Tourism - Summer 2014 - issue 158

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Contents

Editorial Celebrate the past but keep businesses moving forwards The cover for this edition of ‘Tourism’ features two people who are having an important impact on the UK’s travel and tourism industry.

On page 18 we learn about a new pilot tourism project which was launched by The Prince's Countryside Fund with the assistance of several Society members and fellows. Immediate Past President David Curtis-Brignell was instrumental in helping the organisation set up the project and TS Cumbria Chairman Charlie Thornton played a key part in the launch event which took part in Penrith at which there was a strong Tourism Society contingent.

Flick through the business pages of any newspaper and you will read plenty about new ventures, or start-ups as they are invariably called. Most often the companies in question occupy trendy (whacky, even) offices on silicon roundabouts or other traffic systems where their cutting edge work in technology promises huge developmental leaps in our lives.

Old companies, sticking to old business models, are confined to concrete culs-de-sac.The oldest tour operating company in the UK,Thomas Cook, was heading right to the end of the cul-de-sac recently but has experienced a renaissance since the appointment of Harriet Green OBE as its new Chief Executive Officer. It takes a bold approach to pull off what Green has done, as well as the skill to carry the existing staff with you and modernise an organisation.

Her commitment and sense of purpose come across clearly in the interview on page 20, along with her enthusiasm for the job.

Holidays might have been around a long time, but new ways of taking them develop all the time. Cycling holidays have really taken off in the last few years, boosted by British performances in the Olympics and Tours de France and the accessibility of two-wheeled exploration to people of all fitness levels.

Gentle road tours, Peak District climbs, Pyrenean cols, knarly mountain bike descents and family bimbles are all increasingly

What Does the Future Hold?:Tourism trends for the next decade Sharon Orrell, Head of Research & Insight,VisitEngland

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Tourism Industry Emergency Response Group (TIER): Managing Britain’s reputation in a crisis Patricia Yates FTS, Director of Strategy and Communications,VisitBritain

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Scottish Independence Referendum:The For and Against for tourism 8-9 Tom Buncle FTS TCN, Managing Director,Yellow Railroad Ltd., Kenneth Wardrop MTS, Kenneth Wardrop Consultancy, Beppo Buchanan-Smith, Managing Director, Eriska Enterprises Case Study:Tren Crucero – Getting heritage back on track in Ecuador Philip Cooke MTS TCN, Managing Director, Destination Marketing Group

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Anniversaries and Travel Writing:Timing is important, but isn’t everything Sally Coffey, Editor, BRITAIN magazine

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Anniversaries and Opportunity: On the Magna Carta Trail Professor Sir Robert M.Worcester, KBE DL, Chairman, Magna Carta 800th Anniversary Commemoration Committee; Deputy Chairman, Magna Carta Trust

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Marketing and PR: Finding this year’s visitors online, through digital, and through social… are you sure it’s your decision?

Philippa Harris MTS, Managing Director,Take One Media Ltd

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Mapping tourism: Putting us on the map – why the symbols matter!

Melanie Osborne, Corporate Communications Manager, Ordnance Survey

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The Rise of the MAMILs: A sideways look at Cycle tourism in the year Le Tour comes to Yorkshire Peter Cole FTS MTMI, Regional Strategy Director, Capital Region Tourism

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The Prince’s Countryside Fund: HRH The Prince of Wales launches Pilot Tourism Initiative to support the UK countryside Dawn Howard, Director,The Prince’s Countryside Fund

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An interview with… Harriet Green, Chief Executive,Thomas Cook

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Student View: MICE Tourism: a new tourism opportunity for Oman Khalid Al Azri,Tourism Affairs Researcher, Ministry of Tourism, Oman MSc Tourism Management, Cardiff Metropolitan University

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Focus On… made: Developing the relationship between tourism and theatreland Jonathan Mountford MTS, Managing Director, made

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Tourism Symposium 2014

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Events calendar and Membership News

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

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catered for and generate an increasing income for local businesses.

On page 16 you can read how through careful analysis of the opportunity Wales has produced a well-structured approach to this particular holiday niche and is reaping the rewards.

Holidays in Scotland will undoubtedly continue after the independence referendum in September but there could be some interesting changes afoot in the way they are priced and packaged if the Yes vote wins. In the future people could well be celebrating the date of the referendum as a significant moment in British/Scottish history – another of the many anniversaries that now drive so much of the tourism offering. All these topics are covered by this edition’s contributors.

Gregory Yeoman MTS Executive Director gregory@tourismsociety.org

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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.

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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.

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What does the future hold?

One of the issues with market research is that it can focus too much on what has happened in the past.

Of course, it’s important to be able to explain market performance, but what everyone really wants to know is what is going to happen next.

Unfortunately, there are no crystal balls, so we can’t say what 2014 will bring, and much less what to expect in 2024.

However, at VisitEngland we’ve been working with futures consultancy Trajectory to identify some of the trends that will impact tourism in the years to come. Some of these will be very familiar, some less so, but all are going to have an influence on visitor behaviour.

Demographic Trends The make-up of the British population is changing. It is relatively well known that we are living in an Ageing Society, with the number of over-55s set to increase by more than 10% over the next ten years.

In part, this is driven by increasing life expectancy (the number of over-80s is set to increase by almost 20% by 2020), implying higher volumes of travellers with accessibility needs.

At the same time, the large baby boomer generation is now at retirement age.

Very different in outlook and lifestyle from previous generations of retirees, and considerably wealthier, they represent an attractive target market to businesses whose products and messaging match their leisure interests.

In parallel, and less widely discussed, is the UK’s Mini Baby-Boom. An increase in the fertility rate means that ten years from now there will be 10% more under-18s in the population than there are at present, giving a boost to those businesses who rely on the family market.

In contrast, there will be fewer people in the 35-49 age group, forming a Squeezed Middle who will have care and financial responsibilities for both younger and older groups, but who may as a result value their leisure time more than ever.

It’s not only the age structure of the population that is changing, but also family groupings. Longer life expectancies mean

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Multi-generation holidays are on the increase more Vertical, Multi-Generational Families, and so more multi-generational trips – recent research from VisitEngland suggests that one in ten over-55s took a holiday or break with their grandchildren last year.

There are also more Untraditional Families, with increasing numbers of single parents, stepparents and gay parents.

Businesses catering for families therefore need to think beyond the ‘traditional’ family group to take advantage of this trend.

The other shift in the population is towards more Ethnic Diversity, with the last census showing black and ethnic minority groups accounting for a higher proportion of the population than in 2001, as well as highlighting increasing numbers of UK residents born outside the country.These markets are not always well understood, but could represent a significant growth opportunity in future.

Economic Trends The recent economic downturn has been the longest, and very nearly the deepest, in living memory, and it has had a significant impact on consumer behaviour, with 90% of the population claiming that they have engaged in some cost-saving behaviour, and four in ten cutting back on holiday

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Tourism trends for the next decade

spending.

Although the economy has now emerged from recession, there are signs that many recessionary behaviours are deeply entrenched, at least in the medium term.

For many people, the impacts of the downturn will continue to be felt for some years to come, with real wage growth now only just moving ahead of inflation after a number of years of decline.

This means that growth in Consumer Confidence is likely to be steady rather than dramatic.

In the meantime,Value Hunters are still willing to spend time and go to extra lengths to find the best deal, facilitated by the proliferation of deal and money saving websites.

It’s worth considering here that younger age groups have made purchase decisions in this way through most of their adult lives, and so have no pre-recession norm to revert to.

The desire to save money isn’t always due to financial constraints. Almost two thirds of the population engage in Discretionary Thrift, agreeing that they “like to find bargains, even when they don’t need to save the money,” up from 51% two years ago.

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One of the effects of these behaviours is a decline in brand loyalty, or Mercurial Consumption, where price becomes the main determinant of choice.

On the one hand, these trends suggest that the appetite for limiting expenditure by taking domestic rather than overseas breaks – the ‘staycation’ effect – is not likely to disappear suddenly.

The challenge for businesses will be in delivering perceived value to costconscious consumers without harming profit margins, underlining the importance of differentiated product offerings and added value.

Consumer and Technology Trends Although the financial environment will continue to affect consumer behaviour for some time to come, there are many other influences on holiday-taking behaviour.

One trend to emerge in recent years is the growth in the Play Society, as people increasingly prioritise their leisure activities.

We might expect that in a recession, leisure spending would be an area where consumers would seek to save money, allowing them to focus on the basics, but this hasn’t been the case.

This is clear in the chart above, which

shows how household spending on recreation and culture has grown steadily in recent years, even as overall household expenditure declined.

The growth in Internet Usage has facilitated this trend, making more information about more holiday and leisure experiences available to ever more people.The need for a compelling online presence is now widely understood, although the speed and extent of the trend to Mobile First may not be as widely known.

With half the population now owning a tablet, and over 70% a smartphone, searching, booking and paying via mobile devices will become the norm, disadvantaging any business not allowing for this.

Although use of Social Media is still skewed towards younger demographics, it is not their exclusive preserve, now used by half of 35-54s and one in three in the 55+ group.

It has become a core information source, with nearly four in ten domestic holiday takers going online to discuss, upload photos or review the trips they take.

Understanding, managing and exploiting the opportunities offered by this communication channel will therefore

‘With half the population now owning a tablet, and over 70% a smartphone, searching, booking and paying via mobile devices will become the norm, disadvantaging any business not allowing for this.’

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remain vital to businesses.

