I am disappointed and shocked at the tone of the article "What a swizz" and the comments of Councillor Mark Barnard (The Argus, February 7).

Individual businesses have invested many millions of pounds in Brighton and Hove in order to offer tourists good-quality facilities when they visit.

Brighton and Hove City Council officers, in return, are of considerable assistance in helping generate the business in the city from which thousands of people benefit through the jobs it creates.

The income generated supports hotels, restaurants, shops, taxi drivers and the various tourist attractions without which we would become another run-down seasonal resort.

We all live and work in a thriving community and, in order to sustain it, the work undertaken by council officers both domestically and internationally is key to our continued success.

The very reason several new hotels, restaurants and shops have opened this year in the city is because they view it as forward-thinking.

They need the assistance of the council's tourism arm to help generate new business in an ever more competitive world.

-Giles Paul, General Manager, Belgrave Hotel, and Chairman, Brighton Major Hotels Group