Yes we are proud of them but more as lifestyle enhancers rather than tourist hotspots. After all they have to compete with the Tower of London , Houses of Parliament , Grand Canyon ,Yosemite ,Hawaii ,Great Wall etc etc. As I said earlier great for locals,even regionally and at a push nationally but to attract foreign tourists with all the other attractions both in the UK and abroad ? It's a hard sell and I don't know of anyone especially at Peel who could do it. In the meantime the airport dies. A slightly easier sell is to tour companies but even that appears to have foundered at the moment.
At the moment there dosen't appear to be any direction and focus for the airport. I don't think that they know where they want to position themselves in the market. I don't think that a mass influx of foreign tourists is likely and mass influxes is what they need.