Tourism - Autumn 2014 - issue 159

Contents Editorial Preparing to meet trends, opportunities and set-backs Policy:Tourism under the microscope Kurt Janson MTS, Policy Director,Tourism Alliance

Tourism Trends: After the recession – what next for the Staycation?

Sharon Orrell, Head of Research and Insight,VisitEngland

6

Tourism Education:What is the future for GCSE and A-level qualifications?

Bob Holland MTS,Tourism Education Consultancy

7

Tour de France 2014:Yorkshire Grand Départ Gary Verity, Chief Executive,Welcome to Yorkshire

8-9

Cultural Tourism: A historical viewpoint Ylva French FTS

11

Hospitality: I’m opening a boutique…

Linda Moore, Chairman, Hotel Marketing Association

12

Tourism Symposium review

Overseas Markets Update: Russia and the CIS neighbourhood Helene Lloyd MTS, Director of TMI (Tourism, Marketing & Intelligence), based in Russia

There are many reasons why people choose to take their holidays at home rather than abroad, and these holidays come in different forms – from homebased day-trips to weeks away at the coast.

Whether or not you choose to categorise these and other domestic breaks as ‘staycations’ their pattern and the motivation for taking them has evolved over recent years; Sharon Orrell from VisitEngland gives some insights into the latest developments on page 6.

It pays to keep up with the trends, and if you would like to join in the discussion about them why not book a place at our forthcoming ‘Staycation – What’s next?’ event in London on September 25th? Sharon will feature with other panellists representing different areas of the domestic market, and Ian Taylor, Executive Editor at Travel Weekly, will chair the event. Full details are on our website at tinyurl.com/nfcoy8n.

As reasons for taking a domestic break go, heading to Yorkshire to see the world’s biggest free sporting event is a pretty good one.

Millions thought so and the huge crowds lining the streets through the county’s towns and across the moors to cheer the Tour de France cyclists during the Grand Départ provided arguably the best spectacle since the Olympics.The peleton also made its way from Cambridge to London, spreading the benefits of its visit throughout the country.

Once again Britain was shown off to the world as both a top-class destination and a country capable of hosting large-scale events.

The people behind bidding for and staging these events show not just a strong desire to market and promote their destinations but also a well-developed understanding of the value of their visitors and the importance of tourism to the local and wider economy.

4-5

13-16 17

Consultancy: Breaking down the barriers Roger Goodacre FTS, Chairman,Tourism Consultants Network

18-19

An Interview With… Kit Malthouse Deputy Mayor of London for Business & Enterprise

20-21

Focus on… Free to Book: Access and connectivity – fair, level and open?

Craig Stewart MTS, Director, freetobook

23

Business Support:Weathering the storm – are we really prepared?

Ruth Hyde MTS MTMI, LomaxHyde Destination Management and Marketing Consultancy

24

Student View: International opportunities, at home and abroad Fanny Guillemot, Middlesex University

25

Membership News and Events Calendar

27

The Back Page: Chairman’s View Sandra Matthews-Marsh MBE FTS MTMI

28

Cover photo:Tour de France racers pass Harewood House,Yorkshire. Credit: SWPix

Much of this comes with experience, but providing the opportunity to study tourism and its many related disciplines is vital in sowing the seeds of interest in our industry among school and college pupils. Earlier in the summer it was reported that Ofqual was considering scrapping the Travel and Tourism A-level; on page 7 Bob Holland considers the implications for the industry if these early routes into the subject are abandoned.

As I write, dramatic pictures of the fire on Eastbourne pier have been appearing in the media.The timing of this incident could not be worse, as the summer season moves into top gear.

Tourism has always shown that it can recover from these major setbacks and I am sure Eastbourne will bounce back, but this is a forceful reminder of the need to prepare for business disruptions – Ruth Hyde considers this on page 24.

Wishing you all a successful and busy summer.

Gregory Yeoman MTS Executive Director gregory@tourismsociety.org

To view our website scan here

The Tourism Society Queens House, 55-56 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2A 3BH T 0207 269 9693 F 0207 404 2465 E journal@tourismsociety.org W www.tourismsociety.org Registered in England No. 01366846.

ISSN: 02613700 Designed and produced by Script Media Group Contact Tony Barry 47 Church Street Barnsley S70 2AS T 01226 734333

www.tourismsociety.org

E tb@scriptmedia.co.uk W www.scriptmedia.co.uk © Copyright 2014 The Tourism Society Tourism is the journal of the Tourism Society.The views expressed in Tourism are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of the Tourism Society.

Whilst unsolicited material is welcomed, neither transparencies nor unpublished articles can be returned.

The Tourism Society cannot be held

Issue 159 Autumn 2014

responsible for any services offered by advertisers in Tourism. All correspondence must be addressed to the Editor.

Tourism is only available to members of the Tourism Society and on subscription, it is distributed quarterly to 1800 professionals working in national and regional tourist boards, local government, travel agencies, and tour operators, visitor attractions, accommodation and catering, entertainment, information services, guiding, consultancies and education and training.

3

Policy

© adrian_ilie825 – Fotolia.com

Tourism under the microscope

Tourism generated 300,000 jobs from Over the next few months the UK tourism industry is going to be under the microscope in a way that it hasn’t been for many years as, in addition to the recently announced triennial review of VisitBritain and VisitEngland, the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee has announced that there will be an inquiry into the UK tourism industry.

This will be the first Select Committee Inquiry on tourism for seven years and it will be markedly different from the 2007 Inquiry in terms of its focus.

The 2007 Inquiry, while looking at some industry issues such as visas, primarily focused its attention on the funding and structure of public sector support for the tourism industry. On the domestic side, it looked at the development in tourism structures, funding and delivery in the

2010 to 2013 wake of Government’s decision in 2003 to devolve responsibility for tourism development and promotion to the RDAs. On the inbound tourism side, it examined whether DCMS was adequately supporting and funding VisitBritain in order for the organisation to compete in the international market and to attract the level of visitors that were contemplated for the 2012 London Olympics. So, in essence, the focus of the inquiry was to determine whether the new structures and level of support provided by DCMS was adequate for boosting tourism growth.

The central theme this time will be “to examine ways in which this potential can be developed for the benefit of both local economies and the country as a whole”.

This means that the new inquiry will be

‘There is now an underlying recognition that the industry provides significant benefits for the UK economy and that the Government needs to do all it can to maximise these benefits.’

4

Issue 159 Autumn 2014

more businesses focused, concentrating its attention on the issues that impact on tourism businesses and the ability of the tourism sector to support regional economies. It will look to identify the impediments that are holding back the regeneration of seaside destinations, the impact that having one of the highest rates of tourism VAT and Air Passenger Duty is having on the domestic and inbound tourism industries as well as revisiting the perennial issue of visas.

This is very good news for the tourism industry as these are the core issues on which it has been campaigning for the last 10 years and the evidence base that has been developed on each issue over this period is compelling.

Probably more importantly, the theme of the Inquiry also indicates that the Select Committee’s attitude to tourism has subtly changed since 2007.Then, the underlying premise of the inquiry was that the tourism industry had to be supported by Government and the onus was on determining whether the structures that

journal@tourismsociety.org

© Anibal Trejo – Fotolia.com

APD has improved but is still on the agenda (interestingly, this is almost exactly the had been put in place would be adequate for the future. same amount as DCMS’s entire departmental expenditure during this In this inquiry, the tone has changed from period). Even more importantly, how the Government can nurture the industry to how the Government can stop employment figures from the Office for National Statistics show that this boom in hindering the industry.This is a significant both domestic and inbound tourism step forward for the tourism industry in generated some 300,000 additional jobs – its long-term aim to be seen by almost a third of all the additional jobs Government as a major UK industry that that were created in the UK economy contributes to the country’s economic over this three-year period. growth.

While the revenue and employment This is not to say that the structures and generated by the tourism industry was the public sector support for the Tourism extremely important in mitigating against industry are perfect – far from it.The the severity of the recession and strategy in the 2010 Tourism Policy to contributing to the UK’s recovery, it was “free” the Destination Management the attributes of these additional jobs that Organisations (DMOs) in England from were as significant as the number of jobs. the strictures of Government support has been little short of an unmitigated disaster The recession disproportionately and the resources provided to VisitEngland impacted upon the regions, the young and and VisitBritain are still woefully inadequate minority groups. These are exactly where compared to other countries (eg., the US the tourism industry provided market provides the UK with over £2.5bn employment, with 39% of the new jobs in tourism export earnings per annum and going to people under 30, 14% going to yet VisitBritain’s annual marketing budget people from minority groups and over for America is less than £1m). two thirds of the jobs were created outside London.

However, there is now an underlying recognition that the industry provides These metrics, generated through a period significant benefits for the UK economy of recession, have significantly elevated the and that the Government needs to do all status of the tourism industry within it can to maximise these benefits.This Government. Evidence of this change in recognition has been forged through the status is considerable. For example, when recession, which significantly undermined the storms and floods hit the UK either the status of other sectors that were held side of Christmas, the Treasury to be the poster-boys of the UK economy approached DCMS to develop a specific and left both parties struggling to find £2m fund to support tourism businesses other industries to be associated with. impacted by the weather (farming was the only other sector to have a dedicated The Tourism Alliance has estimated that in fund).Then, in the 2014 budget, the the three years from 2010 to 2013, the Government announced that it would be rise of the staycation and the increase in cutting Bands C and D of Air Passenger inbound tourism generated an additional Duty. While this amounts to a reduction of £20bn of earnings for the UK economy

www.tourismsociety.org

less than 10% in the total APD revenue, it is a symbolic understanding of the need to reduce taxation on the sector.

