Let's stay united and confident should the economic storm break, urges GILLIAN CRUDDAS, chief executive of York Tourism Bureau as she takes over the presidency of the 630-member York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce.

MORE than ever it will be a case of "businesses in York and North Yorkshire unite."

From a tourism perspective we are anticipating a downturn in overseas visitors.

This comes on top of various layers of problems including foot and mouth and the flooding.

And it will affect not just tourism but businesses across the region.

The foot and mouth crisis underlined what we all theoretically knew - that the fate of so many sectors is intertwined and what hurts one damages the other, seemingly quite far down the line.

For example, of the £250 million injected into the greater York economy by the efforts of 9,000 people working in tourism, £100 million goes into the city's retail sector.

Then there are those dependent on tourism such as financial services, support industries like printing and laundry as well as restaurants, pubs, hotels, marketing, PR and design agencies. I could go on...

Accessibility is crucial in business, not just to get tourists into a region but also to get goods to market. There is a nervousness about this in a North Yorkshire belatedly hit by the livestock crisis.

Now comes the effect of the terrorist outrages in the US.

And we know in advance that the American visitor numbers which amounted to 290,000 last year are likely to be down for next year so what we have to do is look at increasing market share in other segments.

For example in tourism we are already attempting to get a bigger share of the domestic short break market encouraging the Scots and Londoners in particular to home in on us.

It may also mean other sectors actively looking for new markets and being prepared to be flexible, whether you are an exporter, manufacturer or tradesperson.

What must be also recognised is the possibility of a growing lack of confidence in commerce and industry in general, but we must not be emotionally defeated by this. We must rise above it and plan our way out.

There is so much to cling to that is positive about our region. York as a destination is a strong brand and the marketing of that brand - as Tourist City, as Science City, as Conference City and as an oh-so-central city (with excellent rail links) all helps to raise awareness in overseas investment markets.

The success of various partnerships of interests in and around York is helping to create a synergy between different sectors which ultimately bodes well for future growth and prosperity.

Meanwhile, when there is such uncertainty business turns to support networks like the Chamber which means that over the next year it will be even more important that the Chamber refines its responsibilities to become advisers and providers of opportunities...