THE improving image of a North-East city turned heads at a national tourism conference last weekend.

Marketing staff at Sunderland City Council drummed up national support for Wearside as part of their Nice One Sunderland campaign.

Armed with copies of the city's new visitor guide, which shows off its recent £200m transformation, Sunderland's team was inundated with requests and queries from the public at the Holiday and Travel Show in Manchester.

Sue Henderson, the council's tourism development officer, said: "The show is very important because it attracts both the public and the holiday trade all looking for holiday ideas for the year ahead.

"It was an ideal opportunity for us to show off the city's new and exciting developments to the 80,000 visitors to the show. "

Jenni Duncan, assistant marketing officer, said copies of the city's glossy brochure were flying off the stands.

She said: "Many people had already heard of the Sunderland International Airshow and were even more tempted to spend a weekend break in the city once they saw how much we had to offer."