Finally, the Government has recently announced the formation of a new Tourism Industry Council for the Tourism industry which has a remit to improve skills, boost enterprise, and increase the quality and quantity of jobs available within the industry. It is obvious from this remit that the Government has realised the strong performance of the tourism industry through the recession, recognises that tourism is a key driver for job creation in the UK economy and wants to harness that ability in order to deliver wider economic and social benefits.

This is where the new Select Committee Inquiry comes in. While the focus of the Tourism Industry Council is on “what can the industry do to help support Government’s ambitions?”, the new Inquiry starts with the same understanding of the benefits derived from the industry but is asking “what can the Government do to support the sector and to spread the benefits as widely as possible across the UK?” And the timing couldn’t be better.The report will probably be published early in the New Year, meaning that the Government will be required to respond to the Committee’s recommendations in the lead-up to the General Election.

Contributing to the Inquiry, and pushing prospective parties on implementing the resultant recommendations is, therefore, the ideal opportunity for the tourism industry to ensure that tourism is on the election agenda. It’s also an opportunity that could determine tourism policy for the next five years.

Kurt Janson MTS l Policy Director, Tourism Alliance Issue 159 Autumn 2014

5

Tourism Trends

After the recession – what next for the Staycation?

The economy is growing, consumer and business confidence is returning, and the pound is strengthening. It all sounds like good news – but what does it mean for the staycation trend?

To begin with, it’s helpful to understand how exactly travel patterns changed during the recession.The chart on the right plots the volumes of domestic and overseas holidays taken by British residents between 2006 and 2013.This shows that the onset of the recession saw a significant increase in domestic trip taking together with a decline in the number of overseas holidays, and that despite some year-on-year fluctuation this trend has continued for the past four years.

More than Just Switching It is often assumed that what has happened is a simple substitution, with people switching to holidays at home in place of going abroad. However, it’s actually more complicated and more farreaching than that.

For one thing, the growth in domestic holidays wasn’t only borne of necessity. In 2010,VisitEngland research identified a group we called ‘Extras’ – those who had recently started to take more domestic breaks without actually cutting back on overseas travel, motivated in part by the widespread media coverage of the time.

Research also shows that other people have had to cut out breaks altogether, and last year over one in four said they were taking fewer holidays overall to save money. As a result, as the chart shows, since 2010 we have taken fewer holiday trips as a nation than we did previously.

A Dynamic Marketplace Over the past four years, as well as experiencing growth in trip numbers, the profile of the domestic market has changed.The average holiday-taker has

become older, and more affluent. City breaks have become more popular, growing by 20% since 2008, as have rural holidays, up by 17%, though seaside and coastal destinations, with an overall uplift of just 3%, have not benefitted to as great a degree.

Trips have become shorter too, the result of a 17% increase in the number of 1-3 night breaks.

It may be that some of these changes are in part a reaction to the economic climate – taking shorter trips, for example, in cities or elsewhere, is a way to limit expenditure.

However, our research suggests that consumers are now increasingly enjoying taking multiple trips through the year rather than waiting for a single ‘big’ holiday, pointing to a more permanent change in holiday repertoires.

In parallel of course, new technology has dramatically changed the way we book and plan trips and will continue to shape behaviour in future, regardless of the economic climate. It doesn’t seem all that long ago, but at the start of the recession the iPhone was just a year old, sites like Groupon didn’t exist, and the annual

‘Our research suggests that consumers are now increasingly enjoying taking multiple trips through the year rather than waiting for a single ‘big’ holiday, pointing to a more permanent change in holiday repertoires.’

6

Sharon Orrell l Head of Research and Insight,VisitEngland

Issue 159 Autumn 2014

volume of tweets (at around 400m) was the equivalent of last year’s daily average volume.

Not All About the Money It’s also important to remind ourselves that the cost isn’t the only reason why people choose to holiday at home. When asked, more than twice as many cite other motivations (e.g. going somewhere new, or back to old favourites) as mention the financial benefits.

Our visitor research shows consistently high levels of satisfaction, while among those ‘switchers’ who replaced a foreign holiday with a domestic one last year half said that the experience made them want to take more England breaks in future. In other words, for most visitors, the domestic break is far more than a secondchoice option.

In Summary Over two thirds of the population claim to have changed their holiday behaviour in some way in the past few years, whether switching, cutting back, or simply taking different types of breaks. It’s hard to know what the future holds, but it seems very unlikely that a shift of that magnitude will simply be reversed.

Rather, we are likely to see some behaviours retained and others adapted, bringing opportunities as well as challenges for the domestic market.

journal@tourismsociety.org

Tourism Education

The present A-level in Travel and Tourism was introduced about 10 years ago.

At much the same time, the GCSE in Leisure and Tourism was also developed.

Both of these qualifications provide a combination of portfolio or controlled assessment and formal examinations. I was involved in the development of the qualifications, have written a range of resources and work as a senior examiner for both qualifications.

The qualifications provide a progression route which has allowed young people to opt for a GCSE subject at Key Stage 4 which they could pursue on to an A-level course or vocational qualification at 16 plus. Some of these students have successfully progressed to degree courses in Tourism Management.

Centres argue that A-level Travel and Tourism provides a good combination with established subjects such as Geography, Economics and languages.

There are many schools where the GCSE course is well-established, with committed teachers obtaining creditable results for their students.

So what of the future? My understanding is that the current A-level and GCSE specifications will continue until their last award in 2018.The good news is that both the A-level and GCSE subjects survived the ‘cull’ of ‘easier’ GCSE subjects threatened by Ofqual, as suggested by the Tourism Society’s weekly update in June.

The Ofqual consultation published at about the same time identified a list of subjects where there was similar or overlapping content which will be discontinued.

Both the A-level Travel and Tourism and GCSE Leisure and Tourism appear on lists of subjects which are to be considered for reform from 2017. Any redeveloped subjects will need to meet the criteria for reformed A-levels and GCSEs. This means that the specifications have to be valid, reliable and manageable.They are also likely to contain little or no coursework and be examined by written papers at the end of the course.

As you may be aware, all reformed

© treenabeena – Fotolia.com

What is the future for GCSE and A-level qualifications?

qualifications are designed to be ‘tougher’ than existing specifications, such as more mathematical knowledge in A-level science with a 100% final examination and more emphasis on UK history at GCSE, again with a 100% final examination.

The current leisure/travel and tourism qualifications are classified as ‘applied’.This means that students will have some interaction with the leisure, travel and tourism industries as part of their course.

They will gain some understanding of the nature of the industries. In many cases students have been encouraged to consider a career within the industry.

As Sandra Matthews-Marsh correctly identified, ‘employers in the industry regard GCSE Leisure and Tourism as a plus when considering job applications’.

It is likely that any new GCSE or A-level course will be more ‘academic’ and rely far less on coursework or extended research developed from industry interaction.

This may make the qualifications far less appealing to students who are currently attracted to them.

Although Leisure and Tourism and Travel

and Tourism survived the ‘cull’ it is by no means certain that they will be reformed.

Both are on lists of subjects ‘considered for reforming’ – that does not necessarily mean that they will be.

The awarding bodies are increasingly aware of the costs of developing minority subjects and one or more may decide not to develop new leisure/travel and tourism specifications.

At the same time, post-16 funding has been severely cut recently, so schools and colleges will have to review which subjects they can afford to offer.

So it is by no means certain that A-level and GCSE courses in leisure/travel and tourism will be available in five years’ time.

VisitBritain suggests that by 2025 an additional 630,000 employees will be required by the UK tourism industry.

A proportion of these will be managers and degree level entrants. Faced with this situation, I suggest that it is imperative that we do what we can to ensure that GCSE and A-level leisure/travel and tourism courses continue to be offered within the curriculum.

Bob Holland MTS l Tourism Education Consultancy

www.tourismsociety.org

Issue 159 Autumn 2014

7

Tour de France 2014

Yorkshire Grand Départ

Huge crowds encourage the riders In years to come when people look back, one event will stand out as a defining moment in Yorkshire’s history – our county’s hosting of the Grand Départ of the Tour de France.

Hailed by Director of the Tour de France Christian Prudhomme as the grandest Grand Départ that the race – now in its 101st edition – has ever seen, the event saw the eyes of the world focus on God’s Own County and cemented Yorkshire’s position as a leading global destination and a place that can host world-class events.

Event organisers the ASO, riders, teams and media were amazed by the crowds that thronged by the roadside and filled the network of fan zones and spectator hubs, creating a festival atmosphere across Yorkshire. Five-time winner Bernard Hinault told us he had never seen crowds as big in over 40 years in the sport while Christian said that he believed there could have been up to 4 or 5 million spectators over the two days. Unlike the Olympics or

8

World Cup, the Tour de France is a free event and is therefore arguably the most accessible major sporting event around.

The event even earned a huge royal seal of approval with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as well as Prince Harry, officially opening the race at Harewood House accompanied by a fly-over by the Red Arrows.

The benefits of Welcome to Yorkshire’s successful bid to host the Grand Départ are already being felt across the county, and even the country, and look set to continue to be felt for many years to come. Closer to home, the economic impact of Yorkshire’s Grand Départ is notable. It is estimated that the Grand Départ is worth in excess of £100million to the Yorkshire economy.The benefits cut right across sectors, from hotels and restaurants to transport and retail.

