The northern city of Hull is expecting to gain a place on the tourist map of Britain after being named today as the UK City of Culture 2017, beating off competition from Dundee, Leicester and Swansea Bay.
It will take over from Derry-Londonderry in Northern Ireland, the current holder of the title. The Government chooses a new destination every four years with the aim of boosting tourism and the economy.
Hull council leader Stephen Brady said winning was "a real game-changer".
He said: "It will give Hull a platform to tell the world what this great city has to offer, transform perceptions and accelerate our journey to make Hull a prime visitor destination."
The city, which has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the country, is already planned an opening ceremony in 2017, involving 3,000 volunteers, a light show and the planting of thousands of trees.
Best known as the home of poet Philip Larkin, Hull was praised by judges for its campaign video in which it emphasised the city’s ‘golden rules’: Don’t go thinking you’re something you’re not; don’t go thinking that you’re better than anybody else, or that anybody else is better than you, and don’t shout about it, get on with it."
