A new algorithm using Enhanced Continuous Tabu Search (ECTS) and genetic algorithm (GA) is proposed for parameter estimation problems. The proposed algorithm combines the respective strengths of ECTS and GA. The ECTS is a modified Tabu Search (TS), which has good search capabilities for large search spaces. In this work, the ECTS is used to define smaller search spaces, which are used in a second stage by a GA to find the respective local minima. The ECTS covers the global search space by using a TS concept called diversification and then selects the most promising regions in the search space. Once the promising areas in the search space are identified, the proposed algorithm employs another TS concept called intensification in order to search the promising area thoroughly. The proposed algorithm is tested with benchmark multimodal functions for which the global minimum is known. In addition, the novel algorithm is used for parameter estimation problems, where standard estimation algorithms encounter problems estimating the parameters in an un-biased fashion. The simulation results indicate the effectiveness of the proposed hybrid algorithm.