For example, around 4,500 people sleep with the Tour each night – including 2,000 international journalists, race organisers

Issue 159 Autumn 2014

and all 22 teams and relevant staff.Then, of course, there’s the many thousands of spectators!

The benefits of successfully bidding to bring the Tour to Yorkshire began early.

Since it was announced in December 2012 that the Tour was on its way and our bid had been successful, international visits to the county rose 11 per cent year-onyear with 2013 and spend rose a massive 35 per cent.

The media coverage secured around the bid and imminent arrival of the Tour in Yorkshire played a key role in promoting the county on a national and international level. Media from around the corner and around the world bought into the fairy tale story of this northern county going from underdog to front runner – and eventual winner.

But it was also the county’s outstanding natural beauty, sheer size and diversity that helped write the headlines, fill the airtime and paint the pictures.The editorial value

journal@tourismsociety.org

On the North Yorkshire Moors equivalent of the media coverage pre-race weekend was worth tens of millions. It helped sell the county to potential visitors and in some cases even just alert them to its existence.

Public opinion and awareness of Yorkshire has rocketed since the Grand Départ – more than 1/3 of the UK’s population had their opinions on Yorkshire positively changed thanks to the event, with 1/4 of the country now wanting to visit the county, according to a new ResearchBods study. It also showed that 3/4 of the county want Welcome to Yorkshire to bid for more sporting events to be held within the county.

Our official Grand Départ website www.letouryorkshire.com also saw some incredible international traffic during July 5 and 6, with 2.5 million page views during the weekend and visitors from 190 countries.Twitter played a key role with a combined reach of @letouryorkshire tweets during the weekend of 23.2 million accounts.

Broadcasters were delighted too – British Eurosport posted a huge 60% rise in average live audience for the Grand Départ compared to 2013. And bike retailer Halfords also saw a 21% rise in bike sales in the 13 weeks up to June 27.

In addition to the world’s press and tourists flocking to Yorkshire to learn the meaning of the words ‘peloton’ and ‘maillot jaune’, the Tour attracts a combined global TV audience of around 3.5billion people and a good slice of that will have witnessed the Yorkshire Grand Départ.The cyclists’ route featured seven

abbeys, seven castles and a plethora of picturesque Yorkshire landscapes, and being broadcast worldwide for an average of eight hours per day the Tour provides the best television publicity any county could ask for.

Yorkshire’s Grand Départ provided the perfect launch pad for a string of ‘firsts’ which have been enormously beneficial to Yorkshire.The Road, written and performed by singer-songwriter Alistair Griffin and featuring Girls Aloud’s Kimberly Walsh, was the first ever anthem for a Grand Départ which we commissioned.

The Team Presentation Opening Ceremony, themed The People of Yorkshire Welcome the World, was the first of its kind to be hosted in an arena in front of 10,000 people and 300 journalists from across the globe. It is now regarded as the biggest Tour de France Team Presentation in history.

We also oversaw the first ever 100-day cultural countdown to a Grand Départ with Yorkshire Festival 2014, featuring world-class artists in an ambitious programme of art, culture and music.

Backed by Arts Council England,Yorkshire Water and Local Authorities, the Festival added to the enormity of the Yorkshire Grand Départ and provided another platform on which to showcase the beauty, creativity and talent of the county.

The passion, the crowds and the support that Yorkshire demonstrated for the Tour to the watching world were mind-blowing.

Whatever the final economic impact figure, it was the images of Yorkshire and its amazing landscapes being beamed

‘The monumental success of Yorkshire’s Grand Départ will go down in history and the benefits of the event will be felt for many more years to come.’

www.tourismsociety.org

around the world which will prove priceless in the months and years ahead for our county.

This is the start of a journey for Yorkshire, not the end of one.The Yorkshire Grand Départ was a game changer and we’re only just scratching the surface of the enormous potential that our county has as we continue on our way towards being a global must-see destination.

A 10-year legacy plan, called Cycle Yorkshire, has been established to fully realise the benefits of the Yorkshire Grand Départ and build on its role as a catalyst to get more people cycling more often.

The tour, plus recent international successes for Britain’s professional cyclists, means that the appetite for cycling in the UK has never been bigger, and Cycle Yorkshire aims to drive up cycle participation and provide more access to bikes for young people.

Plans are now progressing for a new, world-class cycle race from 2015 – dubbed the Tour of Yorkshire.Tour organisers, ASO, have teamed up with Welcome to Yorkshire and British Cycling with the aim of delivering a new fiveyearly race over three days, initially from May 1-3 2015, including a women’s race on the middle day.

The race will be a 2.1 UCI Europe Tour event, guaranteeing the participation of some of the world’s leading cyclists and providing a fitting legacy to this year’s Tour.

The future of cycling in the UK – and tourism – certainly looks bright following the Yorkshire Grand Départ.

The monumental success of Yorkshire’s Grand Départ will go down in history and the benefits of the event will be felt for many more years to come.

Vive le Tour,Vive le Yorkshire!

Gary Verity l Chief Executive, Welcome to Yorkshire

Issue 159 Autumn 2014

9

Corporate Member

Corporate Member

Corporate Member

Corporate Member

Cultural Tourism

Cityscape of Florence Affordable air travel has opened up the world as never before.

But when did it – tourism – all start?

While people have migrated for centuries, mainly for economic reasons often accompanied by plunder and wars, religion was an early driver of cultural travel.

During the Middle Ages monks travelled north and west spreading the word of God and the skills of making illuminated manuscripts, while the Crusades involved thousands of European Catholics travelling East to stave off the Moslem invasion – looting exquisite Byzantine art was one of the perks.

Cultural tourism proper started with the Grand Tour and that has been the subject of my research (see below). While pioneering travellers recorded their adventures from the 16th century onwards, the great wave of cultural travel got under way in the 18th century stimulating the development of a more sophisticated tourist industry to meet the demands of aristocratic and other well-off travelling men, and some women.

Some of these young travellers, just as now, were mostly interested in having fun away from the prying eyes of their guardians. Others were inspired by the Renaissance and the works of art from Holland, Spain and Italy in the royal collection amassed first by Charles I. When he lost his head, the puritan Oliver Cromwell foolishly decided to sell off

© SerrNovik – Fotolia.com

A historical viewpoint

most of his collection. But Charles II, on the throne from 1660, managed to get some of it back and acquire more.The King and other great families also encouraged Italian and Dutch artists to come to England to decorate their palaces – such as the King’s Staircase at Kensington Palace, not to mention the finest of all – Rubens’ ceiling in Banqueting House.

So, travelling to see the countries where all this wonderful art originated and to bring some of it home became the fashion – but what an ordeal it was! The Scottish family in my book – the Dukes of Hamilton – first had to reach London by horse-drawn coach on bumpy roads, taking several days.Then off to Dover to board the packet-boat, with huge amounts of luggage, usually looked after by a Bearleader and servants.The journey across the Channel could be torturous as Dickens described in Little Dorrit. With no pier at Calais passengers were manhandled off the packet on to small boats, frequently landing in the sea!

It is not surprising that some only got as far as Paris, enjoying the fast life of this glittering city. But it was also dangerous, easy to be robbed or cheated at gambling or to contract some serious disease – cholera, typhoid, or something worse venereal.The 11th Duke of Hamilton just slipped on the steps of a restaurant and died in Paris!

Those heading for Italy – the ultimate goal

in the 18th century – may have brought their own coach and outriders and travelled south in reasonable comfort, while others had to join strangers in overcrowded mail coaches, travelling to Marseilles or Genoa, then crossing the sea to Leghorn (Livorno) with pirate attacks common.The other route via Switzerland involved a hazardous journey through the Alps across the Great St Bernard Pass, sometimes being carried or walking along narrow paths.The Alpine tunnels were not constructed until the 20th century.

And then there were wars… always some skirmish somewhere, putting what were accessible and welcoming destinations temporarily off limits.The French Revolution starting in 1793 followed by Napoleon’s forays into Holland and Italy put an end to safe travel for many years.

After 1815 tourism started up again. And things got better for British travellers from the middle of the 19th century with the introduction of steam boats and the arrival of the railway.

But next time you fly across the Alps, look down on those peaks, and admire the fortitude of the Grand Tourists and the trail they blazed for the tourist industry today.

I Finding Veronese: Memoir of a Painting

by Ylva French, now available at www.amazon.co.uk as an E-book in the Kindle Store. See also www.ylvafrench.co.uk for the pictures and the story of the book.

Ylva French FTS

www.tourismsociety.org

Issue 159 Autumn 2014

l 11

Hospitality

I’m opening a boutique…

Anyone who studies the hotel market in London will be able to pinpoint boutique hotels as a booming sector.

Ten years ago the sector was dominated by mid-market brands. Nowadays there is almost a new boutique hotel opening in the capital every month, and the market is showing no sign of slowing down.

Recently we have seen American hotelier Andre Balazs unveil his first London property, the Chiltern Firehouse in the former Marylebone Fire Station. While Ham Yard Hotel close by to London’s theatreland and the brainchild of Tim and Kit Kemp has been designed around a tree-filled garden with a modern bronze sculpture as its centerpiece.This autumn will see the Beaumont Hotel in Mayfair launch a collaboration with sculptor Antony Gormley who has designed a human-shaped three-storey installation on the end of the building concealing a hotel room in its head. Creating a hotel room on the top of a statue has been dabbled with before but this new property will clearly be a contender for the title, hotel meets art.

