What would attract visitors to our city long term?

Absolutely! This is exactly what CVOne was originally set up to do - generate visitors and public/business awareness of the city. And in recent times they have failed miserably (IMHO)

Thanks to Pete Chambers there is a Two Tone Museum in what I believe is the students union building at the Lanc. (sorry university).

I couldn't if I wanted to, Tony! There are re-enactment organisations like "Black Knight" that do all the organising, if they are offered a suitable venue, and the publicity. The re-enactors get themselves there - in droves if it's a good enough event. But as Philip says, the public have to get there easily; and not be ripped off. The re-enactment creates the reason to go. Policing doesn't have to be 'heavy'; in Pickering it's minimal (I doubt if the town has more than half a dozen bobbies!) A big problem, though, arises when someone wants to make a big profit from an event. That is because short-term profit is so often seen as the goal, rather than the longer term benefit that can accrue. The notion of a "sprat to catch a mackerel" no longer applies. Because of this mentality, many things are lost in this country, and it's a poorer place as a result.

Thank you Tony, it's good to hear of it. I will be at the heritage weekend next year for sure.

Coventry could do more to celebrate its multi-cultural heritage as the asset it is. Any number of events,small and large-scale based on the story and cultures of the numerous nationalities settled in the city.

Perhaps this could be one answer LINK

A good international air day (or days) really does attract the crowds. The only snag is - they wouldn't necessarily come into the city itself. How about combining one with a WWII re-enactment event that included the city centre area? Park at Baginton, shuttle buses into the city centre (vintage ones?); flights over the city (vintage ones, too); quite a few possibilities! On the cost front: if there are a number of small events at other times, it might be an idea to get them, or some of them, involved too. One big event tends to be more effective than a lot of small ones; it also gives more scope for 'ringing the changes' each year. If the same thing is on each year, the public soon get bored and cease to come. Germ of an idea, perhaps?

Oh yes ! WWII re-enactment including flights over the city - send for the Luftwaffe and get rid of all the post-war monstrosities which have been constructed (except the new Cathedral of course!) I think there's many who would agree with that

Thats a great idea both, but Cliff, I have a feeling someone along the lines will object to it. I recall the controversy over should-we-shouldn't-we sound the air-raid siren on the last anniversary of the blitz. I guess for many people it would bring back far too many memories

They still sound 'em on Jersey and on Guernsey on the anniversary of Liberation Day! (And if you want to get rid of some post-war monstrosities, perhaps a word in the right ear..... ) And I think there are far too many "professional objectors" around these days. You only have to sneeze in the wrong place and someone makes a big hoo-ha about it. If you can get enough people who want it together, just go and do it, and after it's put on, and all and sundry come and enjoy it, the objectors can make all the noise they want!

Cities need things for visitors, not just shops (Although that helps) but also places of employment, places of residence, leisure facilities for theatre, music and other shows, and also places for the business based economy. It needs to be sustainable all year and every week, perhaps every day. Look at Brindley Place in Birmingham - it has apartments, restaurants, retail, cultural venues, conference centres and offices. What does a terrible development like Priory Place in Coventry have? A few cheap looking apartment blocks and bars, plus a vast empty space cluttered with statues and public art overlooked by a failed restaurant. Coventry doesn't have enough tourists to support a link between the Cathedral and the motor museum. So go there on Saturday afternoon and dodge the tumbleweed. Cathedral Lanes was built for tourists, and that failed. So why did they try again? Coventry city centre has been slowly, but surely killed off by endless developments on the fringes of the city. Warwick Arts Centre attracts thousands of visitors, but there's no spin off benefits from all those visitors. They drive in, visit their show, and drive out again. I go to see bands in Birmingham and Leamington, and you can make a day of it. Do a bit of shopping, have a bite to eat, have a drink. There's just not enough in Coventry to draw sufficient people in to support all these bar units they keep building. We've seen endless bars and restaurants open and close in the last ten years. It's almost comical. Coventry is the most clueless city in the country. The council think just by building shops and bars they can somehow bring some life back to this place, but it isn't working. Now their latest attempt is to create even more vast windswept squares. Yet the problem is that the city's streets are devoid of life and there are no facilities apart from a car museum aimed at tourists and a provincial theatre that is too small for big shows that draw crowds. They can't fill the restaurant units nearby. Compare this to the Symphony Hall in Brum, which can hold thousands and is also used for conferences. In 20 years time there won't be a city centre as there just won't be any need for it unless you're a student. The problem is that the same council responsible for this disaster of a city have been in charge for almost 70 years, and they refuse to acknowledge that they made a huge mess of it in all respects, especially economically [Hey, let's have a whole city reliant on a single industry!]. Rather than make the sweeping changes required to make the city centre back into the main centre for 600,000+, they are endlessly tinkering around with that god-awful precinct and making dumb comments about how much of an asset the ring road is (When EVIDENCE has shown it's merely a city centre bypass these days, NOT it's purpose!)... We all know the place has been dying for decades, slowly deserted by business and reduced to a downmarket suburb of Solihull and Leamington. I absolutely love the area of the city I live in, but my 'town centre' is Leamington Spa. I have no reason to go into Coventry city centre, and whenever I do I just feel depressed by the mess it is in, and ugliness of the place. La Corbusier has a LOT to answer for. It's a glorified car park surrounded by a dual carriageway and filled with student flats/university buildings these days. Yes, the Cathedral bit is nice, but I have no reason to go there. The only thing that used to get me in was the jazz festival, but the council were determined to kill that off. Jazz is too 'cultural' for Coventry City council. Coventry's saddled with a past that may be interesting, but it's visually mainly gone. Forget about it and just build a city that actually offers things for people today - not just the ones who want cheap beer and students.

You seem to have pressed all the right buttons with your comments Flapdoodle and as usual we have to 'move with the times' and in doing so we have to think of the generations to come and what do they like - music - A cultural centre which would cater for students, who seem to be on the increase. Maybe a restaurant too for everyone, in the evening a casino and also some area for entertainment with guest stars appearing, that seemed to work in the days of the good old Hippodrome. Then maybe a creche would be handy for when the adults need some time out to visit an adult function. I am sure there are numerous events which could be held in a Cultural Centre. However, here's the rub, MONEY, and it always comes down to that and that my friends is the problem is it not ? Just adding to the above maybe it would bring some employment to the city too ! Mind you that is logic, but I don't think councils have ever heard of the word !!!!! Or perhaps a Convention Centre would be more appropriate and of better service for internationals competing in table tennis, darts, netball, any indoor sport even stage productions. We have a venue like this in Perth, mind you it is an ugly building to look at but it is proving its worth.

To me the classic situation is Coventry's watch making industry. For such a large industry there isn't much to show, really, is there? Why aren't they shouting it from the rooftops, and why does it have to be left to a few enthusiastic amateurs to create a small museum? There are some fantastic horological museums around; but, worthy as the current efforts are, they aren't going to bring people flocking to the city, are they? Same with motor cycles. Why is the National Motorcycle Museum 10 miles away from the city that the industry was started in? Probably because Coventry can't be bothered. The NMM is more than a motorcycle museum, though; it's also a conference venue, and various events take place there every year that attract a lot of people from far away, including Europe and the US. What about cars? Sure, there's the car museum, but it's nothing like the BMIHT one at Gaydon, is it? Again, that's a major conference centre, not just a museum. And a really prestigious venue. The impression that Coventry gives is that it's ashamed of its past, when it should be proud, and making the most of it, through supporting ventures like the NMM and BMIHT(which are both private ventures, after all, not publicly funded, so they can't whine that there isn't any money for such things). Bars don't attract people in, they're more likely to frighten them away. OK, they may get some students or other young people in (and, yes we need them, too) but if you want money to flow in, that isn't where it'll come from; it's older people who spend money, not impecunious students. To get older people in requires museums, theatres, arts venues, music, major art galleries. It's been done elsewhere, so why not Coventry? Coventry has one of the richest industrial histories in the country, with some of the most famous names in the world, but you certainly wouldn't think it today, if you didn't already know about it, would you? And not so long ago, it had a good entertainments and arts infrastructure, which seems to have evaporated along with the industrial heritage. It's very hard to see anything that Coventry has now that will build a better future for the city.

K, It's a shame you are so negative about the Coventry Transport Museum because it has been proven to attract large numbers of visitors to our City. It is something we can be proud of as is The Herbert which houses some fine examples of Coventry's past. It would be nice to see a thread where people praise our lovely City. There must be some things still remaining that are worthy of note.

Hi Jaytob I'm not knocking the Transport Museum, but it hasn't the size or facilities of Gaydon, and I think if Coventry wants to attract and keep attracting visitors, it has to make the maximum use of its history, and how it's presented. It's a long time since I visited the Herbert, and yes, it had some very good exhibitions; but the same is true. But if you were to ask almost anyone here what they know about Coventry, they wouldn't know anything abut the Herbert; I doubt if many would know of the Transport Museum. What they do know about is the cathedral, but that alone isn't enough to attract visitors for the long term. People aren't going to visit to look at modern buildings or shops like those in any other city; there must be something compelling to attract them. I'm trying to answer the question in the thread title, and what I'm saying is that Coventry isn't really known for what it should be, and definitely could be. And as we are only too aware of on this forum, Coventry has demolished so much of its heritage - the very things that would have attracted visitors.