The window into others’ lives that social media gives us is fuelling another trend, FOMO, or the Fear of Missing Out. The more people know about how others spend their leisure time, the greater the pressure to keep up.

This is also linked to the idea of Cultural Capital – with conspicuous consumption out of fashion, unique experiences and new skills gained are a way to increase social standing, a real opportunity given the UK’s diverse product offering.

The downside of this is the Time Poverty that many of us feel when trying to balance busy work and leisure lives, and keep abreast of the masses of information that we are faced with each day, with 60% of 18-54 year olds saying that they often feel under time pressure.

Easy-to-take domestic breaks can tap into this trend, especially if businesses can respond to the related Demand for Simplicity, helping people to simplify their planning process.

To sum up – we can’t truly know what the next decade will bring, and there are bound to be surprises along the way.

However, by considering how changes in demographics, technology and consumer needs are likely to influence trip-taking behaviour, we can be certain of being in a better position to meet whatever lies around the corner.

For more information about this project and all the trends listed, go to www.visitenglandtrends.com.

Sharon Orrell l Head of Research and Insight VisitEngland

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Tourism Industry Emergency Response Group (TIER)

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Managing Britain’s reputation in a crisis

The recent adverse weather and flooding in England and Wales is the first ‘crisis’ to affect British tourism since before the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games.

In quiet times, it is easy to forget the potential for a crisis to deter visitors from travelling and to have a severe impact on the tourism industry – be that as a result of an extraordinary event which has an immediate and/or sustained impact, such as the July 7 bombs in 2005 or extreme weather, or as a result of an extraordinary response from media or industry to an event that is non-critical to the tourism industry such as foot and mouth disease (FMD) or Swine ‘Flu. Britain is now the fifth most competitive visitor economy in the world, according to the World Economic Forum.

Tourism is currently worth £127 billion a year to the UK economy and provides jobs for 3 million people (9.6% of UK employment) throughout the UK.The

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2013 Anholt-GfK Nations Brand Index (NBI) also shows that Britain is ranked third for overall nation brand and fourth for culture and tourism.

People now see Britain as more friendly and welcoming, with Britain ranking in the top 10 for its welcome and in the top 20 for beautiful countryside.

In 2001, the media, unwittingly aided by the industry, fuelled speculation and misinformation on foot and mouth disease, creating a crisis for British tourism where the actual event had not.

Combined with the effects of 9/11, the crisis cost the industry more than £3billion. It took the industry more than four years to recover to pre-2001 levels.

The potential detrimental impact of our fragmented industry had been exposed and as a result,VisitBritain, the strategic body for inbound tourism to Britain, established the Tourism Industry Emergency Response Group (TIER).

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The Group is a collaborative vehicle and its aim is to provide a coordinated crisis response across the tourism industry. Its core objectives are to: I Provide accurate, consistent information to reassure and inform visitors I Promote a clear ‘business as usual’ message in UK and international media I Ensure media worldwide and the UK government are given consistent messages from Britain’s tourism industry I Limit speculation and provide the authoritative impact assessment I Leverage opportunities to demonstrate consumer confidence and kick-start recovery.

By coordinating intelligence to and from a fragmented industry, we can avoid information overload and mixed messages to media, government and consumers.

Comprising over 10 industry representatives, members of the group include the Association of British Travel

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Agents, UKinbound, British Hospitality Association,Tourism Alliance, Britain’s national tourist boards, British Airways and the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions.

Other groups are called on depending on the location and the nature of the crisis.

The structure of the group ensures that TIER can disseminate information to 75% of UK tourism operators and overseas markets within 24 hours.

Given VisitBritain’s national overview, our links to the appropriate government departments as well as tourism delivery organisations throughout the UK and our broad perspective – unlike a private sector business, our organisation does not stand to lose substantial income because of a crisis – we are well placed to lead the group.

Our presence in market also provides invaluable insights into the changing landscape and its effect on travel to the UK from overseas.

Since the group was established in 2001, TIER has managed the tourism industry response to a number of crises, including the July 2005 terrorist bombings in London, security alerts, Avian Influenza outbreaks in Scotland and Suffolk, FMD, bombings in London and Glasgow, flooding in 2007, 2009 and 2014, swine flu, volcanic ash and the 2011 riots, as well as undertaking crisis planning for a number of scenarios.

Its accomplishments are proven.The greatest measurement of the success of a crisis communications campaign is the lack of sensational headlines and stories on the impact on Britain’s visitor economy.

Take as an example the bombings in London in 2005 – one of the first significant crises to see TIER put into action. By bringing together Britain’s vast and fragmented tourism industry to communicate with one voice, the resulting coverage, in reference to tourism, was balanced, accurate and relayed the key messages.

Whilst Britain did see a downturn in visitors immediately following the bombings, the impact was short-lived and overall visitor figures for 2005 showed a record year with an 8% increase in visitor numbers compared to 2004.

Of course the media landscape has changed significantly since 2005. In August 2011, civil disturbances across England (particularly concentrated in a number of London boroughs, as well as the cities of Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Nottingham and Bristol) could be described as the first social media crisis for the UK tourism industry collectively.

At the height of the disorder, some Governments issued travel advisories warning their citizens to pay attention to large crowds, avoid troubled areas and to follow instructions of security staff if they were in the UK. VisitBritain activated TIER to ensure that

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TIER – providing a clear, coordinated message the UK tourism industry had full access to the relevant facts, as well as to coordinate any industry action and to agree communications and statements.

As well as using traditional media, social media was a critical channel to provide reassurance and to show business as usual in Britain. Once again, this united approach ensured that whilst there was some weakening in bookings initially, the reaction was not long-lasting.

It goes without saying that as well as ensuring robust crisis communications management plans are in place, planning is key to success.Through scenario planning exercises – be that around possible terrorist attacks where our industry is a target or around outbreaks of diseases – TIER has been able to test the industry’s communications response.

The exercises mean that the group has an understanding of who has control of the operational response, what that response will be, and what the likely impact on the tourism industry is going to be.

By identifying and considering different scenarios before a crisis occurs, we are able to create appropriate, effective and timely responses.

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The widespread flooding across parts of Britain in winter 2013/14 presented a significant challenge to the tourism sector.

It was not the first time that TIER has responded to adverse weather conditions.

While not downplaying the seriousness of the situation in certain parts of the country, the nature of media coverage meant that perceptions of the scale of the problem were exaggerated, affecting not only businesses and areas that have been directly affected by the weather, but also those that had not.

The group worked quickly to co-ordinate the industry’s response and address misconceptions with a resounding message of ‘business as usual’ across traditional and social media. In response to industry concerns, the Government pledged a £2million tourism package for the industry in order to support affected destinations and help tourism businesses get back on their feet in the aftermath.

Whilst there were reports of trip cancellations and postponements from domestic and near European markets, if past experience is anything to go by, thanks to industry collaboration through TIER, the impact should be short-lived.

Patricia Yates FTS l Director of Strategy and Communications VisitBritain

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Scottish Independence Referendum

Introduction “Bluff, bluster and bullying” or “scaremongering”?

These are charges thrown at each other by the ‘Yes’ and ‘Better Together’ campaigns as they battle for the hearts, more than the minds, of Scots voters in the forthcoming referendum on independence.

Initially the debate was characterised more by insult than intelligence – more antagonism than analysis. But, as the campaign hots up and is looking increasingly too close to call, political and economic commentary has become more informed and analytical.

It is important to recognise two things: This is not about whether Scotland could stand alone economically.That is beyond dispute, as confirmed by both Alastair Darling, leader of the ‘Better Together’ campaign, and the Fiscal Commission Working Group, which included two Nobel economic laureates.

Nor is it about political parties.

Paradoxically, a Unionist government could be elected to run an independent Scotland; or a Nationalist government could still govern if Scotland votes to remain in the UK. Rather, it is about deciding the best constitutional arrangements for Scotland’s future. Whatever happens, that future will be different: whether independence, ‘devo plus’ or ‘devo max’.

Here proponents of both perspectives present their assessments of the implications for the tourism industry.

Tom Buncle FTS TCN l Managing Director, Yellow Railroad Ltd The ‘independence dividend’ for Scottish tourism The case for Scottish Independence is based on the premise that only full selfdetermination will give Scotland the ‘full suite of powers’.

A ‘yes’ vote on 18 September 2014 will secure the necessary range of ‘fine-tuned’ policy responses.These will enable the Scottish Government to address the

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The For and Against for tourism

tourism industry’s specific business needs through interventions that are matched to Scotland’s distinctive economic and market environment.

Tourism and economic policy has been a devolved matter to the Scottish Parliament since 1999.

The Scottish Government has prioritised investment to support tourism through the work of VisitScotland, EventScotland, Scottish Enterprise, Historic Scotland, and CreativeScotland, and in major capital projects in recognition of the value of the visitor economy to Scotland.

There is a clear divergence in approach between Holyrood and Westminster, where the UK Coalition Government abolished the English Regional Development Agencies and slashed VisitEngland’s budget.

However, there are currently many reserved matters that adversely impact on Scotland’s global competitiveness.

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For example, UK visa policies (opting out of Schengen), high levels of fuel duty and VAT compared to competitor destinations, and of course Air Passenger Duty (APD).

Scotland’s distance from market and geography create competitive challenges for the destination. Scotland’s reliance on air connectivity makes the issue of APD especially important.