So why is the boutique hotel sector continuing to buck the trend as far as economic conditions are concerned, and what is a boutique hotel anyway?

Let’s address the economic question first.

The key reason behind growth in the sector is developers have recognised that attracting a higher RevPAR from a smaller more discerning clientele has turned out to be a winner. Selling a few covetable and exclusive rooms at a higher price is proving to be much more profitable than the continuous discounting culture that has become associated with the hotel industry in recent years.

The term boutique hotel is much hyped but do we really know what it means? I have my own view - fewer than 100 rooms, a bit quirky, with individual design and maybe a celebrity chef in the kitchen.

However, I also took the opportunity to speak to some industry colleagues to see what their take on it was.

“A boutique is, of course, a place where ladies go to buy fashionable clothes so I guess applying the word to hotels suggests a degree of chic, modern stylishness.There

12

Linda Moore l Chairman, Hotel Marketing Association

The Beaumont Gormley Room are certainly plenty of smart hotels in London and major cities that now describe themselves as boutique, a genre that has been particularly embraced by the Mr & Mrs Smith representation company, although examples can also be found among the memberships of luxury consortia such as Pride of Britain. In fact it’s probably easier to say what ‘boutique’ hotels are not: old fashioned, large, dull or cheap,” according to Peter Hancock FTS, Chief Executive, Pride of Britain Hotels.

Tom Chesshyre, Editor of the Cool Hotel Guide featured in The Times every Saturday, has reviewed countless London hotels in his time so I asked him what he felt represented a boutique hotel. “I think it's a constant process involving good service and word of mouth. When it's a small place, the personality of the owner is very important. At larger hotels it's the energy and charm of the staff.The

Issue 159 Autumn 2014

occasional gimmick or sale of rooms at good prices helps with continuing interest as well,” he said.

Tom is right about the gimmicks and they are becoming more elaborate. Mr Gormley’s sculpture aside, at Ham Yard you can hire the original 1950s four lane bowling alley located in the basement for £5,000 a time. Wander into the Ace Hotel in Shoreditch and you may think you had mistakenly walked into a vinyl record store instead of the reception area.The hotel has made a big effort to get involved with the local community by hosting music events and opening a flower shop with access from the street.

With demand predicted to increase, there is no doubt that boutique hotels are here to stay and that London will continue to be one of the most sought after locations in the world when it comes to boutique accommodation.

journal@tourismsociety.org

Merseyside Maritime Museum, Liverpool June 2nd and 3rd

© Craig Easton

Tourism Society Symposium

Evening reception at Tate Liverpool Inside the Beatles Story

Study Tour Advice to those who have never been to Liverpool or like me who had not been for 25 years – go and visit!

As a delegate at the Tourism Society’s annual Symposium I am so glad that I made it up to Liverpool for the study tour afternoon that included a ferry across the Mersey and a visit to the Beatles Story – a must for any Beatles fan.

And yes, you’ve guessed it I am a massive fan. Even the pouring rain walking to the ferry with no coats or umbrellas did not dampen delegates’ spirits.

I have visited many ‘museums’ around the world and I can confidently say that the Beatles Story is one of the best I have been to. Even if you are in the Rolling Stones camp, one is transported on an incredible

journey through the social, economic, political and musical times of the 50s, 60s and 70s.

Divided into rooms, with replicas of the Casbah, Mathew Street and the famous Cavern Club, the ‘Living History’ audio guides (available in ten languages) provided a detailed and evocative commentary of what made the Beatles such an iconic band.

As I left, having relived so much of my childhood and teenage years , I conjured up an image of me aged four walking in the West End of London in between my parents, holding their hands and singing at the top of my voice ‘I want to hold your hand’. Happy days indeed.

So, if you do nothing else today, consider a visit to Liverpool.You will not be disappointed.

Simon Greenbury MTS Simon Greenbury Connections

Having taken the boat frequently from Liverpool to Belfast during the 1970s, my lasting memories of Liverpool were of windy quaysides full of sad, redundant buildings.

A few decades later, it was a joy to witness the life that has been restored to the docks and piers.

I had never been to Tate Liverpool, so was looking forward to the opportunity of going to the Reception and hearing about its role in the regeneration of Albert Dock. I was also intrigued to see how a historic, industrial building could be adapted for contemporary uses. It works brilliantly at Tate Liverpool and the event allowed me to enjoy the space and view the artwork from different perspectives.

The welcome from the speakers (above) was infectious and they showed their pride in what they had collectively achieved, whether that was Wendy Simon from Liverpool City Council, Andrea Nixon from Tate Liverpool, James Berresford from VisitEngland or Dave Jones from the Cavern Club – the latter served to whet our appetites for the visit to his iconic music venue later that evening!

I’m sure that we have all been to many networking events but, for me, this was one of the most enjoyable and illuminating.

Peter Rollins MTS Sales and Marketing Manager, Thermae Bath Spa

“I just wanted to pay tribute to you and all the team at the Tourism Society for organising such a brilliant event.The programme from start to finish was highly enjoyable; provided much reflection ... and overall just simply exceeded my expectations. Hats off for a ‘job well done’!!”

Andrew Campbell FTS, Symposium delegate he Tourism Society’s Symposium was the first event in the programme of the International Festival for Business and brought together a line-up of prominent speakers from arts and tourism to debate the role of tourism and culture in creating economic success.

In his keynote address, John Kampfner, Director, Creative Industries Federation, emphasised the need for world class ‘ambition’ in the arts if they are to have transformative effects on communities and economies.

He believes there is a lack of ambition amongst policymakers that constantly seek support from central government. Kampfner gave the example of politicians extolling the virtues of Britain’s creativity and arts scene when abroad but becoming tongue-tied on the subject on home soil.

According to Kampfner, elements of innovation, entrepreneurship, public engagement, civic pride and ambition have to be combined to achieve success for cultural attractions and events moving forward.

T

Sandra Matthews-Marsh MBE opening the Symposium

John Kampfner gave the keynote address

“The role that culture and the creative industries play in the British tourism strategy is extremely strong. Indeed for many visitors to the country, it is the main reason for coming.

That’s why it was a particular pleasure to address the Tourism Society’s excellent 2014 annual conference in Liverpool.”

The Nowhere Man panel

“We were delighted to sponsor the Tourism Symposium in Liverpool this year, which emphasised the Society’s value in not just bringing together leading tourism industry professionals but in developing the link between tourism and other sectors.”

Jonathan Mountford MTS, Director, made.

John Kampfner, keynote speaker

Reports from the sessions Session 1: Mr Blue Sky Chair: Deirdre Wells OBE MTS (Chief Executive, UKInbound) Claire McColgan MBE (Director of Culture, Liverpool City of Culture) Jon Pywell (Assistant Head of Service City Culture and City of Culture 2017 lead) Dr Beatriz Garcia (Head of Research, Institute of Cultural Capital, University of Liverpool) Ken Robinson CBE FTS Ken Robinson CBE FTS kicked off the main sessions highlighting key points contained in a thought provoking and, in part, controversial Think Tank paper on Cultural Tourism that had been commissioned especially for the Symposium.

He urged arts and tourism professionals to think only big thoughts but to always bear in mind the need to ensure projects are economically sustainable. Robinson posed the question ‘Is cultural tourism good or bad?’ and went on to give examples from both points of view.

He added that ensuring net ‘additionality’ (the economic benefit over and above normal visitor numbers) should be a cornerstone of cultural tourism projects.

Robinson then joined the panel to debate points raised in the Think Tank paper. It was generally agreed that it is vitally important to keep local communities at the heart of cultural tourism projects and that there is now good evidence to show how arts and tourism projects can help places regain their confidence and grow their aspirations.

Session 2: Nowhere Man Chair: Jane Richardson (Deputy Director, Partnerships & Policy, Visit Wales) Andrea Nixon (Executive Director, Tate Liverpool) Juliana Delaney (Chief Executive, Continuum) Alison Cryer FTS (Managing Director, Representation Plus) ‘Making the most of culture and tourism’ was the topic for the next session chaired by Jane Richardson, Deputy Director Partnerships and Policy,Visit Wales. Delaney stated that companies should put their staff before guests to ensure that visitors get a memorable experience. Andrea Nixon concurred with this view and added that evaluating results was also critical.

Reviewing Oman’s rebranding strategy

Session 4:The Show Must Go On – the big event

Jos Croft MTS, VisitBritain formed the basis of Alison Cryer’s presentation and how this resulted in a successful exhibition at the British Museum of the country’s jewellery and costumes.

Session 3: Dedicated follower of fashion John Kampfner (Director of the Creative Industries Federation) Clara Mercer (Head of Marketing, British Fashion Council) Hilary Riva OBE (former Chief Executive of the British Fashion Council) The Symposium’s afternoon programme saw John Kampfner return to the stage to interview fashion gurus Clara Mercer and Hilary Riva OBE in a session entitled ‘Dedicated Follower of Fashion’.

Responding to questions on the value of fashion to the economy, Hilary Riva explained that some £250 million was generated plus a further £200 million of orders annually.

However, there were also ‘soft’ benefits such as the launching of careers at London Fashion Week and showcasing creativity.

Clara Mercer highlighted the need for London Fashion Week to become the best of its kind in the global marketplace.

She went on to say that the digital age has proved invaluable in the promotion of London Fashion Week, likewise partnerships with BAFTA,The BRITS etc.

