THE first signs were ominous. "Who knows about Ecofin?" the tutor asked hopefully. Frowns and a long silence followed. "When is it?" After a long pause, one delegate plumped for the end of March. Hurrah, progress. "Why is York hosting it?" our patient tutor asked. Blanks again.

Oh, no. It looked as if our nine delegates were heading for the dreaded 'nil points' on the Ecofin front.

Just as well then, the name of this course was Know Your City. For when it came to identifying key landmarks and places of interest in York, this group of caf workers, B&B staff and tour operators scored top marks.

Does it matter they don't know which dignitaries are coming to the city when Ecofin starts on March 20, if they can tell visitors where the Tourist Information Offices are, who George Hudson was and how many pubs there are in Rougier Street?

Of course, Ecofin, the European Finance Ministers' Conference, is important. Euro monetary matters apart, it's going to put York in the international spotlight and the expected spin-off in tourism is being awaited with excitement.

And the message to everyone in the city from tourism bosses is for us to be on our best behaviour, turn on the charm and make sure we give that vital excellent first impression.

"We don't want any well publicised mistakes," says Jane Boyd, of York Tourism Training, which has arranged a series of courses for front-line tourism workers in preparation for Ecofin.

The aim of the Know Your City course, which ran for the first time at the Dean Court Hotel, is to give people confidence in dealing with tourists, whether it be giving directions to attractions, or information about events or handling complaints.

"No tourism business stands alone," says Mrs Boyd. "There is no point the hotel being wonderful if other aspects of the city are not as good. It is very much a joint thing and we have all got to pull together."

When you consider four million people visited York last year and tourism brings more than £250 million to the city and supports an estimated 10,000 jobs, it is easy to appreciate the importance of the industry to York's economy and why Ecofin is seen as a gift we should not spoil.

While the nine delegates at yesterday's course seemed clued up on the importance of presenting a friendly face to tourists, they all welcomed the chance to brush up on historic details about the city and tips on how to handle awkward customers.

Lesley Baines, a housekeeper at the Bar Convent, has only been in York for one year. She said: "With me being new to York, I hope it helps me learn more about it."

Meanwhile, Emma Northcott, reservations clerk with Eddie Brown Tours, and Helen Chapman-Burns, of York Pullman Coach Company, both said hints on dealing with complaints were useful. Mrs Chapman-Burns said: "We are getting more and more people. You do get difficult people and I would like to know the professional way to handle them."

For Bill and Val Brown, who own the Delifrance caf in Low Petergate, anything to help them boost their service to their customers is welcome. Mr Brown said: "Many of our customers are tourists and ask about different places of interest. If you can help them, then that's part of customer service."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.