The term day tripper can sometimes be used as a pejorative.

We think of people disgorged from the railway station straight onto the beach via a fish and chip lunch.

Of course day visitors to our city come for a variety of reasons. And their worth to us can be gauged by the reaction to that fact that between 2014 and last year we lost a million of them.

That’s roughly £14m of revenue, a sum we can ill afford to lose.

Obviously individual years can take a hit depending on circumstances so we should not rush to judgement.

Having said that if weather and our appalling train service were a factor last year heaven knows what the figures will be like for this.

Nevertheless we might have to face up to the fact that we have become complacent. Too expensive to park, a little frayed around the edges, maybe not as welcoming as we could be perhaps?

The i360 is obviously going to help to pull in new people and shows that we can modernise.

Elsewhere there is an unmistakable jaded feel, fuelled by austerity measures and economic downturn no doubt, to some of our parks and seafront spaces.

Other projects will hopefully be coming on stream in the next few years such as a new concert hall and conference centre at Black Rock to add to our offering.

But it is the here and now we need to address to keep those visitors coming for the day.

And here a new welcoming marketing message would help. Of course marketing and advertising are the first things that are cut when times are tough. This is often the wrong thing to do.

Somehow though we need to remind those looking for a great day out that there really is no better place than this quirky, multi-faceted, still exciting city of ours.