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BUILDING A
FUTURE A VISITOR ECONOMY STRATEGY for the BOROUGH OF SCARBOROUGH
2014 - 2024
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FOREWORD Achieving our Goals
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WHY WE NEED A STRATEGY? Introduction
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WHERE ARE WE GOING? The Vision/Mission/Key Principles
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HOW DO WE GET THERE? Priorities for Action
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GETTING THERE? Achieving the Strategic Vision
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3 YEAR ACTION PLAN 2014 - 2017
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FOREWORD
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achieving our goals
Whilst the Borough of Scarborough still has many challenges to face, it equally has a lot to offer the visitor with its 45 miles of beautiful heritage coastline; the North York Moors National Park with its stunning scenery; the magnificent resorts of Filey, Whitby and Scarborough with their individual charm offering wonderful heritage, arts and cultural experiences; unique year round events and festivals, which celebrate the essence of the Yorkshire Coast; and not forgetting the delicious food and drink locally sourced and served with a friendly face and a genuine warm welcome. Therefore, it was no surprise that in 2009 Scarborough won the coveted title of Europe`s Most Enterprising Place and a year later was awarded by The Academy of Urbanism first place in the “The Great Town” category. Even way back in 2002 Scarborough was voted a Gold Winner at the Excellence in England awards for “Resort of the Year” for its innovation in creating the first inspected only holiday guide of any resort in the country. Yorkshire staged the Tour de France’s Grand Depart in July 2014 which certainly helped to showcase the Yorkshire Coast to a world-wide television audience estimated at 3.5 billion people. Similarly, the awarding of the UK City of Culture to Hull in 2017 will also focus attention nationally and internationally on the artistic and cultural excellence created in this part of the County. The events programme alone is expected to bring in an extra £184 million of tourism spending between 2015 and 2020, with a different event planned for every day of the year during the main festival. The importance of the visitor economy to the Borough cannot be over stated with visitor spend in 2012 running at £470 million, supporting almost 15,520 jobs. The visitor economy is one of the few areas demonstrating real growth potential to the wider economy. In fact, one third of all jobs created in the UK between 2010-12 were in tourism.
In this, the first ever Visitor Economy Strategy for the Borough of Scarborough, it describes and quantifies the current visitor assets, the reasons why 6.5 million tourism day trips are made to the area every year, the challenges that lie ahead, the strategic direction to be taken by working in partnership, and those all important actions that need to be delivered to turn the vision into reality over the next 10 years. The task will not be an easy one and inevitably there will be obstacles to overcome, as well as new opportunities to embrace. But this is a journey that everyone associated with the visitor economy has to be committed to pursuing; so that by 2024 the Yorkshire Coast will not only offer a great visitor experience but will be a true destination of choice for potential visitors. We all understand that visitors are becoming more discerning and competition is growing in a rapidly changing global marketplace; so the industry must continue to invest to raise the quality on offer or risk losing out on this lucrative business. Coastal communities play a vital role in the UK economy and this 10-year blueprint will help the Yorkshire Coast unleash its growth potential that can only be harnessed locally. Our vision is shared by the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), who will help enable it with investment for business improvement and infrastructure. Everyone must get behind this strategy to make it happen, from local businesses, social enterprises, charities and voluntary organisations, together with the Borough and County Council. Councillor Derek J Bastiman Leader of Scarborough Borough Council Barry Dodd, OBE Chair of the Enterprise Partnership York/North Yorkshire/East Riding
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WHY WE NEED A STRATEGY? building blo Introduction Throughout the four years of the Borough’s previous tourism strategy (2011 – 2014), significant strides forward were made in the face of changing market demand and increasing competition. The previous strategy highlighted the need to be aware of the changing markets and the need to improve the visitor offer in order to meet new market demands. The renaissance programme provided the perfect vehicle for this to be achieved with major improvements being made to the Scarborough Spa, Whitby Marina, Scarborough Harbour and the Scarborough Sand’s phase one development and the part played by the wider arts, cultural, heritage, and leisure attractions.
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The massive investment in both public and private sector businesses has enabled the Borough to continue to be marketed as a world class visitor destination and has resulted in encouraging additional inward investment. Over 80% of businesses in the sector are small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) or microbusinesses and have found the trading conditions tough since 2008. Nonetheless, research undertaken in July 2013 by Hull University Business School into stakeholder perceptions of the competitiveness of the Borough found an emergent positive outlook, particularly if actions were taken to offset the negative and neutral perceptions. Generally speaking, while visitors chose to take fewer overnight trips, leisure activities remained important to them, and this was underlined in the Borough with around 6.5 million tourism day visits taken to the area in 2012 up 9% on the previous year, with spending up a staggering 23% to £200 million. The visitor economy in the UK’s overall financial context is often underestimated. It’s the country’s third highest export earner behind chemicals and financial services and it’s the 5th or 6th biggest sector of the economy, behind manufacturing and retail but ahead of construction.
