Nation of countries

FOR those with a black sense of humour, it was a laughable suggestion. Northamptonshire, that characterless county somewhere south of here, is desperate to carve out its own identity to drag in the tourists. For some reason, visitors are failing to flock to the land of the Corby Trouser Press.

"I know!" some cretin pipes up at a brainstorming session. "Everyone's heard of Althorp's Royal connections. What about: 'Welcome to Northamptonshire: Diana Country'." You can imagine the silence, broken perhaps by a stifled snigger, that met that suggestion. Even the most deranged Northamptonshire tourism officer - and you would have to be a little loopy to take on such a thankless role in the first place - would not entertain the idea.

Why? Because the next thing you know, Northampton entrepreneurs would be opening the Queen of Hearts Tearooms, the Three-In-This-Marriage skateboard park and the Squidgygate Adult Novelty Gifts Emporium. The county would become known as the land which taste forgot.

This near-miss reveals that rebranding a region is a tricky business. Oh how the good burghers of Northampton must envy their Yorkshire counterparts. Up here we enjoy so many strong identities that we live in the geographical equivalent of a multiple personality disorder.

Let's think. To begin with this is God's Own County, although we have yet to have this confirmed by a public endorsement from Him upstairs. It is also the White Rose County.

And into these two counties are crammed a myriad of countries. There's Bront Country in Haworth, where craftsmen use traditional folk tools to wuther heights for the tourists. There's Last of the Summer Wine country, epicentre Holmfirth, where three pensioners hurtle down a hill in their tin bath on the quarter hour.

Goathland, on the North York Moors, is Heartbeat Country, home to TV's most whimsical cop show whose policemen make PC Plod from Toytown look like John Regan. There's not a police station in sight, by the way. That building is found many miles from the moors, on the outskirts of Leeds.

Heartbeat Country nudges into Captain Cook Country, the fishing resort previously known as Whitby. This brand name comes courtesy of its fictional setting as the English home of Count Dracula. Hang on, that can't be right...

Back on the TV trail we proudly present Herriot Country, as seen on All Creatures Great and Small, the small screen adaptation of Thirsk author Alf Wight's books. According to this series, Thisk is a town where the farmers are frugal and the cows are nervous.

Finally for square-eyed country lovers, we set down in Emmerdale Country, based at - well, where exactly? When the soap began Emmerdale Farm's stunt double was Lindley Farm in Leathley, near Harrogate. But times have changed.

"It used to be filmed in the village of Esholt," the woman at Bradford Tourist Information Centre explains. "But now the filming takes place on the Harewood House estate and it's not open to the public."

So, I ask, where does the Emmerdale fan go? Resisting the opportunity to tell me exactly where to go, she said: "Otley was the Hotton of the series and Esholt is where the Woolpack was."

Emmerdale Country, it seems, is no more.

Such branding is a double-edged sword, according to Joanna Royle, head of strategic marketing at Yorkshire Tourist Board, based in Tadcaster Road, York.

"This sort of marketing makes a big difference to the smaller visitor attractions, because of the big investment outlay they would have to make to gain recognition in their own right. If a place can rely on a more famous sub-brand to gain recognition, then it will attract more people.

"It all comes down to the awareness of people - some who are interested in literature might find the words 'Bronte Country' more important than 'Yorkshire'.

"The reason why we have got this growth of brands, like Heartbeat Country, Emmerdale Country and so on, is because it's been driven by consumer demand. They have seen this programme and they ring up and say where is it, we want to see it."

But she accepts that there may be too many "countries" in Yorkshire at the moment.

"What we are trying to do is rationalise the amount of brands we have got within Yorkshire. We need to have a clear, fairly concise, number of recognisable brands. Otherwise there's a danger you could confuse people.

"We're actually conducting a programme of research, with focus groups and qualitative research, speaking to visitors to find out what they think. This should identify what key names they recognise."

Some brands will fall by the wayside as people's memory of the original book or series fades.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Sheffield conducted Full Monty Tours which were successful at that moment when the film was a hit. That's good marketing."

What about those places without a gimmick? Selby, for example, must be one of the few towns in Yorkshire without a 'country' to call its own.

"Selby isn't an obvious tourist destination although they do have a tourism officer and some tourism activity," Joanna said.

"If there isn't a clear selling point, there probably isn't a point in trying to create something."

It's better for a place like Selby to market itself as part of the whole Yorkshire experience, she believes.

Alisdair Aird, editor of The Good Guide To Britain, fears that such branding could soon go over the top.

"I've not come across any really far-fetched associations although I'm sure sooner or later there will be an absurdity, like a place calling itself News At Ten Country when a clock in the town struck ten once and then stopped.

"The guideline to follow is, if a part of the county has a name which has spontaneously arisen over the years, then that's fine, but when people suddenly start calling it a name purely for marketing purposes, it can be tacky."