The Scottish Government White Paper: Scotland’s Future:Your Guide to an Independent Scotland (November 2013) states that on independence APD will be cut by 50% with the intention to abolish it fully. “Scottish independence could be a ‘positive development’ for British Airways”, according to Willie Walsh, commenting that the Scottish Government recognised the ‘huge impact’ air passenger duty had on the economy.”

While Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary states that a drop in APD would see “travellers to Scotland double over a five to ten year

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period benefitting job creation and tourism.” [Source: bbc.co.uk/news].

The Scottish Government has stated VAT on tourism will be reduced following independence. Fergus Ewing, Scottish Government Minister for Tourism, recently stated: “we are aware that other independent countries like Ireland and Portugal have cut VAT on tourism and gained considerably as a result”. 24 out of 28 EU countries charge less VAT on tourism than the UK – this is the type of proactive policy action that will address competitive issues facing Scotland.

The White Paper explores the positive impacts of Scotland gaining its voice on a global stage, maximising networks such as Global Scots, and benefits from extending the nation’s ‘political and cultural diplomacy’, resulting in a significant boost for ‘Brand Scotland’.

A recent survey by TLF Research for Dunira Consulting asked: “Thinking about Scotland as a tourism destination, if it became independent, would this affect your decision to go there?”The vast majority (85%) said “it would make no difference”. Of the 15% that thought it would make a difference, 43% said that independence would make them “want to visit more.” Scotland’s allure for UK residents as an ‘exotic’ destination it seems will be enhanced by independence.

18th September will see intense global media focus on Scotland, the referendum representing an exemplar of democracy in action.

This coupled with the re-establishment of a fully independent nation creates the potential for an ‘independence dividend’ for Scotland in the years ahead.

Kenneth Wardrop MTS l Kenneth Wardrop Consultancy

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Why we are better together When asked where I come from and my nationality, I would always reply Scotland and Scottish, long before Britain and British, so this is not an argument about my patriotism or loyalty to my country.

It is important that I make this point as the decision we make as Scots on 18th September is one we must make using our heads and not our hearts – it’s a decision which will affect not only our lives but our children’s lives; it is important and it will be life changing, and therefore it is essential that we make the most informed, balanced judgement.

Tourism and hospitality thrive on stability and consistency and therefore any change to the status quo, however minor, will have an impact and more importantly any change which raises a sense of uncertainty – especially in a world of 24 hour news and with a breadth of choice of destination – is clearly going to have a key factor in destination selection.

I cannot predict what will happen in our ever-evolving world but where possible I do want to select the known parameters reducing risk and increasing our ability to plan for the future.

Britain is a land of diverse geography, ideology, culture and needs, but it is this wonderful mix which makes us such an attractive destination. It is our common tax system, currency and employment laws which allow freedom of movement and draw others to visit, to work and to live.

No system is perfect and our current system has flaws – as would any other introduced – but a central united defence and foreign policy helps our voice be heard in this huge world, extends our reach in world markets by working with other parts of the country and, most importantly for tourism and hospitality, it

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keeps our biggest market – south of the border – with least barriers and most to gain from.

We already have limited control over our healthcare, education and legal system and these should continue to devolve from central government as they are best being controlled or at least shaped by those closer to the coalface who understand the diverse cultural implications.

There are arguments to be had about our social policies, our political direction and our individual identity which may also need to differ from other parts of the country, but the economic cycle ebbs and flows – as has been highlighted over the last 5 years – and having a central stability and diverse economy is a strength and not a weakness.

Having differing markets and industries helps spread the risk.

In short, we do need more autonomy, not less, but we do benefit from the balance of, and support from, others within the United Kingdom – and most importantly others within the United Kingdom benefit from Scotland’s views and input.

Every relationship is about give and take but most importantly it is also about a continually evolving balance which will ebb and flow with time; providing it is done gradually and with consideration this can only bring benefit in the long-term.

Others may highlight that with change and risk comes opportunity, but I do not wish to gamble with the next generation’s future, and therefore I will be voting to stay within the Union of the United Kingdom.

Beppo Buchanan-Smith l Managing Director, Eriska Enterprises

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Case Study:Tren Crucero

Getting heritage back on track in Ecuador Tourism planners across the globe have a new benchmark to measure their work against, but they will have to travel to Ecuador to fully understand how a tourism project can be used to re-connect a nation with its history and revitalise the economies of remote rural communities.

Tren Crucero, or the ‘Cruise Train’, is a four-day, three-night heritage train journey between Guayaquil on Ecuador’s Pacific seaboard and the nation’s capital city, Quito, located in the high Andes.

It travels along a breath-taking railway line which, when first constructed over 100 years ago, was one of the world’s greatest feats of railway engineering.

But, unstable geology and extreme weather conditions damaged the track so badly that, in 1998, it had to be abandoned.This closure became a metaphor for Ecuador’s struggling economy until, in 2007, the country’s newly elected President, Rafael Corrrea, personally decreed that the track should be repaired and re-opened.

His vision was of a tourism-only heritage train service that would use authentic steam engines and traditional rolling-stock to take international visitors and Ecuadorians alike into the heart of this extraordinary country and boost its struggling rural economy.

Six years and $280m later,Tren Crucero made its maiden voyage.

This is a slow train; it travels at a pace which relaxes the mind and stimulates the senses. It pulls four carriages built in the Spanish Baroque style, the first two of which can comfortably seat up to 54 passengers.The third carriage has a bar and lounge area and the fourth carriage has an outdoor observation deck, just like in the movies!

The train stops frequently, visiting tourist attractions and indigenous rural communities where meals, snacks, souvenirs and crafts are purchased, delivering thousands of tourism dollars to where they are most needed.

On day one Tren Crucero travels across Ecuador’s coastal plain, through lush pineapple, banana, sugar cane and cocoa plantations.The landscape then changes dramatically on days two and three as it

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climbs over 4,000 metres, negotiating the infamous Devil’s Nose and the awesome Avenue of the Volcanoes. Day four includes a visit to the Cotopaxi National Park and the run up to Quito, UNESCO’s first ever World Heritage City.

The UK Marketing Campaign Ecuador’s national railway company, Ferrocarriles del Ecuador, appointed The Destination Marketing Group in late 2012 to promote Tren Crucero to the UK’s long haul travel industry, using a combination of travel trade PR, tour operator liaison, networking at travel industry events, Enewsletters, sales calls and staff training.

The principal objective of the campaign was to recruit those UK tour operators who specialised in Latin American or railbased holidays so that they could act as distributors and retailers for Tren Crucero and ‘sell’ it to potential UK holidaymakers.

Securing media exposure for Tren Crucero was relatively straightforward. It was a new and exciting project and we obtained good early coverage in most of the major travel industry titles, including

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‘Selling Long Haul’ and ‘ASTAnetwork’ magazines.

We also worked with UK Tour Operators to send journalists and travel writers on the train and this was rewarded by consistently positive editorial coverage in most of the national dailies, including the Times, the Independent, the Guardian and the Financial Times, etc.

Tren Crucero’s Commercial Director, Jose Quintero and I attended the 2013 World Travel Market and toured London to brief Tour Operators about the launch of Tren Crucero and establish the personal relationships that are so important to international commerce.

And it worked. By the end of 2013, the UK was providing Tren Crucero with as many passengers as the USA, a market five times larger, much closer to Ecuador and with good air connections.

In November 2013 Tren Crucero won the British Guild of Travel Writers Best ‘Wider World’Tourism Project award. It was then included in Wanderlust magazine’s ‘Twenty Journeys That Will Change Your Life’ and CNN’s ‘11 Places to Go in 2014’.

Philip Cooke MTS TCN l Managing Director, Destination Marketing Group

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Anniversaries and Travel Writing Timing is important, but isn’t everything This year Britain will mark several significant anniversaries: it’s the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War – which incidentally was the same year as the birth of Wales’s most famous son, Dylan Thomas – and it is also the 450th birthday of another famous poet and playwright, a certain William Shakespeare.

Cue lots of articles on similar themes being rushed out by editorial teams that have all come up with the same ‘great idea’ (and I include myself here).

I can imagine that this could become irksome to readers and even tourism destinations or attractions that have no big anniversaries to speak of, nor any on the horizon. However, there are several good reasons why anniversary articles are so popular.

As an editor I am always looking for a hook for a story, something to grab the reader’s attention and draw them in, and a significant date that helps us revisit a certain period of history is a very useful angle.

That’s not to say we can’t write about places linked to historical events or people if there are no celebrations coming up – to the contrary, I have just published articles on smugglers in London and the places linked with Arthurian legend purely because they were great stories that fit with our brand proposition.

But as editor of a magazine that focuses on British travel enthused with culture and heritage (the official magazine of VisitBritain), I would not be doing my job properly if I didn’t run articles on Britain during the First World War, nor could I ignore the Bard of Avon’s big birthday.

Aside from the obvious fit with our readers, with the growing importance of digital and social media, if I had refused to put any Shakespeare content up on our website on 23 April this year I would have missed out on a lot of potential traffic and good consumer engagement. Perhaps this is one reason why there has been an upsurge in anniversary articles over the last few years: we need to cater our content for the terms people are searching for at any given time.

In my corner of the market, which includes castles, stately homes and

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Sally Coffey l Editor, BRITAIN magazine

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museums, I believe the marketing drive has got a lot savvier and PRs have got better at targeting us editors with ideas we can’t refuse.Very often the stories that pique my interest have something to do with an upcoming anniversary.You only have to look at some of the creative ideas coming out of places such as Blenheim Palace, which is holding an exhibition about its role as a convalescent hospital for wounded soldiers during the Great War, to see that in this competitive market everyone has to work a bit harder to get noticed.