Chair: Michael Eakin (Chief Executive, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra) Dr James Kennell (Director, Economic Development Resource Centre, University of Greenwich) Alastair Upton (Chief Executive, Creative Foundation) Joss Croft MTS (Marketing Director, VisitBritain) Joe McTigue (Research Manager in the Regional Economic Intelligence Unit, Leeds City Council) Another panel discussion followed chaired by Michael Eakin, CEO, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.VisitBritain’s Jos Croft was the first speaker outlining the important role of culture and heritage in inbound tourism.

He shared research that confirmed that culture is a major driver in overseas visitor decisions to travel to the UK. Dr James Kennell returned to the subject of measurement and evaluation of cultural projects in his presentation while Joe McTigue covered the economic and social impacts of the UK stages of the Tour de France. Rounding up the session, Alistair Upton highlighted how major events such as the Folkestone Triennial can benefit regeneration programmes.

Session 5: Money, Money, Money – innovation, challenges and change Chair: James Berresford (Chief Executive,VisitEngland) Geoffrey Brown (Director of EUCLID) Pam Wilsher MTS (Head of Visitor Economy Development, Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership) In the penultimate Symposium session ‘Money, Money, Money’,VisitEngland’s CEO James Berresford began by reminding the audience that finance for tourism projects is still in short supply.

However, he stated that less money means that organisations have to think smarter. Pam Wilsher explained the journey from bidding for Liverpool’s City of Culture through to legacy and potential sources of funding.

Following the funding theme, Geoffrey Brown outlined the various opportunities available from the EU, particularly Structural and Transnational Funds. He continued by stating the importance of seducing LEPS (Local Enterprise Partnerships) for financial support.

“We were very happy to use the opportunity of the Tourism Symposium to bring [our 10 cultural destinations] together for the first time.This was a very valuable opportunity, and played a key role in ensuring that culture’s role in tourism was a strong theme of the symposium.”

Paul Bristow, Director – Strategic Partnerships, Arts Council England

Culture eats strategy: the adventures of T.U. Ritso

Chris McCabe, Poet-in-Residence

Symposium conclusion The Symposium concluded with Liverpool and London-based Poet-inResidence Chris McCabe who drew together the key themes of the day into two unique works commissioned for the event.

1 – A VOCABULARY FOR THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES the sign reads: A funny place to stumble Ritso thinks. In a taxi, last night, going from one place to another the driver had said: ‘In five years’ time that will be the Benefits Office’. Ritso looks at his instructions: ‘a contemporary called Turner who deals in landscapes’.

He listens as words tumble down the street: ‘We will ban the R word, become geographically blind’. Size, he thinks, does not determine the International. Ritso hopes the ‘R’ word does not mean him.

He looks around: Sherlock, Dr Who, Burberry – the message senders have become tongue-tied, individuals now two-person dance studios, synergies that unite Jaguars & chief designers.

All to join up, thinks Ritso: if one goes the House of cards is threatened.

‘Think only big thoughts’ his Boss had said: ‘ambition’, ‘intrinsic’.

I am not the Blue Sky Thinker, I am Ritso, culture seems to be the way we do things here.The foundations will be built.

Any time now someone will come in with the drinks.

Symposium patrons

2 – ‘Mega-cities need mega events’: a message from the Boss.

No pressure then, thought Ritso.

‘Good tourism’, the internet said, was ‘nice people doing nice things’.

What does that say about wildlife?

There were too many numbers: Ritso was starting to feel he was back in Maths. Micawber’s syllogism: more income than expenditure equals happiness. Ritso checked his pockets: 37p. A flier blew past his foot: DEADWEIGHTS EXIST AT THE ZOO AND ELSEWHERE AT CULTURE FIGHTER. Strange, Ritso thought, that the Sea Odyssey doesn’t leave the city but attracts international visitors sent from the Gods on day-returns. Ritso took the spade from across his back and dug up seven nuggets enclosing the new world. Christmas tree first, baubles later, he thought.

Through the door he could see Miros, Picassos, Coleys. ‘Who’s that?’ someone asked. Coley, a young artist.

‘No, that?’ Picasso.

Invigilators walked towards Risto – recognised him as the one they were told would come.

Symposium partners

The Wheel of Liverpool A wheel across the warehouse, a clock of snowglobes propels the port forwards.

A satellite above fenced docks, a white sun: girdled.

Liverpool is the centre of human consciousness Ginsberg said – we can’t be called a city unless we look out.

A wheel across the warehouse – an axis in the universe – the square is circled.

Photos: © Gilead Limor & Rina Lyle

Overseas Markets Update

The emergence of the Russian outbound market over the last 10 years has been a windfall for most European destinations, particularly destinations such as Greece and Spain which have had to tackle serious economic issues.

In 2013, 1.2 million Russians visited Greece, up 66% on 2012. Most European destinations experienced an increase in Russian visitors in 2013 including: Spain (28%), France (26%), Italy (31%), Sweden (30%), UK (19%) and Germany (14%).

There was a total number of 54 million outbound visits from Russia in 2013.

However, the most impressive aspect of Russian travellers is not the pure number of visitors, but the level of spend. Russians were the 5th highest spending in the world in 2013 with a total international tourism expenditure of 54.4 billion US dollars, a 25% increase on 2012.

The EU accounts for 31.5% of all Russian travel abroad due to its proximity and despite the barrier of visas.Visa are presently being successfully managed by the opening of Visa centres in most of the key urban centres in Russia (with a population of one million plus).This system is allowing countries like Spain to provide most visas within 48 hours.This has resulted in a proliferation of flights between Russia and Spain, with charter flights from more than 30 Russian regional cities to over seven destinations in Spain One of the main trends from the Russian market has been the huge increase in the number of tourists from the Middle Class, the majority of whom go to destinations like Turkey, Egypt and Thailand, due to the high value of service and warm climate.

The recent annexation of Crimea is unlikely to affect this trend, even though Crimea, without massive investment, will remain the domain of the Russian budget tourist.

However, political implications of Crimea have affected the Russian economy through the devaluation of the Rouble, making travel abroad more expensive.The Russian economy was already starting to slow but the conflict in eastern Ukraine has helped to precipitate this.

Nevertheless the first quarter figures for 2014 did not show a decline and the outbound still grew by 4%. Leading tour

www.tourismsociety.org

Š alexstr – Fotolia.com

Russia and the CIS neighbourhood

operators expect a small decrease by the end of the summer season and one tour operator, Neva Tours, has already been declared bankrupt.

Although Russia is the largest market in the CIS region, most people have little awareness about the impressive growth rates of some of Russia’s oil-rich neighbours such as Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. A number of tourism boards (Dubai,Thailand, Malaysia and Dominican Republic) are setting up offices, though, and luxury hotel chains are starting to think of a market presence. Kazakhstan is a market with highest potential, with a population of 17 million, 10 million visits abroad in 2013, and an average annual increase of 12% per year since 2010.

Moreover tourists are usually rather wellheeled and prefer FIT travel to groups.

Flight openings to Europe are on the increase with routes to Prague and Paris opening by the end of 2014, after the lifting of an IATA ban on flights to Europe.

Issue 159 Autumn 2014

Azerbaijan is smaller country of 10 million people, but with most international flights going to Europe and flights starting to New York this summer, this market is likely proportionally to provide a high percentage of wealthy travellers to Europe. 3 million international visitor trips were made in 2013 and international tourism expenditure was the second highest in the region after Russia and Ukraine.

Targeting these markets is not simple as they will never match the size of Russia or Ukraine and travel exhibitions are not very targeted and rather expensive. For this reason, five years ago we set up the B2B Luxury & MICE workshops specifically to target both markets in a cost effective and time-efficient format.The B2B workshops include up to 14 prescheduled meetings, a presentation on the market trends and statistics as well as a gala evening cocktail for additional networking opportunities.

Helene Lloyd MTS l Director of TMI (Tourism, Marketing & Intelligence), based in Russia

17

Consultancy

Breaking down the barriers Nearly all the Tourism Consultant Network’s 120+ members are selfemployed or work in micro enterprises.

Those of us based in Britain are part of a substantial and rapidly growing sector of the UK economy (self-employment numbered more than 4.5m in May 2014, 14.8% of total employment: source ONS), whose concerns and interests are rarely taken into account by government, despite proclamations of the importance of selfemployment and SMEs in developing a more flexible economy.

Self-employment and running a small business bring pressures that are difficult to fully appreciate for those who have not tried the experience, the most obvious of which is finding reliable and repeat sources of business.

The investment required in continuous self-marketing and in pitching for business is considerable. For many, consultancy is a precarious occupation, demanding plenty of resilience and self-belief, until the happy day when one has refined one’s expertise and acquired the experience and networks that generate regular demand.

In preparation for last November’s well attended TCN discussion-meeting at the World Travel Market (on the subject of improving client-consultant relations), I polled a large sample of established tourism consultants with substantial UK and international experience, to try to identify key constraints and more efficient ways of commissioning and delivering consultancy advice.

Most of the responses related to doing business with public sector bodies in the UK or international agencies (EU, UNWTO, World Bank, etc); a selection of the comments received is given below.

One issue that was mentioned frequently and affects a large proportion of TCN members is the vexed question of procurement. Procurement has now evolved within UK government into a separate branch of activity, with the aim presumably of improving purchasing efficiency.