It generates £97bn of direct business for the economy each year, contributes £115bn to Gross Domestic Product when you include the supply chain and £52bn directly and is one of the Country’s biggest employers, with over 200,000 businesses providing 1.36 million jobs or 4.4% of all employment. Taken together, domestic and inbound visitors spent over £84 billion in England in 2012, a 10% increase on 2011. Over the two years since 2010, year on year growth has averaged 8.7%, against the projected Visit England target of 5%, and well ahead of the performance in the wider economy. It is clearly a key component of the Borough`s economy currently supporting over 18.9% of all jobs. In regional terms, “5 years. 5 ways we will grow the Yorkshire brand” - Welcome to Yorkshire’s current 5-year strategy, highlights the key contribution that it plays in boosting the region’s prosperity, which in terms of gross value added (GVA) in the Yorkshire and Humber area represents 33.7%. Given the inter-relationships between the different elements of the visitor economy in Yorkshire (which range from heritage to hospitality) the only way that it will strengthen is if the private and public partners continue to work very closely together. To achieve this there needs to be a strategy and action plans to guide and give direction to these efforts. Together the Visitor Economy Strategy (VES) and the 3-year Action Plan will: • Define priorities for action and identify public and private sector investment to create more jobs and improve the quality of facilities. • Provide closer working relationships between the public, private and voluntary sectors, Welcome to Yorkshire, the National Park and neighboring local authorities. • Show how investment in the visitor experience enhances the quality of life on the Yorkshire Coast for visitors and residents alike. • Make a clear commitment to promoting the expansion of the visitor economy, whilst at the same time safeguarding and improving the natural environment and built heritage.
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cks • Increase awareness and appreciation of the Yorkshire Coast product. Interestingly, Visit England commissioned Trajectory, a leading insight and futures consultancy, in 2013 to help identify the trends that will influence domestic tourism over the coming years. The report "Domestic Leisure Tourism Trends for the Next Decade" is an interesting read and presents the results into five groups - demographic, economic, technological, consumer and tourism-related. Whilst no one really knows what the future holds, understanding the factors that are likely to influence our visitors in the years ahead we can certainly put ourselves in a better position to succeed.
To summarise, the visitor economy is, by nature, fragmented. Over 80% of businesses are small or lifestyle businesses within the sector. The visitor experience is similarly provided by a range of different commercial operators, together with the local authorities and other publicly funded organisations. So there is a vital need for partnership working between the public, private and voluntary sectors when planning, developing, managing and promoting the visitor economy. Collaborations should be forged at a strategic and operational level; built around practical actions and solutions.
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WHERE ARE WE GOING? The Vision The vision for the visitor economy in the Borough of Scarborough is that the area in the future will continue to attract its existing markets, whilst increasingly attract new markets with genuine growth potential. Over the next ten years of this strategy there will be better quality product in terms of facilities and customer service, together with new products being developed in line with market demand. Coast, countryside, culture and cuisine should be the key themes driving the marketing strategy, supported by unique year round events and festivals that celebrate the essence of the
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Yorkshire Coast. These themes will build on the area’s "points of difference" from other destinations and help market the Borough’s distinctive experiences. Visitor satisfaction and sustainability will be ensured through a quality environment, better visitor management and information, as well as improved integrated transport and a better seasonal spread of visitors reducing pressure on specific sites at peak times of the year. Businesses will be more profitable with a longer operating season, better yield and an ability to re-invest in the quality of their product. By working in partnership with all the major players and partners this ambitious vision can be achieved.
Mission This vision is reflected in the overall mission of the Visitor Economy Strategy, which is:
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To revitalise and reposition the visitor economy in the Borough of Scarborough so that it is more competitive, profitable and sustainable.
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Key Principles The mission will be underpinned by 6 key principles: 1 Be market-led The visitor offer needs to be market-led and customer focused. Today’s visitors are more discerning and the destination market place is extremely competitive; so marketing campaigns need to be carefully targeted at existing and new markets with growth potential. It is imperative that brand awareness of the Yorkshire Coast is increased in the minds of the target audience. 2 Compete through quality In line with market demands and consumer expectations, the visitor economy has to compete effectively in the future, and increasingly needs to provide a quality experience and value for money. The product offer and customer service has to be first class to attract new and ensure repeat business.