Sometimes a date will grab me but it’s through my subsequent investigations that I uncover a bigger, better story. In my last issue I needed a London palace to write about for a series we were running when an email pinged into my inbox about Kew Palace.The reason the PR was promoting

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it was because it was 300 years since the start of Georgian reign; however, what interested me was that although I had spent many days as a child picnicking and playing in Kew Gardens, I knew scarcely nothing about the palace.

My journey there revealed other surprises too, and through the exhibits of the young King George III I learned about a man who had a lust for life and the arts, and who genuinely loved his wife and children.

A far cry from the ‘mad king’ the history books focus on, and for me the secret life and palace of the king was the real story.

So yes, First World War stories and articles on Thomas will come from the BRITAIN camp this year, but my biggest drive is to bring stories to readers that they might not have heard before and I promise to keep striving to achieve this, anniversary or not.

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Anniversaries and Opportunity

On the Magna Carta Trail 2015 sees the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta – the Great Charter.This significant historical moment is worth celebrating in its own right but is also something that should be welcomed by tourism businesses as a great opportunity.

Magna Carta, which enshrined the Rule of Law and limited the power of authoritarian rule, can fairly be called ‘Britain’s greatest export’. It is the foundation stone supporting the freedoms enjoyed by hundreds of millions of people in more than 100 countries.

The Charter was sealed beside the Thames at Runnymede in 1215, when the barons reached an agreement with King John to restore civil justice, provide trial by jury, develop standard weights and measures, guarantee protection of women and children from royalty’s ‘divine rights’ and introduce some measure of human rights.

The Magna Carta Trust, with HM the Queen as its Patron, established the 800th Anniversary Commemoration Committee to co-ordinate commemoration activities, raise the profile of the anniversary and deliver a number of key national and international aspirations. Details and the newsletter are at www.magnacarta800th.com.The Queen intends to be at Runnymede on 15th June 2015 for the 800th anniversary Commemoration.

A major project of the committee was to develop a ‘Magna Carta Trail’ encompassing the key places associated with the story, which will be rewarding for young and old, and most certainly fun.

The work for the Trails is being undertaken by the Magna Carta 800 Tourism Working Group, led by Amanda Cottrell OBE and her team at Visit Kent; the funding partners include Faversham Town Council, City of London,Visit Wiltshire, Salisbury Cathedral,Visit Lincoln, Lincoln Cathedral,Visit Surrey,Visit County Durham, Worcester and Temple.

For more information about the partnership and to get involved, contact Lynnette.crisp@visitkent.co.uk.

Sample Magna Carta itineraries can be downloaded from www.visitkent.co.uk/magnacarta and a consumer facing Magna Carta Trails

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Magna Carta memorial, Runnymede brochure is being prepared and is launching soon.The tourism industry will be the first to see it.

Many events are planned, from the barons gathering in Berkeley Castle to the siege of Rochester Castle, alongside scores of battlefield re-enactments.There will be evensong and services at Cathedrals; books and plays (“The Great Charter”); concerts throughout the country; plus essay, poetry and debating society competitions.

The British Library will be staging the biggest exhibition it has ever held, where the 1215 versions in their possession will be on display.

Other exhibitions include those at Britain’s National Archives, the London Guildhall and all the Magna Carta towns’ Cathedrals and Town Halls across the county.

All ten Magna Carta towns and a further 29 towns and villages with links with the barons are organising their commemorations, from Salisbury, Lincoln, Durham, Oxford, Hereford and London through to Canterbury, Rochester and Faversham in Kent.

In November this year, 2014, Bury St. Edmunds will be the focus, recognising the barons’ meeting 800 years ago where they

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had to choose between civil war to bring down ‘Bad’ King John or securing an agreement with him.

With so many events and things to see it provides huge potential for domestic and international visitors alike.There will be plenty of ways to spend money, entertain the kids, and, perhaps most importantly, learn about something relevant to their lives which they’ll take home, tell their friends and remember for the rest of their lives.

The American Bar Association (which created the Magna Carter Memorial at Runnymede), International Bar Council, and lawyers everywhere will be looking for tour operators, travel agents, airlines, coach companies and rail deals to organise a once in a lifetime experience for them here, in Great Britain, for 2015.

Now is the time to start planning, if you haven’t done so already.The Magna Carta 800 website holds the current list of events and information on the sites connected to the story and provides all the information you need.

My thanks to the team at Visit Kent – Amanda Cottrell, Sandra Matthews-Marsh, Lynnette Crisp and the rest of the gang – for organising The Magna Carta Trail.

Professor Sir Robert M.Worcester, KBE DL l Chairman, Magna Carta 800th Anniversary Commemoration Committee; Deputy Chairman, Magna Carta Trust

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Marketing and PR

Finding this year’s visitors online, through digital, and through social… are you sure it’s your decision?

For an industry that utilises a wide variety of media in its quest to attract more customers, it is very depressing that at virtually every conference or talking-shop the main headline promotes the view that social media and digital are the only channels to be used.

Even at our own successful Tourism Society Prospects Debate in January, the focus was on these new media to the exclusion of anything traditional – giving a misleading view to those less experienced of what is actually happening in the tourism market at the moment.

Mike Bugsgang’s piece in the last journal (‘The End is nigh for PR – Read all about it online’) challenged the notion put forward by many that communicating via magazines and newspapers is dead; this a similar cry to the one I hear in relation to the marketing of attractions, destinations, theatres and events using printed literature – that brochures and leaflets no longer bring visitors to the door.

This is despite significant evidence to the contrary.

Take One’s own research (conducted by BDRC) suggests that as many as one in three visits to an attraction is as a result directly or indirectly of picking up a brochure or leaflet, and almost all visitors arrive at their destination with decisions still to make about which attractions to visit and use leaflets to inform their decision. In addition, many attractions report up to as much as 30% of their customers visit after picking up a leaflet, which is why they give Take One Media more than 80 million leaflets and brochures a year to display.

This does not mean that things are not changing – they are; but perhaps not as quickly as some suggest, and not to the complete exclusion of advertising and printed material. It’s just not that simple…

We need to go back to the question of what each channel is doing for the brand in question – do we really believe that offering a brand only through digital channels will bring the greatest response and, as a result, the greatest number of sales? Do we really buy into the fact that a

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Philippa Harris MTS Managing Director, Take One Media Ltd

consumer is only affected at one point in the decision-making process and/or only ever accesses information in one way? I don’t think so.

We should let the consumer drive the process and choose which channel they want to use and at what point in time. We should supply the information they need at a time and in a way they want, enjoy and find useful. Our focus should be first to understand exactly what the customer needs, and then spend time designing the content to maximise the usage of the information.

And are we really only interested in immediate sales and not in building the brand over time? There is evidence that traditional media, like TV and print, contribute more than digital to long-term brand awareness and engagement. Why else would some purely online brands invest in these traditional channels?

For example, online fashion sites such asos.com and netaporter.com and online

kids' game Moshi Monsters have really made the most of delivering information across all channels including the traditional and each now publishes print magazines as a mechanism to further engage customers.

And there must be a good reason that other online brands like Moneysupermarket.com and Google are amongst the biggest TV advertisers.

So where will this all end for the distribution of information in the tourism industry? The positive is that consumers will always want information about available tourism opportunities; and at present print is a critical element of the marketing mix.

But there are likely to be big changes ahead – we don’t know exactly how big these changes will be or when they will happen, but keeping an open mind on what will happen is the best approach, and building a future model that allows digital, social and print to work together must be the answer for the foreseeable future.

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Maps for Leisure

The rise of map symbols Maps have been in the news recently with reports of the uptake in sat navs, apps and electronic devices leading to a decline in sales of paper maps.

However, Ordnance Survey still remain totally committed to its popular range of orange and pink paper maps; you can witness their use on sunny weekends in tourist destinations as people wander around, enjoying the countryside, with a paper map in a plastic carry case hung around their neck.

It was not always like this. Ordnance Survey was established to provide maps for defence, the first one, of the south coast of England, being created in 1801 to give accurate information to help against invasion. For a hundred years this remained their main purpose and although public access to the sheets was allowed it was readily removed in times of conflict.

From the early part of the 20th Century, however, things began to change as the public’s enthusiasm for day-trips and countryside exploration increased.

Tourism was on the rise, and ever since it has had an influence of the design and content of maps.

Originally it was the covers of the maps that reflected the new focus, with young people enjoying hearty excursions, but towards the end of the last century the information printed on the maps themselves reflected their growing importance as tools for the leisure enthusiast.

OS ‘leisure’ mapping began in the 1970s.

Published at 1:50 000 scale, maps of key tourist areas really grasped the public’s imagination and led to demand for coverage of other areas in the country. By the 1980s, Ordnance Survey were printing paper maps covering the whole country and had extended the range to 1:25 000 scale, with more detail showing footpaths, rights of way and bridleways – ideal for walkers.This led to an increase in the number of map symbols needed to explain what was on the map.

Most tourists will be familiar with the Ordnance Survey’s over 50 ‘tourism’ mapping symbols – pubs, campsites, churches with spires and towers (although who can remember which is which?).They point out where things are across the

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country and allow tourists to plan their trips – working out where the best viewpoint is, highlighting the pubs and helping to navigate across the countryside.

Some are based on the British Standard’s Public Information symbols, but may have been cartographically styled to make them appear clearer when viewed on a paper map with contours, buildings, roads and other information. Others make use of the relevant owners’ logo (such as individual National Parks), whilst a final group have been designed by Ordnance Survey to simply illustrate what’s on the ground.

