URGENT action to sustain Northumberland’s vital tourism industry should be a top priority for the new economic partnership covering the county, it is claimed.

More than 13,000 jobs in Northumberland were supported by tourism in 2009, with the sector contributing £665m to the economy of England’s most northerly county.

Fears have been voiced in recent months about the impact of national funding cuts on tourism this summer – after North East attractions saw a 38% fall in visits between July and September compared with the same period the previous year.

The drop in numbers followed regional development agency One North East being stopped by the coalition Government from using public money to promote the region nationally.

Now Northumberland county councillors, along with local business leaders, have urged the new North East Local Enterprise Partnership to make protecting the county’s tourism industry a top priority.

In the Berwick area, tourism provides 19% of local employment, and 17% in Alnwick district.

A business breakfast event held in Northumberland last month, and attended by more than 81 people, called on the new Local Enterprise Partnership to take a clear line on priority areas, including tourism. Now the county council’s economic prosperity scrutiny committee has sent out a similar message, after being told of progress with the new partnership since it was finally approved by ministers a month ago.

Conservative and Independent group leader, Peter Jackson, said: “In terms of our visitor industry, we are at a critical stage and it can’t be left for another six months or a year, otherwise tourism in Northumberland could suffer greatly.

“We should make it clear we’re extremely concerned about tourism promotion and its growth in the future. There is a lot for the LEP to get on with, and the sooner it gets on with things the better.”

Committee chairman Gordon Castle said: “Summer is coming up soon and we seem to be in a bit of limbo. Tourism is vital and we are hoping for a bit of a boom to make good some of the damage caused by the bad winter weather.”

One North East will not be able to fund anything tourist-related from April, and it is hoped that the enterprise partnership could eventually take over tourism promotion.

Northumberland Tourism’s revised budget for 2010/11 is £780,000, but it is now preparing to function without One North East support once the organisation is shut down in March 2012.

In December businesses attending an annual conference were asked to back an action plan designed to protect the industry in the face of spending cuts. They also heard plans to create a “business club” where tourism companies from Northumberland and the Hadrian’s Wall Country would work together to create new funding.

The new enterprise partnership involves an economic partnership of businesses and the seven councils from Durham up to Northumberland.

National tourism agency VisitEngland has said it will continue to forge strong ties with the enterprise partnerships to ensure that they are helped to deliver growth through tourism.