Tourism - summer 2015 - issue 162 by Tourism Society

Corporate Member

Editorial Government support: new outlook, new destinations A lot has been happening recently, what with the triennial review, select committee inquiry and the general election. The outcomes of the first two were seen as positive; with a new Secretary of State and Minister still to flex their departmental muscles it is not clear how the outcome of the third will affect our industry. In this issue VisitBritain and VisitEngland provide their views of the significance of the triennial review results – with some contextual notes provided by Ken Robinson CBE FTS – and Kurt Janson examines the inquiry’s recommendations, while VisitScotland and Visit Wales look at what their focus will be in the next few years.The framework seems to be in place and areas that need attention have been highlighted; how the government chooses to act on recommendations remains to be seen. One place where the government has intervened, in the form of backing a large infrastructure project, is the island of St Helena.This dot on the map in the mid-Atlantic will shortly have its first airport, opening it up to large-scale tourism for the first time. As well as building the new facilities, training programmes have been initiated to improve the workforce’s hospitality skills and new hotels have been constructed. It is a very clear example of the direct link between infrastructure, connectivity, visitor numbers and job creation. All this remote destination needs to guarantee a boom in visitors is a blockbuster film about Napoleon – group travel to film and TV locations is on the rise, and this would be a sure-fire way to ensure increased levels of tourism. And who will show these new tourists around St Helena’s historical sights? Choosing tourist guiding as a career will become a viable option on the island, and if anyone wants inspiration they would do well to read Sarah Gerlach’s article on page 21. Gregory Yeoman FTS Executive Director gregory@tourismsociety.org

Contents Triennial Review:The outcome for VisitEngland James Berresford, Chief Executive,VisitEngland

Triennial Review:The outcome for VisitBritain Sally Balcombe, Chief Executive,VisitBritain

VisitScotland: Scotland – an inspiring, world leading visitor destination Malcolm Roughead OBE, Chief Executive,VisitScotland

Visit Wales: A confident ‘croeso’ Manon Antoniazzi MTS, Chief Executive,Visit Wales

Policy:The Triennial Review and Select Committee Inquiry – setting the stage for 8 the new Government Tourism Strategy Kurt Janson MTS, Policy Director,Tourism Alliance Destination Leaders Programme: From Australia to Scotland – 9 what could other UK destinations learn from this initiative? Helen Adams MTS, Marketing Manager, Lothian Buses / Edinburgh Trams / Edinburgh Bus Tours and Kenneth Wardrop MTS, Programme Director of the DLP, Edinburgh Institute Sport Tourism: Local lift or national boost? Jeremy Brinkworth FTS, Project Director, Rugby World Cup,VisitEngland

10-11

Tourism Terms: Adopting an agreed common language for tourism and the visitor economy Victor Middleton OBE FTS

12-13

Group Travel: Rise of the ‘set-jetters’ Mike Bugsgang FTS, Chief Executive, GTOA Case Study: St Helena – How tourism will help deliver economic self-sufficiency Michael Dean FTS, Partner, Adcote House

16-17

View from the States:Vulnerable funding drives evolution in North American DMOs Rich Reasons MTS, President, Simpleview Inc.

Case Study: Leicester – The Richard III effect Martin Peters MTS, Chief Executive, Leicester Shire Promotions Ltd

Tourist Guiding I: From the Trotters to the Titanic Marc Zakian, Guided Tour UK

Tourist Guiding II:Through training to a career Sarah Gerlach, Pembrokeshire Guided Tours

An Interview With… Carolyn McCall, CEO, easyJet

22-23

Student View: I have a dream… or an ambition Stella Charalambous, Student, University of Hertfordshire

Education:The value of mentoring Angela Maher MTS and Judie Gannon, Oxford School of Hospitality Management Oxford Brookes University

Social Media and Tourism: Report from Social Travel Britain conference Steve Keenan, Co-founder,Travel Perspective

26-27

Coach Tours: Capturing the spirit of adventure Denise Bridges, Managing Director, Albatross Travel

Focus on… The Caravan Club: Let’s work together Viv Harrison MTS, Research and Planning Manager,The Caravan Club

Technology: Mobile – a driving force in the travel industry in 2015 Lynette Saunders, Consultant, Econsultancy

Tourism Consultants Network:What are the prospects for a tourism consultant today? Chris Evans FTS, Director,The Tourism Company and Peter Cole FTS, Cole & Shaw

Best of Britain and Ireland 2015:Tourism Question Time

Ian Taylor, Executive Editor,Travel Weekly Membership News and notice of AGM The Back Page Sandra Matthews-Marsh MBE FTS MTMI, Chairman,Tourism Society

33-35 36

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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. Whilst unsolicited material is welcomed, neither transparencies nor unpublished articles can be returned. The Tourism Society cannot be held 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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Issue 162 Summer 2015

4RIENNIAL 2EVIEW

4HE OUTCOME FOR 6ISIT%NGLAND 4HE BIGGEST CHANGE FOR 6ISIT%NGLAND COMING OUT OF THE 4RIENNIAL 2EVIEW IS THAT WE MAY BE MANAGING SIGNIFICANT FUNDS TO MAKE SURE THE EXPERIENCE OF TAKING A HOLIDAY OR SHORT BREAK IN THIS COUNTRY IS AS GREAT IF NOT BETTER THAN ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD 6ISIT%NGLAND WILL SHIFT ITS FOCUS TO PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT SO THAT WE CAN HELP THE INDUSTRY OFFER TOURISTS AMAZING EXPERIENCES 4HE PROPOSAL IS THAT WE MANAGE A NEW #HALLENGE &UND WHICH WILL ACT AS A RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT FUND FOR %NGLISH TOURISM 4HE PROPOSED FUND WOULD GRANT MONEY TO IMAGINATIVE PROPOSALS FROM A COLLECTION OF INDUSTRY SOURCES THAT ADDRESS EVERY STAGE OF THE VISITOR JOURNEY AND HAVE THE KNOWHOW TO CREATE MORE STANDOUT TOURISM EXPERIENCES 7E LL BE LOOKING FOR PROPOSALS WHICH COVER AREAS SUCH AS FINDING INFORMATION AND IDEAS ON WHAT TO DO EASE OF TRAVEL TO AND AROUND A DESTINATION QUALITY OF ACCOMMODATION FOOD AND DRINK

WELCOME AND SERVICE LEVELS PLUS THE QUALITY AND ENTERTAINMENT IMPACT OF THINGS TO DO AND SEE AT A DESTINATION )T IS VITAL THAT OUR TOURISM OFFER REMAINS COMPETITIVE TO PROTECT OUR INDUSTRY IN A VERY COMPETITIVE MARKET 7HILE IT IS FANTASTIC THAT THE 5+ WELCOMED RECORD NUMBERS OF OVERSEAS VISITORS LAST YEAR WE CAN T BE COMPLACENT 7E HAVE SEEN A SLOWDOWN IN DOMESTIC TRIP TAKING IN

AND A CORRESPONDING INCREASE IN OVERSEAS TRAVEL BY "RITISH RESIDENTS 7E KNOW THAT DOMESTIC HOLIDAYS GENERATE VERY HIGH LEVELS OF SATISFACTION AND THERE IS 4PNF PCTFSWBUJPOT PO ,FZ 0VUDPNFT 4HIS 4RIENNIAL 2EVIEW IS THE FIRST INDEPENDENT AND TRANSPARENT REVIEW OF 6ISIT"RITAIN AND 6ISIT%NGLAND EVER UNDERTAKEN SINCE THE $EVELOPMENT OF 4OURISM !CT IN )T IS GREAT THAT THE 'OVERNMENT WHICH HAD PRAISED TOURISM BUT DONE LITTLE ON KEY ISSUES AND WAS ABOLISHING 1UANGOS AND REPEATEDLY CUTTING FUNDING HAS STRONGLY ENDORSED THE RETENTION AND ROLES OF 6ISIT"RITAIN AND 6ISIT%NGLAND 4HE SEPARATION OF 6% FROM 6" IS LOGICAL AND LEGALLY APPROPRIATE )NSTRUCTING 6% TO CEASE OVERSEAS MARKETING IS A KEY CHANGE TEMPERED BY REQUIRING 6" AND 6% TO WORK TOGETHER ON THE APPLICATION OF THE NEWLY CREATED #HALLENGE &UND FOR %NGLAND FOR MARKETING ABROAD )N THE

WITHOUT DOUBT FURTHER OPPORTUNITY TO GROW THIS MARKET BUT THE STRENGTHENING POUND AND ITS IMPACT ON THE AFFORDABILITY OF FOREIGN HOLIDAYS IS A CHALLENGE FOR OUR INDUSTRY %NGLAND HAS AN AMAZING RANGE OF TOURISM ASSETS BUT THEY MUST BE MADE AVAILABLE AND PRESENTED IN A WAY THAT MEETS PEOPLE S ASPIRATIONS AND TO A STANDARD THAT IS COMPARABLE WITH OTHER LEADING OVERSEAS TOURISM MARKETS 4HE #HALLENGE &UND WOULD BECOME A CATALYST FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF WORLD CLASS LEISURE AND BUSINESS TOURISM PRODUCTS AND OFFERINGS AS WELL AS DOMESTIC MARKETING 7HAT WE VE SEEN IS HOLIDAYS BECOMING AN INCREASINGLY DIGITAL EXPERIENCE WITH POSTCARDS REPLACED BY )NSTAGRAM PHOTOS OF GASTRO PUB MEALS AND SELFIES OF SUNTANS AND IT SEEMS RIGHT THAT THIS WOULD BE AVAILABLE TO HELP THE INDUSTRY CONNECT WITH THIS NEW WORLD AND MAKE %NGLAND A DIGITAL DESTINATION FOR TODAY S CYBER SHARING HOLIDAY MAKER )F CONFIRMED THE NEW &UND WOULD UNDOUBTEDLY COME AT A CRUCIAL TIME AS CONSUMER CONFIDENCE CONTINUES TO GROW AND EXCHANGE RATES MAKE FOREIGN HOLIDAYS SEEM MORE AFFORDABLE 4HE PROPOSED FUND HIGHLIGHTS THE IMPORTANCE OF %NGLISH TOURISM TO BE COMPETITIVE IN ORDER TO ATTRACT MORE OVERSEAS VISITORS AND TO KEEP "RITISH PEOPLE HOLIDAYING AT HOME AND IT WOULD GIVE US THE ROLE WE HAVE ALWAYS WANTED 7E WOULD BE LEADING STRATEGIC INVESTMENT ACROSS THE INDUSTR Y TO ENSURE OUR TOURISM OFFER IS GLOBALLY COMPETITIVE )T WOULD EXPAND OUR REMIT BEYOND MARKETING AND COULD INVOLVE US IN HELPING

SHAPE THE VERY FABRIC OF THE INDUSTRY 7E WOULD ALSO CONTINUE WORKING WITH 6ISIT"RITAIN TO CONTINUE DELIVERING CAMPAIGNS WITH OUR INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS 7E HOPE THE #HALLENGE &UND WILL INSPIRE TOURISM BODIES WITH GEOGRAPHIC CONNECTIONS OR SHARED THEMATIC LINKS TO WORK TOGETHER ON BIG IDEAS 7E ARE LOOKING FOR TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE THAT WILL GROW WHOLE REGIONS AND TOURISM SECTORS 6ISIT%NGLAND S PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT WORK WILL IMPROVE 5+ COMPETITIVENESS IN AREAS SUCH AS QUALITY OF WELCOME ACCESSIBILITY OF TOURISM EXPERIENCES FOR INTERNATIONAL VISITORS AND IMPROVING THE REPUTATION OF %NGLAND AS A PLACE TO VISIT INVEST IN AND DO BUSINESS -ARKETING CONTINUES TO BE IMPORTANT OUR DOMESTIC ACTIVITY FEATURING THE HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL (OLIDAYS AT (OME ARE '2%!4 CAMPAIGN CONTINUES THIS YEAR ,AST YEAR ALONE IT GENERATED OVER a MILLION IN INCREMENTAL SPEND AND WE WOULD ALSO USE NEW FUNDING TO HELP MAR KET THE TOURIST INDUSTRY ON BEHALF OF OUR PARTNERS /THER RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE 4RIENNIAL 2EVIEW THAT ARE PARTICULARLY WELCOME INCLUDE SETTING NEW TARGETS FOR 6ISIT"RITAIN TO GROW TOURISM BEYOND ,ONDON AND THE FORMAL SEPARATION OF 6ISIT"RITAIN AND 6ISIT%NGLAND CREATING A TRULY INDEPENDENT BODY FOR %NGLAND WHICH PUTS THE 5+ S BIGGEST TOURISM MARKET ON A PAR WITH OTHER 5+ NATIONS *AMES "ERRESFORD L #HIEF %XECUTIVE

6ISIT%NGLAND

PAST THE OTHER .ATIONAL "OARDS HAVE BEEN UNHAPPY ABOUT CLOSE 6" AND 6% RELATIONSHIPS

&OR THE FIRST TIME 6" WILL HAVE TO hPROMOTE TOURISM BY OVERSEAS VISITORS IN THE NATIONS AND REGIONS OUTSIDE ,ONDONv AND WITH REGIONAL DISPERSAL TARGETS SET BY $#-3v

4HE 2EVIEW IGNORED THE GREAT DISPAR ITY OF RESOURCES AND ACTIVITIES BETWEEN THE 3COTLAND

7ALES AND .ORTHERN )RELAND "OARDS n AND ,ONDON COMPARED TO 6ISIT%NGLAND 4HIS LIMITS MEANINGFUL COLLABORATION AND THE BENEFITS THAT 6ISIT"RITAIN COULD BRING TO ALL !LTHOUGH DEFINED TO LOOK ONLY AT THE EXISTENCE AND GOVERNANCE OF 6" AND 6% THE 2EVIEW GIVES EXTENSIVE RECOGNITION TO THE NEED FOR A BETTER WORKING STRUCTURE SUB NATIONALLY IN %NGLAND 6% S NEW #HALLENGE &UND IS TO hSUPPORT PARTNERSHIP WORKING ACROSS DESTINATION ORGANISATIONS AND INDUSTRYv WHICH EVIDENCES FUTURE INTENTIONS BUT FUNDING IS MINIMAL -ORE ACTION IS NEEDED

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1UALITY 3TANDARDS 3CHEMES 6% S ROLE IS TO BE REVIEWED BY 3EPTEMBER 4HE STING IN THE TAIL FUR THER CUTS 6" AND 6% ARE REQUIRED TO hMAKE FURTHER EFFICIENCY SAVINGSv AND REDUCE ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS

hREDUCE THE SIZE AND COST OF (EAD /FFICE S PROPERTYv AND hRECONSIDER THE LOCATIONS AND COSTS FOR MOST OVERSEAS STAFF FROM ONWARDSv 3UGGESTED ESSENTIAL READING FOR 4OURISM ENTHUSIASTS THE h3TAKEHOLDER 6IEWSvSECTION !NNEX ' #OMMENTS BY +EN 2OBINSON #"% &43

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4RIENNIAL 2EVIEW

4HE OUTCOME FOR 6ISIT"RITAIN )N *ULY (ELEN 'RANT THE THEN -INISTER FOR 3PORT AND 4OURISM LAUNCHED A 4RIENNIAL 2EVIEW OF 6ISIT"RITAIN AND 6ISIT%NGLAND 4RIENNIALS ARE NOT UNIQUE TO 6ISIT"RITAIN OR THE TOURISM SECTOR 4HEY ARE PART OF THE 'OVERNMENT S 0UBLIC "ODIES 2EFORM 0ROGRAMME PROVIDING A ROBUST CHALLENGE TO THE CONTINUING NEED FOR NON DEPARTMENTAL PUBLIC BODIES AND REVIEWING THE ORGANISATION S FUNCTIONS

PERFORMANCE CONTROL AND GOVERNANCE ARRANGEMENTS !S PART OF THE TRIENNIAL THE REVIEW TEAM SPOKE TO A NUMBER OF STAKEHOLDERS IN THE INDUSTRY AND RECEIVED A CLEAR MESSAGE THAT BOTH ORGANISATIONS SHOULD EXIST AND THAT THERE WAS A NEED n AND AN OPPORTUNITY n TO CLARIFY THE REMIT AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF 6ISIT"RITAIN AND 6ISIT%NGLAND 7E ARE DELIGHTED THAT THE FINAL REPORT ENDORSED BOTH ORGANISATIONS AND DID INDEED USE THE OPPOR TUNITY IT PROVIDED TO CLARIFY REMITS 6ISIT"RITAIN AND 6ISIT%NGLAND WILL FORMALLY SEPARATE WITH EACH ORGANISATION FOCUSING ON THE AREAS THEY ARE BEST PLACED TO DELIVER 6ISIT"RITAIN IS CONFIRMED AS THE BODY FOR THE TOURISM PROMOTION OF "RITAIN ITS NATIONS AND REGIONS OVERSEAS 6ISIT%NGLAND WILL BE THE BODY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF STANDOUT TOURISM PRODUCTS THROUGH THE MANAGEMENT OF AN %NGLISH TOURISM CHALLENGE FUND AND DOMESTIC MARKETING "UILDING ON RESULTS FROM OUR CURRENT MARKETING ACTIVITY n IN THE PAST THREE YEARS WE HAVE DIRECTLY GENERATED a BILLION OF