Of these map symbols, some 80% are used regularly and will be reasonably well known. Others are rarer, including the electric boat charging point symbol – which appears on only one map, perhaps unsurprisingly in Norfolk.

The symbols are designed to be easily understood – ideally without the need to

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refer to the legend – but they should also accurately reflect what’s there without obscuring the detail of the countryside the map is portraying. New symbols are added to the range when a need is identified; the last batch was added in 2009 and included symbols for boat hire, cycle hire, craft centres and National Trails.

Occasionally symbols are changed.The original beer glass symbol was changed to make it look less like a petrol pump. Not something you would really want to get mixed up! And others are under review to make sure that they are still relevant to a modern audience.

As we move into a digital age, map symbols will remain an important indicator of what’s on the ground and are here to stay. Even if you are out for a walk using mapping on an electronic device, you are still going to want to know where you can stop for a rest. Now, what was the symbol for a pub?

Melanie Osborne l Corporate Communications Manager, Ordnance Survey

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The Rise of the MAMILs

A sideways look at Cycle tourism in the year Le Tour comes to Yorkshire

‘Cycling is the new golf ’ – or so the article on Radio 4’s Today programme recently intoned.

The thesis went something like this: the typical golf demographic (well heeled, brand conscious, tech-obsessed, competitive and, yes, male) is discarding the garish Argyll pullover and, instead, squeezing into a Rapha replica racing jersey. As with golf, there is no end to the ‘names’, technology, clothing, accessories and techniques that can be bought, customised and tweaked to improve performance.The UK is now home to a revival of bespoke frame makers and specialist bike builders, all doing excellent business.

But does this new breed of cyclists – the MAMILs (Middle Aged Men in Lycra), increasingly hunting in tightly-clad packs

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down a lane near you – represent a wider trend and, more importantly, a valid opportunity for us in tourism?

From a position at the end of the last decade when less than one third of British adults owned bikes (and almost half of those sat, flat-tyred, unridden and unloved, at the back of the garage), ownership and participation rates are now rising steeply.

A number of factors may be at play here: Chic not Geek – Mintel analysis points to the zeitgeist of ‘recession chic’ for the consumers they identify as ‘ Frugal Fashionistas’. In addition, the relative cost of buying and owning a bike has fallen dramatically and the ‘barriers to entry’ are minimal (no licence, access or membership fees). Diversification of design, construction and function – BMX, Mountain, Downhill, Hybrid, Road etc – mean that bikes have

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moved well beyond mere transport and are now badges of clan allegiance, attitudes and lifestyle.

‘The Famous Five effect’ – Recession also makes us nostalgic for a perceived healthier, greener, simpler, quieter and more innocent time.The bicycle is the perfect ‘vehicle’ for such reveries – on a bike we can all become children once again. And, after the exercise and fresh air, even if we cannot always find ‘lashings of ginger beer’, we at least demand good, honest pub or café food and adventure highlights along the way – do I sense a ‘staycation’ coming on…?

Sustrans has won – Typified by the ‘Boris Bike’ we seem to have regained the tipping point for the bike as viable urban day-today transport (something many other countries have never lost) with both

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policies and provision providing the ‘pull’ and increasing congestion, fuel prices and fares providing the ‘push’.The network of traffic-free routes, developed largely through Sustrans’ vision and persuasive tactics, is now impressive.This is all adding to the number, confidence, roadcraft and expectations of those regular riders who are in the market for cycle breaks. For many holidaymakers it was Center Parcs who introduced us to the idea of a bikeborne, car-free existence, and, hey, guess what, it was fun…

Life after Wiggins – In the era of Hoy, Froome, Cavendish, not to mention Trott, Pendleton and Cooke, there is no doubt that consistent sporting success, culminating in the Golden Year of 2012, and the all-pervasive media coverage generated, inspires emulation. Road cycling and mountain biking are two of the very few pursuits where we mere mortals can ride the same hills or tackle the same legendary stages as our heroes, and, importantly, on and cocooned by the same brands.Yorkshire has fully understood the power of association with the Tour de France brand, redeemed by Brailsford, Froome and Sir Brad from the cynical Armstrong era.

End of the rainbow – there has been a significant rise in ‘challenge’ cycling – whether for a good cause, personal fulfilment (you can, after all, officially complete el Camino de Santiago as a mountain bike pilgrim) or purely as a sporting challenge such as L’Etape du Tour’ or UCI-approved Sportives. With the ‘Cycling for Softies’-type offer helping to drive a 5% per annum growth in Cycle Tourism business, these formats are benefiting from increasingly sophisticated organisation and are being repatriated from ‘exotic’ locations to create UK versions.

So more people in the UK (over 10m at the last count) are cycling more often for more reasons. How do destination managers and businesses take advantage in tourism terms? Well, I can share some of the actions taken in Wales as a case study.

Of course, the first vital step is to think of a catchy name for the inevitable strategy and in our case this was ‘Moving Up a Gear’ which, at the turn of the Millennium, sought to rationalise disparate infrastructure and initiatives, often based on individual enthusiasm and voluntary effort, bubbling up across the country eg National Cycle Network and local offroad tracks, emerging mountain bike trail centres and sporadic events. As policy issues, Walking and Cycling bounced around the corridors of our new devolved government between transport, health,

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and sport. In tourism terms success beyond mountain biking proved difficult to achieve however, as the ‘promise’ arguably ran ahead of the infrastructure, product structure, accessibility, information, awareness and welcome we were able to deliver at the time. Hopefully apocryphal, a story circulated of one ‘Cyclists Welcome’ accredited B+B where saddle-sore arrivals were asked to strip at the door and were then tracked to their rooms by a Dyson snapping at their heels…

By the time the ‘refresh’ of the strategy was undertaken by the Tourism Company in 2009 it was renamed ‘Selecting the Right Gear’ and took a much more analytical approach to the most fruitful opportunities, covering the ‘big picture’ actions and investments required for Leisure Cycling, Mountain Biking and Participation, as well as the need at an individual business level for the basics such as secure storage, drying rooms, mapping and familiarisation to improve immeasurably the experience of individual visitors. Add in a Major Events Strategy that has secured Tour of Britain stages for Wales and a brand new Velodrome in Newport used as an Olympic training base and the momentum becomes irresistible.

In Mountain Bike terms, developments in Wales had historically been driven through the individual interest, ingenuity, drive, enthusiasm and budget-craft of staff within Forestry Commission (now Natural Resources Wales) looking for new and compatible uses for their estate.

The down-side of enthusiast-centred development is self-reference in that trails and ancillary facilities tend to suit experts and those who are already ‘in the know’.

Selecting the Right Gear identified the clear need for family-friendly and beginner

trails if we were to broaden the market and optimise returns.This was confirmed when a study was commissioned to look at the provision in South Wales anticipating the possibility of tapping into the next (and possibly last) European Tourism and Regeneration funding streams applicable to the South Wales Valleys.

The result has been Cognation – a truly transformative project with the simple objective of being a ‘top ten place to ride before you die’, complementing other investments across Wales, and delivering among other things: A broad and genuine partnership across public, private and voluntary sector stakeholders The best all-round, purpose built trail centre in the UK at Afan Forest Park, refreshing and extending the product offering at Cwmcarn, Caerphilly A fully commercial bike park in the Heads of the Valley area at Gethin, providing a new development and management model for Natural Resources Wales (on the way) A world class mountain bike events centre in Margam Park, Neath Port Talbot A coherent ‘brand’ and an integrated marketing strategy and plan, supported by a programme of events, and making heavy use of social media – the preferred medium for much of the market A visitor-giving initiative to support trail maintenance and re-investment.

Bike Park Wales attracted 17,885 riders in its first three months of operation.

Significantly three new accommodation providers opened in anticipation of BPW’s success and another five are on the way.

So yes, let’s go capture those MAMILs – as well as their sisters, wives, sons and daughters…

Peter Cole FTS MTMI l Regional Strategy Director, Capital Region Tourism

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The Prince’s Countryside Fund

HRH The Prince of Wales launches Pilot Tourism Initiative to support the UK countryside The Prince of Wales recently launched a pilot scheme to encourage tourists to support the work of The Prince’s Countryside Fund, which helps those who live and work in rural areas.

Backed by major tourism businesses across the UK, the pilot scheme will encourage tourists across the country to contribute towards projects which deliver help to hard pressed rural areas in Britain.

His Royal Highness thanked tourism businesses and officials attending the launch for their enthusiastic support of the pilot which will start in time for the main 2014 season and said: “I have always wanted to engage with the tourism and hospitality sector to see whether it might be possible to encourage visitors to support and help maintain the countryside they value so much.That is why I am absolutely delighted to have the backing of the remarkable group of companies and organisations involved in this pilot project.”

“So to my mind there is a powerful bond between tourism and our rural communities. And that is one reason why I started the Prince’s Countryside Fund in 2010. For me it matters as much that those who live in urban areas have a countryside to visit and cherish as it does that farmers can continue to live and work on their land producing food for the nation. But the delicately woven tapestry that is our countryside is facing unprecedented challenges. Start pulling the threads and the rest unravels very rapidly indeed. No farmers, no beautiful landscapes with stone walls; no thriving rural communities, no villages – nor village pubs; no sustainable agriculture, no distinctive local foods.”

