Department of Tourism & Leisure
Rheynn Turrysid as Soccar
STRATEGY CONSULTATION PRESS PACK Building a profitable, long term visitor economy for the Isle of Man The aim of this document is to give you an insight into the work the Department of Tourism and Leisure has identified as being necessary to ensure the future success of the Isle of Man visitor economy. Over the next six months we intend to develop the content, prioritise it and quantify the outcomes and benefits from the proposed actions. Each of the five key strategies has a dedicated section. Each section includes one or two relevant competitor quotes, proving others have faced the same issues as ourselves, our ambitions for Tourism “What We Need to Achieve� and the actions that need to be taken. You can help us, not just by publicising the content from today, but also by attending workshops over the summer, taking part in online research and generally encouraging everyone in the Isle of Man to participate, in person, online or by posting User Generated Content (UCG) in response. The Minister will be the spokesperson at all times on the strategy, but for updates, invites or to submit one to one feedback please email annie.gale@gov.im.
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Department of Tourism & Leisure
Rheynn Turrysid as Soccar
“Tourism to continue to be a vibrant and significant contributor to the economic development of the Isle of Man, giving visitors and host communities the freedom to flourish whilst at the same time respecting, conserving and sustaining our environment and culture.”
Contents Abbreviations Introduction from the Minister for Tourism & Leisure Securing and Conserving a Long Term Future for Tourism Marketing and Managing a Top Class Visitor Experience Working Smarter and Becoming Financially and Economically Prosperous Leading Effective Collaborative Partnerships Positioning Tourism at the Forefront of a Competitive & Sustainable IOM Economy Who is the Interactive Traveller? Feedback Details
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Abbreviations Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Department Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry (DAFF) Department of Tourism & Leisure (DTL) Department Trade & Industry (DTI) Estimated Advertising Value (EAV) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Gross National Product (GNP) Key Performance Indicator (KPI) Meetings, Incentives, Conferences & Events (“MICE”) Paying Visitor in Paid Accommodation (PVPA) Recreational Opportunity Review (ROR) Return on Investment (ROI) Value for Money (VFM) Visiting Friends & Relatives (VFR)
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Department of Tourism & Leisure
Rheynn Turrysid as Soccar
Introduction from the Minister for Tourism & Leisure, Hon Adrian Earnshaw MHK As a new Minister in 2007 it was apparent to me that my top priority should be to develop policy and strategy for tourism, to develop the long term visitor economy of the Isle of Man. For the last six months I have worked with my Chief Executive to produce an outline plan of this strategy – which we are calling our ‘2020 Vision’. Whilst there is a common misconception that tourism performs poorly on the Island, the economic earnings from the accommodation sector alone have increased by 70% in the last 5 years and it is important we build on this success by attracting more ‘affluent, active, experience seeking’ visitors to share our island and our highly desirable quality of life. In this document are the 5 key strategies, areas where I believe we need to improve; • • • • •
Securing and conserving a long term future for tourism Marketing and managing a top class visitor experience Working smarter and becoming financially and economically prosperous Leading ‘Effective Collaborative Partnerships’ Positioning tourism at the forefront of a competitive and sustainable Isle of Man economy
For each key strategy we’ve identified the opportunities for the Isle of Man visitor economy if we take the appropriate actions identified and the need for each to be underpinned by the common themes of Quality, Technology and Self Sufficiency. We’ve called our approach 2020 Vision – as we are looking clearly into the future for Isle of Man Tourism and identifying steps that we all as partners need to take to guarantee a successful and prosperous future for our industry and our Island. Over the next 6 months we are planning a series of presentations, workshops, focus groups and research projects to gather feedback and most importantly to prioritise the activities we’ve identified in this document. This engagement process will be interactive and is designed to ensure everyone who has a stake in ensuring the success of our visitor economy is involved. At the end of this process we will review and, where necessary, revise our initial work so that we take to Tynwald a long term investment and economic development strategy