In his first column, DAVID ANDREWS, chief executive of the York-based Yorkshire Tourist Board looks variously at the impact of war on tourism, the challenges of a hi-tech future and how "local yokel" thinking can improve profits

WITH war in Iraq there are more important life or death considerations than the effect on tourism.

But we would be foolish not to brace ourselves for the inevitable impact on tourism business in North Yorkshire.

Petrol prices are already increasing, and based on the experience of the Gulf War, visitor patterns will change. That conflict saw many of our overseas visitors, especially from America, deciding not to make their journey here. Even domestic visitors were less inclined to take a break when so much hung in the balance.

My role in this is clear - to do everything I can to continue working responsibly to bring visitors to our region. To prepare for the possibility that events beyond my control will cause great damage to our tourism industry despite best efforts.

At that point we need a detailed assessment within our industry of exactly what the impact is and the damage caused, facts to pass on to those who represent us in Westminster.

We will need the support of our MPs, the Department for Culture Media and Sport and, of course, the regional development agency, Yorkshire Forward once the conflict has ended and we start looking once again to pick up the pieces.

MY job is to ensure that we get a fair slice of whatever pie is on the counter, especially if it can fund initiatives to improve our efficiency and raise the quality of the tourism product in our region.

One of the biggest initiatives looming is the driving forward of the technological revolution needed throughout the region's tourism industry.

Tourism in Yorkshire is famous for its tradition, history and culture, as well as countryside, coast and outdoor activities. No room there, you might think for the e-jargon of real time online availability, eMarketing, destination management systems or online customer relationship management.

But every tourism operator in the region must be familiar with these tools in the near future, if they aren't already. The modern customer wants fuss-less speed. Time is precious to them. Tourism businesses still operating in the 20th Century will probably trail the pack.

Here's the vision of the high tech future unfolding right now: Every B&B operator updates their own information and availability online, one information source provides product content, listings and availability, where to eat, what to see and do, information for everything in the entire region, up-to-date and bookable online through web sites all over the 'net.

That single source from which all information for England will be drawn is EnglandNet. It's not a web site. It's very much a 'back office' system, operating in much the same way as the system a travel agent uses to search for seat availability with airlines. Few hear of Galileo or Sabre outside the travel business, but they are the key to sourcing millions of airline seats worldwide.

It is a constant challenge for tourism businesses to think of new ways to get closer to the right customers and maximise revenue. EnglandNet will help them to do this. It takes information from a regional level to add to the national database of accommodation, attractions, events and information.

The stately home, garden or even cathedral you visit this weekend isn't so steeped in the idyllic past as you may think. Unless customers flow through its doors, there is no way of paying hard cash for restoration and upkeep of our history and heritage.

A yokel's concept of "local" is a tourist's dream of the exotic. Research shows that a visitor who is quite happy at home to buy all their groceries at a supermarket, wants locally-grown produce when away. They want their bread freshly-baked, their meat raised locally, their meals to have some regional flair. Something they don't get at home. So one of our main priorities in the region is to encourage people in our industry to buy locally. Hotels, guest houses, restaurants and attractions can benefit greatly from buying products on our own local doorstep. A happy by-product of turning to Yorkshire suppliers for produce is that money stays in the region and that is always a good thing.

TOURISM touches so many more businesses than just those directly dealing with the visitor. Think of the suppliers to the B&Bs and hotels, the taxi firms, pubs, restaurants and even the local newsagent's. The list is endless.

One new business will have a definite impact. Low cost airline Jet2 arrived in the region recently and almost immediately I began to hear moaners. They're luring away our people in Yorkshire, enticed by low-cost short breaks in mainland Europe, they complain

But I shrug. Those leaving for two weeks in the sun or short European breaks wouldn't have taken their hols in Yorkshire anyway.

The reality is happier. Now Dutch visitors are jetting into Leeds Bradford Airport with Jet2 and heading for York. And with the opening of new routes from all over Europe, so will many other nationalities.

Updated: 09:26 Tuesday, March 25, 2003