Galleries of Scotland - brought in £194m annually to Scotland’s economy.

He said the centres were facing significant budget cuts after of many years of "standstill funding".

Mr Hendry said: “Edinburgh’s cultural venues attract huge numbers of visitors to the city throughout the year for exhibitions, music and theatre performances, films and events.

"They are also key to the success of the city’s festivals. It is imperative that these venues not only have sufficient revenue funding to run their annual programme of activity but also the funds to maintain their buildings to meet customer expectations.

"It is the belief of all members in ECV that the cultural offer should be seen holistically and that additional financial support, whether raised through a visitor levy or other means, should be distributed across this essential infrastructure which underpins Edinburgh’s international reputation for culture."

He said the group wanted to work more closely with the accommodation and tourism sectors in the city to highlight they were "here all year".

Sandy Howat, deputy leader of Edinburgh City Council, said: “The UK has been overly cautious about innovative funding mechanisms to support city development.

"For Scotland’s capital city, a form of ‘tourist tax’, as part of a new package of local government funding, would make perfect sense as we aim to offset public funding cuts and invest in our city.

“Edinburgh experiences spikes in visitor figures so we could offer a levy which varies depending on peak times.

"Such a levy could be as little as £1 per night but still provide the city with up to a £15 million boost for supporting culture and city infrastructure."

He said the local authority was in talks with Scottish Government ministers about the proposals and he "remained hopeful”.