As I've travelled around much of Europe over the past year, I've had occasion to ponder the nature of tourism, and what makes a great tourist destination.
The places that stand out as tourist destinations usually base their appeal on some combination of beauty, history, and culture, and have managed to make something special from whatever their circumstances have bequeathed.
Often - though certainly not always - this involves developing a signature event, that reflects, affirms, complements and reinforces the place's strengths.
In Newcastle, Surfest is an excellent example of such a signature event: it was developed and run by the local grassroots surfing community, and builds on the city's rich surfing history and beach culture. It helps to keep the city on the national and international surfing map, attracting competitors and media coverage from across the world, and showcases the city's beaches, our most striking natural asset.
Surfest represents a lot of what Newcastle is about, and it's proudly and quintessentially Newcastle.
The city's most recent signature event contender - the Supercars race scheduled for the East End in November - is quite a different beast.
The Supercars event was imposed on the city by the same state government that cut the city rail line, which now won't be available to deliver the crowds to the event.
The only relationship the event has with any local pre-existing Newcastle phenomenon is that it's in the same general area that was notorious for decades as a hang-out and informal speedway for out-of-town rev heads, until the council and the state government stepped in to stop it.
The Supercars event scrawls its signature across the East End landscape like a deep scratch .
I've written before about the enormous opportunities Newcastle has to provide what the tourism industry calls a "high quality tourism product".
Most Novocastrians would remember that Newcastle made the Lonely Planet's list of the world's 10 Best Cities to visit in 2011.
The Lonely Planet spiel muses on our beaches, our climate, our heritage buildings, our laid-back lifestyle, our arts scene and our history - strangely, not a mention of anything to do with fast cars.
In terms of developing our "product", the beaches pretty much do their bit just by being there. They'll do okay as long as we don't stuff them up with some of the silly pushes for privatising public space that we've seen over the years.
The climate also runs its own show, notwithstanding our fixation with exporting climate change to the rest of the world via our massive coal exports. But that's another story...
For the rest - the heritage buildings, the lifestyle, the arts and the history - they need help. Not a lot of help, mind. Just enough vision and political will to understand their tourism potential, and to foster the kind of environment that will allow this potential to thrive.
A lot of the spadework has been done. Community-based groups have pushed long and hard for the conservation of key heritage buildings and areas, and for formal recognition of the city's heritage assets.
They've often been dismissed, or even abused, as anti-development, and they certainly haven't always been heeded, but it's largely due to their efforts that Newcastle has what is generally recognised as the best collection of heritage buildings in Australia.
Cities elsewhere (such as Fremantle, in WA) with nothing like Newcastle's heritage assets, have managed to tap into the potential of their heritage much more successfully.
The key difference has been vision and political will.
Unlike Newcastle, Fremantle has had a succession of councils who understood both the conservation and tourism value of their city's heritage, and were prepared to commit the necessary strategic resources.
Newcastle is way behind in this regard, though there are some promising signs. The Council has a new "Destination Management Plan" that makes some promising - though very generalised - noises about the role of heritage in the city's tourism future.
The council election coming up in September is an excellent opportunity to ask aspiring candidates about their vision for heritage and tourism in Newcastle.
One of the obvious flaws in the new plan is its city-centric focus - it has little to say about heritage outside the Newcastle CBD, despite Wallsend's obvious assets.
In its own modest way, the Wallsend Winter Fair has become a signature local event for western Newcastle. Like Surfest, it arose from the grassroots community. It celebrates and respects the heritage, history and culture of its community, and showcases it to the local and regional community.
The Winter Fair represents a lot of what Wallsend, and Newcastle, are about, and its continued success is the perfect antidote to the Supercar Syndrome.
Long after the stain of burnt rubber from the Supercars has faded from Newcastle's streets, events like the Wallsend Winter Fair - events that are of the people, for the people and by the people - will still be there.
Long may they prosper.
