Insider Media Limited

The City of Coventry is just 12 months away from starting one of the most important years in its history.

The fact that 2012 will be so momentous means that this year will be key in terms of planning.

Next year, the Ricoh Arena will be a host venue for the Olympic football tournament, meaning that the eyes of the world will be on the city of Coventry.

We all worked very hard to convince the Olympic authorities that we were a suitable venue to host the world’s second largest football event, and now we have to ensure that it is the success I know it can be.

But also, 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the consecration of Coventry Cathedral, another event which will ensure international coverage and attention.

And the Godiva Awakes project is a major cultural Olympic happening which should - judging from the plans I have seen - capture the imagination.

If events on this scale are to fulfil their maximum potential then it is key that everything comes together, and that only happens with a great deal of cooperation and planning.

That is already underway, but it also throws up the question of how the Coventry and Warwickshire area promotes itself and delivers a coordinated marketing and promotional strategy for tourism and leisure.

As a resident - as well as a business leader - in this area I am fully aware of just how many attractions it possesses, from Warwick Castle and Rugby School to Coventry Cathedral and from Shakespeare's Stratford Upon Avon to Coventry's acclaimed transport museum.

There are endless attractions, large and small, and a host of quality hotels and other forms of accommodation but, putting yourself in the shoes of an international business or leisure visitor, the landscape is confusing and really we need to focus on some core headline assets to pull people in to the area perhaps focusing in the primary instance on business in Coventry and leisure in Warwickshire as the specific "bait".

Yet, just at a time when all these factors can come into play for the good of the area, and the inherent strength of our tourism assets, there does not appear to be a great deal of joined-up thinking and to be successful in our quest of maximising visitors and their stay - and thus their spend - we need a coordinated and clear strategy for driving economic impact.

This is one area in which the local enterprise partnership could play a key role and I hope to be working with the nominated chairman Denys Shortt.

Denys is a man with great energy and foresight and I know he and other LEP representatives see tourism as a key area which it can influence.

While next year will be momentous because of the Olympics and the other events I have mentioned, we have to attract visitors here and then impress them so much that they return long after 2012 is over.

That will not only impact on visitors it will also help attract other major events, such as the Rugby World Cup which is coming to the Ricoh in 2015.

That will bring the area a real legacy both in terms of the economy and its image across the UK and internationally with the event "coming home" with the Ricoh being the closest venue in the world to the original birthplace of the game.

But it will certainly require some bold decisions. New, fresh thinking is one of the reasons LEPs have been introduced by the government and this is one area in which it will be able to show its effectiveness. This is new territory as it will require local authorities and universities and businesses to work hand in hand, parking "egos" and historical politics at the door. Budgets and resources will need to be shared across boundaries to avoid duplication and that will require wider picture thinking and not small scale parochialism or protectionism.

We have a real opportunity in Coventry and Warwickshire but we have to be bold enough to fully grasp it, attract visitors, create jobs and of course maximise economic prosperity, using these marquee events and the creation of the LEP to build a lasting legacy.

Daniel Gidney is chief executive of Coventry’s Ricoh Arena.