ADDITIONAL VISITOR SPEND AND RAISED a MILLION FROM THE PRIVATE SECTOR n WE WILL USE OUR INTERNATIONAL MARKETING BUDGET TO GROW INBOUND TOURISM ACROSS "RITAIN S NATIONS AND REGIONS 7E WELCOME THE POLITICAL DESIRE TO SPREAD THE ECONOMIC GROWTH FROM INBOUND TOURISM ACROSS THE NATIONS AND REGIONS OF "RITAIN AND LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING EVEN MORE COLLABORATIVELY WITH OUR STRATEGIC PARTNERS THE .ATIONAL "OARDS TO CONTINUE TO DELIVER THIS 4HAT MEANS THE FOCUS OF OUR ACTIVITY WILL BE 4HE CONTINUED DELIVERY OF THE '2%!4 CAMPAIGN WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE .ATIONAL "OARDS 4ACTICAL INTERNATIONAL MARKETING CAMPAIGNS WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE .ATIONAL "OARDS 6ISIT"RITAIN WILL USE ITS CUSTOMER INSIGHTS TO DETERMINE WHETHER ITS TARGETS WILL BE BEST MET BY "RITAIN LEVEL

NATIONAL OR SUB NATIONAL PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITY #ONSUMER INSIGHT ANALYSIS AND WIDER MARKET INTELLIGENCE 2OUTE DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT #OMMERCIAL PARTNERSHIPS DEVELOPMENT 2ETAIL " " )NTERNATIONAL BUSINESS EVENTS PROMOTION AT A "RITAIN LEVEL ALONGSIDE OTHER '2%!4 PARTNERS AND WHERE APPROPRIATE INDIVIDUAL "OARDS 3UPPORTING 6ISIT%NGLAND S CHALLENGE FUND

PROVIDING INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMER INSIGHTS

SITTING ON THE EXPERT PANEL AND BEING ACCOUNTABLE FOR INTERNATIONAL DELIVERY WITH THE ASSOCIATED AGREED +0)S AND BUDGETS 3OME OF THIS WORK IS BUSINESS AS USUAL 3OME OF IT EXTENDS OUR CURRENT WORK n FOR EXAMPLE WE HAVE BEEN ASKED TO TAKE ON A ROLE IN PROMOTING BUSINESS TOURISM AT "RITAIN LEVEL THOUGH THIS IS AS YET UNFUNDED 7E ARE ALREADY WORKING WITH 6ISIT%NGLAND ON THE .ORTHERN &UTURES AND 3OUTH 7EST FUNDS THAT ARE THE PRECURSORS OF THE %NGLISH CHALLENGE FUND !ND TOGETHER WE ARE WORKING WITH $#-3 ON A JOINT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN TO ENSURE THAT WE ADDRESS ALL OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS 7E ARE PLEASED THAT THE REPOR T HAS RECOGNISED THE IMPOR TANCE OF INBOUND TOURISM n "RITAIN S THIRD BIGGEST SERVICE EXPORT n AND THE NEED FOR @THE FULL BACKING OF 'OVERNMENT INCLUDING JOINED UP POLICY MAKING 7HILE WE HAVE SEEN RECORD VISITS MILLION AND VALUE a BILLION AGAIN IN INTERNATIONAL TOURISM IS FIERCELY COMPETITIVE #ONTINUED INSTABILITY IN THE EURO AND STRENGTHENING OF STERLING MAY MEAN HEAVIER WEATHER AHEAD n FIGURES FOR THE FIRST COUPLE OF MONTHS SHOW SPEND DOWN AND VISITS DOWN !FTER THE ELECTION WE ARE LIKELY TO SEE A TOUGH REVIEW OF PUBLIC SPENDING )N THAT TOURISM NEEDS TO MAKE ITS VOICE HEARD TO ENSURE THAT ONE OF "RITAIN S MOST SUCCESSFUL EXPORT INDUSTRIES CONTINUES TO THRIVE AND DELIVER ECONOMIC GROWTH AND JOBS TO BUSINESSES AND INDIVIDUALS ACROSS "R ITAIN

+EY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 6ISIT"RITAIN 6ISIT"RITAIN WILL BE ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE TOURISM PROMOTION OF "RITAIN ITS NATIONS AND REGIONS OVERSEAS )T WILL DELIVER THIS THROUGH THE '2%!4 CAMPAIGN AND ITS INTERNATIONAL MARKETING BUDGET IN PARTNERSHIP WITH 6ISIT%NGLAND 6ISIT3COTLAND AND 6ISIT7ALES 6ISIT"RITAIN WILL USE IT INTERNATIONAL MARKETING BUDGET TO SUPPORT TACTICAL CAMPAIGNS GENERATE CONSUMER INSIGHT ANALYSIS AND WIDER MARKET INTELLIGENCE SUPPORT ROUTE DEVELOPMENT DEVELOP COMMERCIAL PARTNERSHIPS RETAIL AND " " 6ISIT"RITAIN WILL UNDERTAKE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS EVENTS PROMOTION AT A "RITAIN LEVEL ALONGSIDE OTHER '2%!4 PARTNERS AND WHERE APPROPRIATE INDIVIDUAL "OARDS 6ISIT"RITAIN WILL HAVE REGIONAL DISPERSAL TARGETS SET BY $#-3 TO ENSURE THAT THE ECONOMIC GROWTH FROM INBOUND TOURISM IS SPREAD ACROSS "RITAIN S NATIONS AND REGIONS 6ISIT"RITAIN WILL SUPPORT 6ISIT%NGLAND S CHALLENGE FUND PROVIDING INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMER INSIGHTS SITTING ON THE EXPERT PANEL AND BEING ACCOUNTABLE FOR INTERNATIONAL DELIVERY 6ISIT"RITAIN WILL USE IT CUSTOMER INSIGHTS TO DECIDE WHERE ITS TARGETS WILL BE BEST MET BY "RITAIN LEVEL NATIONAL OR SUB NATIONAL PROMOTION ACTIVITY

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3ALLY "ALCOMBE L #HIEF %XECUTIVE

6ISIT"RITAIN

6ISIT3COTLAND

6ISIT3COTLAND AND THE COUNTRY S TOURISM INDUSTRY HAVE MADE 3COTLAND A LEADING TOURISM DESTINATION ATTRACTING ALMOST MILLION VISITORS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD

GENERATING JUST OVER a BILLION IN OVERNIGHT AND DAY VISITOR EXPENDITURE 3TEEPED IN TRADITION WITH ICONS WHICH ARE THE ENVY OF MANY OF OUR COMPETITORS THE 3COTLAND TOURISM BRAND IS RECOGNISED THE WORLD OVER DELIVERED THOUGH INSPIRATIONAL INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC MARKETING CAMPAIGNS 6ISIT3COTLAND WILL CONTINUE TO WORK WITH THE INDUSTRY IN DELIVERING A WORLD CLASS TOURISM EXPERIENCE SHOWCASING 3COTLAND AS A MODERN DYNAMIC NATION WITH A GLOBAL REACH A CREATIVE NATION WITH A RICH HERITAGE AND AN INSPIRING GLOBAL CITIZEN 4HIS YEAR IS 3COTLAND S 9EAR OF &OOD AND $RINK PUTTING OUR NATURAL LARDER FINEST CHEFS AND INSPIRATIONAL FOOD PRODUCERS CENTRE STAGE IN TOURISM CAMPAIGNS -AJOR SPORTING AND CULTURAL EVENTS REMAIN A KEY PRIORITY AND BUILDING ON THE SUCCESS OF 6ISIT3COTLAND S %VENTS $IRECTORATE HAS BEEN KEY IN SECURING FOUR 7ORLD AND %UROPEAN #HAMPIONSHIPS FOR THIS YEAR

ALONG WITH NINE GOLF EVENTS INCLUDING THE RETURN OF 4HE /PEN TO 3T !NDREWS !MONGST THE PORTFOLIO OF CULTURAL EVENTS IS 4HE 4URNER 0RIZE WHICH WILL BE PRESENTED IN 'LASGOW NOT TO MENTION THE %DINBURGH )NTERNATIONAL &ESTIVALS WHICH GO FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH 4HIS STORY OF SUCCESS IS SET TO CONTINUE AS WE MOVE THROUGH THE NEXT FEW YEARS WITH 3COTLAND S POSITION AS THE PERFECT STAGE FOR EVENTS HIGHLIGHTED THROUGH THE JOINT HOSTING OF A SERIES OF %UROPEAN 3PORTS #HAMPIONSHIPS WITH "ERLIN IN AND %URO MATCHES SCHEDULED FOR 'LASGOW /UR REFRESHED .ATIONAL %VENTS 3TRATEGY WILL ENSURE WE CONTINUE TO KEEP 3COTLAND AS A LEADING EVENTS DESTINATION "USINESS TOURISM IS ALSO A KEY AREA OF STRENGTH AND GROWTH FOR 3COTLAND AND CURRENTLY WORTH AN ESTIMATED a BILLION EACH YEAR 6ISIT3COTLAND THROUGH ITS #ONFERENCE "ID &UND IS WORKING TO BUILD ON THIS REPUTATION HELPING TO SECURE FURTHER MAJOR BUSINESS CONFERENCES )MPORTANTLY THE OPPORTUNITIES TO BRING

-ALCOLM 2OUGHEAD /"% L #HIEF %XECUTIVE

6ISIT3COTLAND

Â¥ ADRIANPLUSKOTA n &OTOLIA COM

3COTLAND AN INSPIRING WORLD LEADING VISITOR DESTINATION

ABOUT NEW BUSINESS AS A RESULT OF INVESTMENT IN BUSINESS TOURISM ARE HUGE #ONNECTIVITY IS KEY BOTH TRANSPORT AND DIGITAL ,OOK AT THE THOUSANDS OF NEW AIRLINE SEATS BRINGING VISITORS INTO 3COTLAND AND THE POTENTIAL TO BRING VISITORS IN FROM THE &AR %AST AND !USTRALASIA THROUGH THE ROUTES BEING DEVELOPED LAUNCHED AND EXPANDED BY 1ATAR !IRWAYS %MIRATES AND %TIHAD AIRWAYS !LONG WITH NEW ROUTES FROM #HICAGO AND %UROPE THE WORLD IS OPENING OUT TO 3COTLAND AS NEVER BEFORE /NCE HERE VISITORS CAN ENJOY NEW TRANSPORT FACILITIES INCLUDING "ORDERS 2AIL

WHICH WILL OPEN UP ONE OF THE MOST SCENIC AND HISTORIC PARTS OF THE COUNTRY 7ITH DIGITAL CONNECTIVITY OF EVER INCREASING IMPORTANCE TO OUR VISITORS 6ISIT3COTLAND IS WORKING WITH THE INDUSTR Y TO ENSURE THAT IT IS SEIZING THE OPPORTUNITIES OF INCREASED BUSINESS FROM VISITORS PLANNING TRIPS AND THEN AGAIN ONCE THEY ARE HERE 6ISIT3COTLAND IS WORKING WITH BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO ENSURE THAT THE REACH OF TOURISM CONTINUES

ADDING VALUE TO THE WIDER VISITOR ECONOMY WHICH IS ESTIMATED TO BE a BN )N 3COTLAND THE IMPORTANCE OF TOURISM TO THE WIDER ECONOMY IS WIDELY RECOGNISED AND TOURISM IS LEADING ECONOMIC

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TRANSFORMATION &ROM THE 6 ! -USEUM OF $ESIGN $UNDEE WHICH WILL TRANSFORM NOT ONLY THE WATERFRONT BUT THE WHOLE CITY TO THE (YDRO !RENA IN 'LASGOW WHICH HAS LED TO INVESTMENT IN NEW HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS TOURISM IS THE DRIVING FORCE FOR PROVIDING THE JOBS OF TODAY AND TOMORROW 6ISIT3COTLAND WILL CONTINUE TO WORK WITH PARTNERS ACROSS 3COTLAND TO ENCOURAGE INVESTMENT AND TO MAP IT THROUGH 4HE .ATIONAL 4OURISM $EVELOPMENT &RAMEWORK WHICH HAS ALREADY IDENTIFIED MORE THAN a BILLION OF INVESTMENT (IGH QUALITY SERVICE AND FACILITIES ARE CRUCIAL TO MAKING 3COTLAND A MUST VISIT

MUST RETURN DESTINATION AND 3COTLAND IS RECOGNISED AS A WORLD LEADER IN THIS FIELD 6ISIT3COTLAND S 1UALITY !SSURANCE SCHEME IS A BENCHMARK FOR QUALITY ACROSS THE TOURISM INDUSTRY AND OPERATES ACROSS ACCOMMODATION VISITOR ATTRACTIONS AND FOOD SECTORS 4HE ACCESSIBLE AND SOCIAL TOURISM MARKETS ARE TWO NEWER PRIORITIES FOR 6ISIT3COTLAND !CCESSIBLE TOURISM EXPENDITURE HAS GROWN BY IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS AND BUSINESSES IN 3COTLAND ARE SEIZING THE OPPORTUNITY THIS SECTOR REPRESENTS 4OURISM IS ONE OF 3COTLAND S GREAT ECONOMIC SUCCESS STORIES AND THE INDUSTRY IS IN EXCELLENT SHAPE

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Visit Wales

A confident ‘croeso’

Tenby sea-front Tourism is big business in Wales. Deloitte’s 2013 study sets Tourism’s total overall contribution to the Welsh economy at £8.7 billion. With its epic landscapes now offering some of the best adventure in Europe and a rich and ancient culture that can be experienced today at vibrant festivals and events, it’s no wonder that tourism is one of this small, creative country’s defining industries and supports nearly 15% of jobs here. Two years into an ambitious tourism strategy for Wales, Partnership for Growth, performance is positive and confidence is high. Public-sector leadership and support, driven by private-sector investment and imagination, is helping to put Wales ahead of the competition. Wales’s tourism industry is taking its first steps to achieving our key strategic target to 2020: a 10% growth in tourism value to Wales in real terms. To achieve our ambition, the strategy focuses on five key areas – Promoting the Brand; Product Development; People Development; Profitable Performance and Place Building. The strategy puts iconic, reputationchanging products, experiences, destinations and events at the forefront of the Wales brand – and Visit Wales, with European support, has contributed £14m in innovative new products since the Strategy’s launch.This summer you will be able to come to Wales and learn to surf at the UK’s only inland Wavegarden in Dolgarrog; bounce on gigantic

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underground trampolines at Blaenau Ffestiniog; teach your kids to ‘bunny hop’ at Bike Park Wales near Merthyr Tydfil; dine on the beach at the Coast restaurant in Saundersfoot; and crash out in one of the new suites at one of Wales’s most iconic castles in Harlech. Next year’s highlights include the opening of a major new visitor centre The Royal Mint near Llantrisant. Our marketing campaigns aim to build a strong and reinforcing brand for Wales, showcasing a country that is dynamic and alive with relevant, contemporary and fun things to do. ‘Have you Packed for Wales?’ is Visit Wales’s flagship campaign in the UK, Ireland and Germany and it won a prestigious Digitals award for our multichannel work last year, beating stiff competition and laying the foundations for even more creative and ambitious digital and content-led marketing in the future. As well as delivering awards, the campaign is delivering great results for Wales: last year’s UK and Ireland campaign generated an additional £238million in additional expenditure to the Welsh economy, an uplift of 25% on the previous year’s total. The Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, Ken Skates, recently launched a series of thematic years for Welsh tourism – which will be crucial in delivering our strategy over the next few years. We are starting with a Year of Adventure in 2016, building on a wave of exciting

Issue 162 Summer 2015

new openings and developments, and over 10 years of ongoing investment to make Wales one of the UK’s leading adventure destinations. Wales has a competitive advantage in this area: we invented Coasteering and boast the world’s only continuous path along a nation’s entire coastline. Wales’s big celebration will feature magical family experiences, such as farm holidays, castle sleepovers, big picnics and dark sky evenings. We will also be celebrating the centenary of Roald Dahl, with events and attractions on an extraordinary scale – in a fitting build-up to a Year of Legends in 2017, before we move on to a Year of the Sea in 2018. Looking at the next five years, partnership working is a must for a small, flexible country brand such as Wales. Partnership means teaming up with relevant companies ranging from Blacks to Waitrose, DFDS Germany to Irish Ferries, to working closely with organisations such as our Marketing Area Partners and Cardiff Wales Airport and beyond the border to organisations such as VisitBritain and London & Partners. It means partnering with the industry to invest in innovation and new ideas. And, as a small, connected country it increasingly means thinking in a joined-up way, across markets and sectors, to promote Wales in the round in a compelling and reinforcing way – as a fresh, relevant and highly-appealing destination for tourism, leisure, investment and study. A creative, confident Cymru. Manon Antoniazzi MTS l Chief Executive, Visit Wales

