This is Leicestershire --
The manager of Leicester's Highcross shopping centre says the city needs to smarten up to attract shoppers and tourists.
Jo Tallack says the city centre can look "tired and grubby" at times and it needs to sort out its poor-quality parking.
Her concerns have been raised in a report she has written for Leicester City Council.
While she acknowledges the continuing work to regenerate the city through the council's £19 million Connecting Leicester scheme, she highlights the "poorly-maintained" arterial routes into the city.
She describes them as a "mix of landscapes between residential and vacant or rundown shops, which don't reflect a city that has undergone such recent regeneration".
She said: "The city centre can look tired and grubby, particularly after a busy trading day.
"There needs to be a renewed focus on basic operations to ensure the city centre presents itself well at all times."
She criticised the poor quality of some city centre car parks, which offer visitors a negative first impression.
Ms Tallack also said it was time for Leicester to "stop thinking like a town" and start thinking about its strengths as a city".
She told the Mercury: "There is a real buzz about the city at the moment and there's so much going on following the Richard III discovery and the bid to become City of Culture. I would hate it if we lost an opportunity to make the most of those things."
She said there were problems with the city's park-and-ride buses not matching retail hours or serving the nighttime economy because they did not run after 7pm or on Sundays.
She also said the lack of a suitable facilities for coaches in the city was prompting parties of visitors to give the city a miss and said the Highcross had not seen a noticeable growth in shoppers since the opening of the temporary Richard III exhibition in February.
City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said she had put her finger on what the city council and its partners were working on
He said: "She and her colleagues have been enormously helpful in pointing out the things we need to address to make sure Leicester raises its game.
"We are in the process of making a dramatic transformation of the city centre but there is a big deficit to make up.
"It is helpful to be reminded of what we have to change."
So far, a number of streets have undergone refurbishments and a £7 million revamp of the market is planned.
Sir Peter also intends to turn a car park in St Nicholas' Place into a £4 million plaza called Jubilee Square.
Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce chief executive Martin Traynor said he agreed with most of Ms Tallack's observations.
He said: "The city needs to be confident and ambitious and the mayor knows that."
Her concerns have been raised in a report submitted for a review into the effectiveness of Leicester's tourism strategy. Reported by This is 3 days ago.
The manager of Leicester's Highcross shopping centre says the city needs to smarten up to attract shoppers and tourists.
Jo Tallack says the city centre can look "tired and grubby" at times and it needs to sort out its poor-quality parking.
Her concerns have been raised in a report she has written for Leicester City Council.
While she acknowledges the continuing work to regenerate the city through the council's £19 million Connecting Leicester scheme, she highlights the "poorly-maintained" arterial routes into the city.
She describes them as a "mix of landscapes between residential and vacant or rundown shops, which don't reflect a city that has undergone such recent regeneration".
She said: "The city centre can look tired and grubby, particularly after a busy trading day.
"There needs to be a renewed focus on basic operations to ensure the city centre presents itself well at all times."
She criticised the poor quality of some city centre car parks, which offer visitors a negative first impression.
Ms Tallack also said it was time for Leicester to "stop thinking like a town" and start thinking about its strengths as a city".
She told the Mercury: "There is a real buzz about the city at the moment and there's so much going on following the Richard III discovery and the bid to become City of Culture. I would hate it if we lost an opportunity to make the most of those things."
She said there were problems with the city's park-and-ride buses not matching retail hours or serving the nighttime economy because they did not run after 7pm or on Sundays.
She also said the lack of a suitable facilities for coaches in the city was prompting parties of visitors to give the city a miss and said the Highcross had not seen a noticeable growth in shoppers since the opening of the temporary Richard III exhibition in February.
City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said she had put her finger on what the city council and its partners were working on
He said: "She and her colleagues have been enormously helpful in pointing out the things we need to address to make sure Leicester raises its game.
"We are in the process of making a dramatic transformation of the city centre but there is a big deficit to make up.
"It is helpful to be reminded of what we have to change."
So far, a number of streets have undergone refurbishments and a £7 million revamp of the market is planned.
Sir Peter also intends to turn a car park in St Nicholas' Place into a £4 million plaza called Jubilee Square.
Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce chief executive Martin Traynor said he agreed with most of Ms Tallack's observations.
He said: "The city needs to be confident and ambitious and the mayor knows that."
Her concerns have been raised in a report submitted for a review into the effectiveness of Leicester's tourism strategy. Reported by This is 3 days ago.