Peter Jackson column

Feb 17 2005 By Peter Jackson, The Journal

A new tourism strategy has been unveiled for the North-East, which, it is hoped, will bring two million visitors a year to the region.

And, by a happy coincidence, this has been given a kick-start by Tony Blair, who, at the Labour Party's spring conference at The Sage Gateshead, sang the praises of the North-East and the Quayside development.

Of course, words come cheap, at least cheaper than dualling the A1 or reforming the Barnett Formula - but hey, that's just me being cynical and ungrateful.

Indeed, we should accept any help we can. As I've argued before, tourism is important to the North-East, and should be more important. This region has enormous potential, which should be exploited, as the new strategy recognises.

We have all of us had the experience of welcoming visitors to the North-East, who have been pleasantly surprised - even amazed - at what the region has to offer.

However, as with so many areas of economic potential, we have to be aware that other parts of the country are competing fiercely for every tourist pound, and if we are to get our share, then we have to compete that bit harder.

And we are not just up against other parts of the UK, but, thanks to cheap flights, with the likes of Prague and Barcelona.

We have come a long way. It is, for example, now grossly unfair to criticise the standard of British cuisine. Restaurants, and many pubs, in this country bear comparison with much on the continent, and certainly with anything in the US.

But, where we still fall down is in standards of service. The other weekend, I took the family fell walking. After a long, tiring and muddy day's hiking, we returned to our en-suite room in the country inn in which we were staying to find only sufficient hot water for about half of one bath. Management greeted our complaints with the kind of shoulder-shrugging indifference usually associated with the French.

This has to be addressed, but, even as the industry recognises the problem, it realises it is faced with a growing shortage of skilled labour.

This is where the North-East can really score over the competition. If we can find a way of encouraging young people into the tourism industry and training them adequately once they are in, then we will see the new strategy bearing fruit.