Policy

The Triennial Review and Select Committee Inquiry – setting the stage for the new Government Tourism Strategy There have been two important publications on tourism published this year – the Triennial Review of VisitBritain and VisitEngland and the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee’s inquiry into the Government’s handling of its tourism responsibilities.Together, these two documents are critical in framing the future of tourism under the new Government. While the Triennial Review makes a large number of recommendations on the future structure and functions of VisitBritain and VisitEngland, in essence, there are just three important conclusions – that, due to the free-rider effect causing market failure, there remains a need for the Government to continue to provide public funding for domestic and inbound tourism promotion, that the benefits of Government intervention outweigh the costs, and that VisitEngland and VisitBritain are fit-for-purpose in undertaking the work required to overcome the market failure. If reports that public expenditure needs to be reduced by up to £12bn per annum are true, all Government Departments, and the agencies they control, will be forced to justify their existence and their current expenditure levels.That VisitBritain and VisitEngland have just been through the comprehensive Triennial process in which they have had to answer these questions – and being deemed to have successfully answered them – should put them in a stronger position than some other agencies when the cuts are made. The second publication that will help shape the future of Government policy on tourism was the Select Committee’s recent report.This was the Select Committee’s first report on tourism since 2008 and was notable for two things. Firstly, unlike previous tourism-related reports, this one did not question the basis for Government funding tourism promotion. Not only was it accepted at the outset that this was an appropriate Government activity, the report concluded that “We believe tourism should have a

Kurt Janson MTS Policy Director, Tourism Alliance

more visible profile in, and be more vigorously promoted by, its sponsoring Department.” Secondly, the report is notable in that it firmly supports and endorses the views of the industry on the main policy issues that face the sector.This is a product of the Select Committee receiving clear and consistent written and oral evidence from businesses and trade associations across the sector on the main issues that impact on the growth of tourism. There has been some debate as to the usefulness of the report to shape Government policy seeing that it was published just before the dissolution of Parliament, meaning that the Government did not have time to respond to its recommendations. However, I would argue that it is precisely this timing that makes the report such a powerful advocacy tool for the industry in helping shape the new Government’s tourism strategy over the next five years. While the new Government may respond to the recommendations in the report, it is not obliged to do so as it is not accountable for how the former Government carried out its tourismrelated responsibilities.This is not actually a

bad thing as there are two possible outcomes. If the new Government does respond to the Select Committee Report, it will be doing so without the need to justify the policy stance of the former Government.This means that the Government’s response will be more objective than usual and not simply aim to protect the status-quo. A more objective response would be beneficial in helping take forward the recommendations. The alternative is that the Government does not formally respond to the Select Committee’s report. In this case, the tourism industry has a comprehensive report to help frame the new Government’s tourism strategy that is ‘unmuddied’ by the previous Government’s response. Again, a good outcome. There is no doubt that there is considerable uncertainty ahead.The forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review, the prospect of an emergency budget and renewed rumours that DCMS could be dismantled as a cost-saving measure, mean that the Government’s commitment to support tourism will be under substantial pressure. However, these two reports put the tourism industry in the best possible position to gain support from the new Government.

l Issue 162 Summer 2015

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+ENNETH 7ARDROP -43 L 0ROGRAMME $IRECTOR OF THE $,0 %DINBURGH )NSTITUTE

Sport Tourism

Local lift or national boost?

Last year’s Grand Départ attracted huge crowds World Cup (2019). London also hosts the One can’t go far nowadays without seeing final and semi-finals of the UEFA European or reading about sport – it is a global Football Championships in 2020 (Glasgow business, just like tourism itself. So it is will also host four matches). hardly surprising that sport(s) tourism has become a focus in its own right to join But what difference do these events make other niches (a word that doesn’t do the to the tourism industry and to the subject justice) such as film tourism. country as a whole? The answer, of course is, it depends (see table 1). And just as with the sports themselves, sport tourism is a highly competitive affair There is certainly a difference between with countries and cities pitching against occasional mega-events and annual ‘circuit’ each other to win high profile (although or ‘traditional’ events, and, of course, a not necessarily always well-attended) difference between peripatetic events and sporting events. those which take place at the same venue, year after year. The UK has been particularly fortunate in having the opportunity to host a number Particularly rare are those events which of major sporting events over the past few take place over a wide range of host cities years (and the run continues). Indeed, at or venues – which is why VisitEngland has one stage, until the phrase fell out of been so excited about the Rugby World favour, the government used to talk of the Cup with its 11 host cities and 13 venues. “golden decade” of sporting events in the But to what extent an event will benefit UK. As a reminder (and apologies to any the entire country as opposed to a events missed here), the UK has hosted specific location is always a moot point. the Olympic and Paralympic Games From a national, tourism perspective (2012), the Rugby League World Cup VisitEngland would look at the following (2013), the Commonwealth Games and factors to determine what level of the Tour de France Grand Départ (both engagement or support would be 2014).The major focus of 2015 is the appropriate: Rugby World Cup (18th September – 31st October, if you are counting down) and still to come are the World Athletics Championships (2017) and the cricket

Location – multi-centre or one location. Out of London or in London would be factors here.

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Timing – what defines the height of the season or off-season is not uniform and depends on whether it is a city, rural or seaside location for example. Nevertheless, timing is one factor to be borne in mind. PR - including broadcast coverage and media coverage – is there a potential PR hook? (e.g the European Archery championships in Nottingham in 2016 with its Robin Hood associations); will the event be broadcast nationally and internationally and by whom? (potential to offer support to broadcasters and generate additional non-sport coverage); will there be accredited media and if so, approximately how many? Overseas Markets – which countries will be participating and are these major tourism markets (eg in the top 10 or 20 by volume or value)? Scale and Duration of Event – what are the estimated numbers of participants, officials, media and supporters? And how many overnight stays might be generated? Brand Fit – about the English (or other destination) brand and the degree to which England (or your destination) is associated with the sport. From a more local perspective, factors

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Type

Examples

Direct impact

Bidding involved

Mega events

Olympic Games, World Cup

National (usually)

Yes

Annual ‘classic’ events

Open Golf, Isle of Man TT Races, Cheltenham festival

Local (location fixed or can vary)

Rarely

Mass participation events

Great Noth Run, Ride London

Local

No (but can be devised from scratch)

Annual/regular tournaments/series

Test series, Six Nations Rugby

Local or national

Occasionally

‘Season long’ championships and tournaments

Premier League, European Rugby

Local

Sporting heritage

Sports museums, stadium tours

Local

n/a

Table 1 – Sports Tourism Typology such as accommodation stock and transport capacity will also be key factors. There is no doubt that the UK is particularly well blessed with the infrastructure, the expertise and the heritage to develop and exploit sport tourism but it is important that the government, the destination organisation or the local authority have in place robust criteria and objectives that enable them to decide which types of event to attract, develop, support, promote or just manage. Tourism, of course, will not be the only factor under consideration. Indeed, sometimes tourism has not even been thought about at all and in the wake of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games,

the government has shown that it is now keen to see a more joined up approach to major events, with the recent publication of a strategy, ‘Gold Framework’, which offers guidance on UK-level support available when bidding for and staging major sporting events. Aimed principally at sporting governing bodies but of wider interest and to demonstrate the opportunities (or the complexities) in deciding on an approach, the paper claims that “The extent to which major sporting events can generate significant long-term benefits will vary depending on the size and nature of the event, but impacts in the following areas could be considered: Sports participation (and health/physical activity) - at the very least NGBs (national governing bodies) should consider and prepare for an increase in popularity of their sport following a major event Wider economic impacts (including tourism) Buildings and infrastructure (if appropriate) Community projects” Constraints and Pitfalls Sporting events are not immune to politicking and political intervention (step forward Sepp Blatter!) but there can often be a wide range of stakeholders involved, including governing bodies, sponsors and rights holders, broadcasters and agencies, who most likely will not have the same objectives or priorities as the tourism industry or who put in place rules or restrictions which prevent the industry from being as creative as it might be. As an example of sports politics, one European championships was only recently lost to the UK because the UK governing body made an alliance with an organisation which upset the European

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Issue 162 Summer 2015

federation. As a result, the event is now taking place in Baku as part of the first European Games in July (yet another event in the calendar). Timescales, too, might differ with even sponsors and commercial organisations leaving planning until the last few months or weeks before an event, to the frustration of the forward planners amongst us. All this is worth bearing in mind but the better news is that generally, everyone is welcoming to a destination which offers help, support and free promotion and can let others get on with their core business. Admittedly, it does help if you have money to bring to the table, too, but once you get to the smaller, more niche events and sports, any help is welcome. Contacts at high level are particularly valuable so it is definitely worth using any networks at your disposal to get your messages across. They Think It’s All Over So, the UK has excellent sporting credentials. Events can deliver significant economic impacts and mid to long term benefits, although there will be often be short-term pain (travel disruption and displacement are the most common factors here).There is a seemingly endless appetite for more events on the calendar and more TV coverage (irrespective of the numbers actually spectating at the event). The main decisions for any tourist board or destination organisation are thus whether to devote resources to attracting and devising new or niche events to suit the calendar, or to use existing events to heighten awareness and profile of the destination (even if the event itself is a ‘sell-out’). Few though can – or should – afford to be immune to sport tourism.

Jeremy Brinkworth FTS l Project Director, Rugby World Cup, VisitEngland

Tourism Terms

As a Founder Fellow and former Chairman of the Society I have one professional ambition to fulfil as I approach my 78th year.That ambition, the objective of this paper, is to help clarify the basic terms in which tourism should be debated. All professional bodies develop and adopt a common language.They have to, if only to agree what they are all talking about. Why should tourism be different? I am convinced we need urgently to tighten the current sloppy usage of tourism language so that decision makers in central, local government and business can all deal with the visitor economy as it really is on equal terms of understanding. It is surely madness that some 10% of the British economy, important in every corner of the land and crucial in some, with all its influences on social and cultural well-being and the environment of residents, should still be dealt with in language that confuses rather than clarifies. Decision makers conduct policy debates about the future using key terms to mean whatever they wish them to mean. For example the recent Party Manifestos all refer to a ‘tourism or tourist industry’ for which there is no agreed international or national definition. In my long experience, most senior people in national and local Government don’t see themselves in any way as a core part of an industry and they are therefore able mentally to withdraw from their vital roles in facilitating the visitor economy. How can we alter that lack of understanding? The Tourism Society’s Dictionary of the Tourism Industry (2008) is no longer fit for its purpose. The seven core terms in this paper, agreed in March 2015 by the Tourism Society Board, are not new.They were devised four years ago as far as possible in line with international agreements through a working group and consultation process that was set up under the auspices of the English Tourism and Research Intelligence Partnership established at that time by VisitEngland.The terms were published by the Tourism intelligence Unit of the Office for National Statistics in 20121.They recognise and reflect the unavoidable fact

Adopting an Agreed Common Language for Tourism and the Visitor Economy

that tourism is in essence a technical concept that can only be measured by available statistics of visitor movements and expenditure (demand) and estimates of the wide range of visitor services and facilities (supply). As a technical concept tourism will always be open to some interpretation. We now have an agreed set of terms. So here’s a challenge. Let us use them to change mind-sets. If we cannot achieve this most basic of goals through The Tourism Society, do we really deserve to call ourselves professionals? Tourism Tourism is the generic term to cover both demand and supply that has been adopted in various forms and used throughout the World. Tourism is defined as the activities of persons identified as visitors. A visitor is someone who is making a visit to a main destination outside his/her usual environment for less than a year for any main purpose [including] holidays, leisure and recreation, business, health, education or other purposes….This scope is much wider than the traditional perception of tourists, which included only those travelling for leisure. [UNWTO statistics Guidelines: 2010]

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Visitors Visitor is the common denominator that covers all the forms of tourism defined above for the same range of purposes.The term embraces three separate categories. (1) Tourists who are visitors staying away from home for one or more nights for any of the purposes noted above (domestic, or from abroad). (2) Same Day visitors, also known as tourist day visitors spending at least three hours away from home outside their usual environment for general leisure, recreational and social purposes. Many are local residents of an area. (3) Leisure day visitors spending less than three hours away from home but outside their usual environment, for general leisure, recreational or social purposes. Not included (in the published volume and value of tourism statistics in England), these short stay leisure day visitors contribute directly to the local visitor economy and should also be formally recognized in destination management decisions. Most of this third group of visitors are also residents of destinations and their local catchment areas. Tourism Industries The term ‘tourism industries’ is the

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internationally accepted UNWTO/OECD definition of twelve standard industrial classifications of the sectors of the economy that provide products/services consumed by visitors.The turnover due to tourism in each of these sectors is measured by surveys of visitor expenditure, ie, from the demand side, mostly in the private sector but including some public sector products/services. Although convenient and in common usage by professionals, the media and politicians, there is no accepted international or national definition of the term ‘tourism industry.’ Visitor Economy A term now widely used throughout the UK, although not yet officially defined, visitor economy refers to overall demand and supply in all the sectors within which visitor activity and its direct and indirect consequences upon the economy take place.The term visitor economy is wider than the definition of tourism industries, which it includes, and it encompasses all staying and non-staying visitors (including categories such as business day visits and leisure day visits not currently measured as part of tourism industries).The term embraces the activities and expenditure involved in supplying products and services for visitors by both the private and public sectors. It also includes the primarily public sector activities and substantial expenditure on the creation, maintenance and development of the public realm and the infrastructure within which, and through which, visitor activities take place.Visitor Economy can be used in relation to international, national and subnational geographical destinations or areas and need not necessarily be confined by existing historical boundaries. ‘Tourism industries’ are, therefore, a sub-set of the visitor economy. Visitor destination/tourism destination Visitor destinations are places that are recognised as visitor destinations and for which it is possible to measure aspects of the demand for and supply of tourism services within defined boundaries.Visitor destination is preferred to ‘tourism destination’ because by definition it includes all categories of visitor.Typically such destinations have some form of public/private sector organisation in place; they are promoted as places to visit and have some form of management process in place for visitor related purposes. At local level, destination boundaries in the UK are usually but not always coterminous with one or more local authorities or designated parts of such administrative areas, for example, National Parks. At regional level destination boundaries will always be a combination of local authority administration areas. At national level the boundaries are those of the nation.These levels reflect EU agreements on area administration.The UNWTO simply

defines the main destination of a tourism visit as “the place visited that is central to the decision to take the trip.” Destination Management Although widely used throughout the UK, Destination Management is a relatively recent and loosely used concept still in the process of establishing a formal definition. It is an agreed organisational process for leading, influencing and coordinating management of the key aspects of a destination that contribute to a visitor’s experience having regard also for the needs of local residents, businesses and the environment. Effective management requires measurement and planning and development processes for the visitor economy of a destination as part of overall local authority plans. Although private sector involvement is essential, effective destination management also requires the active participation of local authorities and relevant public sector bodies.Visitor economy related organisations are commonly referred to as Destination Management Organisations or DMOs. While the management aspects are essential to optimise the potential benefits in the visitor economy, most DMOs have historically been formed as marketing organisations and some may not aspire to, or choose not to, encompass the management elements noted above. Collectively these bodies are increasingly referred to as Destination Organisations. Public Realm Public realm is an accepted and widely used term in the UK for spaces mostly freely available for use by the public (residents and visitors). Associated with

commonly used terms such as place shaping, place making or specialness of place, public realm includes the costs and management of services that relate to the development and usage of spaces such as town and city centres, parks and gardens and scenic rural areas and most iconic buildings. Such spaces are primarily the direct responsibility of local authorities funded by Government, local business rates, council taxes on residents and an authority’s own revenue-earning activities. Some aspects of public space provision are often also partly vested in other public sector agencies working with local authorities. In conjunction with the public realm and local authority planning, the private sector also owns and maintains most of the buildings and land surrounding public spaces and in some cases the estate through which public access is provided. In the wider context, public realm is always part of the local quality of life for residents; it defines the specialness and attractiveness of places, and influences inward investment generally. This paper was reviewed in January/February by TIU,VisitEngland and Tourism Society Colleagues. 1 The full text along with TIU summaries of internationally agreed statistical procedures can be found in the ONS publication Measuring Tourism Locally – Definitions of Tourism, Guidance Note 1 (Version 2; 2012). The Guidelines are a comprehensive technical 40 page manual to aid those measuring local tourism. The definitions, however, are national definitions based on international agreements expressed in the most recent statements by UNWTO, OECD and the EU where such statistical definitions exist. Victor Middleton OBE FTS

