SO the tourists have come to York this Easter after all - just look at the crowds. This is absolutely wonderful!

Hang on a minute, something's wrong, they don't actually seem to be spending any money. I can't hear those tills ringing...

Ah, now I see why - these are not big- spending Americans and Japanese, they are British tourists.

Tight-fisted blighters the British, they only come here to see all of York's unique treasures, such as the Jorvik centre, the Castle and National Railway Museums, the Minster, Clifford's Tower and the Bar Walls, and, I suppose, to enjoy the atmosphere of springtime in York.

For some reason they prefer not to spend all their hard-earned cash in our wonderful souvenir and gift shops which seem to have sprung up all over the city selling valuable tourist-orientated trinkets and trophies - largely of foreign origin, incidentally.

No wonder the gift shop entrepreneurs are unhappy. After all they have been used to far richer pickings in years gone by, not that they ever mentioned it at the time.

We must strive harder to attract more tourists to York, but preferably the right kind of tourists. I mean the big spending foreign kind, not the Brits who wander around blithely enjoying themselves with their wallets tightly zipped.

There's nothing wrong with a healthy spirit of crass commercialism, or even a whiff of naked greed these days, is there?

Martin Hayton,

Hallard Way,

Strensall, York.

Updated: 11:31 Wednesday, April 18, 2001