I'll pack, and get me to England once again
It's over. The last starting pistol has been fired, the final finishing line crossed and the last Morris Minor driven into position for the closing ceremony. The 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester have come to an end, the media circus has moved on and the bulldozers have begun to tear up the athletics track.
Despite torrential rain at times, the games have been heralded a great success from an organisational, sporting and diplomatic point of view, and Manchester has come through what must have been quite a challenge with honours all round. The only downside has been the feeling that more could have been done to use the games as a vehicle to promote Britain - not just to the outside world, but also to the British people themselves.
This raises the question (once again) of just who should be responsible for that job. Should it be left to individual regions, or should there be some central co-ordination?
It's an old chestnut, but it emerged very quickly as an important point at an informal breakfast discussion between hotel operators in London last week. Those present expressed frustration that, despite the admission by the tourism minister, Kim Howells, that it was a mistake to strip the domestic marketing function away from the English Tourist Board when it changed its name to the English Tourism Council three years ago, nothing much has been done to repair the damage. British holiday-makers continue to spend £50m a year going abroad because no one has the central authority or the resource to persuade them otherwise.
There has been a lot of talk, of course. Last month the chancellor, Gordon Brown, announced "additional funds for tourism", which sounded promising at the time but, while the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) gained an extra £300m in the spending review, only £2m has so far been earmarked to boost tourism - and that at a regional level.
As one of the hoteliers involved in the breakfast discussion pointed out, tourism in the UK generates £75b a year, which represents about £40b a year in tax. If this is correct, then the Government's commitment to supporting the industry seems rather paltry in return.
At the same time as our hoteliers were finishing their breakfast, the steering group overseeing changes to the ETC was considering a report from a subcommittee set up to look at the marketing of England. This report has now been reviewed by a broader body of tourism representatives (known as Hartwell II, following the tourism summit held at Hartwell House last year), and their recommendations are now with the DCMS. An announcement is expected from the department later this month.
Meanwhile, tourism and hospitality operators are growing increasingly frustrated. Talk, talk and more talk, they say. Let's see co-ordinated initiatives to capture the attention of British holiday-makers before more opportunities like the Commonwealth Games and the Golden Jubilee are missed.
England must be put on the map of the English.
FORBES MUTCH, Editor, Caterer & Hotelkeeper
