Following on from Bob Cotton's meeting with the London Mayor where discussions centred on how the Mayor could help tourism and hospitality businesses in the current economic downturn, Boris Johnson has announced an additional £750,000 to promote the Capital over the festive period.

The additional funding will promote the capital to domestic and overseas visitors and involves campaigns in the UK, Europe and North America and is expected to deliver an estimated £70m in economic in London. The campaign includes:

* A promotional push with the New West End Company to encourage shopping over the festive period, in particular supporting VIP [Very Important Pedestrian] Day on 6-7 December when Oxford and Regent Streets are closed to traffic. * A campaign with Superbreak to promote trips by British residents to London, highlighting quality packages at great value rates.

* Joint marketing with several airlines that fly to London from Europe to encourage leisure and business visitors to make the most of the exchange rate by having a value break in the capital. * A campaign featuring Radisson Edwardian hotels aimed at value-conscious leisure and business visitors from North America, promoting flight offers and highlighting that London provides great value.

The campaign will feature the strapline "2009 reasons to Visit London" and will use a variety of media to communicate the message that London is the place to be over the next few months.