Only six people turned up to a district-wide meeting of the Bradford Hoteliers Association - despite a plea from its chairman for more support from the area's 100 plus hotels and guesthouses.

William Oxley, who runs the Five Rise Locks Hotel in Bingley, said he had only two inquiries following publicity about the meeting yesterday - one from a hotelier who had never heard of the association before and another whose hotel was closer to Halifax than Bradford. Neither turned up to the meeting.

Out of the six who attended, only four were hoteliers, the other two being officials from Bradford Tourism and the Bradford Urban Regeneration Company.

Mr Oxley said he had also attempted a ring-round of hoteliers but gave up after five disappointing calls which left him feeling frustrated because people just weren't interested.

Members have now decided to put a questionnaire on the back of the minutes of yesterday's meeting and to send it to as many hotels and guesthouses as possible across the district.

They also discussed other ways of making their meetings more appealing, including inserting the word 'district' in the association's title and charging a membership fee.

Mr Oxley said: "This is the last roll of the dice. We have got to get people to come and, if they don't want to join us, we've got to find out why. We need and want people's views on whether the association's got a future or not in its current form or whether we need to change our style. We can't go on banging our heads against brick walls."

He added: "There are big benefits to belonging to the association. There's lots of information sharing about what's going on in and around Bradford tourism and leisure wise, as well as giving the opportunities for people to formally and informally have input into the future of the district.

"It's giving people in the industry a chance to play a part. If more people came, we would have more power and have more of a say. This body of hoteliers can make an impact and those who aren't with us at the moment are missing out."

Bradford tourism officer John Swinburn suggested the association contacted other hoteliers' groups in the region to find out how they attract members.

Gary Peacock, general manager of the Midland Hotel in Bradford, said some hoteliers' associations in other cities had large hotels and corporations among the members so smaller independent hotels and guesthouses perceived them as a big-boys' club and nothing to do with them.

The association's next meeting will be at Bradford City Hall on Wednesday, August 6, at 11am.