Perth and Kinross Council (PKC) has approved a revised set of priorities and themes that have been designed to help establish the area as a key Scottish tourism destination.

The council's enterprise and infrastructure committee backed a new-look structure for the Perthshire Area Tourism Partnership (PATP), which sets out a number of aims to develop the tourism industry until 2015. Areas of development outlined in the refined strategy include making the area one of Scotland's main events destinations over the next five years - building on the success of T in the Park and the Rally of Scotland.

Efforts to market the region as a short-breaks destination based around a range of activities, such as walking, canoeing and climbing, and adopting a "sustainable" approach to tourism are also mooted. John Kellas, convenor of PKC's enterprise and infrastructure committee, said: "Tourism is very important to Perth and Kinross, and so it is vital that everyone involved in the local industry has a clear vision of what we are trying to achieve for the area.

"The restructured PATP will strengthen our objectives and make our priorities clear. At a time of economic challenges and intense competition in the tourism industry it is important that we continue to build on what is already a strongly-performing sector in Perth and Kinross."