Most government bodies now employ procurement officers, and they often have a disproportionate influence – in relation to the tourism department that needs the

18

TCN committee deliberating technical expertise – in devising the complex procedures and conditions involved in contract awards.

Procurement policy has quickly spawned a jungle of knotweed-like regulations that grows insidiously and is impossible to prune.

Hearsay suggests that many of the regulations have their origin in Brussels.

Many of them (such as demands for high levels of insurance, even for low value projects) might appear, to the cynical mind, to have been designed by big business with the deliberate intention of keeping small business out.

The TCN committee has resolved to investigate this increasingly aggravating issue.

It has updated the Guidelines to Appointing a Consultant (available on the TS website) and has set up a small working group, led by Chris Evans FTS. One of the first priorities will be to find partners in other sectors who are similarly affected and can add weight to any representations made to government. Any constructive suggestions or offers of help will of course be welcome (consultants@tourismsociety.org).

Issue 159 Autumn 2014

Key consultancy issues 1. Commissioning the project 1.a Scoping To avoid unrealistic or unreasonable demands, ensure that the drafter of the ToR has had first-hand experience of project delivery in the field.

Be realistic in terms of likely constraints and unforeseen events, particularly in countries where the infrastructure and communications are still under development.

1.b Drafting the Terms of Reference A well-researched and drafted project brief (Terms of Reference) is the key to delivering a high-quality outcome, and to avoiding misunderstandings and timewasting.

Be clear about the key purpose of the project, its scope, scale and the deliverables required.The consultant should demand clarification when things are unclear, particularly with regard to technical terms. However, some ToRs seem to be almost deliberately opaque.

Keep the brief as precise and simplyworded as possible, so that the

journal@tourismsociety.org

1.c Tendering Allow sufficient time for proposals to be drafted.

For major projects involving open tendering, use a two stage pre-qualification process, with the initial Invitation to Tender limited to around 10 pages maximum.

Avoid unnecessary time-wasting for all parties by limiting to 3-5 the candidates invited to submit full proposals. Preferably don’t summon more than 3 consultancies to interview.

Consultants responding to an ambiguous or incomplete Invitation to Tender should be careful to specify the deliverables included in the proposal.

1.d Selecting the consultant Whenever possible, choose a consultant you feel comfortable working with.

2. Managing the project Avoid scope/mission creep: don’t allow additional requirements to be tacked on after the project has commenced without proper consultation with the consultant.

That being said, the consultant should be willing – and almost always is – to go

www.tourismsociety.org

© zukhrufeya – Fotolia.com

requirements are unambiguous. Avoid the use of jargon. Some commonly used terms and buzzwords – master plan, marketing strategy, sustainable, innovative – have different meanings for different people: make sure all parties understand what is expected.

Don’t try to cover every possible administrative and legal angle.You are not procuring an aircraft carrier!

It’s unfair/unethical to include cover-all clauses that allow the client to demand unlimited amendments and additional inputs.

Allow adequate time for delivery. Don’t specify inflexible deadlines when most projects are subject to unforeseen events.

Expecting consultants to produce highquality outputs in a very tight timeframe in often uncongenial environments is a big risk – it creates pressure which can have unforeseen consequences and ultimately is unfair to the beneficiary.

Be proportionate. Don’t ask for $5-10M professional indemnity insurance unless the circumstances genuinely warrant it.

Don’t insist that every bidder provide detailed financial and compliance information at the outset: leave it for the shortlisted contenders.

Allow for some flexibility. Be prepared to adjust the ToRs at the Inception Report stage in consultation with the consultant, and also in the course of the project if unforeseen gaps or opportunities appear.

Think ahead and try to build in measures – such as support for implementation – to ensure that the final report doesn’t just gather dust on a shelf.

beyond the specifications of the brief, within limits. He should make clear to the client, diplomatically, when he’s providing added value.

The key to successful delivery is good communication between all parties, so that problems or misunderstandings can be identified early and resolved quickly.

Ensure that the local counterparts providing day-to-day support are adequately qualified for the project, and then ensure that they are closely involved throughout.They need to be given adequate time to do the job, and not be trying to squeeze the project into an already busy work schedule.

The client should see the consultant/counterpart relationship as a valuable opportunity for skills transfer.

The best outcomes are always the result of close co-operation between consultant and client.

Don’t try to squeeze the maximum possible out of the consultant. Work in partnership – adversarial relationships are counter-productive.

Efficient logistical support, a congenial working environment and good administrative support will help significantly in delivering the desired outcome.

Don’t micro-manage the project from a distance: you’ve chosen a professional consultant to do a job and you risk undermining his/her credibility and

damaging relationships.

However, do provide support and guidance when needed.

Don’t use the consultant as a political tool, by putting pressure on him to support a particular policy or position.

3. Budgets and fees When tendering, giving a ballpark indication of the budget envisaged makes it much easier for the consultant to draft a realistic proposal.

Be realistic.The budget should reflect the real costs of time and overheads involved in hiring experienced professional consultants.

Don’t insist on adherence to strict deadlines and then fail to keep your side of the bargain, for example by delaying the settlement of fees (by claiming that payment is the responsibility of a different department).

If per diem expenses are to be included in the consultant’s fee, make sure a generous advance is paid well in time for the consultant to purchase his air ticket and book his hotel. It’s not fair to expect consultants to bear upfront costs.

4.Feedback As a basic courtesy and to draw lessons for the benefit of all parties, the client should have the courtesy to provide basic feedback on the consultant’s outputs.This rarely happens.

Roger Goodacre FTS l Chairman,Tourism Consultants Network

Issue 159 Autumn 2014

19

An interview with...

© dan talson – Fotolia.com

Kit Malthouse

Raising taxes could facilitate infrastructure projects

20

Kit Malthouse entered politics in 1998 as a member of Westminster Council.

In 2008 he was elected to the London Assembly and shortly after was appointed Vice Chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority, a position he held until May 2012 when he was appointed as London's first Deputy Mayor for Business & Enterprise, with tourism also in his brief.

He is also Chairman of London & Partners, the official promotional company for the capital. Executive Director Gregory Yeoman spoke to him about London’s appeal and how he plans to keep it as a leading global city.

GY: What is your favourite littleknown fact about London?

KM: Beneath central London there are several rivers – you can find them if you know where to look. Above the platform at Sloane Square tube station for example you will see a huge metal pipe and if you listen carefully you can hear the River Tyburn running through this. Similarly outside the Coach and Horses pub on Ray Street in Farringdon there’s a grille on the ground and if you listen to the grille you can hear the River Fleet (as in Fleet Street) running underneath it.They are rivers that were put in big pipes when the Victorians rebuilt the city.

GY: Where do you take people who have not visited London before?

KM: Parliament Hill on Hampstead Heath.

A lot of people don’t realise there are high points in London where you can get that kind of view of the whole city without paying for it.

The other area I tend to take them is Green Lanes – it’s not a tourist hotspot but you can get fantastic Turkish food.

GY: Your title is Deputy Mayor for Business and Enterprise and includes responsibility for tourism.

Do you think central government should follow your lead and move tourism from DCMS to the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS)?

KM: It’s a difficult one because tourism is a massive business but it’s also deeply

Issue 159 Autumn 2014

connected to culture. A joint working approach is the most sensible option and works well for us.

GY: With the majority of tourism businesses being SMEs, or even micro-businesses, where do you think the main innovations will come from that will offer them the best opportunities to enhance their competitiveness?

KM: Innovations in travel-technology, which enhance and enable visitors to more conveniently and quickly book travel and experiences from their smart phones, are a great tool. We’re about to launch a travel-tech incubator in London.This initiative is aimed at harnessing the technology that is being developed to improve the efficiency and social connectivity of the capital’s tourism businesses.

GY: What needs to be done to ensure that the balance between London as a living, working city and

journal@tourismsociety.org

© Claudio Divizia – Fotolia.com

The view across London from Primrose Hill London as the ‘London Experience’ GY: London has a fantastic catalogue of heritage venues, but managed mainly as a tourist do you think more could be done to attraction is maintained?

KM: In 2013, London welcomed almost 17 improve the capital's attraction as million overseas visitors, and we did this an international centre of with relative ease.The great thing about excellence for the arts and culture? our capital is that tourists can avoid the KM: Facilitating and encouraging London’s morning and evening commute times, and cultural institutions and major attractions easily move all around the city enjoying to speak with a united voice to the the great institutions like the British international visitor market is a key Museum while Londoners are at work. component of strengthening and amplifying the message that London really There are many other ways in which the is a world cultural powerhouse. We’re balance between the two is achieved. A helping by looking at ways we can great example is Exhibition Road where a promote the knockout temporary huge shared-space project allows the exhibitions in London, such as by millions of tourists visiting the area’s packaging them together. museums to co-exist with the traffic.The most critical factor is public acceptance of The season of exhibitions in London this the industry and its value to both the autumn includes Ming at the British London and UK economies. It is a billionMuseum,Turner at Tate Britain, Rembrandt, dollar industry employing thousands of Constable and a host of others, which is Londoners and which continues to grow. incredibly exciting. We are also We’ve got 30,000 hotel rooms in London investigating whether there is merit in either in planning or being built, which repurposing back office space to house shows the level of expansion – I think great exhibitions like Bowie at the V&A, that’s going to be great for the city and we which was sold out from day one and want everybody to realise that. become a permanent exhibition.

GY: The Mayor of London recently signed a strategic marketing partnership with the Mayor of New York to boost tourism between the two cities. What results have you seen to date?