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l 13

Corporate Member

Group Travel

According to a recent survey amongst members of the Group Travel Organisers Association (GTOA), demand for trips to film and television locations have seen a considerable growth in the past year. It seems the appetite for such visits is starting to challenge the traditional haunts for groups such as gardens and museums. Yvonne White, Chairman of GTOA, believes this demand is being fuelled by the spate of iconic television programmes and films that have hit the screens over the past couple of years. She says: “Group organisers are constantly looking for new destinations and linking trips to locations that are given prominence in the popular press proves a sure-fire way to stimulate interest and fill capacity.” Group visits to places like Holmfirth in Yorkshire, the setting for the much-loved long running TV series Last of the Summer Wine, have become a regular feature in brochures. Although the series finished many years ago, thousands still visit Holmfirth to re-live the exploits of Cleggy, Compo and Norah Batty and the village has become a major tourist attraction. Indeed, it is a case study that has been well documented in tourism circles. However, more recent programmes such as Sky Atlantic’s Fortitude has created almost instant demand for cruise line Fred.Olsen.The popularity of the psychological thriller is helping to generate sales of cruises to Arctic regions.The series was filmed in Iceland. Sales and marketing director Nathan Philpot said: “Fred.Olsen’s range of Spitsbergen, Greenland and Iceland cruises in 2016 is proving particularly attractive to these ‘setjetters’, as they are known, where they can visit the fictional settlement and filming location of their favourite TV programme, Fortitude.” Research commissioned by Creative England, partnered by VisitEngland, found that film and TV tourism brought in around £100-140 million to the economy in England, excluding London, in 2014.The study covered screen locations such as West Bay in Dorset, where Olivia Coleman and David Tennant investigated murder (ITV’s Broadchurch); Alnwick Castle, Northumberland, (the site of Hogwarts in Harry Potter films); the

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Rise of the ‘set-jetters’

Dunluce Castle, aka House of Greyjoy, Oxfordshire village of Bampton (Downton Abbey); Puzzlewood in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire (Merlin and the new Star Wars); and Wollaton Hall, a hilltop mansion in Nottingham (The Dark Knight Rises). James Berresford, CEO,VisitEngland, says that this is an exciting phenomenon: “It is fantastic that so many tourist destinations are benefiting from domestic and international visitors who increasingly want to experience stunning locations from the world of television and film.” Wales has played a huge part in the BBC’s Doctor Who series over the years.The programme continues to be filmed all over Wales with its home base at Roath Lock in Cardiff Bay, a 16,000 square metre purpose-built BBC site where Casualty is also created. It’s not normally possible to tour the studios, but you can see everything to do with the series at the nearby Doctor Who Experience. Scotland’s tourism figures have been boosted by the country’s appearance in various James Bond films including the most recent, Skyfall.VisitScotland has produced a map for Bollywood fans after seeing a rise in the numbers of Indian

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Game of Thrones productions using Scottish locations. Scotland’s culture minister, Fiona Hyslop, said tourism from India was a “strong emerging market” as a result of the Bollywood interest. Northern Ireland’s tourism is also benefitting from the massively popular HBO Game of Thrones television series. Antrim’s causeway coast and glens are the setting for the magical, medieval adventure story filmed in castles and beaches across the region, which has led to the creation of a Game of Thrones industry with tour and coach operators. Even the Queen visited the set in 2014! Two revivals of old favourites look certain to maintain interest in visiting filming locations. The BBC’s new TV series of Poldark featuring heart-throb Aidan Turner, spotlights the windswept vistas of Cornwall, while the Dad’s Army film, starring Bill Nighy, scheduled for release in 2016, has Bridlington in Yorkshire as the backdrop for the fictional Walmington-onSea.These productions and others in the pipeline are sure to keep the ‘set-jetter’ effect buoyant in the foreseeable future. Mike Bugsgang FTS l Chief Executive, GTOA

Case Study

St Helena – How Tourism will help deliver economic self-sufficiency

Lush hillsides on St Helena Michael Dean FTS spent three years working on St Helena, leading the creation of the island’s Tourism Strategy and tourism development projects in preparation for the opening of the island’s airport. If anyone knows of St Helena then it is usually because of the fact that it was where Napoleon was exiled after Waterloo, and where he died. Once a strategic part of the East India Company and the British Empire, St Helena has been, for many years, an isolated and often forgotten British Overseas Territory. However, all that is changing, with tourism providing a core foundation on which planned economic self-sufficiency will come about. St Helena lies south of the Equator, roughly midway between Africa and South America. Before the opening of the Suez Canal, it was an essential stopping point for ships returning to Europe from the Far East.The island has a wealth of historic interest, due to its links with the East India Company and Napoleon, alongside an amazing natural environment ranging from desert to cloud forest and a huge number

of plants and insects that are found nowhere else in the world. Currently, the only way to reach the island is on the last working Royal Mail Ship, RMS St Helena, which makes the five-day sailing from Cape Town once a month.The RMS is the island’s lifeline as pretty much everything that is needed for life – from cars to livestock, foodstuffs to toilet rolls – has to come by the ship. With no natural resources, most of the island’s population is employed by the Government of St Helena, which is funded by the UK’s Department of International Development to the tune of around £20m a year. All this is set to change in 2016, however. As part of a plan to move the island to economic self-sufficiency, the UK Government has funded the construction of an airport on the island. Work has been going on since 2012, and flights are scheduled to operate from Johannesburg from the early part of 2016.This will provide a five-hour link rather than the current five days. The development of the airport provides a major opportunity for the economic

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development of St Helena, with one of the core platforms being tourism - and an increase in visitors from 2,000 to around 30,000 per annum.The key thrust is to ensure that the island’s residents benefit fully from the opportunities tourism will bring. In the period immediately after the announcement of the airport, extensive consultation and listening was undertaken in developing a tourism strategy.This was built on ensuring benefit is delivered to residents and that physical development is carefully controlled, is as eco-friendly and sustainable as possible, and impact on the natural environment is minimised. So what does this mean in real terms? St Helena has a huge tourism potential – the natural environment runs from desert to rainforest with a fascinating ecostructure.There is spectacular marine life suitable for diving, sport fishing and water sports, and there is a remarkable historical legacy which covers the East India Company, slavery, Boers and Zulus, encompassing the whole of the British Empire period ... plus of course Napoleon,

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Airport under construction who’s bicentenary coincides with the airport. All these different themes can and will attract visitors. But as all this was relatively unknown to the travel industry, and the world as a whole, an essential first step was to build awareness of the destination through an international PR campaign.This carefully planned and targeted series of activities was hugely successful, raising awareness and producing a return on investment of over 40:1. Secondly, with around 2,000 overnighting visitors, considerable work was needed to put foundations in place for dealing with the volume of tourists the airport will produce, as well as generating mindsets that recognised the opportunities and benefits that tourism could deliver. A key focus of the strategy was skills development and upskilling – not just in tourism and hospitality, but in important support areas such as fishing, agriculture and wider business activities. A series of consultations was held to develop quality standards for specific areas, and a programme of hospitality development was implemented including the creation of a training restaurant. Business support programmes were also developed to help individuals get their ideas off the ground.Visits and training to overseas operations were also put in place so that individuals could be exposed to, and appreciate, the standards and quality visitors would be expecting. These programmes and support have led to several new businesses being set up in the tourism field, especially for visitor experiences (such as diving, water sports and sport fishing), as well as new business enterprises across the private sector. A parallel programme also informed islanders living and working away from St Helena of the opportunities that could be available.The wider impact has seen the island’s population reverse a long term

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decline with growth as St Helenians living off-island return and start to take up the opportunities presented by the airport. The tourism strategy then seeks to manage visitors and their impact proactively, to spread the benefits as widely as possible.Thus the strategy highlights specific locations suitable for tourism development, spread right across the island. In many cases these are currently underused historic buildings, and careful work was undertaken to ensure the historic integrity is maintained whilst allowing development that meets international visitor requirements. Included in this is retention of ownership locally, although allowing leasing or operation by investor groups. Work is already underway on two hotel projects, one using existing buildings and the other a greenfield development.The identification of key tourism locations also ensured that relevant planning for infrastructure works could be undertaken, and the tourism strategy was woven into the plans and policies of relevant government departments. The geographical spread of development locations was designed to move tourists around the whole island, spread benefits widely and avoid the potential of tourist ‘ghettos’. Furthermore, the strategy proposed a cap to visitor numbers so that impact was managed and that demand for the destination would be maintained. Alongside these foundations the strategy also put in place support for specific areas of physical development that improved the existing first impressions for visitors, but which also benefitted local people too. This included repainting buildings along the Wharf in Jamestown, the island’s capital, and improving the pavements in the main street.These projects gradually fell under a wider economic development strategy, developed by an economic

development team – Enterprise St Helena – a body specifically designed to be at arm’s length from Government and to be more agile and impactful.The tourism function also moved from being a government function to part of Enterprise St Helena. Enterprise St Helena’s Economic Development Plan, underpinned by elements such as the Tourism Strategy, showed that self-sufficiency would be possible assuming tourism grew as planned. But more importantly, it also showed that there were significant other areas of opportunity, particularly around fishing, that could also deliver major economic growth for the island.This Plan in turn fed into St Helena Government’s National Plan which is driving planning and thinking as the airport completion approaches. So where has the island got to? An air service operator – Comair, operating a BA-flagged aircraft out of Johannesburg has recently been announced, along with routes and indicative prices. A major international hotel group – Mantis – has also been announced as the operator of a new hotel being developed in the centre of Jamestown. Upskilling and training continues, across the hospitality sector and throughout the private sector. But economic benefits are being seen already too, as average incomes, economic activity and the resident island population have increased. There is no doubt there will be impact when the airport opens – but the thought, care and commitment that has gone into the planning of the tourism and other island-wide strategies will ensure that many islanders will benefit from growing trade, growing incomes and growing contact with the rest of the world. Once again, St Helena is on the world’s radar. Michael Dean FTS l Partner, Adcote House

Issue 162 Summer 2015

6IEW FROM THE 3TATES

6ULNERABLE FUNDING DRIVES EVOLUTION IN .ORTH !MERICAN $-/S !S SOMEONE WHO HAS WORKED WITH 5 3 $-/S FOR MORE THAN YEARS IT S EYE OPENING TO SEE HOW DESTINATION MARKETING OPERATES IN -ALAYSIA .ORWAY AND OTHER COUNTRIES ) VE WORKED WITH OVER THE PAST FIVE YEARS 9ET WHILE EVERY $-/ FACES OBSTACLES UNIQUE TO ITS REGION FUNDING IS BY FAR ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES FOR INDUSTRY LEADERS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD AND IT S CERTAINLY THE BIGGEST CATALYST FOR HOW $-/S ARE CHANGING IN .ORTH !MERICA -ANY OF OUR $-/S ARE PRIVATE FOR PROFIT CORPORATIONS RESPONSIBLE FOR LEISURE TOURISM AS WELL AS MEETINGS AND CONVENTIONS 4HEY OPERATE IN PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP WITH THE VAST MAJORITY OF THEIR REVENUE PROVIDED BY TAXES ON PRODUCTS USED PRIMARILY BY VISITORS 4HE DOMINANT SOURCE NATIONWIDE IS A PER NIGHT @BED TAX ON LODGING (ISTORICALLY IT S ONLY BEEN COLLECTED FROM HOTELS BED AND BREAKFASTS

ETC BUT SOME CITIES ARE NOW WORKING TO ALSO TAX @SHARING ECONOMY LODGING OFFERED THROUGH SERVICES LIKE !IRBNB AND 62"/ 7HILE THOSE TAXES WERE ENACTED SPECIFICALLY TO FUND DESTINATION MARKETING

IN ALL BUT A FEW EXCEPTIONS GOVERNMENTS CAN DIVERT DOLLARS TO OTHER PROGRAMMES

AND EACH NEW ROUND OF BUDGETING MEANS WORRY OVER HOW MUCH $-/ FUNDING MIGHT BE CUT 4HAT UNCERTAINTY COMBINED WITH VULNERABILITY TO POLITICS AND SHIFTS IN PUBLIC OPINION VARYING DEGREES OF GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT AND SOMETIMES ONEROUS REQUIRED REPORTING CAN CREATE CHRONIC TENSIONS BETWEEN $-/S AND THE COMMUNITIES THEY EXIST TO SERVE 4HE GOOD NEWS IS THAT CRISIS DRIVES INNOVATION ) VE SEEN OUR INDUSTRY EVOLVE CONSIDERABLY IN RECENT YEARS OFTEN DRIVEN BY A NEED TO REPLACE LOST FUNDING OR HEDGE AGAINST THE POSSIBILITY OF FUTURE CUTS %VERY YEAR ) HEAR OF NEW REVENUE STREAMS THAT .ORTH !MERICAN $-/S ARE EXPLORING n EVERYTHING FROM TICKETING FOR LOCAL ATTRACTIONS TO PROVIDING GROUP HOUSING MANAGEMENT FOR CONVENTIONS n BUT THREE STRATEGIES IN PAR TICULAR SEEM TO HAVE GAINED THE MOST TRACTION &IRST IS EXPANDING ENGAGEMENT WITH PAYING

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)VOUJOHUPO #FBDI o 4VSG $JUZ 64" HISTORICALLY PROVIDED LESS THAN OF A $-/ S BUDGET OFTEN NOT EVEN COVERING THE COST OF SERVICING THOSE MEMBERS #ITIES ARE ADOPTING INCLUSIVE MODELS WITH HIGHLY AFFORDABLE SELF SERVICE ENTRY POINTS WITH BASIC SERVICES INCLUDED COMBINED WITH MENUS OF @PAY TO PLAY HIGHER VALUE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES SUCH AS THE ABILITY TO PURCHASE AD SPACE ON A $-/ S WEBSITE 4HE COMBINATION OF LOWER ENTRY COST AND TIERED PRODUCTS HAS THE EFFECT OF INCREASING BOTH MEMBERSHIP AND PER MEMBER INCOME 7HILE THESE KINDS OF SHIFT IN MEMBERSHIP DO BRING NEW INCOME ITgS OFTEN AT A RELATIVELY SMALL SCALE 4HUS A SECOND STRATEGY IS TURNING TO SUBSETS OF TOURISM PARTNERS WITH DEEPER POCKETS AND HIGHER STAKES IN VISITORSHIP /NE #ANADIAN $-/

FOR EXAMPLE RECENTLY BROUGHT AN ADDITIONAL MILLION TO ITS ANNUAL BUDGET THROUGH INVESTMENT FROM MAJOR HOTELS IN ITS MARKET ! THIRD STRATEGY HAS $-/S LOOKING BEYOND THE USUAL DOMAIN OF TRAVEL AND TOURISM PARTNERS (UNTINGTON "EACH

#ALIFORNIA FOR EXAMPLE FOUND MUTUAL GAIN WORKING WITH THE !USTRALIAN COMPANY 1UICKSILVER WHICH SOUGHT TO ALIGN ITSELF WITH THE CITY S ICONIC !MERICAN SURFING

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HISTORY AND CULTURE !ND WHILE 0ROCTER 'AMBLE

HEADQUARTERED IN #INCINNATI /HIO HAD NO PARTICULAR STAKE IN ITS CITY S BRAND IT BROUGHT MORE THAN MILLION TO THE #INCINNATI 6ISITOR "UREAU RECOGNIZING THAT ITS WORK CREATES A STRONGER ECONOMY AND ADVANCES THE CITY AS AN ATTRACTIVE PLACE TO LIVE AND WORK n A VITAL INTEREST FOR LARGE EMPLOYERS &OR ME THERE ARE TWO TAKEAWAYS IN THESE STORIES &IRST THAT $-/S ARE RELEVANT

DESPITE THIS PHASE OF INDUSTR Y ANGST 9ES

NEW BUSINESS MODELS OVERLAP AREAS OF WHAT $-/S HAVE ALWAYS DONE BUT MEMBER ENGAGEMENT ACROSS THE 5 3 IS GROWING AND NO OTHER ORGANISATION COULD DO WHAT A $-/ CAN DO F OR THE 0 'S OF THE WORLD 3ECOND THEY SPEAK TO THE NEED FOR CONTINUED INNOVATION /UR OLD MODEL OF HEAVY TAX FUNDING AND A PITTANCE FROM PARTNERS LET $-/S THRIVE 4ODAY IT MAY ONLY ALLOW THEM TO SURVIVE 4O PROSPER AND TRULY SERVE OUR COMMUNITIES WE ALL NEED TO KEEP LOOKING FOR NEW NEEDS WE CAN MEET NEW WAYS TO MEET TRADITIONAL NEEDS AND NEW PAR TNERS WITH FINANCIAL STAKES IN OUR WORK