for the visitor economy. A lot of hard work has taken place already to produce this strategy but the really hard work starts now in moulding it into a shared vision for the people and businesses of the Isle of Man to support. I do not underestimate the amount of work required to achieve this and as a result I’ve taken the opportunity to redistribute the political responsibilities at DTL to give this major piece of work the time and political input it deserves. Mr Geoff Corkish MBE, MHK will now work with me on Tourism, in driving the consultation and engagement programme and implementing the resulting agreed strategy. Mr Quintin Gill, MHK will take additional responsibility for Arts & Entertainment alongside Sport to facilitate this change and I will retain my political role in Transport and Motorsport development. continued overleaf
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Department of Tourism & Leisure
Rheynn Turrysid as Soccar
The people of the Isle of Man are all stakeholders in tourism and we want to encourage as many as possible to participate in this major project. I also personally hope that it will be a uniting influence for all businesses involved in our visitor economy, so that we can sign up to a common future together. The engagement process begins today – I am setting my stall out to the local media. This will be quickly followed by workshops, on-line research and a series of major presentations to all stakeholders straight after Easter. From today the outline document will be available on www.visitisleofman.com for everyone to read and prepare for the engagement process. The easiest way to get feedback is to get people talking. As well as helping with the strategy I’d like to encourage the people of the Isle of Man to use social networking sites like Facebook and Trip Advisor, in order to share their experiences about what’s great about our Island. We need and seek everyone’s help to develop tourism and look forward to working together to deliver the vision and opportunities presented in this document.
Hon Adrian Earnshaw MHK Minister for Tourism and Leisure
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Department of Tourism & Leisure
Rheynn Turrysid as Soccar
KEY STRATEGY 1 SECURING AND CONSERVING A LONG TERM FUTURE FOR TOURISM “The Island’s operators and organisations must recognise the value of the natural environment and actively protect, support and promote its sustainability as part of what they do.” “The Islands operators and organisations must make their own investments in quality to ensure that the whole industry delivers on the quality promise underpinning the strategy.” WHAT WE NEED TO ACHIEVE: 1. World class, high quality products and services. 2. Positive first and lasting impressions and visitors who feel cared for every step of the way. 3. A match between visitor experience and visitor expectation. 4. A more skilled and knowledgeable tourism workforce. 5. Profitable, year round products and services. 6. A positive image of the Isle of Man, bolstered by a recognised Manx Quality Assurance Scheme. 7. 2020 accommodation model – 4/5* led, by location. WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE: 1. Identify where visitor expectations and experiences fail to match up. Products, services, accommodation, restaurants and facilities will all be investigated in a Recreational Opportunities Review. Any identified shortcomings will help prioritise the development of a series of visitor facilities suitable for financial support. 2. Work towards 100% Best Practice in the online environment: research, feedback, targeted marketing, bookings and comparisons. 3. The development of a benchmarked Manx Quality Assurance Scheme for all local products and services. This should include visitor activities and attractions, public transport and visitor services, eg tour guides and be supported by a national customer feedback scheme. 4. Identify the skills, training needs and staff shortages that need addressing to ensure our tourism workforce deliver a quality service. Deliver a programme of training support (eg Manx Welcome). Measure effectiveness and reward success. 5. The development of a Business led “Meetings, Incentives, Conferences & Events” (“MICE”) programme covering March to May and September to October. Use the Island’s strengths, eg Motorsport and Offshore Finance to achieve differentiation over competitors. 6. Help industry partners improve yields, identify peak periods and devise pricing strategies. Share findings at seminars and online. 7. Develop, implement and monitor bespoke capacity building and marketing strategies with sea & air carriers. 8. Develop a demand led accommodation model to drive collective responsibility for investment, development and infrastructure planning. 9. Develop and implement sustainable tourism initiatives for business and visitors, including the management of tourism related conservation issues.