Tourism businesses already committed to the scheme include Cottages4you, which books some 12,000 self-catering holiday homes, the British Beer and Pub Association representing 49,000 public houses and individual breweries such as Adnams of Southwold and Shepherd Neame from Kent.The Caravan Club, Duchy of Cornwall Holiday Cottages, Farm Stay UK, Feather Down Farm Days

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Dawn Howard l Director,The Prince’s Countryside Fund

David Curtis-Brignell FTS, Sandra Matthews-Marsh FTS and Nick Rudge, MD of Cottages 4 You, at the launch.

Feather Down Farm Days, the awardand The George Hotel Penrith are also winning pioneers of ‘glamping’ and farm supporting the pilot. stays, are a founding supporter.

Visitors who make a booking, or pay for a James Mennekens, Director of the Board meal or purchase will be asked if they would like to make a small donation at the said: “Feather Down Farm Days are excited about this extremely worthwhile point of sale. Small amounts add up to significant sums, which will then be used to new initiative which perfectly complements our company ethos.The fund projects including supporting British countryside is the backdrop to our community assets such as pubs, post much-loved holidays and we feel it is offices and village shops, apprenticeships important to remind our customers that for budding hill farmers, training for young there are certain rural communities and people to gain employment in the rural farmers facing problems who need funding economy and community transport to help them survive and thrive.” schemes in isolated rural areas.

Rural tourism is a vitally important Andy Wood OBE, Chief Executive, industry to the countryside. When people Adnams: “I am delighted to be taking part visit the countryside it is essential to in this project. Our countryside is vital to remind them that farming and rural life is our business, not only for producing the often precarious.This scheme will raise raw ingredients in our beer but because money to support our projects and will we appreciate that visitors enjoy our also help spread awareness of the products surrounded by the Great British importance of rural issues. We are Countryside. We will offer our customers delighted that these like-minded the option to give a few pennies when organizations recognise the value of the they pay by card using the digital charity countryside and we are grateful to each of box, Pennies. We hope that by the companies taking part for their encouraging small donations we can raise enthusiasm and willingness to work with a considerable amount of money to keep us. supporting our rural communities.”

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Corporate Member

Corporate Member

Corporate Member

Corporate Member

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An interview with...

Harriet Green OBE Harriet Green joined Thomas Cook as chief executive in July 2012 at a time when the company’s fortunes were at a low ebb.

Since then, through a programme of cost cutting, disposal of non-core businesses and heightened communication, including the introduction of a new brand identity, she has been responsible for a dramatic turnaround in the world’s oldest tour operator’s financial stability and market profile.

Ms Green was named 2013 Business Person of the Year by The Times newspaper and National Business Awards Leader of the Year.

As well as her role at Thomas Cook, she also sits on the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Group and often visits schools and youth groups to talk to students about a career in commerce.

Ms Green spoke to Tourism Society board director, Mike Bugsgang, about her career and future trends in the outbound travel sector.

MB: A degree in Medieval History seems a far cry from chief executive of the world’s best known travel brand. What drew you towards the world of business?

HG: I desired to do something where I could make a difference, and from my very first role in business, it became clear that I could – I love influencing, negotiating, communicating, and working with people.

Actually, with the volume of data I need to read and process every day, I think a history degree is the perfect training!

MB: What was your first job after leaving university?

HG: I worked at Office 2000 writing technical reviews before taking a graduate trainee placement at an electronics company – The Macro Group, a company I was later privileged to lead as MD. I picked them because I knew I could learn from the person who recruited me – that’s also been a theme of jobs I have taken.

MB: Which person/people do you

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admire and why?

HG:There are many; my father, who died when I was in my teens, he had a huge influence on me and taught me the importance of values, beliefs and the importance in treating others with respect. I think Mandela and Ghandi were incredible leaders in their own unique ways, and perhaps my favourite quote comes from Maya Angelou, “People will rarely remember what you said or did but they will always remember how you made them feel”.

I hugely admire my team at Thomas Cook who’ve embraced change, who are passionate about delivering for our customers and who care deeply about the future of our strong brand.

MB: I understand your appointment at TC was somewhat out of the ordinary. Can you explain how it came about?

HG: Not sure it was that out of the ordinary. I’m a Transformer – it’s what I’ve been doing my whole career and here was a business crying out for transformation. So I contacted the Chairman directly and put myself forward.

The rest, as they say is history!

MB: Some pundits were sceptical about your appointment because of your previous lack of travel industry experience. How did you feel about such opinions?

HG: I think headhunters and recruiters have a habit of looking in a narrow vertical for the talent they need – instead of looking for the right skills. Nearly everyone at Thomas Cook came from travel which

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provides a huge and important depth of knowledge, but also lacks the vision and learning from other businesses and industries.

As we’ve transformed TC I’ve kept approximately one third of the original great leadership team, promoted another third from talent from within the organisation, and brought a third in from outside, to enable a fresh perspective and develop new ideas – leaders who’ve driven transformation in other industries, or individuals with a deep knowledge of the web and technology.The combination has worked fantastically and we have a strong, balanced and collaborative team who are central to driving innovation, creating industry ‘firsts’ and delivering results.

MB: It is reported that you reply personally to all your emails on the same day they are received. Is this true?

HG:Yes, of course. My commitment is 24 hours. I’m an early riser which gives me a head-start on the day.

MB: Clearly, communicating is a cornerstone of your approach to business. Is this an accurate assessment?

HG:Yes. I believe you have to take people along with you through any Transformation. At TC we needed to reignite belief, our teams had been through a tough time, but as is so often the case, no-one knew better what needed to be changed than those who work with our customers, suppliers and systems every day. On my first day I wrote to every employee, and asked them what needed to be changed. Over 8,000 of them replied to me with long detailed answers.

My commitment to our teams was to share openly and transparently, and that’s what we’ve done – even when the news hasn’t been good. I listen hard to the voice of our customers – and suppliers and partners. In my opinion getting better never stops and I am constantly open to new ideas and ways to improve.

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Verandah Resort and Spa, Antigua MB: The role of chief executive demands outstanding leadership skills. What have been your key tasks in this respect since joining TC? HG: As well as re-igniting belief internally and externally, and building a new team, we needed a new strategy, and we urgently needed to refinance the business.

Focus was vital – we couldn’t be all things to all people and we most definitely needed to improve our digital offering.

We developed and implemented our goals and KPIs for the first 3 years, and are making progress towards all of them.

Perhaps most significantly we successfully secured £1.6billion of funding and we’ve increased our market cap to over £2.5 billion – something which many thought impossible back in 2012, when our share price was around 15p and our market cap was less than £150million.

We’re definitely not complacent – we still have much to do but we believe we can do it and we’re excited by the range of opportunities we have on offer and the growing list of new products, tools and services we’re launching.

I cannot praise the Thomas Cook team highly enough for all that has been achieved – I have a strong and experienced Executive committee and across the Group fantastic people who want to make a difference.

MB: Marketing commentators claimed the introduction of the Sunny Heart logo and ‘Let’s go!’ strapline to replace the enduring ‘Don’t just book it, Thomas Cook it’

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campaign was a bold move; has it worked?

HG:Yes, it most certainly has worked, and worked well.TC was siloed, and the Sunny Heart has helped our teams work more effectively together and to unify all of our brands – which we reduced significantly in the process – under one common symbol.

A symbol that customers and suppliers love – one that represents the happiness a holiday brings and the memories to last a lifetime. Let’s go! is intended to energise and look to the future – we’re very pleased with how it has gone, it was the right time to signal our return to the market – different and better, building on our 172 year heritage, still the oldest and best loved name in travel.

MB: Online booking has become a major factor in tour operating. Will TC increase its presence in this area whilst at the same time reducing the number of its retail outlets?

HG: We have openly said we will have 50% of sales via the Web by September 2015 and we’re making good progress towards this aim with some exciting innovations, but I don’t see the two things as mutually exclusive. We believe in multichannel – we want to be there for our customers wherever, whenever and however they need us.Very few customers use only one channel – many will research in store and book via the web or the other way round, and some of our exciting innovations like Dreamcatcher are very much linking etail and retail.

Allowing the customer to move between home, store and the web seamlessly.

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We’re improving the in-store experience and providing our teams with the technology required to deliver. We have some great new innovations coming along which will make us even easier to do business with, so watch this space.

Our Digital Advisory Board, unique in our industry, is also keeping us at the forefront of new innovation in this area.

MB: What do you consider to be the ‘hot’ holiday destinations for Britons in the year ahead?

HG:There are many – Turkey, Greece, all parts of Spain continue to be hugely popular with our customers.

Tunisia is also returning to growth alongside the popular long haul destinations such as Florida, Mexico, Thailand, Cuba and Gambia.

We’re about to add new routes to Miami and New York and significantly increase the number of flights and destinations from our UK-wide network of Regional airports – so important in offering our customers the flexibility they need and want.

We’re also expanding into some exciting new markets, particularly in the Caribbean and Africa. We’ve seen huge growth in City breaks too: Paris, Rome, Prague, Istanbul, Amsterdam – the list is endless.

MB: What one thing would you like to see the government do to assist the outbound travel market?

HG: Reduce Air Passenger Duty – it’s the highest in the world and has a big impact on customers travelling from the UK.

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Student View

MICE Tourism: a new tourism opportunity for Oman In comparison to other international destinations, Oman is a relative newcomer to global tourism.

However, it has shown great improvements in tourism in recent years.

The Sultanate is aiming to promote itself as a unique destination for tourists who are seeking excellence in their experience.

