Job lot

The council does not send staff abroad on "junkets" as Councillor Mark Barnard implies.

The staff trips referred to were made by senior tourism and conference marketing staff in order to attend major international tourism events, to sell Brighton and Hove as a leading conference and tourist destination.

Some 13,000 jobs in Brighton and Hove depend on the tourist and conference trade, which brings about £380 million of income into the city every year.

Part of the council's job is to support local employers. Shops, restaurants and hotels would close if the council did not invest in marketing the city.

Competition to attract conferences is fierce, both from other venues in this country and from abroad, and the council's tourism staff work hard to bring big conventions to the city.

The trip to Geneva, highlighted in the report, was to a prestigious international conference exhibition where the officer concerned was marketing the city's facilities to leading conference organisers.

Of the £3,497 cost of the trip, £2,935 was the council's cost of taking a stand at the exhibition.

This is not expensive for exhibition space at such a high-profile event and the cost was kept down by sharing the stand, which was part of the British Tourist Authority area, with Bournemouth and Harrogate.

Had we not taken the decision to share a stand, the cost would have been nearer £9,000.

David Panter, Chief Executive, Brighton and Hove City Council

-* Editor's comment: The council failed to provide the breakdown of the cost for the morning edition of The Argus.