KM: We’re having real success with our advertising space swap negotiated by London & Partners. It’s a little early to talk about results but it’s certainly been a successful initiative. US visitors to London are our leading market, with 1.8 million visits in 2013, and a spend of £1.5billion, which is why we’re concentrating very hard there to maintain our lead in Europe on American tourists.

GY: If London were to have taxraising powers how do you think this would benefit tourism specifically?

www.tourismsociety.org

Issue 159 Autumn 2014

KM: One of the frustrations in London is that we’re unable to invest in a lot of the infrastructure that we need to make the city function, without negotiating with central Government. With no control over our own finances it takes years to get these kind of things moving. Crossrail, for example, took 30 years to get off the ground because of all the negotiations and of course this project will benefit tourists because they will be able to get from Heathrow to Tottenham Court Road in about 20 minutes. So being able to develop more travel and transport infrastructure in particular would be the main benefit.

GY: Last year you said that other parts of the UK should be allocating tourism budgets to promote London as overseas visitors are more likely to be attracted to the capital before travelling elsewhere in the country. Do you think monies are wasted by destinations outside London to attract overseas visitors?

KM: If we look at the statistics, more than 50% of all overseas visitors to the UK come to London – it’s a vital part of Britain’s tourism industry. London & Partners, of which I am Chair, works closely with VisitBritain and VisitEngland to ensure that we’re joined up in our approach. We call it London Plus and initiatives with Visit Wales, as an example, in packaging a London + Wales trip have been successful so far. It’s about changing perceptions. For example, the average American tourist probably thinks the UK is huge and doesn’t realise that you get from London to beautiful south Wales in just an hour and a half. I think the really simple line is that we all need to work more together on promoting a UK product on which London leads but with Edinburgh, Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester, for example, as a huge part. It’s about putting our best assets out in front and, off the back of that, our little known but gem-like assets – particularly in the more rural areas of the UK. GY: What one policy would you introduce to boost tourism performance nationwide?

KM: I have suggested to ministers that we top slice the tourism budget in the UK and put 20% into a fund which people could bid for, for tourism promotion projects – but only on the basis that they did it jointly with the other regions. So for example Scotland and Wales together, or London and Yorkshire. Everyone who comes to London should be encouraged to go to York. It’s a fabulous city that should be stuffed with Americans in the same way that London is.

We achieve this by continuing to work together and spreading the message that the rest of the UK is on London’s doorstep – usually a train ride away.

21

Corporate Member

Corporate Member

Focus On… freetobook

I recently heard mention that the internet is measured in dog years so for every one year of human advancement there are seven on the net.

Having just fallen for a terrier puppy I can’t help but stretch the analogy to suggest that the internet dog is young, very cute, growing rapidly, learning fast, prone to error and often quite badly behaved.

One of the teething issues we face today is connectivity. In the broadest sense it refers to how a customer finds or is connected with an available service.

What is the most efficient and open way to get a tourism service to a customer? In other words, how do we connect at the lowest cost in an open market?

In a perfect world the solution would be simple: just connect all the available systems for all of the products so any customer can access and purchase any service.

You wouldn't even need much technical advance for this to be possible, the technology is largely available. No doubt there are already many services connected and they continue to grow.

You can go online and find a range of available tourism services and book them.

There are even more services bookable (connected) today than there were yesterday.

So what is the issue of connectivity if it’s not technical? In the physical world goods can travel down roads from supplier to customer; on the internet, the connectivity or ‘roads’ are far less obvious.

But even if they are more difficult to determine on the net they are still there.

Whenever you book a tourism service on the internet there was a route or connection that provided the link.

One example would be a search engine.

You type in a search for a tourism service which returns a certain number of available matches.

The list under your search is likely to be limited – you will not see all available services. What was the editing process?

What are the routes and connections?

How did the list get created?

If it’s not a technical issue another possibility is commercial.The list could be

www.tourismsociety.org

© Shakzu – Fotolia.com

Access and connectivity – fair, level and open?

determined by how much the search engine earns when you book that service.

You would probably view the search engine differently if you knew that the list and therefore your access to a choice of holidays was determined by how much they earned from the list.

Another example might be a review website.You might be reading reviews online and then a search for available services will connect you to a small number of hotels.

Again the question of how that list was compiled comes up; your selection may be determined by hidden factors which you may want to know. Did the hotels have to pay to be listed? Are there better deals for me which are not being shown?

A third example might be a price comparison website.You check your dates to find the best price for the service you want to book.

Issue 159 Autumn 2014

Would it make a difference if you knew that one of the major agencies in the comparison list was owned by the same company as the comparison site?

In years gone by, road owners or controllers would charge merchants a toll for using the roads with access to the market.These very same ancient connections now exist on the internet.

And just like then they determine the businesses that survive, thrive or dive.

The plurality, individuality and diversity of our tourism businesses will to a greater and greater extent be determined by these routes.The internet puppy is young and often quite badly behaved, certainly very good at hiding its wrong doings. We will need a good guard dog to keep it all fair and open. freetobook is a Corporate Member of the Tourism Society

Craig Stewart MTS l Director, freetobook

23

Business Support

It would seem that, as a sector, we have an amazing ability to forget about the impact of this winter’s storms and other similar events all too quickly, rather than use these occasions to step back and take a good look at our business operations and see what we could do to be better placed to cope with any future incident.

It is not just extreme weather or a natural disaster that can severely disrupt (or even destroy) a business.Theft, fire, vandalism, illness, IT problems or loss of data can be just as damaging; it is estimated that 1 in 5 companies suffers a major disruption every five years (Forum of Private Business) – and some never recover.

Back in March,VisitEngland stepped in to help the sector organise a national marketing campaign to aid recovery, developing an online communications guide and funding business advice workshops and one-to-one sessions aimed at supporting not only businesses affected by the adverse weather but also providing advice to help other businesses better prepare for future economic shocks.

While the workshops and advice sessions were tailored to meet local needs, the content was wide-ranging and equally applicable to all businesses. Experts provided free advice on business continuity planning, marketing and social media, IT, legal and consumer issues, finance and insurance in a tourism context - activity relevant to all tourism businesses.

And much of the advice was as valid in normal trading circumstances as in a crisis situation.

Although some 750-plus businesses attended the events, thousands more around the country did not engage. While the short timescales involved in organising and generating interest in the events affected attendance, anecdotal evidence suggested that many organisations simply didn’t see this as a priority. Having been involved in organising events in Lincolnshire, feedback I received included “the floods only affected the coast – it isn’t an issue here” and “what we really need is more marketing, not business advice.” This in spite of the fact that the workshops were positioned around helping businesses prepare for business

24

Ruth Hyde MTS MTMI l LomaxHyde Destination Management and Marketing Consultancy

© jr_casas – Fotolia.com

Weathering the storm – are we really prepared?

disruption and not specifically flooding.

Businesses that did attend workshops or participate in one-to-one sessions rated the experience highly. In the Lincolnshire case benefits ranged from a flood-affected small business finding out where to turn for advice and assistance through to a holiday park getting help in developing a social media plan to communicate with their mobile home owners swiftly and effectively in the event of a future incident.

A VisitEngland survey indicated that 78% of respondents felt they would be more resilient in future and a similar number planned to make changes to their business operations.

So isn’t it about time we all paid more attention to our business operations?

Organising the workshops and listening to the experts was a wake-up call for me as I realised that some of my own business processes were not as robust as they should be.

How many other businesses don’t back up their data on a regular basis, or keep their

Issue 159 Autumn 2014

back-ups in the same location as their computers? So how would you contact your customers/complete your tax returns/know what your future bookings are or manage your business if you lost this data due to a power surge, a small fire or a flood? What would the longer-term impact be? A national marketing campaign is not going to help you if you can’t contact your customers and let them know you are open for business. But backing up your critical business information remotely will help you.

Planning for disruption does not need to be complicated or complex. It is simply a matter of identifying the things that could affect your business, assessing their likelihood and potential impact and putting measures into place to minimise the impact. Put simply, it’s about being prepared.

So the next time someone offers you the opportunity to participate in a free, no strings attached, business support event think carefully before you turn down the opportunity.

journal@tourismsociety.org

Student View

© sunsinger – Fotolia.com

International opportunities, at home and abroad

Off to Argentina to study ecotourism As I grew up in a campsite on the touristic Côte Vermeille in the south of France I have been immersed in the tourism world since childhood and I quickly realised its importance as well as its constraint for the locals.

I have always enjoyed being in a multicultural environment; this is why at age 18 I moved to London. Rapidly I started travelling at any available opportunity, usually to visit friends or to participate in voluntary work, especially through the WWOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) organisation. I had the chance to go to Turkey, Slovenia, Sweden and Argentina – to name just a few. Discovering new countries and cultures became an obsession and working in tourism became an evident career path for me.

In September 2012 I started studying a BA (hons) International Tourism Management with Spanish at Middlesex University.This university initially attracted me with its beautiful green campus as well as its modern facilities, especially the library which offers a great study space.

After having studied at Middlesex for two years I am really glad of my choice since, thanks to a wide range of subjects, I became aware of the multiple sides of tourism. I developed a particular interest in sustainable tourism and all the issues

www.tourismsociety.org

surrounding the development of the tourism industry; this course was a real eye opener for me.

In addition to theoretical subjects like ‘Understanding tourism: social sciences perspective’, this course offers concrete subjects which will be of great use to me when looking for a job. I had the opportunity for example to learn about different research methods and then apply them during a field trip to Mallorca; this was a great experience as well as the perfect way to get a deeper understanding of these research techniques.

