Notts prepares for Robin Hood tourism influx
All it needs is for Notts tourism chiefs to persuade movie giant Universal Pictures to give the £110m blockbuster a world premiere in the city.
And they are pulling out all the stops to make it happen.
Helen Leach, of tourist body Visit Nottinghamshire, said: "We are in talks with various people with the view to bringing the premiere here – we would love to host such an occasion."
But a glitzy premiere is not the only way Visit Nottinghamshire plans to exploit the movie – and at last it looks as if the powers-that-be are gearing up to cash in on the county's greatest asset.
"Even if it is not possible to bring it here, we will be looking at the city to host various events around the premiere," said Mrs Leach..
Visit Nottinghamshire is talking to Universal about using images from the £110m movie in publicity for tourist attractions here, even though filming so far has been in Surrey and Wales.
"We met with representatives from Universal to put forward ideas to make the most of the movie for Nottingham, and to benefit Universal," she said. "We can't say much at this stage as we don't want to risk negotiations falling through, but we are very keen to expand on our existing campaign, in 2010, to focus on the movie.
"We hope to benefit in the same way that Lincolnshire did from its association with The Da Vinci Code, and Derbyshire did from The Duchess.
"They had the added benefit of being used as locations for filming, but we've got the benefit of being the true home of the legend."
Visit Nottinghamshire predicts the local economy could benefit by as many as 75,000 extra visitors in one week alone to Sherwood Forest's Robin Hood Festival 2010.
"At this stage, we have absolutely no idea of the total scale of visitors it will lead to, but following the launch of the last big Robin Hood movie, Prince of Thieves in 1991, Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre had 75,000 people attending that summer's Robin Hood Festival," said Mrs Leach. "We would hope for the same types of numbers, and would hope we can put something on for visitors to see within the city, too."
Present tourist attractions include Nottingham Castle, The Galleries of Justice, Nottingham Caves, Sherwood Forest and a countywide 'Follow in the footsteps of Robin Hood' trail with audio guide.
But there is no specific Robin Hood-themed attraction since the privately-run Tales of Robin Hood, in Maid Marian Way, closed, and there are no plans under discussion to revive that.
Mrs Leach said: "The problem is that the film's release is less than a year away, so a theme park is not going to spring up, but we are looking to maximise the visitor experience."
IMDb, the internet movie database, still lists Sherwood Forest as one of the set filming locations.
Mrs Leach said: "We are still waiting to find out if anything will take place at Sherwood Forest. There is still a glimmer of hope.
"But the original line was that the forest can't support loads of horses racing through it for a fight."
Unfortunately, a new visitor centre at Sherwood Forest will still be under construction during the 2010 Robin Hood Festival, scheduled at the height of film-generated fever next summer. But the existing visitor centre will be open and the festival itself will be expected to angle itself towards the movie.
A working group of partners, including umbrella tourist body Experience Nottinghamshire, the two local authorities, and Visit England has been formed to maximise the tourism potential before, during and after the film is released.
Notts County Council's visitor services manager, Linda Hardy, said: "We are looking forward to receiving visitors from all over the world, many of whom will be visiting Sherwood Forest for the first time. We're hopeful that it will offer a tremendous boost to local businesses and the community."
Councillor John Cottee, cabinet member for culture, said: "We have a number of aspirations to promote and celebrate the Robin Hood legend. This commitment can be seen with our conservation of Sherwood Forest and our annual Robin Hood Festival, which this year enjoys its 25th anniversary."
To build on the impetus of the movie, Sheriff of Nottingham, Councillor Leon Unczur, is also leading a one-year project charged with generating fresh ideas.
The Sheriff's Commission, the full membership of which is yet to be announced, will be supported by an advisory panel of up to 40 people.
It will generate ideas about what aspects of the legend should be commemorated, and how that could be done. Various ideas for attractions have been discussed in recent years, including making Nottingham Castle the focus of a visitor attraction, using the Castle College site on Maid Marian Way, reviving the Tales of Robin Hood, or creating a themed leisure park near East Midlands Airport.
The commission will meet four times a year, and there will be public consultation events. Coun Unczur, said: "Robin Hood is this city's greatest asset and underused for a long time. We need to bring him back to where he belongs."
This year's Robin Hood Festival at Sherwood Forest runs from August 3-9. The week-long programme of events celebrates 25 years of the festival at Edwinstone in north Notts.
Visit www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/robinhoodfestival
The Robin Hood Pageant, held annually at Nottingham Castle will take place on October 24-25. Attractions will include live jousting, a replica medieval village encampment, a medieval ale house, craft stalls and activities, living history demonstrations, falconry displays, musicians, entertainers and more.
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