LEEDS Tourism, which used footballer Jimmy Lloyd Hasselbaink to promote the city overseas earlier this year, is to persevere with the policy despite early season jitters.
The marketeers had displayed a full size cut-out of the former Leeds United striker at travel exhibitions abroad, in an effort to interest tourists in the city’s football culture (Travel Weekly June 21).
At the time, Hasselbaink was a hero. But that was before he aroused the fury of fans by allegedly demanding an £80,000 a week paycheck from the club and then disappearing to Athletico Madrid. A Leeds Tourism spokesman said they had no regrets about promoting the player in the past. However, he added: “We will use a new set of personalities in the future.”