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,EICESTER 4HE 2ICHARD ))) EFFECT )N ,EICESTER WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN PROUD OF AND HAVE CELEBRATED OUR LINKS TO +ING 2ICHARD ))) 7HEN A KEY PART OF HIS STORY AND HIS ASSOCIATION WITH ,EICESTER WAS RE WR ITTEN WITH THE DISCOVERY OF HIS REMAINS IN 3EPTEMBER IT VERY QUICKLY BECAME CLEAR THIS WAS TO BE A @GAME CHANGER "UT DID IT MEAN WE WOULD HAVE TO RETHINK THE APPROACH THE $-/ TAKES TO DEVELOPING TOURISM /VER PEOPLE QUEUED TO VIEW THE EXCAVATION SITE ON THE DAY IT WAS HASTILY OPENED TO THE PUBLIC 4HE MOMENTUM GREW TO A SPECTACULAR CLIMAX IN THE REMARKABLE WEEK OF THE REINTERMENT WHERE PEOPLE LINED THE ROUTE OF THE FINAL PROCESSION SHOWN RIGHT /VER PEOPLE HAVE NOW FILED PAST THE +ING SINCE THE BODY WAS BROUGHT INTO THE #ATHEDRAL ON ND -ARCH 4HERE ARE FEW DESTINATIONS THAT ARE GENUINELY @EASY TO SELL AND ,EICESTER WOULD CERTAINLY NOT CLAIM TO HAVE BEEN ONE 7E HAVE ALWAYS HAD TO WORK VERY HARD FOR EVERY SINGLE VISITOR WE ACHIEVED AND FOR EVERY POUND OF THE a BN A YEAR THE COUNTY S VISITOR ECONOMY WAS ALREADY WORTH 4HIS HAS ITS ADVANTAGES !S A $-/ WE HAVE @LEARNED OUR TRADE BY TAKING NOTHING FOR GRANTED EMPLOYING CAREFUL EVIDENCE BASED FORWARD PLANNING AND MAKING SURE EVERY PRECIOUS POUND WE SPEND WORKS AS HARD AS IT CAN 7E TAKE A VERY STRATEGIC APPROACH TO DESTINATION MARKETING 7E UNDERSTAND OUR VISITORS INSIDE OUT AND WE APPLY THAT KNOWLEDGE VERY CAREFULLY AND EFFECTIVELY IN FOCUSSED TACTICAL CAMPAIGNS !ND WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO

ALBEIT WITH A NEW ENTHUSIASM AND EVEN MORE PRODUCTIVE RESULTS %VIDENCE IS COMING THROUGH THAT INDICATES THE LEGACY OF THE DISCOVERY AND REINTERMENT IS HERE TO STAY !VERAGE VISITOR NUMBERS TO THE #ATHEDRAL OVER THE %ASTER HOLIDAY WERE PER DAY WHICH HAS SETTLED DOWN TO AROUND EACH DAY /CCUPANCY LEVELS AND RATES IN HOTELS HAVE GROWN STEADILY SINCE THE DISCOVERY AND ARE BEING MAINTAINED AT LEVELS HIGHER THAN BEFORE 7E HAVE ESTABLISHED A NEW BASELINE n A @NEW NORMAL

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)N SPITE OF HAVING ABSOLUTE CONFIDENCE IN THE WAY WE MANAGE TOURISM AND DO NOT SEE THE NEED FOR A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN DIRECTION IT WOULD BE WRONG TO CONCLUDE THAT OTHER THAN MORE VISITORS NOTHING HAS CHANGED .EW PARTNERSHIPS AND WORKING ARRANGEMENTS WERE PUT IN PLACE TO ENSURE THAT WE COULD OFFER AN EXPERIENCE OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY WHILST MAINTAINING AN AIR OF DIGNITY AND HONOUR AT ALL TIMES 4HE #ATHEDRAL LOCAL COUNCILS UNIVERSITIES

THE $-/ THE CITY MAYOR HOTELS AND BUSINESSES ALL CAME TOGETHER WITH THE AMBITION OF PROVING TO THE WORLD THAT WE CAN HANDLE AN EVENT OF INTERNATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE AND PROVIDE A SUITABLE FINAL RESTING PLACE FOR A MONARCH .EW PUBLIC SPACES HAVE BEEN CREATED

SITES OF SIGNIFICANCE CONNECTED AND INTERPRETATION HAS BEEN IMPROVED TRAILS DEVELOPED PACKAGES CREATED 4HE PUBLIC REALM HAS BEEN FIXED REPLACED

POLISHED AND PAINTED TO CREATE A DESTINATION FIT TO WELCOME THE WORLD ! MAJOR NEW VISITOR CENTRE ON THE SITE OF

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THE GRAVE WILL WELCOME VISITORS IN ITS FIRST YEAR "UOYED BY THE AMAZING RESPONSES FROM PEOPLE WHO HAD NOT VISITED BEFORE A COMMITMENT TO CONTINUE TO IMPROVE THE OFFER IS NOW EMBEDDED 4HESE NEW FOUNDATIONS NEW ENERGY

CONFIDENCE AND BEHAVIOURS IN THE DESTINATION ARE ALREADY MAKING THE THINGS THAT WE DO MORE PRODUCTIVE 7E RECORDED AN INCREASE OF PER CENT IN SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWS LIKES IN -ARCH COMPARED TO PREVIOUS AVERAGES /UR DESTINATION WEBSITE ENJOYED A DOUBLING OF NEW VISITORS DURING -ARCH AND HAS ALSO SETTLED DOWN WITH A MUCH HIGHER AVERAGE LEVEL OF USE THAN PRIOR TO THE REINTERMENT !NOTHER @NEW NORMAL 4ENS OF THOUSANDS VISITED US FOR THE FIRST TIME AND IMPORTANTLY THEY LIKED WHAT THEY FOUND 7E HAVE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF NEW AMBASSADORS AND POTENTIAL REPEAT VISITOR S /UR DATABASES HAVE GROWN SIGNIFICANTLY THE OPEN RATE FOR OUR ELECTRONIC MARKETING CONTINUES TO IMPROVE 4HE STRATEGY TACTICS AND ACTIVITY MAY NOT BE CHANGING BUT THE IMPACT AND RESULTS ARE 0LUS Â A CHANGE -ARTIN 0ETERS -43 L #HIEF %XECUTIVE

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Tourist Guiding I

From the Trotters to the Titanic Journalist and Blue Badge Guide Marc Zakian describes some of the more unusual attractions in Britain’s cultural heritage. “Take us to famous Trotter house,” says Branislav. My Serbian tourists have me stumped for a moment. “Which famous Trotter is that?” I enquire. “You know, Rodney and Del Boy.Their house, in Peckham,” explains Branislav, adamant that this is one of the capital’s major tourist attractions. Only Fools and Horses is a TV classic in Serbia. Mucke – the Serbo-Croat name for the BBC series – has turned the Trotter family into household names.The country’s capital has a restaurant named after the sitcom and kiosks sell Only Fools and Horses DVDs alongside Del Boy T-shirts bearing his famous catchphrases. This is one of the unlikely icons of British television and literature that inspire international visitors to come to the UK. And it’s the UK’s Blue Badge tourist guides who are experts at turning these unusual requests into great days out. “Rosamunde Pilcher has sold millions of books in the UK,” says Blue Badge guide Howard Medwell. “But she is even better known in Germany, where during the 1990s a TV company started adapting her books for Sunday night television”. “Pilcher’s romances are set in her native Cornwall, presenting a very different England from the one Germans might imagine – an idealised, eternally sunny landscape, of venerable stately homes staffed by butlers serving tea to aristocrats.” One of the grand houses to have featured in the TV adaptations is 16th century Prideaux Place, near Padstow.The house, which overlooks a lush deer park with picturesque views, attracts 25,000 visitors a year. Nearly half of them are Germans on Pilcher pilgrimages. “Pencarrow House is another stop on the Pilcher trail,” says Medwell. “The family still live at the 50-room Georgian residence near Bodmin – my tourists love the fact that these are still aristocratic residences, with owners who sometimes talk to the visitors. But I do have to explain that English people don’t all live in mansions or great estates”.

Another unlikely British TV export is Dinner for One.The two-handed comedy sketch is said to be the world’s most frequently repeated TV programme, as it is screened every New Year’s Eve in Germany, Scandinavia, Australia and South Africa. “I can't count the number of times Germans, Austrians and Swiss have asked me about it,” says Scottish Blue Badge guide Manuela Fraenkel. “Visitors are quite disappointed that we don’t have any memorials to the actor Freddie Frinton and his wife, May”. Both are now forgotten in the UK, but Frinton is still famous across three continents. A blue plaque is the least he deserves. More familiar tourist attractions can give rise to unexpected responses. Blue Badge Guide Eddie Lerner has experienced this: “Many of the people I take on tours around Britain and Ireland come from English-speaking countries such as the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and feel a strong link with the 'mother

country'. “Many are descended from families who emigrated because of economic necessity or religious discrimination. No memorials are more evocative of this than those for the Titanic, which sank on its maiden voyage in 1912, carrying many people hoping for a new start across the Atlantic. “At Cobh in Ireland there is a visitor centre dedicated to these emigrants. It displays flags of the countries they made homes in.The first and final voyage of this ‘unsinkable’ ship ended when it struck an iceberg and went down with the loss of over 1500 lives. “In Belfast, where the ship was built, there is a memorial to those who died. In the new museum in the Titanic Quarter people feel what it was like to board the liner. For some visitors, it is an emotional experience.” From the Titanic to the Trotters, British tourism can be both moving and surprising.

Marc Zakian l Guided Tour UK

Issue 162 Summer 2015

journal@tourismsociety.org

4OURIST 'UIDING ))

4HROUGH TRAINING TO A CAREER "ACK IN ) VISITED !USTRALIA AND HAD A FANTASTIC GUIDED TOUR AROUND LOCAL VINEYARDS AND ) REMEMBER THINKING THAT ) WOULD LOVE TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT IN 0EMBROKESHIRE ) RESIGNED FROM MY JOB IN ,ONDON AND CAME HOME TO REALISE MY DREAM )N ) WAS FACING REDUNDANCY FROM MY FULL TIME JOB AND ) DECIDED ) NEEDED TO UP SKILL TO SECURE FUTURE EMPLOYMENT !N OPPORTUNITY TO DO THIS PRESENTED ITSELF IN THE FORM OF THE #ELTIC 7AVE PROJECT 4HIS WAS A JOINT PROJECT BETWEEN 7ALES AND )RELAND AIMED AT MARKETING THE )RISH 3EA AS A CRUISE DESTINATION 3IX PORTS n !NGLESEY

-ILFORD (AVEN 3WANSEA #ORK 7ATERFORD AND $UBLIN n FORMED A PARTNERSHIP TO SECURE FUNDING TO TRAIN TOURIST GUIDES TO SERVICE THE CRUISE SHIP MARKET ) WAS FORTUNATE TO GET A PLACE ON THE -ILF ORD (AVEN COURSE AND THIS WAS THE START OF AN EXCITING NEW CAREER PATH ) LOVED THE COURSE EVEN THOUGH IT WAS HARD WORK FITTING IN THE STUDY AROUND MY JOB BUT ) KNEW IT WOULD BE WORTHWHILE IF ONLY ) COULD MANAGE IT ) QUALIFIED IN WITH THE 0EMBROKESHIRE 'REEN "ADGE AND FROM MY FIRST PAID JOB ) KNEW ) HAD TO MAKE TOUR GUIDING A BIGGER PART OF MY LIFE ) JOINED THE 7ALES /FFICIAL 4OURIST 'UIDING !SSOCIATION 7/4'! AND ) STARTED GUIDING PART TIME DOING COACH EXCURSIONS FOR CRUISE SHIPS ARRIVING IN -ILFORD (AVEN AND A FEW COASTAL GUIDED WALKS 4HIS WAS GREAT BUT IT WASN T GENERATING A REGULAR INCOME SO ) NEEDED TO FIND A WAY TO EXPAND MY BUSINESS )N THROUGH 7/4'! ) HEARD THAT A NEW 7ALES "LUE "ADGE #OURSE WAS BEING DESIGNED BY ,LANDRILLO #OLLEGE #ARDIFF -ETROPOLITAN 5NIVERSITY 7/4'! AND 6ISIT 7ALES )F ) COULD ACHIEVE THIS QUALIFICATION IT WOULD MEAN THAT ) WOULD NO LONGER BE LIMITED TO GUIDING WITHIN 0EMBROKESHIRE AND IT WOULD ALLOW ME ACCESS TO GREATER OPPORTUNITIES FOR TOURIST GUIDING ) THOUGHT LONG AND HARD BECAUSE THE COURSE WAS A &OUNDATION $EGREE IN 0ROFESSIONAL 4OURIST 'UIDING WHICH WOULD MEAN A TWO AND A HALF YEAR COMMITMENT TO STUDY .EEDLESS TO SAY IN MY HEART ) KNEW WHAT ) HAD TO DO AND BEFORE ) KNEW IT ) WAS HEADING TO #ARDIFF FOR THE FIRST STUDY WEEKEND 4HE COURSE WAS VERY DEMANDING

$SVJTF FYDVSTJPO UP 4LPNFS 1FNCSPLFTIJSF WITH REGULAR ASSESSMENTS OF PRACTICAL SKILLS

SHOWN THAT ) CAN WORK UNDER PRESSURE 4HROUGH STUDYING DIFFERENT THEMES ) HAVE WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS AND EXAMINATIONS DISCOVERED NEW AND DEEPER INTERESTS IN #ONTENT INCLUDED TOUR GUIDING THEORY SKILLS ASPECTS OF HISTORY THAT WILL ENHANCE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT BUSINESS MODULES AS WELL AS TOURS @KNOWLEDGE RANGING FROM HISTORY ART

ARCHITECTURE AND INDUSTRY THROUGH TO COAST

-OST OF ALL ) NOW HAVE A NETWORK OF TOUR COUNTRY GEOGRAPHY AND CULTURE GUIDE COLLEAGUES ACROSS 7ALES OF WHICH MANY ARE ALSO GOOD FRIENDS !S MEMBERS ) LOVED EVERY MINUTE AS EVERYTHING WAS A OF 7/4'! WE MEET AT BOTH NATIONAL AND CHALLENGE 4HE COURSE INVOLVED DISTANCE REGIONAL LEVELS AND PARTICIPATE IN CONTINUED LEARNING AND STUDY WEEKENDS WHICH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES WERE HELD IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF 7ALES !LTHOUGH WE ARE COMPETITORS WE OFTEN ACCORDING TO WHAT WE WERE STUDYING WORK TOGETHER PASS WORK TO EACH OTHER ) WAS PRESENTED WITH MY "LUE "ADGE AT A AND ENJOY MEETING SOCIALLY TO SHARE OUR CEREMONY IN 'REGYNOG IN &EBRUARY ADVENTURES AND EXPERIENCES AND ) CAN T BELIEVE WHERE THE TIME HAS 4HANKS TO THE SUPPORT FROM THE 7ALES GONE AND THAT ) WAS SO LUCKY TO BE PART OF /FFICIAL 4OURIST 'UIDES !SSOCIATION 6ISIT SUCH A VALUABLE COURSE 7ALES AND THE TUTORS AT ,LANDRILLO #OLLEGE !NYONE CAN SET UP A TOUR GUIDING BUSINESS AND #ARDIFF -ETROPOLITAN 5NIVERSITY ) AM BUT THE BENEFITS OF INVESTING TIME AND NOW ABLE TO GROW MY OWN TOURIST GUIDING EFFORT TO GAIN THE "LUE "ADGE QUALIF ICATIONS BUSINESS 0EMBROKESHIRE 'UIDED 4OURS ARE CLEAR TO ME ) VE LEARNED SO MANY AND ) LOOK FORWARD TO INTRODUCING MANY USEFUL HINTS AND TIPS TO IMPROVE MY GUIDED MORE VISITORS TO 7ALES IN THE COMING YEARS TOURS AND BEING ASSESSED REGULARLY HAS 3ARAH 'ERLACH L 0EMBROKESHIRE 'UIDED 4OURS

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)SSUE 3UMMER

An interview with...

Carolyn McCall, CEO, easyJet Carolyn McCall joined easyJet on 1 July 2010 as Chief Executive Officer, having held positions at Lloyds TSB,Tesco plc and New Look plc. She has been responsible for improving the airline’s punctuality to industry-leading levels as well as introducing important customer innovations like allocated seating. Her strategic focus has resulted in a series of milestone events including reaching the landmark of carrying 60m passengers annually and attracting more business travellers, with more than 12m now flying with easyJet each year. Gregory Yeoman spoke to her for Tourism. GY: You were awarded your OBE for services to women in business. What do you consider to be your most significant achievement in this area? CM: I have always tried to actively encourage and support women as they progress through organisations including making it easier for them to have more flexible working arrangements if they need that to stay.This includes part-time working, job sharing, more flexibility about how they work, coaching and mentoring this is all about retaining talented women, which we need to do. GY: What do you think are the main changes working women have experienced during your career? CM: Many of the challenges remain the same. Many women leave the workplace whether that is because they don't like the culture or because they have had children. One of the biggest challenges remains ensuring there is a pipeline of executives coming through the organisation.To have more female Board directors, we have to have more women in leadership positions right the way through the company. easyJet has made a lot of progress in the past five years on this and companies that succeed will benefit because they will better reflect the needs of their consumers and their own employees - a large proportion of whom will be female. They will have a broader range of leadership styles and will be more agile and flexible to cope with an ever-changing world.