As part of the Marketing module I have also been given the chance to work on a real survey project for the North London Literary Festival. I hugely appreciate having knowledgeable and supportive lecturers who always try to give us the maximum opportunities to add experiences to our CV. Being able to gain practical experiences while at university is, I believe, a great advantage.

During this last academic year I have been given the opportunity to work as a student learning assistant.This role was very fulfilling as I have been able to help first year students with their academic studies as well as with their student life in general. Additionally, it allowed me to revise my first year modules and to develop my confidence especially when

Issue 159 Autumn 2014

talking in front of a large audience.

Due to this position I have been offered a place as welfare assistant at the English summer school of the university. I am actually working with a group of students from Hong Kong. It is a very rewarding job as I help them to improve their language skills in preparation for the IELS test and act as their tour guide around London.

Middlesex University also gives me the chance as part of my programme to study in Spain for an entire academic year. Next September I will be a student of the University of Alicante. It is a great opportunity for me to perfect my Spanish and discover a new country but also to study new subjects and hopefully explore a new approach to tourism studies.

This experience will also help me for my last year at Middlesex as I would like to focus my dissertation project on ecotourism in Argentina. I had the chance to travel around this fascinating country and I wish to go back speaking fluent Spanish to be able to carry out a research project.

Once graduated, I wish to continue my studies with a Masters in sustainable tourism in order to specialise on this particular topic.

Hopefully one day I will be able to help develop the tourism industry in a more sustainable way.

Fanny Guillemot l BA (hons) International Tourism Management with Spanish, Middlesex University

25

Corporate Member

Corporate Member

Corporate Member

Corporate Member

Membership News Congratulations to Tourism Society Chairman Sandra Matthews-Marsh FTS who was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in June, and to Viscountess Cobham FTS who was awarded a CBE. Welcome to the following new Company and Corporate Members: Russell Knight MTS and Matthew Cuckston MTS,VisitBritain; Stuart Parish MTS, Lucy Huxley MTS and Mary Rega MTS,Travel GBI; Linda Hall MTS and Victoria Rowan MTS, G4S Assessment Services.

Welcome to the following new

Society members: Adam Reeves, Canterbury Christ Church University; Helen Peters MTS,Value Retail (Bicester Village); Hannah Gayler MTS ATMI, Hampshire County Council; Graham Hukins MTS, Shepherd Neame Ltd;Vania Gobbi MTS, Superjourney; Severine Obertelli MTS, Maxxton; Emma Green MTS, CHR Travel; David Geddes MTS, Colliers International Destination

Consulting; Alice Brown MTS, Capital Region Tourism; Richard Durell MTS, MHA MacIntyre Hudson; Siobhan McGuigan MTS, Oli; Christine Dier MTS, Maidstone Borough Council; Amanda Bond MTS,Visit Suffolk; Holly Buggins MTS,Visit Kent; Ryan Haynes MTS, HomeAway UK Limited.

I Full business and contact details can be found on the Society’s website.

University of Surrey commemorates hospitality and tourism pioneer The late Rik Medlik, a visionary academic who helped to shape the study of hospitality and tourism in higher education, has been recognised by the University of Surrey with the naming of a building on campus in his honour.

The Rik Medlik Building is home to Surrey Business School and the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.

To celebrate the event, the University hosted a gathering of former colleagues, friends and family to pay tribute to Professor Medlik’s life and work.

Described in a tribute by his former colleague Professor David Airey FTS as “a remarkable man who made a remarkable contribution”, Rik Medlik led the case for Surrey to offer degrees in the fields of hotel and catering management in the 1960s.

Subsequently appointed the first professor in the field in the UK, he also provided the first textbooks, established some of the first academic journals and led the group that set up the Tourism Society, the first professional body for tourism in the UK. Professor Medlik was widely renowned for his modern, forward-thinking approach.

This was seen in his efforts to establish

Prof David Airey FTS, Prof Graham Miller, Prof Victor T C Middleton OBE FTS and Ken Robinson CBE FTS at the dedication ceremony links between academia and industry and Management, and in the range of in his recognition, as early as the 1950s hospitality and tourism programmes and 60s, that the future prosperity of offered at the University. In 2013 the countries like Britain lay in service sectors University was presented with the like tourism and hospitality rather than Tourism Society Award in recognition of manufacturing. its work with tourism students for forty Rik Medlik’s legacy at Surrey lives on in years and for pioneering the first the School of Hospitality and Tourism university courses in tourism.

Events September 2014 17th – Tourism Society Westcountry: Tourism, Weather and the Rugby World Cup, Exeter 23rd – Tourism Consultants Network lunch with Peter Long, London. Open to TCN members and Fellows of the Society 25th – Staycation – What’s Next?, London 29th – Media Masterclass, London

www.tourismsociety.org

October 2014 2nd/3rd – Tourism Consultants Network visit to Brussels 7th – Climate Change and Destination Resilience, London

Market 10th/11th – TMI Annual Convention, Stoke on Trent 11th – TCN reception with Simon Calder, London. Also open to Fellows

November 2014 4th – Tourism Consultants Network seminar, World Travel Market 5th – Tourism’s Role in Post-Conflict and Post-Disaster Regions, World Travel

December 2nd – President’s Debate, London

Issue 159 Autumn 2014

January 2015 Date tbc – Prospects 2015

27

The Back Page Chairman’s view with Sandra Matthews-Marsh MBE FTS MTMI You cannot fail to be anything but impressed with the response of destinations and places to visit, corporates and individuals, both overseas and at home, that have embraced commemorating the 100th anniversary of the start of the Great War. From small gestures, like the planting of poppies across the land, to large-scale acts of remembrance we have ensured that the stories of WW1 and its impact on the lives of millions are not forgotten.

In the tourism industry we are used to ‘taking advantage’ of opportunities and marketing hooks related to anniversaries; but this is something different.Those who are involved in packages, re-igniting stories and presenting the details of such a tragic chapter have trodden with care and due deference to the subject matter and in so doing have helped unearth a chapter of history that was falling off the radar.

In Kent the Historic Dockyard at Chatham is telling the story of the ‘Valour, Loss and Sacrifice’ of those lost at sea during the conflict. It’s the personal stories that capture the heart most of all.The fact that the Dockyard, for the first time, had to employ thousands of women, the 16-year old sailor awarded a posthumous bravery medal and four long years of valour, loss and sacrifice – on the home-front and out at sea.These are depicted using first-hand accounts, personal effects and poignant items including paintings, diaries and poetry. Drawn from the national collections of Imperial War Museums and the National Maritime Museum, they are complemented by previously unseen items from The Historic Dockyard’s own collection. A particularly poignant photograph in the exhibition includes the famous war poet Rupert Brooke, who volunteered to join the British Mediterranean Expeditionary Force but died on the way to Gallipoli in 1915. His famous sonnet “The Soldier” captures the mood so delicately. It is easy to forget that

© rodrusoleg – Fotolia.com

Remembering the Great War

a young man died in volunteering to capture through poetry the detail of war – his words are well worth another close read, even if you are familiar with the poem. I was shown the exhibition by Bill Ferris, the CEO of the Dockyard and when we stood and looked at the photograph I commented on the young face of the poet and also two small dogs at the feet of the front row of men – which of course he pointed out weren’t along for the ride but were there to deal with the rats in the hell holes of the trenches.

There are so many projects all over the UK but a particularly important place is the seaside town of Folkestone. A town not well known as THE place from which every one of the millions of soldiers who left these shores to fight on the front departed. Each one of these men who marched through the town and down to

‘As we carefully plot the host of anniversaries and ‘hooks’ ahead of us – we might reflect on the power of these historic stories, and more so of the real people who were the actors in these momentous events, by telling their stories with care and imagination.’

the waiting boats in the harbour on their way to the Western Front between 1914 and 1918 would have gone down ‘The Slope’, as it was then known. At the top of the hill they would have heard the order “Step Short”, an instruction to shorten their stride in order to negotiate the gradient safely.That road is now Folkestone’s Road of Remembrance; the order that was given is the name of the ambitious project to showcase the sacrifice so many of those men went on to make.The Step Short project has restored and replanted the road to the point where it will again be a fitting memorial to the bravery of the millions of soldiers whose footsteps and songs echoed as they marched to and from the harbour. Nearby the poignant Memorial Arch has been commissioned to mark the place where many left British soil never to return.The Arch was officially opened by Prince Harry on the 4th August. We know that as they looked back from the departing ships to the White Cliffs of Dover they prayed that they would soon see them again.

As we carefully plot the host of anniversaries and ‘hooks’ ahead of us – Magna Carta 800, more significant wartime dates, the Battle of Agincourt, Waterloo 200 etc – we might reflect on the power of these historic stories, and more so of the real people who were the actors in these momentous events, by telling their stories with care and imagination.

Closer to home the Tourism Society’s own dates, often in close collaboration with other organisations, especially the Tourism Management Institute and the Tourism Consultants Network, are shaping up nicely. By referring to page 27 you can see what’s coming up. I look forward to meeting Members at our important events and planning the calendar for 2015.

This issue’s articles have been very stimulating and I would like to thank all the contributors.The opinions and views are right ‘here and now’ topics and as we enter a changing year ahead, with the Scottish referendum a few weeks away and a general election less than a year away, we need to be prepared for whatever is coming our way. Good luck!