Begbie, Rents, Sickboy, Spud and a couple of mascots…
Some brilliant news that should excite the whole of Blighty this fine summers day!
Danny Boyle, the rather talented director of Slumdog Millionaire, Trainspotting (and that crap one with Leo Dicaprio on a beach), has been named artistic director of the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic games.
The challenge ahead of Danny and his team? CGI assistance or not, Beijing stunned the world with their lavish opening in 2008.
Boris and Leona on a bus simply won’t cut it here and with an estimated audience of over a billion people worldwide, this will have to be a stunner start to finish. I for one can’t wait. Just don’t let Begbie get hammered?
Iain G. Morrison is a senior marketer in the British tourism industry. And is rather looking forward to 2012. End of the world or not…
The real deputy PM to get tourism brief too?

Looked better on Freddy Mercury (just)...
Well, not yet…
But the British Chamber of Commerce and Travelodge seem to think Mandy should take it on…
They have proposed that the responsibility for tourism be removed from the control of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and reallocated under the authority of Lord Mandelson’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
In response, Kurt Janson, policy director at the Tourism Alliance, said:
“We’re at the stage at the moment where there is less government funding for VisitBritain than there was when Labour came to power in 1997. “We have an opportunity for the sector to provide and maintain jobs… and to provide growth to help us out of the current recession.”
Good old BoJo (London mayor Boris Johnson) has also pledged his support and encouragement to the capital’s tourism sector in the run up to 2012. Which all makes for great talk.
But ultimately, it’s money that’s required. You’d be amazed how a little can go a long way…
Iain Morrison is a senior marketer in the British Tourism Industry. And loves that Mandy is back making his presence felt…