A message from planet Tharg.....

[Vincent]

Just picked up KD's winge about my post - the man is paranoid - my one and only intention was to inform people that billions of tourist money is not being spent in this Country because of our visa arrangement.

David Cameron has said that he wants more tourists to come here to enjoy the "British Experiance" and to increase our national income from tourism tenfold yet we make it very difficult and expensive for them to come here

I have actually said to the Mayor that he should be concentrating his efforts making Hartlepool a town for tourists to visit, a place where we as residents would benefit from by any improvements and a boost to jobs in the hotel and hospitality industries

I want this Country and this Town in particular to benefit from the income tourist bring - if anything I want to take money away from the other countries in the EU

I will repeat what I have said previously - All discussion about the EU should not be posted on Local Issues and Matters

[popgoestheweasal.]

My good lady and i went to Newcastle to watch the football on Thursday we started to queue at 1-00pm for a ticket and by 2-30pm the first game kicked off and we were still queueing with 80 or 90 people in front of us we walked away.
My pal went to the boxing yesterday and they were giving tickets away free outside. he was fuming he had spend £200 for tickets for him and the family. 

[Vincent]

If I knew the answer to that I would run for Mayor

Hartlepool has a lot to offer except positivity, we always find the bad things to talk about never the good things like the maritime experiance, our marina, St Hildas, Christchurch, Seaton and Jacksons Landing when they are sorted out. We should make the most of our location,we could have regattas and yacht races, beach volly ball competitions (please), we have nature reserves on our doorsteps, commission Herrema to build a bloody big tower or salvage an old oil rig and convert it for tourism or get Gormley to design our own Angel but female and bigger and better

[Stig of the Seaton Dump]

I hear there is an unused chimney that could be converted into the world's biggest helter skelter ...oops.

As detailed on here, we have doctors cutting back surgeries, an out of town A&E service plus crumbling roads, third world public transport etc.

It would be lovely to have some nice artwork in the town and some new attractions, more ships being renovated etc. but doesn't getting the basics right come first.

Considering the Hartlepool way is to knock anything down that isn't a house and build a house (kerching)  ...shouldn't we settle for being a residential suburb. 

[Vincent]

I think we should be thinking more Gateshead than Harrogate much as I like that town.

Look what Gateshead has achieved - how have they done it - lessons to be learned there alright

[not4me]

Hartlepool's problem is that it can't decide what to be. For example, it comes up with regeneration schemes for the likes of Seaton after allowing it to become the tipping ground for half the North East of England; it celebrates a so called 'cafe-culture' at Navigation Point then allows a builders yard to open right next to it. I'm sure others can think of other examples.

[no6bus]

Hartlepool's problem is that it can't decide what to be. For example, it comes up with regeneration schemes for the likes of Seaton after allowing it to become the tipping ground for half the North East of England; it celebrates a so called 'cafe-culture' at Navigation Point then allows a builders yard to open right next to it. I'm sure others can think of other examples.

are you meaning seymours which was there before the cafe culture

[not4me]

No it wasn't. It was on the roundabout where the Focus shed now is. It moved into vacant retail units at Navigation when the land was sold to build the Focus/Pets at Home/Carpet Right retail sheds.

[steveL]

The 'cafe culture' thing always makes me smile. Some time ago, the Lloyds Weatherspoons in Church Street applied for planning permission to site tables outside. It was turned down because it was feared the football crowd would use the tables and chairs as missiles on a Saturday afternoon - not my comment, you understand, but one of the reasons given in the council chamber to knock the application back.

Move 1/4 mile to Navigation Point and suddenly tables and chairs outside are OK ignoring the fact that many football supporters gather in Vibes etc both before and after games.

I've heard similar language used by occupants of the Civic to encourage the development of 'Boutique Hotels'  - someone is reading too many Sunday Supplements, I'd say.

[Stig of the Seaton Dump]

What happened to the doing up of old ships ? That appeared to stop as suddenly as it started.

Hartlepool always get a mention for building one of the most notable pieces of modern art, The Angel Of The North, does nobody else want anything like that creating ?

If all the waste that ends up circling Seaton is safe then why isn't it dumped at sea in an effort to do something to help with the storms expected from climate change or even to to something useful on land like block the view of the power station instead of the Cleveland hills.

Why do we have to buy other peoples problems instead of passing bylaws to twist the arm of the owner to do something.

Why do we keep knocking things down instead of looking at their potential future worth financially and historically.

The new HCFE cost twice the amount of the new Silverstone building, can the town capitalise on the facility more ?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/04/silverstone.html

People travel from all over the world to see Durham, why don't we ride on the back of that and try to be the flagship port for Durham.
Seen the cathedral, why not come and see the ships too ? Just like you could say Whitby and/or Scarborough is tied to York.