3 Put visitor first Customer service must be based on traditional values and genuine warmth. The welcome visitors receive leave a lasting impression; so the need to improve the skills base of the workforce is of paramount importance to the visitor experience. “Welcome to the Yorkshire Coast" has to be the mantra of everyone involved in the visitor economy and they all have to be great ambassadors for the area. 4 Be sustainable Sustainability is the platform for the delivery and implementation of the whole Visitor Economy Strategy - it has to be economically, socially and environmentally sustainable if it has to have a long-term future. The concept of "wise growth" and the circular economy has to be embedded to help improve business performance within the principles of sustainability. 5 Celebrate business excellence Ensuring that there is an environment where businesses can flourish and be entrepreneurial helps engender a healthy visitor economy. Making sure there are business champions who are willing to advocate innovation and creativity to generate more new business by enhancing the visitor offer. 6 Work in partnership The Visitor Economy Strategy is a strategy for the Borough as a whole, therefore partners and stakeholders must help to deliver and implement the action plan in order that it is successful. Without this spirit of partnership the VES will have limited impact and the Gestalt theory will be lost.
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HOW DO WE GET THERE? cementing succ PRIORITIES FOR ACTION The following 4 “priorities for action� will be the main focus of the delivery plan.
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PROMOTIONAL PLANNING Strategic Priority 1: Target existing and new markets with growth potential.
PLACE MAKING Strategic Priority 3: Ensure a high quality environment and improve visitor management.
The Yorkshire Coast’s traditional markets still generate significant expenditure but they do not necessarily offer the best potential for future growth. Therefore, the primary marketing priority with regard to core markets is to increase the existing market share and create additionality through extended stays, repeat visits or by converting day to staying visitors. Also there is a real need to generate new visitor nights simply to maintain existing occupancy levels. Whilst overall the number of nights spent in the Borough by domestic visitors has decreased since 2006, the actual spend to date has been up by 10% during this period. Therefore, the main focus will be promoting to high value short break and second holiday market segments based on the 4 winning themes - coast, countryside, culture and cuisine - to attract new visitors under the "Yorkshire Coast" brand.
In any destination environmental quality is of fundamental importance to guaranteeing visitor satisfaction and creating the right market conditions for encouraging growth and new product development. This is especially the case where the natural and built environment is a major part of the visitor offer as in the Yorkshire Coast. Effective movement of visitors both to and from and within a destination is a crucial element of visitor management. This is particularly true for the Borough, which suffers from a peripheral coastal location and poor external communication links and increasing traffic congestion during the peak summer season. If the destination is to improve customer satisfaction and minimise the negative impacts on the visitor economy there is a need to improve the visitor management both internally and externally.
PRODUCT INVESTMENT Strategic Priority 2: Develop a year round product that meets market demand.
PEOPLE DEVELOMENT Strategic Priority 4: Invest in people and business networks.
Considerable investment since the renaissance programme began in 2002 in Scarborough has given terrific stimulus for major improvements to a number of key tourism and cultural facilities and this is encouraging but there is still a need to keep this momentum and rekindle the spirit of renaissance in the town. Certainly a lot more work needs to be done if the Yorkshire Coast is to retain its existing markets and begin to attract new markets, then further rationalisation and improvements to the existing product need to be carried out. The desire to attract different markets will necessitate new product to be developed aimed at the key themes. While the onus for any capital developments lies with the owners and operators, there is a need for public agencies to provide incentives through financial assistance eg LEP to help stimulate growth and create jobs, as well as the main lottery distributors by direct grant aid to projects.
Regular training and learning are an investment that allows employees to prosper and develop their careers, while giving the organisation a highly skilled workforce and a competitive advantage in the market place. First impressions are extremely important in developing relationships; so the welcome and customer service visitors receive defines a destination. Coupled with that the workforce is at the front line of providing that service to visitors; so investing in people is the key to a successful visitor experience. It is imperative that the skills and image of the visitor economy sector are transformed during the course of this strategy by working with employers to ensure training programmes fit industry needs. Raising employer ambition and the investment in skills has to be the aim of this strategic priority by building relationships with key business clusters and trade associations.
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ess
COUNTRYSIDE
CULTURE
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COAST
CUISINE
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GETTING THERE?
engineering growth
Achieving the strategic vision The Visitor Economy Strategy needs to be translated into a series of specific and quantifiable targets that relate to the strategic context to measure the strategy’s impact and outputs. The strategic targets are:
Measures calculated annually by the Cambridge Tourism Economic Impact Model
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3 YEAR ACTION PLAN A detailed Action Plan sits behind this strategy and identifies specific actions, partners, timescales and outputs covering a 3 year period - the first being 2014 - 17. The Welcome to Yorkshire Coast Tourism Advisory Board will oversee the development of the action plan and monitor its implementation. The group is made up of representations from private sector businesses from across the Borough.
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For further information Janet Deacon Area Director - North Yorkshire Welcome to Yorkshire 01723 232570 email: jdeacon@yorkshire.com
This strategy was produced by Mike Wilkinson, MJW Marketing1, on behalf of Scarborough Borough Council, following extensive consultation with local businesses, partners and stakeholders across the Borough, County and nationally. IMAGES COURTESY OF TONY BARTHOLOMEW PHOTOGRAPHY, MIKE KIPLING, GLENN KILPATRICK AND NORTH YORK MOORS NATIONAL PARK