TOURIST chiefs revealed today how many people visited historic attractions last year. English Heritage and the English Tourism Council have adopted a remarkably unhurried approach, waiting 13 days before the end of 2001 to publish the data for 2000.

That distance lends the figures a sense of nostalgia. Twelve months ago, we thought things could hardly get worse: rail crashes, floods and the fuel crisis had combined to give a post-war feel to post-millennial Britain.

We knew tourism, the region's biggest industry, had been hit. And today's statistics confirm that. In 2000, heritage sites in England attracted four per cent fewer visitors than the previous year.

Eight per cent fewer people toured York Minster, although it easily held on to its spot as the second-most visited venue after the Tower of London.

This decline is hardly dramatic, but in context gives some cause for concern. Tourism bosses were hoping for a much better 2001 to help the industry bounce back. Instead, foot-and-mouth disease and September 11 made matters far worse.

We do not need to wait until December 2002 to be told that North Yorkshire has attracted still fewer tourists this year. With much of the countryside blockaded during the summer followed by the terrorist atrocities, many visitors have gone elsewhere.

It is not all bad news. The East Coast resorts reported a good summer season, and, despite the problems, York has enjoyed a busy run-up to Christmas.

Yet the lack of foreign tourists, which must account for the drop in the Minster numbers, cannot be ignored. A mass American stay-away next year could prove very harmful to the local economy.

That is why we should take heart from yesterday's report that the York Tourism Bureau is stepping up its marketing campaign in Europe. The bureau is confident of attracting more Dutch, German and Belgian visitors.

Unforeseen crises permitting, of course.

Updated: 10:27 Wednesday, December 19, 2001