Surely the fanaticism of just building houses without any other social elements is a plan for social problems.

[mk1]

It gets worse.
The  clown is  boasting in tonights Mail that Hartlepool gets 3 million visitors a year!

Thats right folks a whopping 57,000 visitors a week flood in to our great town.
'Visitor' is defined in  such vague terms as 'visiting football fans' and 'shoppers at Middleton Grange'.
You really have to wonder at the credibilty of the  people who make up these figures and the stupidity of those that repeat them.

Anyone care to let me know where the visiting throng can be glimpsed?

[mk1]

http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/local/119m-tourism-boost-to-town-economy-1-4789936

Published on Tuesday 31 July 2012 12:16   MAYOR Stuart Drummond said Hartlepool shouldn't let a lack of funding diminish its ambition when it comes to the multi-million pound visitor economy.
Hartlepool's visitor economy, valued at an estimated £119m, supports 2,000 jobs and attracts three million visitors, according to the Scarborough Tourism Economic Activity Monitor (STEAM).
But there have been significant changes to the region's tourism structure in the past 12 months after the closure of Visit Tees Valley and the wind-up of One North East in March.
It has led local authorities in the Tees Valley to consider how to address promoting the North-East to industry and visitors.
Mayor Drummond said despite the strategic support no longer being there, the town should still be ambitious.
He said there was no reason why Hartlepool couldn't host another Tall Ships Races event in future, after the success of the major maritime event in 2010.Mayor Drummond said: "We can't let a lack of funding diminish our ambition.
"Why can't we host the Tall Ships Races again in five or six years time.
"That is the sort of thing that we should be aiming for."
The visitor economy figures include tourists heading to Hartlepool Marina, Seaton Carew, the Headland and the Hartlepool Maritime Experience.
It also takes into account people coming to town for meetings, football matches at Hartlepool United and shoppers to Middleton Grange Shopping Centre.The ongoing work was discussed at a meeting of Mayor Drummond's regeneration and neighbourhoods portfolio.
Mayor Drummond added: "What might be useful ahead of the budget work is to produce a wider piece of work highlighting how important tourism is to Hartlepool and what it brings to the local economy.
"A lot of investment at a strategic level has gone.
"We need to reconsider how important it is to our economy and it will help members when the budget comes round.
"It will also help shape our thinking of where we can fit in the north of the country."
Tourism chiefs said businesses should also use social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, to help sell themselves more.
Jo Cole, the council's tourism officer, said: "The biggest challenge that we have is the location of Hartlepool.
"People do not travel through us to get to somewhere else, they have to have a reason to come here.
"We really need to let people know what is going on here."
Both Visit Tees Valley and One North East supported the industry through big budgets, marketing and PR campaigns, but the onus is now on councils to support the visitor economy.
Officers said it is important for Hartlepool Borough Council to support the tourism economy through business support and marketing activities.
Work is well underway on developing a marketing plan to raise the town's profile, develop and deliver bespoke tourism training courses and carry out joint marketing campaigns across the region.


This bit rang a bell:

Jo Cole, the council's tourism officer, said: "The biggest challenge that we have is the location of Hartlepool.
"People do not travel through us to get to somewhere else, they have to have a reason to come here

I am sure I have heard it recently..............ah yes it was me, here:

http://www.forum.hartlepoolpost.co.uk/index.php/topic,298.msg5367.html#msg5367

Hartlepool has the misfortune to be at the end of a road that goes nowhere except to Hartlepool.
By that I mean  you never have to travel through Hartlepool to go anywhere else and thus we get no 'passing' traffic.

[Vincent]

Mk1 - Please be accurate with your quotes...your first post said Drummond boasts about 3m visitors then your next one says (correctly) that STEAM said it

The article mentioned York, which you cut out of your post, from that I understood that the 3 million was for a much wider area including York.

The Mayor has jumped on the bandwagon which he has a habit of doing when any news that is the slightest bit positive about the area without engaging his brain - who advises him  for god sake.

To described Hartlepool as being on the "end of a road that goes nowhere" is an insult to the people who live, work and love this town.

If as you say the traffic has nowhere else to go we should give them something to come here for and make them welcome. 

[rabbit]

Global Tourism Solutions (UK) Ltd

An independent tourism research company which owns and operates the STEAM model, providing Local, Regional and National Governments in the UK and Internationally with timely estimates of the monthly and annual value, volume and impact of tourism in specified areas. All reports are produced by a technical team located at the GTS (UK) Ltd Data Processing Centre in New Holland.

Also from elsewhere,

"STEAM is not designed to provide a precise and accurate measurement of tourism in a local area, but rather to provide an indicative base for monitoring trends."

[BresslawoffoftheBunker]

Never let the facts get in the way of a good whine...........................