The country's image is presented as a sustainable destination rich in heritage and culture, with stunning natural landscapes, world-class environmental capabilities and warm hospitality.Tourists are often surprised by the range of activities, aside from heritage and culture, such as mountain climbing, water activities including diving and snorkelling, and camping.

In addition to leisure-based tourism, there has been much promotion of business tourism in Oman which is supported by the Ministry of Tourism.This has further promoted Oman and been a catalyst for new building projects designed to meet the expectations of the increasingly prominent business tourism market.

The Undersecretary for the Ministry of Tourism, H.E Maitha Saif Al Mahrouqi, acknowledges that MICE tourism is an important segment for tourism in Oman and is a key objective of the Omani Tourism Strategy.

Hence, the Ministry of Tourism and other government authorities are taking responsibility for improving infrastructure in order to host major international events and conferences.

The new Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre (OCEC) which is expected to open in 2016 will represent a significant contribution to the tourism industry, accommodating up to 3,200 people and offering 22,000 square metres of exhibition space. Officials in Oman are expecting the OCEC to enable the Sultanate to become a regional conference hub by attracting international business-related events and focussing on strengthening Oman's position as a premier MICE destination.

It will also create considerable scope for investment opportunities in the country.

However, this project poses several

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Khalid Al Azri l Tourism Affairs Researcher, Ministry of Tourism, Oman MSc Tourism Management, Cardiff Metropolitan University

Š Oman Ministry of Tourism

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Up to date infrastructure in Oman challenges for Oman.

For example, the accommodation, facilities and entertainment options for delegates at large events should be considered and expanded, not just the conference facilities.

In addition, greater international marketing efforts are required to further promote and brand Oman as a leading business tourism destination, especially given the competitive nature of this sector of the industry.

Nevertheless, challenges can be converted into opportunities, so extending accommodation, facilities and entertainment to cater for increasing numbers of conference delegates will attract inward investment and create job opportunities.

By building on my skills and knowledge I hope to take advantage of this opportunity to help develop international marketing in relation to the increasingly important sector of MICE tourism.

Why do I think a new career opportunity exists for me?

Well, in my current role as a Tourism Affairs Researcher in the Ministry of Tourism, it was a great moment in my professional and social life when I received a scholarship to study abroad. I had a choice of where to travel and made a

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decision to come to the United Kingdom as there are internationally-esteemed universities.

Furthermore, I had visited Cardiff previously, so I was familiar with the area, the standard of life and the people.

Therefore, it did not take me long to acclimatise to studying and living in the UK. I am completing an MSc in Tourism Management at Cardiff Metropolitan University, where I share my year with students pooled from a variety of cultural and educational backgrounds.

With the esteemed tutors in the university this course is expanding my knowledge and passion for tourism and international marketing, business tourism in particular.

In addition, as part of my current duties at the Ministry, I write reports on developing tourism activities and analysing the challenges facing Omani tourism.

The MSc is improving my analytical skills in addition to enhancing my ability to suggest viable solutions to some of the tourism challenges.

My MSc dissertation focuses on MICE tourism as a promotional tool for Oman, so, as business tourism grows, I hope that by applying the knowledge I have gained wisely, I will become one of the leaders in this sector in my home country.

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Focus On… made

Developing the relationship between tourism and theatreland The huge success of MAMMA MIA!, always billed as ‘the ultimate feel-good musical’, clearly has a great deal to do with the continual pulling power of ABBA’s hard-to-forget melodies, but it’s also fair to say that much of the longevity of the show can be attributed to the amount of clever marketing and to the extent to which it has seen business come from the travel industry.

When the show premiered some 15 years ago this form of promotion was pretty well unknown. I can well remember the opening being a huge success with the public. It was just after the Easter weekend and I was working for Michael McCabe Associates. Everyone said it wasn’t a great time to open the show because people were away, but they all ate their words soon after.The opening saw Soho come to a standstill, with traffic stopped, barriers up and ABBA fans in the street.The day after the opening night party, which was done on a shoestring at a restaurant in Soho, I just remember everyone having a great feeling of relief. However, while we all loved the headlines this brought, it was just the start of what has been a continued campaign to attract new customers to the show, especially via the hugely successful business channels of ticket agents and in-coming tour operators, rather than just direct box office sales.

One good example is Encore Tickets, which has grown from nothing to the capital’s largest supplier of theatre and attraction tickets. Encore has achieved this largely by concentrating on working with travel industry partners, from UK-based group travel organisers to incoming tour operators based all over the world.

The simple fact is that the theatre industry had never seen the travel trade as a lucrative source of business.To them, it was all about theatre fans coming through the doors. In the last five years, that attitude has changed considerably.You only have to look at a number of the West End’s longest-lived productions to appreciate that it is group travel organisers and foreign tour operators who are filling those theatres on wet Wednesday evenings in February. As the only

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“Oh they do like to be beside the seaside…” Mamma Mia stars, from the left: Helen Siviter, Claire Poyzer, Emma Crossley, and Kelly Edwards get ready for a Summer season for the record breaking show at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. independent tourism marketing consultancy specialising in promoting London’s theatreland and attractions to the trade, I think I can fairly claim that made has very definitely played its part in the growth of this business.

This new sales and marketing technique is particularly relevant in circumstances such as when a production goes on tour.Taking MAMMA MIA! as a perfect example once more, from 20 June to 31 August this year it will be the first West End production in more than ten years to transfer to Blackpool for a Summer season.To ensure that this move was a commercial success, we didn’t wait for the good folk of Blackpool to just start queuing outside the Winter Gardens; rather, we put in place a strategy that includes targeting international visitors. We have formed a strong partnership with United Airlines and we are using Blackpool’s rich heritage as a USP to target overseas tourists. Our

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team is also engaging with Blackpool’s major attractions and landmarks including the Blackpool Tower, the Pleasure Beach, Zoo and the UK’s only surviving firstgeneration tramway. We have packages in place with all major UK tour operators such as Omega Travel and international packages with wholesalers such as Gold Medal.

So far our marketing mix is working, as advance sales to both individuals and groups are very healthy, but this is just one example of how more sophisticated marketing techniques are now being used by forward thinking productions.The producers of these shows are all too well aware of the need to widen their net, when faced with the fact that their traditional walk-in customers are now pulled away to other channels of entertainment that call on their time. made is a corporate member of the Tourism Society.

Jonathan Mountford MTS l Managing Director, made

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Tourism Society Symposium June 2nd and 3rd Merseyside Maritime Museum, Liverpool ‘The role of culture and tourism in creating economic success’

With a keynote address by John Kampfner, Director of the Creative Industries Federation In 2008 Liverpool was the European Capital of Culture and is the perfect host city for our Symposium this year, where the topic will be ‘The role of culture and tourism in creating economic success’.

A key element of the discussion will be an examination of the value that cultural events bring to their venues.

Tourism Society members will have the opportunity to take part in a Think Tank consultation in the early part of this year, which will inform the debate.

Throughout June and July Liverpool will also be hosting the International Festival for Business.

By aligning our conference with the Festival, the Tourism Society is putting itself right at the heart of the conversation about the importance of tourism as a generator of business, growth, employment and professional development.

And with the business world focussing on Liverpool it will be an excellent opportunity to focus attention on the visitor economy and its many facets.

Keynote speaker: John Kampfner John Kampfner is Director of the Creative Industries Federation, the independent voice for the creative industries in the UK, and Chair of Turner Contemporary in Margate, one of the UK's most successful cultural institutions.

He is an author, broadcaster and commentator, specialising in UK politics, international affairs, media and human rights issues.

www.visitliverpool.com

“The mix of interviews, panel discussions and presentations at the Symposium examining the potential for culture and events to have a real and lasting impact on destinations’ fortunes will appeal to anyone responsible for creating, promoting, developing, funding, marketing, booking or reporting on cultural events and tourism strategies.”

Sandra Matthews-Marsh, chairman,Tourism Society

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Outline programme

The Venues

Monday June 2nd 1.30 Study tour: We will focus on Liverpool’s regeneration and development as a tourism destination, with a cruise on the Mersey Ferry followed by a visit to the Beatles Story 6.30 Drinks reception and buffet supper,Tate Liverpool, with guest speaker and an opportunity to see the Tate’s stunning permanent collection 9.00 Transfers by the Magical Mystery Bus to The Cavern Club until late

Tuesday June 3rd 8.30 Registration opens at the Merseyside Maritime Museum 10.00 Come Together: Symposium opens – welcome by Sandra Matthews-Marsh, Chairman The Tourism Society 10.05 Here, there and everywhere: Keynote address – John Kampfner, Director of the Creative Industries Federation 10.30 Mr Blue Sky: presentation by Ken Robinson CBE FTS of Tourism Society Think Tank Briefing Paper commissioned for the Symposium; including the results of recent research, followed by panel discussion with Deirdre Wells OBE (UKinbound), Dr Beatriz Garcia (University of Liverpool), Jon Pywell (Hull) and Claire McColgan MBE (Liverpool) – as the basis for fresh ideas and blue sky thinking for the future, at the Symposium 11.30 Break 11.45 Nowhere Man: Making the most of culture and tourism: Learning from the best – Jane Richardson (Visit Wales) chairs a panel of Andrea Nixon (Tate Liverpool), Juliana Delaney (Continuum) and Nicola Shaw (HS1) who give their take on the new drivers of quality in the arts and culture 12.45 Lunch with exceptional cultural pop-ups by Liverpool’s newest talent 1.50 Dedicated follower of fashion: An interview with Clara Mercer (British Fashion Council) and Hilary Riva, creator of London Fashion Week, one of the biggest event drivers for business tourism in the capital. John Kampfner asks the questions.

