Partner Article

Business alliance can keep region on international stage

2011 is set to be a challenging year for the North East’s leisure and tourism industry, where it is feared that many operators will falter without the support of One North East. However, I feel this also presents an opportunity for some of our best businesses to shine in a hostile yet unparalleled environment, and potentially grow the regional tourism industry to present our area in a completely new light.

Since the Passionate People, Passionate Places campaign was discontinued, visitor numbers to regional Trust and English Heritage sites have apparently fallen, and the Government is yet to offer any reassurance that the North East’s identity will continue to be promoted in a new way as the cuts and changes continue to roll out.

This has led to a feeling of economic uncertainly which must be very unsettling for operators in the industry, but there are support bodies and networks within private enterprise which are supporting each other in taking huge strides forward in leisure and tourism, regardless of the silence from government.

The North East Chamber of Commerce Sunderland Committee provides a case in point. I admire their action taken recently, which aims to involve Sunderland businesses in a collective effort to make the most of opportunities presented by the summer concerts at the Stadium of Light, where up to £18m will be pumped into the local economy.

Small business networks across the region can follow this lead in uniting to move forward. A combination of marketing skills and resources, along with financial contributions, could even create campaigns to independently promote the North East, and ultimately the products and services of contributing companies. I see no reason why this could not achieve results comparable with those of One North East in promoting the region over recent years.

Undoubtedly, we need passionate people to devise innovative ways to keep flying the flag for our region. Whilst we wait for the Government to level the playing field and allow us to do this with the support it has lent to other parts of the country, let us not lose faith in what we already have here, and continue to form alliances to promote the wonderful things that happen in the North East.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .