2006 was not a bumper year for tourism. 2007 doesn't look a whole lot better. The weather is no help. The record of the main tourist organisation - Visit Exmoor - has also left an awful lot to be desired. Internal squabbles hit the headlines. And bad news travels fast.

But all that is going to change. Visit Exmoor has set itself a time limit - to come up with a worjkable plan and a spot of rebranding before September is out.

The clock is ticking.

I have made open criticisms of Vist Exmoor. I have also pledged to bang heads together. Something, at last, seems to be moving. The Board intend to come up with a viable business plan and a scheme to re-establish themselves as the premiere focus for tourism. They have my complete support. But they have to meet their own deadline.

I have nothing against Visit Exmoor. I sympathise with the difficulty of running an outfit which tries to cater for buckets-and-spades in Minehead and rural pursuits on the moor itself. If Visit Exmoor was bringing everyone a roaring trade there would be no complaints. But there are many. And I didn't invent them. Here are just a few:

• Visit Exmoor does not have its own independent office space. It shares a small room in the Exmoor National Park premises, without privacy.
• Visit Exmoor has produced very little in the last year, especially for the areas outside the National Park boundary,
• Visit Exmoor is extremely short of funding. The National Park provides no funding. West Somerset District Council originally pledged £30,000 per year but hasn't paid up
• Staffing is critical: WSDC provide one person for 4 days a week, Exmoor National Park provide a manager for 2.5 days, Exmoor National Park also supplies another person who only performs National Park duties!

This whole sorry business came to light towards the end of last Summer's holiday season. There was bitterness inside the organisation. Resignations too.WSDC refused to hand over the money until Visit Exmoor came up with an effective plan. Now there is a chance that the organisation will put aside the past and get real for the future

VISIT EXMOOR OUGHT TO BE ABLE  TO SPEAK WITH A SINGLE VOICE. LOOK AT THE LINKS IN THE SECTION BELOW: THERE ARE FOUR DIFFERENT WEBSITES CONTAINING THE MAGIC WORDS "VISIT" AND "EXMOOR". NO WONDER VISITORS ARE CONFUSED. I KNOW I AM.

I do not claim to have all the answers, but I am already the recipient of many of the questions posed by many constituents who want to see tourism thrive and wonder how best to arrange it. You may have views too. If so please: CONTACT ME 

And make a point of seeing what the whole area has to offer by browing round my:TOURISM page.

(We are not responsible for the content of external web sites)

• http://www.visit-exmoor.net/                          IS THIS THE OFFICIAL SITE?
• http://www.visitexmoor.co.uk/                        HOW ABOUT THIS ONE?
• http://www.visit-exmoor.eu/                           OR MAYBE THIS ONE?
• http://www.visit-exmoor.info/                         TRY THIS ONE ?
• http://www.exmoor.com/                                 UMM?
• http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/      TRY THE NATIONAL PARK?
• http://www.westsomersetonline.gov.uk/template3.asp?parent=922&parent2=922&pid=1534&area=5  

(West Somerset District Council also publishes details of what Visit Exmoor is up to)