Saturday, May 17, 2008
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TOURISM NEEDS A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR

Friday, May 9, 2008
LETTERS
From Marcia Forsyth, Picardie Hotel, The Esplanade, Ventnor:
IT has been a long time coming but at last the truth is out, thanks to some of our leading tourist industry personalities in the accommodation, attractions business and ferry companies, which are at the centre of the tourism business.
They know how many visitors come here and where they spend their money. They have gone public in the County Press with the bald fact we all knew: £50 million shortfall in tourism predicted, (CP, 02-05-08).
In fact, it could be more when one adds up all the small businesses which have struggled for years, selling out, the resulting job losses to Island families, students unable to fund further studies, even extra money the council gets from parking charges. All, and more, are affected by this now-acknowledged downturn in the holiday island business.
But, as usual, the real culprits, like those in Westminster, hide from us, prevaricate and invent reasons for their inadequacies while drawing enormous wages for themselves.
How about opening up the top tourist jobs to ambitious, opinionated, arrogant Alan Sugars, alongside overstimulated and personally ambitious novice apprentices, to dream up a winning formula for a sustained marketing campaign to re-ignite the tourism potential of this beautiful island, without antagonising the life of the residents who want some peace and quiet or reasonable family life?
These apprentices would be paid a low start-up salary topped up by bonuses when we decide they have been successful, unlike the ex-Westminster Council employers of the present system of officers, getting fat cat salaries for sitting at a desk and complaining nobody loves them any more. I wonder why.
Let the chamber of commerce and tourism business leaders have a a go at reversing the catastrophic situation and all of us pull together to turn it into the happy, sea-and-sand, easy-to-get-to, plenty-to-do, value-for-money, music festivals or not, eat-in-eat-out, tigers, lemurs, birds of prey or flamingos, even an Amazon jungle venue.
We’ve got it all. Where? The IW of course

From Gillian James, Waterside, Winterbourne Gunner, Salisbury, Wilts SP4 6JS:
Not user friendly: FOLLOWING the publicity about tourism to the Island, I feel I should write of my experience of getting to you last week.
I gave up waiting to try to get through to Red Funnel to find out about parking for the Southampton to Cowes catamaran.
There was a long queue on the phone, which did not seem to get shorter. Only one person on the switchboard? I tried several times.
At the Triangle car park it was only possible to pay by mobile — not easy for the elderly (does everyone possess a mobile?) and very difficult to work out the options from the voice, no human to check things out with.
I was staying for four days and then I decided to stay an extra day and needed a computer to extend my car parking time, again worrying to get access to one when on holiday.
It is all very user unfriendly and not a good start to an Island holiday, which was perfect after all that.

From Carole Hooper, Tollgate, Steventon Hill, Steventon, Oxon:
Ferry unfair: AS a frequent traveller to the IW, I can assure the chamber of commerce that it is not so much the fault of the IW Council that tourism is down but the massive rise we have seen in the cost of getting to the and from Island on the Red Funnel car ferry.
Whereas last year we used to be able to buy a vehicle day return for as little as £29, the cheapest you can do this now is £36 and then you have to travel on many dates before 5am. Not something most families from across the mainland could manage.
What is the chamber of commerce doing to get more affordable travel to the Island?

From Stephen Saunders, 213 West 18th Street Apt 5C, New York, NY 10011:
Spotlight on London: I WAS born in Shanklin and believe the Island tourist promotion people should be swamping the London media with ads for the Island.
All the money is in London and it’s close enough for almost anyone to be able to take a break for a least a weekend.
The era of the two-week holiday on the Island has ended forever. Go where the money is, focus on London.