GY: Who are your business idols? CM: I admire people who have achieved their goals and stayed true to their values. GY: Travel does not feature in your earlier career. What appealed to you about taking on this role? CM: I grew up travelling around the world having spent time in my early years in India and the Far East, so travel played an important role from a very early age. GY: Moving from the Guardian Media Group to easyJet, what lessons from your earlier post have been most useful at the airline? CM:The Media and the airline industry have much more in common than many people might think - both are fast-paced industries having to constantly adapt.The Guardian was at the forefront of digital innovation and easyJet has been, too – using the latest technology helps companies stay ahead of their competitors. I am a great believer in learning from every experience. GY: Is the term ‘budget airline’ now a misnomer? CM: No I don’t believe so, although we prefer to call ourselves a ‘low fares’ airline as that is what we provide for our passengers. Our operating model remains

Issue 162 Summer 2015

very different from traditional airlines, which enables us to continue to offer the best value combined with a very strong European network and friendly service. It is a very compelling customer proposition. GY: With the introduction of services such as allocated seating, have you just become a regular airline providing what passengers want anyway? CM: We have a low cost operating model which is fundamentally different to legacy carriers - from being simple and uncomplicated by flying point to point to our turn times; from our new planes which are fuel-efficient, to our network strategy (we have 26 bases; legacy carriers have one hub). Allocated seating was the single most successful thing we have done as an airline in recent years but it didn't change our model. Whilst this wasn’t breaking new ground for the industry it was very innovative for a free seating airline! GY: Passengers are very aware of the fall in oil prices. Will they notice any benefits when it comes to air travel? CM:Yes, if the oil price remains lower our customers will see the benefits over the next few weeks and months but this will vary by route depending on demand. Some will see significant price reductions

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Will passengers benefit from oil price changes? and others will be more marginal. Unlike other airlines easyJet does not have fuel surcharges and our business model is built on keeping costs low so we can pass the savings on to customers. GY: Talking of fuel, how is easyJet addressing the development of new aviation fuels and the move to greener technology in general? CM: easyJet has innovation in its DNA and we constantly look to new technologies to help improve our operations and customer experience. We operate one of the youngest fleets of aircraft which means that a passenger travelling on an easyJet flight produces fewer emissions than its competitors. We watch the development of new fuels with interest. GY: easyJet does not use Heathrow. What is your view on the proposed expansion plans for UK airport capacity? CM: We do not currently fly from Heathrow because the airport is full and so we couldn’t operate at any sort of scale there. In our submission to the Davies Commission we said we believed Heathrow was the right answer for future capacity development.This followed an extensive assessment of the options, working with external experts to assess both how passenger demand will respond to the options, and their operational and service quality aspects. easyJet’s views reflect what we believe to be in the best interest of our passengers, the airline and the UK economy. In summary, expansion at Heathrow means lower fares and new

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routes for passengers; it is in the best interests of passengers as it has the greatest demand. easyJet wants to operate from an expanded Heathrow which would provide competition, new destinations and would lead to lower fares. GY: This journal will be published immediately after the general election. Is there anything other than APD and visas that you would like the new government to turn its attention to with regards to aviation? CM:The abolition of APD remains something that all airlines want as it suppresses demand and therefore makes less money for the UK. We also believe that the next government should take the difficult but crucial decisions needed on airport capacity in the UK. If Howard Davies recommends a clear route it would be good for politicians not to kick it into touch. Politically it is a difficult one but we must face the fact we have been talking about this since 1964. GY: What do you see as the biggest challenges over the coming 12 months? CM:The biggest challenge in the airline sector is exogenous factors that are out of the airline's control like volcanoes or air traffic strikes.This kind of disruption can make life tougher if you work in an airline but we try really hard to look after our passengers regardless of the event. GY: And the biggest opportunities? CM:There is still so much that easyJet can

Issue 162 Summer 2015

do. Our goal is to be Europe’s preferred airline.That is not necessarily about being the biggest but about having scale and being the preferred choice. We plan to expand further in western Europe where many opportunities still exist.Very few companies are growing in Europe yet we continue to do so. easyJet has a great team who are all pulling in the same direction and we will just continue to do what we always do at easyJet, which is focusing on passengers and improving what we do for them. GY: The easyJet team beat their targets for the Race the World fundraising challenge recently. Have you got a new challenge in mind? CM: We work closely with our charity partner UNICEF and, with the help of our cabin crew and passengers, we have raised several millions to help their immunisation campaigns. We are currently trying to help in the fight to eradicate polio with the funds raised on our flights. GY: Do you have a favourite airport (in the UK or worldwide)? What is it that makes it stand out? CM: I spend a lot of time in European airports. My favourite is probably Changi airport in Singapore because it means I'm on holiday! GY: What is your advice for dealing with jetlag? CM:Thankfully nowhere on easyJet’s extensive network involves having to deal with jetlag so it isn’t something I have to deal with very often.

3TUDENT 6IEW

) HAVE A DREAMx OR AN AMBITION 7HEN ) TELL PEOPLE MY COURSE IS ENTITLED 4OURISM -ANAGEMENT AND %NVIRONMENTAL 3TUDIES ) EITHER GET CONFUSED LOOKS OR hTHOSE ARE SOME INTERESTING SUBJECTS YOU DECIDED TO COMBINEv )N REALITY IT IS FAR MORE INTERESTING THAN AN OUTSIDER COULD IMAGINE 4HE MAIN REASON ) CHOSE THIS SPECIFIC COMBINATION WAS THE GROWING CONCERN SHOWN BY TODAY S SOCIETY ABOUT HOW MUCH DAMAGE HUMAN ACTIVITY IS CAUSING TO THE ENVIRONMENT ALTHOUGH TO BE HONEST WHEN ) DECIDED ON THIS COMBINATION ) HAD NO IDEA HOW MUCH THE TWO SUBJECTS COMPLEMENTED EACH OTHER AND HOW THEY COULD BE SO HARMONIOUSLY COMBINED $URING MY FIRST YEAR EVEN ) COULD NOT REALLY SEE THE CONNECTION AS IT WAS THE BASIC THEORY OF THE TWO SUBJECTS THAT WAS COVERED (OWEVER AS MY COURSE IS PROGRESSING AND IS APPROACHING ITS END

THOSE TWO SUBJECTS ARE COMBINED IN MORE THAN JUST ONE OF MY FINAL YEAR MODULES 4OURISM USED TO BE CLASSIFIED AS A @SMOKELESS INDUSTRY BUT THANKFULLY WE NOW HAVE ENOUGH INFORMATION ON THE IMPACTS OF TOURISM TO BE ABLE TO ALTER THE WAY IN WHICH BUSINESS IS BEING CONDUCTED 4HERE IS NO DOUBT THAT THE ISSUE OF TOURISM AND THE ENVIRONMENT IS A CONTEMPORARY AND AN ON GOING ONE AND IT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED !S THE LEARNING PART IS ALMOST COMING TO AN END ) HOPE ) WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PUT EVERYTHING ) WAS TAUGHT FROM BOTH SIDES OF MY COURSE INTO PROJECTS THAT WILL HELP PROMOTE INITIALLY A SUSTAINABLE WAY OF TRAVELLING THAT EVENTUALLY CAN RESULT IN A SUSTAINABLE WAY OF LIVING FOR MOST PEOPLE ) STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT WE SHOULD DEFINITELY PROTECT AND MAINTAIN A WORLD WHERE THE FUTURE GENERATIONS CAN ENJOY AS MUCH AS PREVIOUS GENERATIONS HAVE DONE WITHOUT DESTROYING THE ENVIRONMENT (OWEVER SUSTAINABILITY IS NOT ONLY CONCERNED WITH ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE -Y STUDIES ENABLED ME TO SEE THAT CULTURE AND A DESTINATION S CULTURAL IDENTITY ARE ALSO SUBJECTS THAT THE TOURISM SECTOR SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO 'LOBALISATION MIGHT HAVE SHRUNK TIME AND DISTANCE BUT IT CAN BE ARGUED THAT THE EXCHANGE OF IDEAS

EXPERIENCES AND LIFESTYLES OF PEOPLE AND CULTURES IS DAMAGING CULTURAL IDENTITIES

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(OWEVER PUTTING THEORY INTO PRACTICE IS COMPLETING ONE ON SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEFINITELY A CHALLENGE AS MANY FACTORS NEED AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IS SOMETHING ) TO BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION SUCH AS WOULD LIKE TO PURSUE IN THE FUTURE FUNDING COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION PEOPLE S 4HE CAREER PLAN ) HAVE IN MY HEAD AT THE PERSPECTIVE AND SO MUCH MORE MOMENT CONSISTS OF GAINING AS MUCH !ND THAT IS A CHALLENGE ) AM CONTEMPLATING EXPERIENCE AS POSSIBLE ACROSS THE WHOLE ON TAKING AFTER ) HAVE COMPLETED THIS TOURISM SECTOR TO PROVIDE AN ALL ROUND DEGREE IF AN OPPORTUNITY LIKE THAT COMES KNOWLEDGE OF THE ISSUES THE TOUR ISM MY WAY INDUSTRY IS FACING AND HOW THEY CAN BE 'RADUATION IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER AND ) RESOLVED IN A SUSTAINABLE MANNER AM REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO BEING PART OF !S ) AM WRITING THIS ) CANNOT HELP BUT SUCH A FAST PACED INDUSTRY ) HAVE ATTENDED ADMIT THAT IT SOUNDS A BIT TOO AMBITIOUS TALKS AND NETWORKING EVENTS RUN BY THE AND MAYBE SLIGHTLY UNREALISTIC BUT BY 4OURISM 3OCIETY AND #)-4)' AND ) HAVE COMBINING HARD WORK TIME AND EFFORT MET SOME VERY INTERESTING PROFESSIONALS MAYBE ) CAN ACHIEVE SOME PART OF THIS %VERYONE S PASSION FOR THE INDUSTRY IS PLAN INFECTIOUS AND ) AM EAGER TO JOIN THEM

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JOURNAL

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Education

The value of mentoring

Mentoring benefits According to Dr Nancy Zentis mentoring is a ‘developmental relationship where one person shares knowledge, skills, information and perspective to foster the personal and professional growth of someone else’. Originally associated with Mentor from Homer’s Odyssey, ‘mentoring’ has strong ties to the apprenticeship system. Mentees (or protégés) directly benefit from the counsel of a more experienced professional, with learning and development fundamental to the process. Mentoring offers a variety of benefits for both mentors and mentees, as well as for organisations and wider industry. Mentees benefit primarily in two ways, typically experiencing better career opportunities through building professional networks, and developing interpersonal skills. Having a ‘wise counsel’, someone who helps mentees reflect on workplace issues, potential job moves and developing skillsets, allows them to build much more effectively on their day-to-day experiences. Mentors often benefit due to the sense of achievement arising from mentoring as an altruistic endeavour. Giving something back to those at an early stage of their career helps experienced managers reflect on their own career journey, thus honing existing leadership and people development skills. Changes in demographics mean that employers are now dealing with five generations in the same workforce – mentoring can help promote intergenerational understanding to build stronger organisations. Mentors can also learn a great deal from younger workers who bring new perspectives and skills to the business.

www.tourismsociety.org

In a sector that has people at the heart of its business operations the ability to attract and retain talent is vital.The 24/7 nature of tourism and its sensitivity to political and economic changes means we face particular challenges when it comes to training and developing the wider workforce. Getting the human dimension right is a must.This article focuses on how mentoring can play a vital role in achieving success.

Finally, evidence indicates mentors develop advanced coaching skills, particularly skills in active listening, effective questioning and giving feedback. Mentoring benefits organisations in a variety of ways and can help with employee retention, lead to improvements in managerial capability and leadership development, as well as promoting diversity in the workplace. A survey of 60 Fortune 500 companies who offered mentoring found that only 16% of protégés intended to quit within the following 12 months, compared to 35% of employees who had not been mentored. In another survey of US companies with formal mentoring programmes, 77% indicated that mentoring had improved both employee retention and performance. Mentoring is also cited as key to women’s advancement within organisations, providing muchneeded support and role models to ensure progression to senior management. Mentoring in Higher Education Mentoring can play a crucial role in helping students bridge the gap between university and graduate employment. Mentoring by experienced professionals not only gives students realistic insights into the world of work and career opportunities, it can also help broker relationships between universities and

Issue 162 Summer 2015

industry that can benefit both. Retaining graduate talent in the industry will be crucial for the long-term health of the sector and in growing its reputation as a supportive, opportunity-rich and exciting place to forge a career. The Bacchus Mentoring Scheme at the Oxford School of Hospitality Management, now in its seventh year, offers all tourism and hospitality students a mentor to work with them through the final year of their studies. The scheme has over 160 mentors and has seen almost 1,000 students pass through the programme. The scheme has benefited students through better first career moves, stronger professional networks and opportunities to capitalise on the expertise of industry mentors. Mentors have also benefited from being able to access graduate talent and from networking with each other and academics at Brookes. If you are thinking of starting a programme yourself we would be glad to pass on advice based on our experiences of running this type of programme – the main things are to be clear about the purpose of the programme, thoroughly brief mentors and mentees, provide structure and purpose to mentoring interactions, and evaluate and measure outcomes.You can learn an awful lot from participants along the way.

Angela Maher MTS and Judie Gannon l Oxford School of Hospitality Management at Oxford Brookes University

Social Media and Tourism

Report from Social Travel Britain conference

A new travel conference staged in Salisbury in April saw the city and its county, Wiltshire, become the most talked about place in the country on Twitter. Social Travel Britain embraced 65 experts from Destination Management Organisations/tourist boards and the travel industry to debate how best to future promote destinations through digital and social media. The two-day conference at Sarum College was created against a backdrop of public sector cuts, which have left many tourist boards struggling for income and resulted in the closure of hundreds of tourist information offices. In that week,Visit Cornwall moved from being publically funded to being a wholly private sector body.The Isle of Wight is among several DMOs looking to raise compulsory funds through the rates to offset shortfalls from its local authority. It’s a model already espoused by Great Yarmouth and 12 other Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), who look to levy from any tourism-related body, such as a supermarket or casino, as they all benefit from tourism. Given this critical cycle in tourism funding

and future digital direction, it was no surprise that the conference attracted delegates from as far afield as Staffordshire, Liverpool and Newcastle (which saw its main TiC close that week) to Hampshire and Bournemouth. And it was pleasing to welcome delegates from VisitEngland,Visit Denmark and Emilia Romagna in Italy to add a broader dimension to the debate, alongside eight of the most successful travel bloggers in Britain.The resulting loud conversations relayed on social media saw the hashtag #STBSalisbury become a Top 10 trending tag on Twitter on the Friday and Saturday of the conference. And on Social Sunday, #timeforWiltshire topped the UK Twitter charts for several hours when delegates took a dawn walk inside Stonehenge and toured Cathedral Close with an Instagram expert. In all, some 830 tweets were sent during the conference, putting the name of Salisbury and Wiltshire in front of 3.9m people. And a further 60 photos with the #STBSalisbury hashtag were posted on Instagram from 14 different accounts, reaching 15,000 followers. David Andrews, CEO of Visit Wiltshire,

Issue 162 Summer 2015

tweeted: “Every destination aiming to grow tourism via social media really should’ve been at #STBSalisbury. Fantastic event.” He was one of 20 speakers at the conference devised by Travel Perspective, a travel editorial consultancy run by experienced travel journalists Steve Keenan and Mark Frary. Apart from the DMOs and bloggers, the speakers included digital agencies iCrossing and Digital Visitor; Bournemouth University, Instagram and Capela Training. Addressing the audience, Andrews pointed out that Wiltshire had come out top of a recent survey of social media effectiveness across 126 tourist boards across the UK. “We will move more and more to online,” he said. But he acknowledged that printed material still plays an important role in creating tourist stays, and said people shouldn’t rely on new technology. “Lots of Wiltshire doesn’t have wifi or mobile phone coverage. In domestic British tourism, the biggest growth market is in the 50+ age market – so while we need to target youngsters on social, we also need to need to spend money on print for older people.” Not one domestic tourist board has abandoned print, he added – “Brighton did but reinstated it.”

journal@tourismsociety.org

Salisbury Cathedral Coulthard. “But it had taken a little while for people to get that confident about the value of digital and social media.” But Coulthard, now CEO of Chichester Cathedral, said he’d made mistakes. “We didn’t have enough resource for digital early on, we failed to ensure our partners fully understood resource availability, there was a fear of informal, realism about training – and understanding how scary social media is for many people.” The fear factor, and the time/human resource available to run social media alongside traditional PR, was an everpresent factor in the debates. It’s all very well showing how to livestream video – but who knows how to do it, or has time to promote it? Fair enough. But it’s an argument that social/digital is part of the marketing mix now, and resource has to be allocated – as Coulthard agreed. It was interesting to note that he spoke on behalf of the castles and cathedrals of Britain, which are struggling to cope with digital as much as tourist boards.

