Unity is key to the city

Will she easily make the transition from 12 years as the head of the hugely successful York Tourism Bureau to leading this new, wider, sleeker organisation which fuses the forces and resources of the Bureau with City of York Council and the York Hospitality Association?

Can this boss of what was effectively a well-organised private club in the form of the Bureau be just as effective working with businesses, Yorkshire Forward and Yorkshire Tourist Board to promote the city and secure investment to develop the quality of what it has to offer?

Of course she can. This is the woman who brought ultimate plaudits to York. In June it was declared the European City of the Year. Last November it was crowned the UK's Best City in the annual Telegraph Travel Awards.

It was Mrs Cruddas who over the years helped to dispel a real mistrust that had grown up between the City of York Council and any notion of a private organisation looking after the interests of tourism - and replace it with real co-operation. First Stop York, which embodied that unity, could not have been achieved without her.

And it was under her leadership that latest figures record that visitor numbers have shot up by 339,000 to 4.18 million, with tourist spend increasing from £311.8 million to £333 million.

But the Cruddas-watchers among the city's private enterprises in tourism are missing the point.

They should instead be watching themselves.

They should ensure that now that the city council and the regional development agency are backing the broad-based organisation with cash and other support, they don't slip back into their old tribal ways.

No more quibbles please, such as - "she's sold out to the politicians.

Why should we help to fund it? Let them."

The truth is that the £2.6 million funding is not very much more than the bureau has had to work with - although the new organisation may be in a better position to apply for other grants.

However, the only way that Visit York will succeed is if everyone pulls together in a true public-private partnership.

That is the view of York solicitor John Yeomans, who come April will be chairman of Visit York.

He says: "Public-private partnerships are the holy grail of getting things done, according to the Government.

"They are thought to be very effective mechanisms, but to make them work there are clear principles that need to be in place - clear objectives, clear leadership, a proper understanding of resources and contributions by both public and private parties. The key is a mutual respect between those who come together."

So he believes that private enterprise in tourism should recognise and applaud the improvements that politicians can bring.

By the same token, he says, "party politicians must leave party politics outside the door of the boardroom, and contribute from the perspective of their public role rather than be weighed down with political mantra."

That is the careful balance which Mrs Cruddas has to strike. Indeed, she sees it as so important that she believes that Visit York's success depends upon it.

She says: "It will be successful when all the partners involved work together in a clear, focused and joined up way. The two major partners are what will be the old York Tourism Bureau and the council and it is the council's involvement, support and participation which will determine Visit York's success.

"It is the council saying, partly as a result of the Future York Report, that tourism is an important part of the economy; and it is that mindshift within local government that is enabling us to work together as a proper, true public-private partnership.

"But tourism in any city or region cannot exist solely through its private sector, or solely public sector. The two have to work together with funding, resources, marketing, management, investment and development of the product."

So that is the challenge for Mrs Cruddas - to relay the message to private businesses that their financial support is still the core funding, but now there are welcome extra resources from Yorkshire Forward and the City of York Council.

"We have to say to them that by having this more co-ordinated approach we will do the tourism job better and there will be business benefits for yourself, whether you are the little shop on the Shambles, or an attraction, guest house or printer.

"So work with us, be part of this new way of working; use it as an opportunity to launch a new set of higher objectives."

Exactly what those objectives will be is still being thrashed out at "brainstorming" sessions by the new Visit York board of directors.

Meanwhile, Mrs Cruddas has her own definite ideas. She recognises that York will never compete in the higher league of London, Paris, Berlin or Rome; but she is determined to see her city trouncing other big competitors like Bruges, Dubrovnik, Ljubljana, Helsinki, Hamburg, Bath and Chester as THE place to visit.

She recognises that she has to tackle the problem of the January "quiet period" with lures that go beyond the "three for two" promotions, such as shopping breaks or an imaginative crowd-attracting festival.

Another way to ensure tourists came and stayed longer was to promote more intensely York as the gateway to other attractions such as Castle Howard, the Moors, Harrogate, Leeds and Whitby among the many east coast resorts.

That would build on York's success as a city where 78 per cent of all visitors do come back.

She also wants "zero tolerance" on vandalism and disruption in the city centre, as well as anything that falls short of exemplary customer service.

"I want York to be known as the friendliest, cleanest, safest city.

There will be no 'this will do' mediocrity. We score well on cleanliness and safety but there is always room for improvement."

And she foresees efforts with partners to expand into emerging markets. "At the moment our key markets are the US, Germany, Holland and Belgium, but there are emerging ones. China and India are the two biggies.

"What can we realistically do with our resources and working with partners to tap into them.

How can we piggy-back on the fact that a lot of people from the Czech Republic and Poland are coming to work here?"

But she concedes that much needs to be done to establish good transport links, to send these potential customers the right messages, and to gauge the effectiveness of how much they could contribute to York's economy.

No doubt Mrs Cruddas will do what she can - but she needs healthy harmony to succeed?