Two visitor centres in Birmingham are to be axed despite new targets to attract more people to the city.

Inward investment body Marketing Birmingham is closing visitor information centres in New Street and at Birmingham Airport to focus its service online amid budget cuts.

It comes as the publicly-funded body has been given a target to increase visitor numbers to 34.8 million next year, including 765,000 from overseas.

The organisation had run the centres as part of its contract with Birmingham City Council but its new agreement has revised its remit, meaning seven redundancies.

Neil Rami, chief executive of Marketing Birmingham, said traffic to the VisitBirmingham.com website more than doubled between 2010 and 2014, alongside growth in social media engagement.

He said: “Visitors are increasingly seeking out information online and better provision of on-street information across the city centre is helping them navigate the area themselves while here.

“The provision of travel information points in New Street Station, delivered by Centro, and the Library of Birmingham’s VisitEngland accredited Info Point, mean there are physical sources of information for those who require it.

“The move away from physical visitor services is a response to an increasing customer appetite for online information. By prioritising our budget to reflect demand, we are better equipped to help grow the city’s tourism sector as effectively and cost efficiently as possible.”

The visitor information centres will close in the coming months.

Marketing Birmingham said improvements to Birmingham’s on-street navigation, including new direction signs and information points pop up across the city, together with integrated information for walking, cycling, bus, tram and train services, have made the city more visitor friendly.

The changes come as the body sets up a new tourism business improvement district, which proposes to generate millions of pounds to promote the city through a levy paid by hotels.

Coun Ian Ward, deputy leader of Birmingham City Council, added: “Research shows that just five per cent of visitors to Birmingham used services provided by the visitor centres, compared to 30 per cent who sourced information digitally. Half of the queries handled by the visitor centres were requests for local transport information, which can now be accessed at Centro’s information desk in New Street Station. Tourists will still be able to access local information at the VisitEngland point at the Library of Birmingham.”

Marketing Birmingham has also been tasked with supporting city firms to create 1,200 jobs in the next year and encouraging 1,900 more by bringing employers into the region.

Mr Rami added: “More than 33 million visitors came to Birmingham in 2012, while we saw foreign direct investment rise by more than half with 41 investments creating or safeguarding 4,000 local jobs.

“We have continued to build on this strong track record and are looking forward to working with local partners including Birmingham City Council, the Black Country, the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP and local authorities across its patch, as we position this part of the world as a globally competitive destination to visit, meet and do business.”