WEST Somerset will have a dedicated visitor guide to promote its biggest industry - tourism - for the 2008 season thanks to an 11th hour rescue package announced yesterday (Thursday). Intense and lengthy negotiations over the past three weeks have resulted in the forging of an alliance between West Somerset Council and the Exmoor Tourist Association to ensure the future of the Exmoor Coast and Country brochure. As exclusively revealed in the Free Press last month, the joint directors of the company behind the publication, John Richards and Roger Barbee, had pulled the plug on the 2008 brochure just weeks before it was due to go to the printers because of a bitter dispute over funding. They insisted they had no option but to let the axe fall after Visit Exmoor - the industry-run tourism association partnered with the district council and the Exmoor National Park Authority - had failed to pass on an annual £15,000 grant towards production costs for both the 2007 and 2008 publications. Visit Exmoor, which has been widely criticised and is now itself likely to be wound up in December, was also refusing to take any responsibility for any publishing, marketing or distribution costs. The crisis led the district council, which has provided the bulk of funding for Visit Exmoor since it was set up three years ago, to throw its resources behind a bid to find a swift solution. In a joint statement yesterday, the authority and the ETA, an independent organisation which has represented tourism businesses in West Somerset and North Devon for the past 24 years, said they had been working closely to broker a deal with Exmoor Coast and Country Ltd to ensure the vital tourism guide would be produced as normal. The funding which had been earmarked to Visit Exmoor for the guide will now be transferred to the ETA. The council's tourism portfolio holder Cllr Michael Downes said he was delighted to announce that the rescue package had been secured, not only for this year but until 2010. "This year's brochure will be heading for the presses shortly," he said. "Our thanks and appreciation go to local advertisers for bearing with us over the last few weeks. "The ETA has a proven track record of tourism delivery and we welcome the experience and knowledge they will bring to future brochures." ETA chairman Anthony Brunt added his thanks to affected businesses and advertisers. "We know that we are able to deliver a quality publication for the tourism industry for 2008," he said. "Time scales are tight and we will have to move fast but we are very confident about the publication. "Exmoor Coast and Country plays an incredibly important role in the promotion of Exmoor and West Somerset. "Many tourism businesses rely heavily on this guide to get visitors to their hotels, guest houses, self catering accommodation and attractions and we are thrilled that we have been able to work with the council to ensure that this guide is not lost." Mr Brunt said the owners of Exmoor Coast and Country Ltd had agreed to gift their shares to the ETA and the organisation was now in a position to produce the best guide ever. The ETA and the council have drawn up letters of intent to formalise the new deal, which go before the council's cabinet for ratification. The authority's leader Cllr Keith Ross said the council recognised the importance of tourism to local businesses and the economic benefits it brought to the district. "We immediately diverted resources into this area to avoid a crisis and we are delighted with the outcome." Cllr Ross said the council had, over the last few months, taken stock of its priorities. "We are happy to build on constructive effective partnerships and forge new alliances when the need arises for the greater good of everyone. "The ETA and the council have worked hard to secure the provision of the tourism brochure and we are delighted that our hard work has paid off. "We are really pleased to be working with the ETA, which is a proven, long-standing and well respected organisation amongst local tourism providers." Mr Richards and Mr Barbee, who will continue to be directors of Exmoor Coast and Country Ltd, said they were also delighted with the outcome of the joint negotiations. "Exmoor will continue to have its high quality guide and we are grateful to all involved for their efforts over the past weeks." The tourism industry had responded with anger and disbelief to the initial threat to the guide, with the Minehead Hoteliers Association handing in a 500- signature petition to the council calling for it to be saved. The organisation's secretary Linda Hatch welcomed the announcement that it would now be published. "It is very good news - absolutely wonderful," she told the Free Press. "We need this local brochure and it's great that common sense has reigned."
