THE city council's leader has revealed his ambition to make Worcester a serious tourism magnet of the future - saying it cannot continue to rely on drawing in history buffs.

Councillor Simon Geraghty says his focus is on making Worcester a "modern, forward thinking city" and has labelled September "a vital month" for raising its profile to national and international visitors.

As well as the Tour of Britain event, which took place last week and was a huge success, the inaugural Worcester City 10K run takes place this coming weekend, which will result in another boom in visitors.

Cllr Geraghty says wants to use sporting events to make Worcester better placed to capture the ever-expanding tourism market, saying TV exposure is key.

Tourism is already worth £538 million a year in Worcestershire but experts say the UK market will continue to grow relentlessly over the next decade.

Visit England says Worcester attracts around 183,000 yearly tourists, with the total spend worth around £18 million to the city.

Some 38,000 yearly visitors are from overseas with Americans, Chinese and Germans among the most likely to pay Worcester a visit, many of whom take in the city while staying in areas like Birmingham and Stratford-upon-Avon.

But Cllr Geraghty says the city's ambitions are to go up another level.

"Worcester deserves a higher profile and I would say September is a vital month for the city in terms of getting much greater exposure," he said.

"This is our chance to plant that seed in people's minds - people who might not know much about Worcester but see it on TV or hear about it and say 'I'd like to go and pay it a visit'.

"We need to show people that Worcester isn't just a historical offer but a modern, forward-thinking city that is a great place to go.

"It will give us that profile and it's vital we take advantage of it.

"We are keen to see the city host these kinds of events again, because when people come and see or participate in them they can see what this city has to offer and create that momentum."