The conference included a reception in The Cloisters at Salisbury Cathedral, dinner in The Refectory, plus a private tour of the Magna Carta and a dawn tour inside the stones at Stonehenge. It also included the inaugural Social Travel Britain awards, with winners in several categories, including Visit Cornwall,Visit London, Sally’s Cottages in Cumbria, East Coast Trains, Wightlink, London Zoo and Chester Zoo. Nobody at the conference was arguing that print was ineffective – but several speakers stressed the economic benefits of social and digital media, including David Coulthard, until very recently the marketing manager of Salisbury Cathedral. He told the conference that, two years ago, cathedral trustees had wanted just a new website – but that he argued for a strategy including email marketing, social media and revenue generation through advertising on the site. He pushed to encourage the 600 volunteers to get involved, as well as the 60 staff, in helping promote the Cathedral online. And he managed to enlist 27 to help write a blog, including the dean, organist and verger. “Stuff happens in the Cathedral,” he said, with recent guests including singer Jay Z, two Archbishops of Canterbury and actor Tony Robinson (Baldrick). “If you can just unlock it and tell those stories, then we’ve got someway, but not the whole way.” The most exciting element, he said, is in changing staff and volunteer thinking of ‘I’m a stonemason, I only do sculptures.’ Or, that people thought ‘We don’t want to be criticised – don’t put it out there’ and ‘I’m not very good with computers.’ The breakthrough, he said, came at the end of 2014 when the Cathedral’s Clerk of Works Gary Price had to go to the top of the spire to change a weather meter – and offered to take a head camera up with a colleague. The resulting film was shown on the BBC and on other traditional media. “We were swamped by blog idea offers from staff and volunteers that weekend,” said

New and traditional media work well together

www.tourismsociety.org

Issue 162 Summer 2015

Hot tips for tourism professionals Delegates to the conference included a wide range of travel bloggers and social media experts willing to share their knowledge with Visit Wiltshire and other tourist board delegates. They included Nick Montemaggi, digital PR for Emilia Romagna Tourist Board in Italy, who co-created ‘Blogville,’ whereby visiting bloggers could stay in an apartment for free and request what they wanted to write about. Now in its fourth year, the project has attracted hundreds of writers, who write in their native language, promote to their own readers and save the tourist boards a fortune in having to translate their words. Richard Hammond, CEO of Greentraveller.co.uk, specialises in creating video and new media about sustainable transport (including new films on Avebury and Stonehenge) and green travel – but making it sexy. “We hope everything we do isn’t just labelled green – it should just be normal,” he said. “We show sleeper trains and how people get a good night’s sleep, then people get it. Or show how a restaurant’s fish is caught and served and brought to table - then people get it.” While on sustainable transport, Kirstie Pelling, a travel blogger from Cumbria, told how she created an idea of a #poetinmotion hashtag, whereby her local tourist board helped promote poetry being read aloud on car-free transport across the county. She has since appeared twice on BBC Northwest, while Stagecoach has offered to print her poems on 220,000 bus timetables. Dozens of other speakers offered ideas of best practice in social and digital media across the three days.Tweeted Emma Sparkley, digital and online executive at Visit Wiltshire: “So many great ideas *head is buzzing*.”

Steve Keenan l Co-founder, Travel Perspective

Coach Tours

Between 2014 and 2034 it is forecast that the number of people aged over 60 will reach 21.7 million and the number of over 75s will be an especially fast growing sector boosted by the baby boomer generation and the fact that people are living longer. According to the latest Mintel ‘Coach Holidays UK 2014’ report, after a dip of several years the prospects for the coach holiday market are now looking good. Coach package holidays are a safe option as they offer a ‘high level of convenience and a sense of secure adventure’. The report says that event-based tours are a particular growth area. However, there are a number of perceptions that operators need to overcome about coach holidays if the industry is to tap in to this more affluent sector of mature travellers successfully. Expectation levels are higher as group holidaymakers seek new destinations and more adventurous itineraries with a spirit of adventure. John Worthington, Senior Analyst at Mintel, commented: “By positioning themselves as ‘premium escorted tours’, exotic or unusual itineraries abroad and a broader and deeper destination experience coach holidays stand the best chance of appealing to affluent travel hungry Boomers.” A recent ABTA Consumer Trends survey backs this up, finding that holidaymakers are feeling more adventurous and are looking for more active and differentiated holidays.The report predicts that more people are also expected to book coach holidays in the future. Albatross Travel specialises in putting tours and itineraries together for coach operators and owners, which they can package and sell to their clients. Listening to our customers we are constantly striving to provide innovative new tours and we pride ourselves on our customer service ethic. In 2016 we have based many of our themes around popular culture, the literary arts and (in a nod to the proliferation of the many cookery-related programmes on television) food.The new Gourmet Gwynedd tour in Wales includes participants taking part in food

Denise Bridges l Managing Director, Albatross Travel

Capturing the spirit of adventure

preparations and tastings at the Bodnant Welsh Food Centre. A similar tour – The Gourmet’s Guide to Ireland – targets the ‘foodie’ customer and features a two-anda-half hour walking tour of Dublin visiting bakeries, cheesemongers, delicatessens and other specialist gourmet shops meeting artisans and tasting local produce. Also included in the trip is a visit to a local farm famous for producing gourmet Irish ice cream for a home-made picnic and ice cream sundae. Success Tours is a specialist group organiser working with interest groups such as U3A and the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies, together with a number of company sports and social clubs. Success Tours recently added Romania to their programme, a country that in the past has not featured on the group tour radar. “This is a new and fascinating region for Success and a destination that very few groups have visited. I spent four busy but fascinating days exploring this enchanting region and am really excited about giving groups the opportunity to experience it for themselves”, said Tony Flanagan,

Issue 162 Summer 2015

Success Tours Managing Director. But as the Mintel report points out, it is not only about the mature market. Operators are also seeking out the younger market by putting together shorter breaks centered on music concerts and festivals.There is also scope in the mini gap year market thanks to competitive cross-channel ferry fares and rail travel across continents targeting youngsters with limited budgets. London Hotels & Travel Services Managing Director Angela Heaton said: “The youth market in London is a very interesting one. We work with schools and college groups, particularly on the inbound side. They are attracted by the many activities on offer in the capital, ranging from attractions like the London Eye and Madame Tussauds, to experiential theatre workshops staged by companies such as the West End’s Theatre Workout company.” All in all it seems that there are exciting times ahead for those companies that continue to adapt, innovate and strive for excellence in terms of product offering and customer service.

journal@tourismsociety.org

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EASILY WHERE AND WHEN WE WANTED TO STAY AND WE COULD NARROW DOWN THE SEARCH RESULTS DEPENDING ON STAR R ATING BEST PRICE A BIG FACTOR WITH HAVING A BUDGET OR REVIEW SCORE 4HE SUMMARY FOR EACH PROPERTY SHOWN IN THE SEARCH RESULTS GAVE US AT A GLANCE THE PRICE DISTANCE FROM MAIN TOWN RATING

WHEN LAST BOOKED ENABLING US TO SEE QUICKLY WHICH WOULD BE OF INTEREST &OR ANY WE WERE INTERESTED IN WE COULD EASILY LOOK AT MORE PHOTOS INFORMATION ON THE PROPERTY AND PLACES OF INTEREST PLUS ADD TO A WISH LIST WILL BE AN EXCITING AND CHALLENGING ONE FOR THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY &OR EXAMPLE

FOLLOWING A RECENT MOVE BY 'OOGLE TRAVEL INDUSTRY WEBSITES THAT ARE NOT OPTIMISED FOR MOBILES MAY DROP DOWN THE SEARCH ENGINE S RANKINGS %XPERTS HAVE CALLED THE SHIFT @-OBILEGEDDON AND HAVE SAID THAT THOSE COMPANIES THAT WERE CAUGHT UNAWARES WOULD PAY THE CONSEQUENCES IN THE MONTHS AHEAD 4HE BATTLE FOR BOOKINGS WILL BE WON NOT ONLY BY OWNING BIG DATA BUT IN THE WAY THAT COMPANIES INTERPRET IT TO SUCCESSFULLY DELIVER A MORE PERSONALISED CONTEXTUAL EXPERIENCE FOR THEIR CUSTOMERS ACROSS ALL DEVICES

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4OURISM #ONSULTANTS .ETWORK 7HAT ARE THE PROSPECTS FOR A TOURISM CONSULTANT TODAY $ISJT &WBOT '54 5$/ DPNNJUUFF NFNCFS BOE %JSFDUPS PG 5IF 5PVSJTN $PNQBOZ SFGMFDUT PO ZFBST BT B UPVSJTN DPOTVMUBOU "ACK IN THE EARLY S THERE WERE VERY FEW DEDICATED TOURISM CONSULTANTS (OWEVER

THE RECESSION OF THAT PERIOD ENCOURAGED THE CONSIDERATION OF BROAD ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES FOR THE FIRST TIME -ORE PERTINENTLY TOURISM WAS SEEN THEN AS HAVING REAL POTENTIAL IN TERMS OF CREATING JOBS NOTABLY IN NON TRADITIONAL DESTINATIONS "RADFORD WAS A REGULARLY QUOTED CASE STUDY )N THOSE DAYS

CONSULTANCY WAS ALL ABOUT TOURISM DEVELOPMENT PLANS AND MANY OF THE NEW ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM CONSULTANTS CAME FROM A PLANNING BACKGROUND /NE OF THE FIRST DESTINATION PLANS ) DID WAS FOR A 3OUTH 7ALES INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT AND THE BUDGET WAS a 4HERE HAVE BEEN FADS OVER THE YEARS WITH THE ORIGINAL STRATEGY WORK EVOLVING INTO FEASIBILITY STUDIES @BEST VALUE STUDIES

LOTTERY BIDS ACTIVITY PLANS AND CULTURAL STRATEGIES #URRENTLY THERE IS AN EMPHASIS ON DESTINATION MANAGEMENT PLANS

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURES AND EVALUATION WORK !S PRIORITIES HAVE SHIFTED TOURISM CONSULTANTS HAVE HAD TO BECOME BROADER BASED MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS TO SURVIVE 4HERE ARE SOME INDICATIONS THAT THE EMPHASIS WILL SWING BACK TO PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT IF THE NEW 5+ NATIONAL TOURISM STRATEGIES ARE FOLLOWED 4HE REAL CONCERN AT THE MOMENT IS THE AUSTERITY PROGRAMME THAT IS SERIOUSLY IMPACTING DOMESTIC PUBLIC SECTOR BUDGETS

AND NON STATUTORY SERVICES LIKE TOURISM ARE THE HARDEST HIT 4HIS IS DIRECTLY AFFECTING THE LEVEL OF CONSULTANCY WORK AND MORE SIGNIFICANTLY THE BUDGETS ATTACHED TO THOSE FEW BRIEFS THAT ARE COMING OUT )F THE 3OUTH 7ALES DESTINATION PLAN ) DID BACK IN WAS TENDERED AGAIN TODAY THE BUDGET WOULD PROBABLY BE a AND WOULD HAVE TO COVER DEVELOPMENT

MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT 4OURISM CONSULTANCY HAS BEEN GOOD TO ME OVER THE YEARS ) HAVE BEEN VIRTUALLY FULLY OCCUPIED TRAVELLING THE COUNTRY AND BEING PAID REASONABLY WELL TO DO WHAT ) LOVE

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*O GSPOU PG B QBDLFE SPPN BU B KPJOU FWFOU XJUI #SJUJTI &YQFSUJTF PO .BSDI 3PHFS (PPEBDSF '54 0MJWFS #FOOFUU ' 54 BOE 3PTT .BDLFO[JF .54 QSF TFOUFE JOUFSOBUJPOBM DBTF TUVEJFT HSBQIJDBMMZ JMMVTUSBUJOH UIF WBSJFE OBUVSF PG UPVSJTN DPOTVMUBODZ DOING 4HE SHORT TERM FUTURE IS NOT SO BRIGHT AND IT IS HARD TO SEE HOW NEW YOUNG ENTRANTS CAN CARVE A CAREER IN THE SECTOR WITH THE CURRENT LEVEL OF WORK AND RATES (OWEVER THIS CANNOT LAST ) FEEL SURE THE CYCLE WILL TURN AND THE TRUE WORTH OF TOURISM AND THOSE WHO UNDERSTAND IT WILL BE REALISED AGAIN 1FUFS $PMF '54 $PMF 4IBX MPPLT GPSXBSE UP B DBSFFS DIBOHF @,IFESTYLE BUSINESS n THE EUPHEMISM WHICH STRIKES DREAD INTO THE HEARTS OF MANY TOURISM @PROFESSIONALS 9ET ON MANY COUNTS

THAT IS WHAT ) NOW APPEAR TO BE !FTER CONTINUOUS YEARS IN SALARIED TOURISM MANAGEMENT ROLES ) NEEDED TO CARRY ON WORKING FOR BOTH SANITY AND INCOME BUT NOT NECESSARILY EVERY DAY ) ALSO WANTED TIME FOR A RANGE OF VOLUNTARY AND @NON EXEC ROLES #ONSULTANCY OR @THE DARK SIDE AS ONE OF MY 4OURISM 3OCIETY BOARD COLLEAGUES CHEERFULLY PUT IT SEEMED ONE OBVIOUS ROUTE BUT IT IS A ROAD EXTREMELY WELL TRAVELLED 4#. MEMBERS WHOM ) MERCIFULLY AVOIDED UPSETTING WHEN A CLIENT HAVE BEEN GENEROUS WITH ADVICE PRACTICAL AND THERAPEUTIC 3OME HAVE KINDLY INVITED ME ONTO BID TEAMS WHERE MY LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

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AND OR EXPERIENCE WERE SEEN AS ADVANTAGEOUS AND THESE PROJECTS HAVE LED TO OTHERS )N RETROSPECT @NETWORKING IE CATCHING UP AT EVENTS HAS BEEN VITAL $ESPITE MY SCEPTICISM UPDATING MY ,INKED)N PROFILE BROUGHT A FLURRY OF INTEREST ) KNOW ) AM CURRENTLY ENJOYING A HONEYMOON PERIOD WHERE MY KNOWLEDGE AND CONTACTS ARE FRESH BUT ALSO THAT NOTHING DECAYS FASTER THAN RESTED UPON LAURELS ) LOVE WORKING IN WIDER TEAMS AND AM TRYING TO BE BRUTALLY HONEST TO MYSELF AS WELL AS CLIENTS ABOUT CAPABILITIES

CAPACITIES AND INTERESTS /PPORTUNITIES n LOOK AT THE NEW %5 PROGRAMMES BOTH HERE AT HOME THROUGH 2$0 AND STRUCTURAL FUNDS AND ACROSS %UROPE AND BEYOND THROUGH )NTERREG OR (ORIZON !LSO A REDUCING 5+ PUBLIC SECTOR WILL MEAN LESS DOERS IN HOUSE BUT MORE DIFFICULT QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED ABOUT THE FUTURE OF TOUR ISM AND CULTURAL ASSETS !FTER TH -AY THE PRIVATE SECTOR WILL ALSO START TO INVEST AGAIN 0ROJECTS WILL REMAIN @QUICK AND DIRTY WITH SHORT DEADLINES AND LIMITED BUDGETS ,IFESTYLE BUSINESS 0ERHAPS BUT ONE COMMITTED TO GIVING BACK SOMETHING TO AN INDUSTRY THAT HAS SERVED ME SO WELL OVER

"EST OF "RITAIN )RELAND

4OURISM 1UESTION 4IME 3PEAKING TWO MONTHS BEFORE THE RECENT GENERAL ELECTION AT THE "EST OF "RITAIN )RELAND SHOW THE THEN 4OURISM MINISTER (ELEN 'RANT JOINED FELLOW POLITICIANS SHADOW TRANSPORT MINISTER 'ORDON -ARSDEN ,IBERAL $EMOCRAT PEER ,ORD 3TOREY CHAIRMAN OF THE !LL 0ARTY PARLIAMENTARY GROUP ON TOURISM ,ORD ,EE

AND 5+)0 S 4OURISM AND (ERITAGE SPOKESMAN 3IMON #ASH (ELEN 'RANT DECLARED h4OURISM IS ESSENTIALvAND PROMISED h4OURISM WILL FIGURE VERY HIGHLY ;IN THE #ONSERVATIVE MANIFESTO= v3HE WENT ON h4OURISM IS A FANTASTIC GOOD NEWS STORY "RITAIN SAW RECORD VISITOR NUMBERS AND RECORD VISITOR SPENDING IN AND WE RE LIKELY TO SEE THAT CONTINUE IN v "UT FELLOW PANELLISTS CHALLENGED 'RANT S VIEW THAT THE GOVERNMENT @GETS TOURISM 'ORDON -ARSDEN SAID h4OURISM SHOULD BE RECOGNISED ACROSS 'OVERNMENT AS THE HUGE INCOME GENERATOR IT IS .O MINISTER OF TOURISM WILL BE ABLE TO MAKE THE PROGRESS THEY COULD UNLESS THAT IS RECOGNISED 4HAT IS THE KEY ISSUE v -ARSDEN POINTED OUT h$#-3 HAS FEWER CIVIL SERVANTS THAN OTHER DEPARTMENTS BUT IS EXPECTED TO SAY MORE ON DIFFERENT SUBJECTS THAN ANY DEPARTMENT OTHER THAN THE (OME /FFICE v ,IBERAL $EMOCRAT PEER ,ORD ,EE A FORMER TOURISM MINISTER AND CHAIRMAN OF !,6!