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Department of Tourism & Leisure
Rheynn Turrysid as Soccar
KEY STRATEGY 2 MARKETING AND MANAGING A TOP CLASS VISITOR EXPERIENCE “Attracting those who value what the Isle of Man has to offer and won’t impact damagingly on it while they visit.” WHAT WE NEED TO ACHIEVE: 1. Globally strong, distinctive branding. 2. Levering a limited budget for maximum effect. 3. Winning themes, Signature products and events. 4. Year round destination status, starting with 8 months, with a focus on weekends and short breaks. 5. Increased visitor spend, whilst achieving perception of enhanced value for money. 6. A virtual visitor information network. WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE: 1. Work with PR and Advertising Agencies to build on the “Set Yourself Free” campaign for 3 – 5 years, with particular emphasis on the Key Markets, Signature events and unique products. 2. The development of a 52 week, 24/7 visitor information network, linked to a Manx Quality Assurance Scheme. 3. The development of simple, consistent literature and products, with a ‘what, where, how’ short break focus. 4. Hold regular marketing seminars and marketing communication sessions with key Isle of Man spenders in marketing to develop shared best practices and partnership working 5. A greater emphasis on Customer Relationship Management (CRM), enabling accurate analysis of visitor behaviour, profitability and segmentation and thus ensuring all marketing is carried out efficiently and through the most relevant channels. 6. The communication of a strong, differentiated, cultural tourism offer for the Isle of Man. 7. Ensure a clear ‘Quality’ message is conveyed in all communications. 8. The development of quality products, communities and regions that support the key markets, Island wide. 9. The development of a strategy and action plan to attract our core target, ‘The Interactive Traveller’. 10. Making Best Practice and investment into online and electronic distribution channels a priority.
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Department of Tourism & Leisure
Rheynn Turrysid as Soccar
KEY STRATEGY 3 WORKING SMARTER AND BECOMING FINANCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY PROSPEROUS “Gather quality demand driven data to inform visitor marketing decisions which will enable us to progress and prosper.” WHAT WE NEED TO ACHIEVE: 1. An understanding of our customers and Industry Partners needs in order to drive Policy Development. 2. Improved value for money (VFM) of all visitor and marketing spend. 3. Improved yield in business, thus guaranteeing future investment in quality and differentiation. 4. Improved asset utilisation for industry. WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE: 1. Establish a Core Dataset and share all data with industry and community partners regularly. We therefore need to collate charts and desk top data based on the following categories and headings: a) IOM Visitor Performance i. ii. iii. iv.
Total visitors (PVPA, VFR, Business – age, sex, origin) Overnight stays / trips / bed nights / days Spend (visitor type / split by category) KPI’s (numbers, spend levels etc)
b) Industry Performance
i. Economic Contribution (GNP/GDP) ii Occupancy Levels iii Yield management (carriers, accommodation, facilities) iv. Employment (number, £, productivity) v. KPI’s (ROI Yield) vi. Sector Pay Rates vii. Employment Levels viii. Satisfaction Levels ix. Online Capability
c) Marketing Effectiveness
i. Enquiries generated (by channel, eg TV, Newspaper, Radio) ii. Conversion levels iii. Awareness & intention to return
d) Quality Trends i. ii iii
Increase the percentage of 4* and 5* accommodation Accreditation and grading profiles Feedback scheme responses and satisfaction levels
e) Tourism Team Performance
i. Number of conferences, cruises, events and trends ii. Journalist visits and conversion / estimated advertising value (EAV) iii. Marketing effectiveness iv. Seasonal trends
continued overleaf
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Department of Tourism & Leisure
Rheynn Turrysid as Soccar
f)
Information Network Performance i. ii. iii. iv.
