Tourism - Spring 2017 - edition 167 by Tourism Society

Editorial

Can robots match human experience?

More people than ever are travelling. International arrivals hit 1.2 billion last year, a staggeringly large number and one that shows no immediate sign of reducing as new source markets come on stream. The good news is that more travellers means more jobs – current figures show that one in eleven jobs globally is tourism-related. People travel for different reasons – business, health, relaxation, exploration. A key aspect of a large number of trips is an opportunity to meet people and experience different cultures; for people who work in our industry, a key motivation can be an enthusiasm for welcoming visitors and showing them the best of what a destination has to offer. As well as paid employment opportunities, new volunteer schemes such as the Tourism Ambassadors programme have also been very successful at servicing the growing number of visitors, and these opportunities will increase with greater international arrivals. What the Ambassadors and other tourism staff do is provide that vital component of human interaction – face-to-face exchange of information and experience, with all its component elements of nuance, emotion, empathy etc. At the same time as we are seeing record numbers of visitors and workers, the tourism industry is taking technology more and more to heart. Robots and their potential impact on jobs is not a phenomenon restricted to this sector, but the success of a tourism experience is not just measured in units in the way car production is, for example. That word ‘experience’ covers so many different aspects and the people who make up this industry are vital in their delivery. Both the human and robot contribution to tourism are covered in articles in this edition of the journal. On 29th March our annual dinner will take place at the House of Lords. I look forward to seeing you there and to the opportunity for some traditional face-to-face networking. To book your ticket, please go to www.tourismsociety.org. Gregory Yeoman FTS

Executive Director

gregory@tourismsociety.org

The Tourism Society

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Contents From The Chairman: Happy Anniversary to Us! Hayley Beer-Gamage FTS, Chairman, Tourism Society

A New Tourism Manifesto: Four policies for post-Brexit tourism Kurt Janson MTS, Policy Director, Tourism Alliance

Luxury Travel: Are private jets the new niche tourism product? Peter Buckell MTS, Principal, ClubjetVIP

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Responsible Tourism: Animal welfare – driving improvements in tourism attractions Nikki White, Director of Destinations and Sustainability, ABTA

Travel Technology: The rise of robots Lee Hayhurst, Editor, Travolution

Charged or ‘Free’?: The uneven playing field for Attractions Ken Robinson CBE FTS

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UNWTO: How can heritage tourism make the world a better place? Taleb Rifai, Secretary General, United Nations World Tourism Organisation

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Tourism Developments: Some lessons for Economic Impact Assessments John Stephens FTS

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Film Tourism: Seen on Screen! Martin Evans FTS, Managing Director, The Tourism Business

Urban Arts Trails: Unlocking Tourism Potential Simon Curtis MTS, Senior Lecturer, University of Westminster

City of Culture: Boosting perceptions, partnerships, and visitors Paul Williams FTS, Seconded from Staffordshire University to lead Stoke-on-Trent’s City of Culture Bid

Education: Career Colleges – a new option for tourism students in Northumberland Jude Leitch, Director, Northumberland Tourism

ATHE Award Winner: Leadership in the Visitor Economy – 22 The Destination Leaders Programme Dr Jane Ali-Knight MTS and Kenneth Wardrop FTS, Programme Leaders, Edinburgh Napier University ATHE Award Winner: Leadership in the Visitor Economy – The Co-Lead Tourism Erasmus+ Project Dr. Sheena Carlisle MTS, Senior lecturer, Dept of Tourism, Hospitality and Events, Cardiff Metropolitan University

Transport: On the right track – how the West End is gearing up for the Elizabeth line Jace Tyrrell MTS, Chief Executive, New West End Company

Tourism Ambassadors: The face of community tourism in South Wales Ian Thomas MTS, Vale of Glamorgan Tourism Ambassador & Wales Tour Guide

30 under 30: Nurturing talent in tourism John Bridge MTS, Director, TravelBeat Ltd

A Day in the Life... Andy Steven MTS, Head of Brand Strategy and Innovation, Promote Shetland

