What would attract visitors to our city long term?

Would you join a queue outside a shop and then when you finally get inside ask the assistant what's for sale?

Hi Tony, a pic of my grandson with his eyes glued to a N layout at the show a couple of years ago. He is second in the picture. A school room was being used on this occasion. He and his Dad will be there this Saturday. I may pop there on Sunday, not sure just yet.

Keith, where I live, and from the people I meet, Coventry has a good image. Maybe you are not a very good ambassador for your city.

Maybe it does depend where you live, Adrian. I can only comment on perceptions where I live, not on those of other places. I haven't been into the centre of Coventry for quite a number of years, but a lot of comment on this forum about things that have been demolished etc have definitely reduced my interest wish to do so. I used to love living in Coventry, but it seems to have changed so much that I would barely recognise it now. The only place that I used to visit regularly was the Technocentre. Working in the motor industry, I often visited MIRA, as did many of my colleagues; some of my colleagues also visited Jaguar (as I did occasionally); and there were also those who had attended Coventry University - they, indeed, had by far the most negative view of the city. Especially one who related the murder of someone in the hall of residence that he resided in at the time.

Sounds like qualification for a very blinkered outlook !

Since you don't know me, I'll treat that comment with the contempt it deserves!

I am unable to find anything about a student death in the halls of residence in the city - exactly how many YEARS ago was this Keith?

Hi all. For a Uni that only started in 1992, this ranking score quoted from Wiki is very encouraging. I like it!. A mature student friend of mine is completing her second year Social Science deg' here, in preference to Cambridge where she completed her first year. Knowing her as I do, that is a bril recommendation. Rankings based on the Sunday Times Good University Guide (UK) 2012, Coventry University is ranked 52 out of 122 ranked universities in the U.K. It is ranked among the Top Ten modern, post 92 universities. According to the Guardian University Guide, Coventry University is ranked 62 out of 119 ranked universities. The HEFCE data (2009-2010) showed that based on the number of students entering the university with minimum A levels results of AAB, Coventry University is ranked 42 overall in the U.K. LINK LINK

Hi again. I have another reason for being pleased that she is studying here in Coventry, but don't tell anyone. We sometimes meet for coffee on a Friday. It was heck of a jaunt for me to go to Cambridge for a coffee with her before last June, which I did do once. No talking in class please. We have been life long friends. What a pip!!!

When it was the Lanchester College of Technology, it was a very good college, wasn't it? Good to see that tradition being built on. What we need are 'practical' universities as well as 'academic' ones, it can only be a good thing if Coventry Uni is succeeding in that!

Great find Philip! Excellent news!

I've been reading the correspondence on this topic with great interest. Several people have noted that the City Council (and others) do make efforts to organise "happenings", such as music events or wartime remembrance days, and many people have noted the excellence of Coventry's museums and its pleasant surroundings. All good. But these don't make Coventry so unique that, for example, travel agents would feature Coventry in their premium offerings. What Morgana's topic was really looking for is something that would make Coventry really "special". I think that those who have mentioned Coventry's amazing contributions to technology have hit the nail on the head, but simply having a couple of great museums and a few remaining top shops isn't going to do it. I'm reminded of a "Heritage Trail" in Melbourne, which takes you along the Yarra River where the "Heidelberg School" of painters (Wiki Entry) painted early Melbourne scenes. For those interested in landscape art, this trail can provide a whole week's worth of informative and pleasurable entertainment. It's quite simple - large signs are erected at each point along the river, showing the original painting from the point where the artist would have stood, so the viewer can identify the actual bends in the river and so on. There are maps available, and signposts to the next site. There are museums and art galleries and, of course, various coffee-stops and bistros along the way. It is cycle and wheelchair friendly, as well as having strategically placed car parks. Translating this to Coventry, each of those "Famous Coventrians", and the businesses, who contributed to Coventry's industrial past (present and future?) could be commemorated along a similar trail. The museums' roles would then complement the trail, rather than being just standalone attractions, and the trail itself could deliberately wander through all the really exciting bits of historic Coventry, not forgetting, of course,the historic watering holes and eateries. It would, effectively, turn the whole city into a "mecca" for anyone interested in technology, which is what it deserves to be. Incidentally, a funny story from a time when travel agents really did feature Coventry on their "premium offerings". When I was small, we used to take our summer holidays in Skegness or Rhyll, like so many other Coventry folks, during the factory fortnights. Once there, we often took bus tours to visit the sights, and some bus companies offered "Mystery Tours", meaning that you weren't told where you were going until you got there. Well, guess what - Yes - they brought us to see the new Coventry Cathedral, which was then a big tourist attraction. We went home, had a cup of tea, and then re-joined the bus back to Rhyll.

Superb post JW I too remember these "mystery tours" - and the occasions like yours when people end up "back home"! Coventry does indeed offer guided tours round the city, but maybe these need to be more widely broadcast. I like your comment regarding "linking" features - good idea!

Johnnie, that's the best post that's been on this thread I did write something like yours then deleted it, about getting coach operators to advertise trips to the Historic City of Coventry giving them a bit of its history like the Bike, Sewing machine and the Ring Road with its twelve lanes in places, offering free coach parking plus free short walk round for their passengers to get a feel of the place

Well said, Dougie - train operating companies too, perhaps But I'm not sure about the Inner Ring Road being an attraction - it's actually a means of by-passing the city centre altogether and therefore has no features of any virtue at all