2.20 The show must go on:The Big event. Joss Croft (VisitBritain), James Kennell (University of Greenwich) and Alastair Upton (Creative Foundation) discuss events and festivals and their impact on regeneration 3.15 Break 3.45 Money, money, money: Innovation, Challenges and Change. Pam Wilsher (Liverpool BID), Geoffrey Brown (Euclid), Bob Jones (Canterbury BID) and Jon Pratty (Arts Council) consider how to attract funding and work with Big Data 4.30 The long and winding road: Conclusions, wrap up and a surprise ending

Tate Liverpool From the outside,Tate Liverpool retains the industrial look of its former dockyard incarnation but the interior consists of an arrangement of simple, elegant galleries. It opened to the public in May 1988 and has a distinct identity, dedicated to showing modern art and encouraging a new, younger audience through an active education programme. More than 600,000 visitors a year visit Tate Liverpool.

Tickets covering the whole programme are exceptional value at just £115 for Tourism Society members or £125 for non-members.You just need to book your travel and accommodation – rail discounts on Virgin Trains (including travel from Scotland, Birmingham and the north-west via Crewe) and Southeastern are available through our website.

To book your tickets just go to the Symposium event page on http://bit.ly/1mgRn0w or call the office on 0207 269 9693.

Symposium patrons

Symposium partners Merseyside Maritime Museum In 1981 the disused Albert Dock, once a bustling site crammed with rich cargos from Asia, tea, silk, tobacco and spirits, underwent a rejuvenation, with the Maritime Museum leasing one of the warehouses.The collection at the museum includes a wide range of memorabilia relating to seafaring and sea travel and reflects the vitality and importance of the port of Liverpool and its role in world history.

www.tourismsociety.org

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Events May 2014 26th – Tourism Society Europa – Youth meets Tourism: education and entrepreneurship, Brussels

Network AGM, London

June 2014 2nd /3rd Tourism Society Annual Symposium, Liverpool

September 2014 Tourism and Climate Change, London Media Masterclass, London

11th Tourism Society AGM, London 11th Tourism Consultants

July 2014 Bringing new finance to the tourism sector, London

October 2014 The Staycation lifecycle, London

Watch out for event updates and announcements via our social media accounts and on the Society website.

Tourism Society events are open to everyone – members and non-members – and take place around the UK, with the Society’s regional and national chapters and the professional sections (TMI and TCN) all adding to the calendar.

For informed discussion, top speakers and networking opportunities they are hard to beat.

Book online or by phone (0207 269 9693).

Notice of Annual General Meeting 2014 Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of The Tourism Society will be held at the offices of the Welsh Government, 25 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0EX on Wednesday 11th June 2014 at 3.30pm for the following purposes: 1. The Executive Director to read the notice convening the meeting.

2. To receive apologies for absence.

3. To receive and, if agreed, to adopt the Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Thursday 25th April 2013, previously circulated.

4. To receive and consider the reports of the Board and of the Sections Groups and Chapters for the year ending 31st December 2013.

5. To receive and consider the Accounts, Balance Sheet and report of the Auditors for the year ending 31st December 2013.

6. To appoint the auditors at a fee to be agreed by the Board.

7. To elect members of the Board.

8. Any Other Business.

By Order of the Board Gregory Yeoman Executive Director May 1st 2014

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Membership News Congratulations to Clive Jacobs, Chairman of Travel Weekly, who was presented with an honorary Fellowship of the Society in February, and to John Swarbrooke of Manchester Metropolitan University who was upgraded to FTS in April.

Welcome to the following new Society members: Elin Blad, West London College Huda Sufian, Plymouth University Stuart Render, Best of Britain & Ireland Claire Cowburn, Manchester Metropolitan University Maria Mazarakioti, Manchester Metropolitan University James Gatangi, Lumax Tourism Consultants (Kenya)

Richard Callan,The Allied Media Partnership Ltd Pippa Craddock, Paignton Zoo Andrew Lyon, University of Chester Jeff Clapham,Visit Wales Mari Stevens,Visit Wales Jane Richardson,Visit Wales Cleopatra Browne, Celtic Quest Coasteering Elaine Holderness,The Royal Society for

the Protection of Birds Sarah Johnson, Lotus UK Jessica Marshall, Lincolnshire County Council Catherine Warrilow, Seriously PR Richard Rizzo-Hills, Bates JPW Creative Deirdre Wells, UKinbound Tunde Akindulureni, Climax Tours Full business and contact details can be found on the Society’s website.

Company and Group Membership of the Tourism Society Whatever the size of your business and your budget we have a level of membership to suit, with flexible benefits that can be tailored to provide the best package for you including discounted advertising, tickets for the annual dinner, conference and other events, increased

industry profile… plus the opportunity to offer your key staff members their own membership account.

Group Member Corporate Member Company Member Corporate Partner Contact Barbara Stott (Member Services) on 0207 269 9693 or barbara@tourism society.org to discuss which would be the best for you.

Tourism Society online There are plenty of ways in which you can keep up to date with what is happening at the Tourism Society.

Our recently revamped website includes listings of upcoming events as well as information on membership benefits and a searchable database of Society members and also members of the Tourism Consultants Network.

You will also find news items and an archive of editions of this journal.

If you are a member of the Society make sure you keep an eye on the weekly email newsletter, which contains important announcements about Society activities such as the release of papers for the The Tourism Society

www.tourismsociety.org

AGM as well as updates on what members have been getting up to and interesting snippets of tourism-related news.

If you have not received it make sure the Secretariat has your up to date email address.

Social media The Society is active on social media.

We currently have over 6700 followers on Twitter, so why not join in the conversation?

Our Facebook and Linkedin groups generate plenty of discussion – if you want to see what topics are causing interest, they are definitely worth a look. @tourismsociety

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The Back Page Chairman’s view with Sandra Matthews-Marsh FTS MTMI The Tourism Society – for leaders, thinkers and deliverers, Spring cleaning and other musings Guests at the recent sell-out Tourism Society Annual Dinner at the House of Commons will have heard Helen Grant MP, Minister for Tourism, observe that the tourism sector is full of ‘glass half full’ people.

It was a particularly positive evening with diners reflecting in the afterglow of the recent Budget, in which a number of positive concessions were delivered to the sector by a Chancellor who is definitely in listening mode on the industry’s true potential for the jobs and growth agenda.

The Minister is right – we are a positive bunch. Lord Thurso, the Society’s President, who said himself he has been less than polite about the government’s approach to tourism in the past, was quick to give credit where it was due.

Of course, the articulate lobby bodies of the current day, such as the Tourism Alliance, have been making huge strides in professionalising the messages from the industry and placing them at the correct door in Whitehall over the last few years.

This got me thinking about how we tend to look to government for inspiration and support.Yes, we need a great government tourism policy and, for the sector to thrive, we need the correct framework, but when I look around me and think about the most effective businesses and people I know, they are steadfastly selfreliant on a range of, or their own, hard earned resources.

They tend to march to the beat of their own drum and do not blame others for their woes or expect others to make their fortunes for them.

This resonates with what I said in my welcome as the Society’s new Chairman at the Annual Dinner, when I described the Society’s members as “Leaders, thinkers and deliverers” – and largely selfreliant. I was further stimulated when, in a mad five minutes of domestic spring cleaning, I came across a 2003 copy of this very journal.

The cover story, by the then Chairman of the Society Graham Wason FTS, talked about “how the DCMS, stung by the criticism for the Government’s failure to

‘Between us we will make things happen by creating an exciting place to debate and shape ‘what’s next’.The pages are not yet drafted so come and be part of it.’ appreciate tourism, until forced to do so by foot and mouth disease, urged the industry to form a single voice.”

Graham goes on: “under the CBI’s guidance and leadership, the tourism industry has set up the embryonic Tourism Alliance – with Digby Jones, DG of the CBI, agreeing to be the first Chair.”

So out of a crisis the Tourism Alliance was created and has been a major contributor towards the industry ‘getting its act together’ since.

And today there is talk of a new Government-hosted Tourism Council to mirror those established for Manufacturing and the Creative Industries – a very welcome move but not a reason to give up independent thought.

The same 2003 issue discussed “the plans for London to bid to host the Olympics in 2012” and included an oddly quaint but feisty article challenging the need for the British Tourist Authority to change its name to VisitBritain (I quote: “the internationally respected name of the BTA is suddenly jettisoned in favour of a name which smacks of a failed dotcom company”!); an article from David Battersby FTS about a new ‘Best Practice Forum’ – sadly I can find no trace of this now, but it seems like a very good idea; and finally, an article about the need for expanded UK runway capacity. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose!

Undaunted by my trip down memory lane, I am inspired to encourage the thinkers and doers out there to keep the ideas and topics coming for this journal and for the Society to debate.

Between us we will make things happen by creating an exciting place to debate

© Gilead Limor Photography

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Helen Grant MP, Minister for Tourism, at the Society’s annual dinner and shape ‘what’s next’.The pages are not yet drafted so come and be part of it.

And finally……

Inspiration will be close at hand as the Tourism Society stages its tourism signature event of year in Liverpool.The Tourism Symposium takes place on 2nd/3rd June and is aimed at delegates from all walks of the tourism industry.

Places are limited so make sure you reserve yours via the Society website.

See pages 24 and 25 for details.