Well there you have it, another dismal summer weather-wise and a body blow for our battered tourist industry. Do you know, although doubtless some dysfunctional statistician will find the exception, the last really hot month was April 2007. Now I mean hot rather than warm, the sort of heat that has you horizontal in no time at all and not the occasion warm day.
Of course poor weather makes any holiday location dismal and as singer song writer Chris de Burgh wisely said, “There is nothing quite so sad as a holiday resort in the rain.”
But it is more than that. Getting back to the basics is essential and that has to start with whether we here in Torbay really want a tourist industry! Notice the word Torbay. At one time it was simply a case of three towns; Torquay, Paignton and Brixham (soon to become Tesco-By-The-Sea!). That morphed into Torbay and was marketed under the English Riviera banner.
That lasted for a while before being re-branded as simple the English Riviera. Even the English Riviera Centre became the RICC (I’ll leave you to add the words). During that time we had the traditional running battle between assorted hoteliers, attraction owners and others, which really wasn’t helpful. That’s the trouble with clutching at straws.
This year the re-branding boys and girls have been at it again! Yes, we’re back on track with the name English Riviera / Agatha’s Riviera with a newly commissioned (commissioning is seen by some as a little like the proverbial washing of hands) tourist company. That got off to a publicity hungry start but soon bumped into the new mayor and talk of amalgamation between the board and the conference centre (RICC).
Now whilst we are crashing about the questioned has to be asked about the welcome for visitors. Take Paignton harbour as an example. We seem to have an increasing proliferation of prohibition notices, parking restrictions and now the possible idiotic advent of parking meters. I guess what I am getting at is the curious landscape of one sector of the council saying come and have a good time other departments work against that.
For many local businesses this winter will really be a time of seeing darkness at the end of the tunnel and if we are really to make a difference that there is a real and urgent need to get the whole town on board as to what Torbay/ the English Riviera/ Agatha’s Riviera is all about. That requires something more than unhelpful rhetoric and political infighting.
The thing is that unless we wake up and decide whether we want a tourist economy, in these hard economic times, then it is going to slip away whilst we sleepwalk into terminal decline. Let’s stop the dreaming and get on with the here and now. We need to celebrate what we have and either use it or lose it.
The photograph was taken on August Ban Holiday Monday 2011
frank sobey
Of course poor weather makes any holiday location dismal and as singer song writer Chris de Burgh wisely said, “There is nothing quite so sad as a holiday resort in the rain.”
But it is more than that. Getting back to the basics is essential and that has to start with whether we here in Torbay really want a tourist industry! Notice the word Torbay. At one time it was simply a case of three towns; Torquay, Paignton and Brixham (soon to become Tesco-By-The-Sea!). That morphed into Torbay and was marketed under the English Riviera banner.
That lasted for a while before being re-branded as simple the English Riviera. Even the English Riviera Centre became the RICC (I’ll leave you to add the words). During that time we had the traditional running battle between assorted hoteliers, attraction owners and others, which really wasn’t helpful. That’s the trouble with clutching at straws.
This year the re-branding boys and girls have been at it again! Yes, we’re back on track with the name English Riviera / Agatha’s Riviera with a newly commissioned (commissioning is seen by some as a little like the proverbial washing of hands) tourist company. That got off to a publicity hungry start but soon bumped into the new mayor and talk of amalgamation between the board and the conference centre (RICC).
Now whilst we are crashing about the questioned has to be asked about the welcome for visitors. Take Paignton harbour as an example. We seem to have an increasing proliferation of prohibition notices, parking restrictions and now the possible idiotic advent of parking meters. I guess what I am getting at is the curious landscape of one sector of the council saying come and have a good time other departments work against that.
For many local businesses this winter will really be a time of seeing darkness at the end of the tunnel and if we are really to make a difference that there is a real and urgent need to get the whole town on board as to what Torbay/ the English Riviera/ Agatha’s Riviera is all about. That requires something more than unhelpful rhetoric and political infighting.
The thing is that unless we wake up and decide whether we want a tourist economy, in these hard economic times, then it is going to slip away whilst we sleepwalk into terminal decline. Let’s stop the dreaming and get on with the here and now. We need to celebrate what we have and either use it or lose it.
The photograph was taken on August Ban Holiday Monday 2011
frank sobey