Throughput Number of enquiries (by counter, phone, email etc) Enquiries profile (eg age, region, interest) Sales by product
2. The establishment of benchmarks, coupled with regular monitoring and evaluation.
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Department of Tourism & Leisure
Rheynn Turrysid as Soccar
KEY STRATEGY 4 LEADING EFFECTIVE COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS “We must keep re-energising the collective vision.” “None of us is as strong as all of us.” WHAT WE NEED TO ACHIEVE: 1.
Social and lifestyle infrastructure investment.
2.
Working in co-operation to achieve effective, synergistic marketing and promotion.
3.
An environment where visitor businesses re-invest in quality, skills and people.
4.
Development partnerships, using public funds / assets to leverage private sector investment.
5.
Fewer barriers / more collective responsibility. WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE:
1. The identification of partners for: a. b. c.
Key markets (Culture, Coast, Nature, Railways, Motorsport & Film) Key strategy threads and bespoke development plans Lifestyle development, eg restaurants, spas, local produce
2. Explore the development of high level partnerships for: a. b. c. d.
Technology Policy Making Legislation Incentive Schemes
3. Quarterly briefing sessions for the visitor industry on: a. Core data, KPI’s and performance b. New initiatives c. Marketing strategy d. Training e. Online environment developments 4. The development of Public / Private Partnerships to deliver: a. Tourism education and training (Quality & Service) b. Marketing and promotions (Communications) c. Tradeshows, events and exhibitions (Events Development) d. Initial start-up financial support (Product Development) 5. The development of a Tourism Ambassadors programme to support key promotional initiatives.
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Department of Tourism & Leisure
Rheynn Turrysid as Soccar
STRATEGY 5 POSITIONING TOURISM AT THE FOREFRONT OF A COMPETITIVE AND SUSTAINABLE ISLE OF MAN ECONOMY “To develop the profile of Tourism as something which is woven into the fabric of our society and economy in a way that benefits us all, directly or indirectly.” WHAT WE NEED TO ACHIEVE: 1. An agreed “shared vision” for the Isle of Man visitor economy. 2. Central Government led regional regeneration. 3. Greater engagement and invigoration of local authorities. 4. An agreed diversification strategy for the countryside. 5. Better use of Government’s own visitor assets to maximise visitor experience and spend. 6. Thriving business tourism. WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE: 1. The development of a lifestyle and visitor led Regional Regeneration Strategy, based on the Recreational Opportunities Review (ROR). The Department Trade & Industry (DTI) Retail Study 2007 will help identify future accommodation and facility needs. 2. The development of a sustainable, all island events programme, linked to the key markets. 3. The Recreational Opportunity Review and other research will enable the development of specific and sustainable products. DTL will work in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry (DAFF) and the Department of Transport (DOT) to support and diversify the agricultural and marine sector. 4. The development of core visitor facilities in regional locations, eg information provision, consistent signage, litter policy, toilets and parking provision. 5. The development of a local government communication and support mechanism.
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Department of Tourism & Leisure
Rheynn Turrysid as Soccar
Who is the Interactive Traveller? Interactive Travellers "have an enduring demand for holidays; consume a wide variety of tourism product, do more, stay longer and seek exploration on holiday. They are found in varying proportions in all countries; use a variety of accommodation and transport on holiday; pre-plan their holidays; travel independently or use packages. They are also higher users of the Internet as a source of travel information. Interactive travellers are significantly more likely than other travellers to be interested in the following: a. Natural wonders b. Physical outdoor activities c.
Wildlife activities
d. Learning about the way of life from people from a different culture e. Experiencing a country's local cuisine f.
Sites that are important to a country's history
g. Sites that are important to a country's indigenous people h. Historic buildings i.
Exhibitions of national history.
Source - Cultural and Heritage Tourism International, Mintel, November 2004
Thank you for taking the time to read this document. A feedback form can be found on www.visitisleofman.com. Please email any feedback to tourismstrategy@gov.im or send to Tourism Strategy Consultation, IoM Department of Tourism & Leisure, St. Andrews House, Finch Road, Douglas, IM2 2PX by 31 August 2008.
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