The organiser of the Bradford Food Festival is calling for a hospitality association made up of hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions, to promote the district around the world.

Festival organiser Simon Dunn says a central association, providing a point of contact for visitors to the region, would boost Bradford's bid to become Capital of Culture 2008.

Mr Dunn is already putting the city on the international culinary map by featuring a total of 11 cuisines from around the world in the food festival.

He wants to see organisations in the catering and tourism industry working together to benefit the district.

"There isn't a body which brings together all the hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions. They need to work together to promote themselves and the district as a whole," he said.

"A hospitality association would be a central mechanism, an information point. It would bring businesses together, working for the benefit of Bradford, and would also boost the district as a destination for both tourists and people coming in on business.

"Instead of having to come into Bradford and look for hotels and somewhere to eat, visitors would have all this information at their fingertips from a single organisation.

"There is a similar scheme in York which has been a great success and dramatically raised the profile of food establishments. There's no reason why Bradford can't do the same.

"Mention Bradford and people usually think of curry - but we have a huge range of food on offer here.

"If we are going for Capital of Culture status, we need to promote this and a hospitality point of contact is the best way to provide information about what we have."

This year's Bradford Food Festival features a diverse range of tastes from around the globe. It features a total of 11 cuisines - Malaysian, Chinese, Greek, Spanish, Thai, Caribbean, Indian, Bangladeshi, Kashmiri, Greek and British.

International events include a Taste of Asia evening, an Oriental banquet and themed events at restaurants throughout the district.

A one-armed chef will be demonstrating cooking techniques for people with disabilities and there will be food safety workshops with environmental health officers.

The festival will run in September. Anyone who would like to get involved is asked to contact Simon Dunn on (01274) 391666.