We are light years ahead of Basil Fawlty now, says DAVID ANDREWS, chief executive of Yorkshire Tourist Board who applauds our rising standards of quality in tourism...

In my last column I applauded the go-ahead for the development of Doncaster Finningley airport in South Yorkshire, which will make North Yorkshire much more accessible to visitors.

But access is not the only key issue when looking for somewhere to spend your hard-earned money on a holiday or short break here. One of the most important factors is quality. No matter what type of accommodation visitors opt for, no matter where they eat, or drink or go for entertaining, they are looking for quality. Quality applies at all levels within our industry - quality of service a visitor gets from the people involved in tourism, quality of food, quality of facilities, of transport and attractions, events and entertainment.

For 13 years, Yorkshire Tourist Board has rewarded quality in the region through the White Rose Awards for Tourism. With categories ranging from self catering accommodation to conference venue of the year, the White Rose Awards have for more than a decade now celebrated excellence.

These are industry awards hailing not only service to the customer, but the behind-the-scenes quality - commitment to staff training and awareness and creation of a professional, motivated workforce to service the excellent product York and North Yorkshire has to offer.

The most hands-on, well designed and exciting attraction, the plushest hotel in the world, will be spoiled by indifferent, poorly-trained and unmotivated staff.

Tourism in York and North Yorkshire is undoubtedly vital to the economic welfare of its population. I doubt there are many businesses in York that wouldn't sorely miss the revenue from visitors. From clothes shops to post offices, public houses to newsagents, hairdressers to chemists, visitors contribute to them all.

So it isn't simply a matter of comfortable rooms, good food and fresh linen. It's the overall quality of the experience that matters, from the minute they lock their own front door behind them and start out on their journey, to the moment they put the key in the latch on the day they return home, every encounter counts.

That is why the rumour of a new tourism category in the 2003 Evening Press Business of the Year Awards to be launched next week is excellent news.

Quality is something we should all celebrate and strive for, no matter what our industry, or our position in that industry.

When I came to tourism in the UK in 1986 many considered it as a hobby industry, not to be taken seriously. Everyone is aware of the old stereotype, the British guesthouse landlady and (as with Basil Fawlty) landlord, but thankfully these days the curlers-in-hair tartar really does belong in a museum and Fawlty hopefully exists only in occasional but welcome TV repeats.

I sometimes secretly wonder, however, if in future, perhaps, there will be speciality breaks in a retro Fawlty Towers homage to the past of tourism attitudes long since overtaken by professionals who know the value of a contented customer.

It is astounding - and rewarding - to see our profile-raising efforts over the past years paying off, with tourism taking its deserved place alongside the rest of the region's industries, accepted and recognised for the valuable economic driver it is.

Much hard work over the past years has convinced the Government and, more recently, our regional development agency Yorkshire Forward, that tourism really is the economic jewel in the regional crown.

But we can't leave it there. Tourism must continue to strive to exceed customer expectations. The reality is that once you exceed expectations, those standards become the base to be surpassed next time - constantly rising plateaux where we must always be on the highest level.

Updated: 10:14 Tuesday, May 27, 2003