Major new Casino „would bring Tourists back to City“

Hull: The city’s new cabinet member for economy says he is backing Hull’s bid for a new casino licence.

Councillor Andy Sloan said the development of a large casino complex would add to Hull’s appeal as a destination.

„When people talk about tourism in Hull you have to look at providing a package of attractions,“ he told the council’s urban regeneration scrutiny commission. „We have one or two good attractions, such as The Deep, but the problem with somewhere like that is that people are not going to come back for a second visit for a few years after their first visit.

„I know some of my colleagues might disagree with me, but personally I think a casino would be beneficial to the city in this respect.“

Cllr Sloan said a major new casino would be one of „two or three“ new attractions needed to boost Hull’s appeal.

Giving an overview of his main priorities for the coming year, he said promoting the city centre was a key aim.

„We need to attract the lost spending that goes to places like York and Leeds.

„It needs to be a destination again and while we have projects such as St Stephen’s and Quay West coming up, we also need to look at areas such as Trinity Square and Whitefriargate to make sure the focus of the city centre does not drift too far to the west.“

He said Hull should also put more effort into promoting its homegrown events such as the current Humber Mouth literature festival.

„It’s an amazing festival, yet it’s probably little known outside of Hull,“ he said.