INSISTED h) WOULD LIKE TO SEE TOURISM IN THE TITLE OF (ELEN 'RANT S MINISTRY 4OURISM IS THE NUMBER ONE INDUSTRY IN MORE CONSTITUENCIES THAN ANY OTHER 4HAT IT IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE TITLE OF $#-3 IS A MISTAKE v (E SAID h4HE MESSAGE HAS TO COME FROM THE TOP 3COTLAND S &IRST -INISTER .ICOLA 3TURGEON GAVE THE KEYNOTE ADDRESS AT THE 3COTTISH 4OURISM 7EEK CONFERENCE ;IN -ARCH= ) CAN T REMEMBER WHEN ONE OF OUR THREE MAJOR POLITICAL LEADERS n THE 0RIME -INISTER DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER OR ,ABOUR LEADER n ADDRESSED A MAJOR TRAVEL INDUSTRY EVENT /UR NATIONAL LEADERS NEED TO BEAT THE DRUM MORE v &ELLOW ,IBERAL $EMOCRAT PEER ,ORD 3TOREY ARGUED h4OURISM S PROMINENCE NEEDS TO BE DRAMATICALLY INCREASED !LL PARTIES GIVE IT ONLY A SMALL PARAGRAPH IN MANIFESTOS v(E INSISTED h) DON T THINK AS A NATION WE GET TOURISM 0EOPLE SAY @9OU RE NOT CREATING

)AN 4AYLOR L %XECUTIVE %DITOR

4RAVEL 7EEKLY

5PVSJTN 2VFTUJPO 5JNF QBOFM XJUI DIBJSNBO #FSOBSE %POPHIVF '54 MFGU

REAL JOBS v SAID h4HOSE WHICH COLLABORATE WILL PUT THEMSELVES IN A BETTER POSITION FOR THE -ARSDEN AGREED SAYING h7E NEED POTS OF MONEY THAT EXIST 7E VE GOT TO SEE RECOGNITION OF THE IMPORTANCE OF TOURISM SKILLS 4OO MANY PEOPLE THINK TOURISM IS JUST COLLABORATION AND PARTNERSHIP WORKING NOT LOTS OF DIFFERENT IDEAS v SOMETHING YOU PICK UP v 'RANT ADDED h2EGIONS NEED TO GET TOURISM ) SEE GREAT LOCAL ENTERPRISE 3FHJPOT PARTNERSHIPS ;,%0S= BUT OTHERS NEED TO 4HE GOVERNMENT WANTS MORE INBOUND WAKE UP 4OURISM NEEDS TO BE PART OF VISITORS TO TRAVEL BEYOND ,ONDON BUT REGIONAL PLANS &OR ME IT S A NO BRAINER ) STRAINS ON FUNDING TO THE REGIONS ARE A KNOW WHAT TOURISM CAN DO FOR LOCAL PROBLEM 'RANT SAID h7E HAVE MANY AREAS v VISITORS FLOODING TO ,ONDON BUT WE RE ,IBERAL $EMOCRAT PEER ,ORD 3TOREY SAID ANXIOUS THAT VISITORS KNOW WE HAVE OTHER h3OME ,%0S ARE VERY GOOD SOME ARE ATTRACTIONS 7E WANT TO DO EVERYTHING WE APPALLING -AYBE WE SHOULD INSIST SOMEONE CAN SO THE REST OF THE COUNTRY BENEFITS v FROM TOURISM SITS ON EVERY ,%0 AND ASK 2ESPONDING TO A COMMENT FROM EVERY ,%0 TO DEVELOP A STRATEGY FOR 5+INBOUND CHIEF EXECUTIVE $EIRDRE 7ELLS TOURISM v'ORDON -ARSDEN AGREED SAYING THAT HER MEMBERS ARE KEEN TO TAKE h4OURISM ORGANISATIONS IN AN AREA NEED TO PEOPLE OUT OF ,ONDON BUT THE KEY WORK TOGETHER v"UT HE ARGUED h4OURISM IS QUESTION IS FUNDING 'RANT SAID h7E KNOW NOT A STATUTORY DUTY AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES SOME KEY DESTINATIONS ARE HAVING A HARD HAVE TO MAKE CUTS "Y THE END OF THIS TIME 4HE PROBLEM IS THERE ARE ABOUT 0ARLIAMENT "LACKPOOL WILL HAVE HAD OF REGIONS )N SOME PARTS THERE ARE MORE ITS CORE TOURISM SPENDING CUT )T S VERY DESTINATION MANAGEMENT ORGANISATIONS DIFFICULT FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES WHICH ARE ;$-/S= THAN COUNCILS -ONEY IS SPREAD ELECTED BY LOCAL RESIDENTS NOT TOURISTS v VERY THINLY IN SOME AREAS v .OW THAT THE GENERAL ELECTION HAS TAKEN 3HE SUGGESTED THE ANSWER WAS hTO SEE PLACE LET S SEE HOW THESE TOPICS ARE $-/S WORKING IN PARTNERSHIPv 'RANT PRIORITISED

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-EMBERSHIP .EWS

#REDIT 'ILEAD ,IMOR

4OURISM 3OCIETY !NNUAL $INNER AND !WARD

-PSE 5IVSTP DPOHSBUVMBUFT 'JBNNB .POUBHV 5PN 1JQFS BOE +PIO #SPXO 4HIS YEAR S ANNUAL DINNER HELD AT THE (OUSE OF #OMMONS ON TH -ARCH WAS VERY WELL ATTENDED WITH 4OURISM 3OCIETY MEMBERS AND THEIR GUESTS JOINING OUR HOST 4OURISM 3OCIETY 0RESIDENT ,ORD 4HURSO &43 "EFORE THE MEAL GUEST SPEAKER 0ETER ,ONG &43 #HIEF %XECUTIVE OF 45) 'ROUP AND 0RESIDENT OF THE &AMILY (OLIDAY !SSOCIATION SPOKE WITH PASSION ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF TOURISM TO "RITAIN AT AN INDUSTRY AND 'OVERNMENT LEVEL NOTING ITS CONSIDERABLE CONTRIBUTION TO '$0

EMPLOYMENT AND EXPORTS (E ALSO STRESSED THE IMPORTANCE OF HOLIDAYS TO EVERYONE S CULTURAL AND PERSONAL WELL BEING 7ITH AROUND ONE THIRD OF "RITISH FAMILIES UNABLE TO AFFORD A HOLIDAY ,ONG EMPHASISED THE NEED TO HOLD POLITICIANS TO ACCOUNT IN PARTICULAR WITH REGARD TO THE a M THAT HAD BEEN ALLOCATED TO FAMILY BREAKS !S THE GUESTS ENJOYED THEIR COFFEE AND PETITS FOURS ,ORD 4HURSO INTRODUCED THE RECIPIENTS OF THE 4OURISM 3OCIETY !WARD 4HIS YEAR THERE WERE THREE WINNERS WHO HAD EACH PLAYED AN IMPORTANT PART IN CREATING AND STAGING THE &IR ST 7ORLD 7AR COMMEMORATIVE INSTALLATION @"LOOD 3WEPT ,ANDS AND 3EAS OF 2ED (ISTORIC 2OYAL 0ALACES REPRESENTED BY *OHN "ROWN

$EPUTY 'OVERNOR AT THE 4OWER OF ,ONDON 4OM 0IPER -"% WHO DESIGNED THE INSTALLATION AND 0AUL #UMMINS -"%

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WHO CREATED THE CER AMIC POPPIES &IAMMA -ONTAGU COLLECTED 0AUL #UMMINS AWARD ON HIS BEHALF 4HE ENTHUSIASTIC APPLAUSE THAT GREETED THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE WINNERS SHOWED WHAT A POPULAR CHOICE IT WAS AND THE SHORT FILM THAT WAS PLAYED REINFORCED THE IMPACT THAT THE POPPY FILLED MOAT HAD )T IS ESTIMATED THAT FIVE MILLION PEOPLE VISITED THE 4OWER OF ,ONDON TO SEE THE INSTALLATION WHICH WAS IN PLACE FROM *ULY TO .OVEMBER %ACH POPPY WAS PLANTED

AND THEN REMOVED BY ONE OF THOUSANDS OF VOLUNTEERS AND ALL OF THE POPPIES THAT MADE UP THE INSTALLATION WERE SOLD RAISING MILLIONS OF POUNDS WHICH WERE SHARED EQUALLY AMONGST SIX SERVICE CHARITIES #OMMENTING ON THE EVENING 4OURISM 3OCIETY #HAIRMAN 3ANDRA -ATTHEWS -ARSH -"% &43 SAID h4HIS HAS BEEN ONE OF OUR BEST DINNERS TO DATE WITH AN ABSOLUTELY FULL HOUSE ) WAS SO PLEASED TO SEE A VERY ENGAGED GROUP OF STUDENTS FROM THE 5NIVERSITY OF (ERTFORDSHIRE IN ATTENDANCE

WHO ALL HAD THE OPPOR TUNITY TO TALK TO 0ETER ,ONG ! GREAT EXPERIENCE FOR THEM

AND OVERALL A HUGELY ENJOYABLE EVENING v 3HE ADDED h4HIS YEAR S AWARD WINNERS WERE A UNANIMOUS CHOICE FOR THE 4OURISM 3OCIETY AND THE PRESENCE OF THE DESIGN AND CREATIVE TEAM AND (ISTORIC 2OYAL 0ALACES AT THE DINNER WAS A FANTASTIC ADDITION TO OUR SPLENDID EVENING v

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5PVSJTN 4PDJFUZ 4DPUMBOE 4UVEFOU "XBSE 4OURISM 3OCIETY 3COTLAND RECENTLY ANNOUNCED THE WINNER OF ITS FIRST 3TUDENT !WARD 3USANNE Â&#x201A; "LOCHER

AN UNDERGRADUATE STUDYING AT %DINBURGH 544 "XBSE XJOOFS .APIER Â&#x201A; 5NIVERSITY WON 4VTBOOF #MPDIFS THE AWARD BY DELIVERING THE BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE INTHE MODULE ENTITLED @)NTRODUCTION TO (OSPITALITY

4OURISM AND %VENTS IN 9EAR /NE OF HER UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES 3USANNE SAID h)T S GREAT TO GET RECOGNITION FROM 4OURISM 3OCIETY 3COTLAND FOR MY BEST IN CLASS GRADE 4HE CLASS GAVE ME A FIRST INSIGHT INTO THE )NDUSTRY AND) APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLORE IT IN MORE DEPTH NOT ONLY THROUGHOUT MY STUDIES

BUT ALSO NOW AS PART OF THE 3OCIETY ) LOOK FORWARD TO MEETING ITS MEMBERS AS ) COMPLETE MY UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES v

Membership News Events October 5th – Media Masterclass, London 21st – Employability Fair, in association with University of Greenwich November 4th – World Travel Market seminar, London 23rd and 24th – TMI Annual Convention, City of London December Date tbc – President’s Debate and reception

Tourism Symposium 2015 ‘Connecting to the Future’ Kent, 1st & 2nd June

Corporate Member

June 2015 1st & 2nd – Tourism Symposium, Kent 11th – Tourism Society West Country AGM 11th – Tourism Society West Country – Solutions to the Gove Effect 12th – TCN Visit to UNWTO, Madrid 18th – Tourism Society Yorkshire: Trip to The National Trust's 'Goddards',York 18th – TMI Hot Topic, Birmingham 26th – Tourism Society Wales summer event and awards

The Tourism Symposium 2015 brings together industry professionals from all over the UK to connect and contribute to the big infrastructure debate. Highlights include exceptional speakers, local produce, a networking supper and ‘behind the scenes’ study tours of Kent to inspire. Hear Sir Peter Bazalgette, Sally Balcombe, Nick Hall, Steven Norris,Tim Manson… and many more. Plus – FREE return rail travel London St Pancras/Ashford International on the ‘Southeastern Symposium Express’. And transfers for all parts of the two-day programme. Tickets cover the full Symposium programme including lunch, study tours, and networking supper on Day 1 and a full day of presentations, speakers and networking on Day 2. Tourism Society members £150 Non-members £180 Book online at www.tourismsociety.org or call the office on 0207 269 9693.

Supporting partners include

Issue 162 Summer 2015

journal@tourismsociety.org

Membership News Notice of Annual General Meeting 2015 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 OEX on Thursday 9th July 2015 at 2.00pm 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 Wednesday 11th June 2014, 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 2014. 5. To receive and consider the Accounts, Balance Sheet and report of the Auditors for the year ending 31st December 2014. 6. To appoint the auditors at a fee to be agreed by the Board. 7. To elect members of the Board. By Order of the Board 8. Any Other Business. Gregory Yeoman

Executive Director May 1st 2015

To be followed be a networking drinks reception.

Corporate Member

Congratulations to Liz Terry MBE FTS of The Leisure Media Company on the awarding of her honorary Fellowship. Welcome to the following new Corporate Members: David Maguire MTS, Lloyd Jones MTS and Caroline Bissell MTS, all Diversified Communications UK; Iulia Niculica MTS, Gunes Vural MTS and Jennifer Iduh MTS, all European Travel Commission. Welcome to the following new Society members: Benedetta Cordaro MTS, Euromonitor International plc; David Pike MTS Lloyds Banking Group; Enrico Soresini MTS, International Rail Limited; Linda Furniss MTS, Keswick Tourism Association; John Robert Bowers MTS,TCN, JRB Consult; Ann Hartl MTS, Sense of Tourism; Shannon Chu MTS, Marketing Birmingham; Paulo Caldeira MTS, Eskilo – Casa Criativa; I Made Adithya Prasetya Resik, Huan Song, Kamila Verbova, Vidhi Anil Kapoor, Elisa-Maud Tersou, Greta Francesca Iori and Annette Green, King’s College London; John De Vial MTS, ABTA; Susan Russell MTS, Festivals Edinburgh; Peter Hensman MTS, Lake District Estates Co. Ltd; Maisha Riechmann, University of Derby Buxton. Full business and contact details can be found on the Society’s website.

www.tourismsociety.org

Issue 162 Summer 2015

The Back Page Chairman’s view with Sandra Matthews-Marsh MBE FTS MTMI I am sitting looking out onto my garden from our home office writing this article and feeling reflective. On a beautiful spring Sunday I am watching my husband (aka Mellors!) put a variety of new plants into the ground in our own patch of the Garden of England. It sounds like a personal way to start my Back Page but I make no apology, as it reminds me that OUR Society is all about the personal, our shared passion for interesting places and, for the best mixed border, letting difference and distinctiveness flourish. One of my heroines, easyJet’s Carolyn McCall, reflects on this, too, in her article. It is a week after the general election with the events of 8th May now unfolding.The question of place and personal was played out in one of the most dramatic political results seen of late. Nowhere more clearly can the link between place, passion and personal be seen than in Scotland, so it was with open ears and eyes that I ventured to Edinburgh last week at the invitation of Helen Adams MTS, Chair of Tourism Society Scotland. While at their event at Heriot-Watt University I met some of the early pioneers of the Tourism Society, including Bill Hay and Kenneth Wardrop, and learnt that Bill Hay, who is still an active committee member, was one of those early individuals at the start of the Society and whose membership number is 17. Spending time with the Chair and Committee of the TS Scotland (which happily includes young professionals at the start of their careers as well as seasoned figures from the Scottish scene) showed how those coming through the ranks and those with decades of experience can blend fresh thinking with valuable experience to grow great ideas. See Helen and Kenneth’s excellent article in this issue championing the cause of growing tomorrow’s leaders in tourism, and also senior sector statesman Victor Middleton OBE FTS’s article, too, on the granular of more clearly defining terms linked to the visitor economy. The Election showed in sharp focus the importance of finding fresh ways of doing

Photo – Gorilla – Fotolia.com

The personal, people and places – putting down roots and letting new shoots grow

business and allowing new voices to flow into established thought patterns. On the theme of Scotland, we were sad, on a personal level, to see our President Lord Thurso lose his seat in the election, as he has been a well-informed and passionate advocate for our sector in the House. We were also reminded of the brutal ‘here today/gone tomorrow’ aspect of being a politician. But life goes on… and there are good strategies for tourism ahead; these are spelt out clearly for us by the CEOs for England, Scotland and Wales’ national tourism bodies. Plus, we have a new Minister at DCMS, Tracey Crouch, who I know well as a Kent MP. I have no doubt that Tracey will take a very competent grip of the portfolio led by John Whittingdale, the new Culture Secretary.They come with knowledge and vision and we wish them well. But we also look to politicians – seasoned and youthful – to grab the opportunity to help fulfil tourism’s potential. We also hope that

their stay in post is of sufficient length to allow them to contribute fully. And so our mind is now on delivery of our own contribution to the debate, the Tourism Symposium, just a few days away. The timing could not be better to come together – old and young – to debate the big issues of the day. Our theme ‘Connecting to the Future’ seems doubly fitting but our success won’t be down to luck.This year we have travel and national media at our event along with a really broad cross-section of delegates, and no fewer than 30 organisations, public bodies, private sector partners and individuals have been involved.The Symposium demonstrates well how we will thrive by taking the best individuals, pubic bodies, companies and places and working together to make things happen. So as another plant goes into the garden I am left with the feeling that if we water and nurture, prune regularly and keep ourselves refreshed we will keep the visitor economy blooming in the future.