Prospects 2017: UK inbound growth but no VAT deal Stuart Render MTS, Proprietor, Stuart Render Tourism

Tourism Consultants Network: TCN members in demand around the world Roger Goodacre FTS, Chairman, Tourism Consultants Network

Tourism Symposium 2017

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Membership News

To view our website scan here E tb@scriptmedia.co.uk W www.scriptmedia.co.uk © Copyright 2017 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

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National Coastal Tourism Academy: Creating a vision for Britain’s coast 6-7 Samantha Richardson, National Coastal Tourism Academy Director

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 1,800 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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From The Chairman Happy Anniversary to Us! Celebrating 40 years of bringing together tourism professionals The Society was formed in 1977 and we are extremely proud that some of the founding members are still actively engaged and involved with the Society while at the same time we are welcoming the next generation of tourism professionals to the organisation. We have members aged from 18–80 and it is this wealth of experience, youth, expertise and dynamism that I believe makes the Society so very special and something individuals are proud to be part of. The Society is all about individuals and we welcome members from across the visitor economy. We are diverse in our make-up but aligned by our passion for the industry. You only have to read through the topics in this edition of the journal to see our diversity and range: we have experts covering Culture, Robots, VAT, Film, Education, Retail, Heritage and much more. The business that we call tourism has changed so much over the past 40 years, yet The Tourism Society is still here and still strong, with a membership approaching 1000 individuals and a network that spans not just the UK but Europe and the globe. It is a network to be proud of.

Networking at last year’s Symposium

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I am hoping that as you are reading this you are thinking to yourself that you could in fact get more out of The Tourism Society and become more active and engaged with all that we do. A great way to do that is to join us for one of our many exciting events that are taking place this year.

Credit Gilead Limor Photography

This is an extremely exciting year for The Tourism Society – it marks our 40th Anniversary and we intend to celebrate!

Lord Lee, John Holland-Kaye (CEO, Heathrow), Lord Thurso FTS and Hayley Beer-Gamage FTS at the Annual Dinner 2016 leaders and much more – it really is a If you want to dine in prestigious programme to get excited about! surroundings whilst hearing from our very special guests then the Annual Dinner Finally, we wanted to celebrate our is for you. Taking place at the House anniversary with you, our members, and of Lords on 29th March this dinner is we will be having a 40th Anniversary hosted by the Society President and Party on 18th September at Trinity House Chairman of VisitScotland, Lord Thurso in London. This will be an event where FTS, who will also be presenting the members from across the Society can Tourism Society Award. This year we celebrate the great sector that we work in are delighted that Nicolas Petrovic, CEO and acknowledge the Society’s important of Eurostar International, is joining us as role in bringing us all together. We will our guest speaker, a rare opportunity to be raising a glass and toasting the past 40 gain his insight. This event has been a firm years of the Society and looking forward commitment in my diary for many years to the many more years ahead. (prior to my Chairmanship) as one of the I do hope to see as many of you as most exclusive dinners in the industry and possible at Tourism Society events has always been a most enjoyable evening. throughout the year. We have an exciting If what you want from an event is learning and insight condensed into a great two-day programme then the Tourism Symposium is for you. This year it will take place in the stunning UNESCO World Heritage City of Edinburgh. The two-day programme involves the chance to explore the city as part of the discovery tours programme and of course an evening of networking with old colleagues and making new connections. The anniversary celebration will also continue with both original and new members forming part of the programme as well as industry experts discussing tourism and culture, innovation and collaboration, future destination

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programme and I do hope you will be part of it. I would like to thank everyone that has been part of The Tourism Society over the past 40 years, including the many Chairmen and Executives that have ensured its continued growth and development and who have been instrumental in the Society’s ongoing success. And to you the membership for continuing to support us, we couldn’t do it without you. Happy Anniversary to The Tourism Society – let’s celebrate during 2017!

Full details of all Tourism Society events along with booking information can be found at www.tourismsociety.org. Hayley Beer-Gamage FTS | Chairman, The Tourism Society

A New Tourism Manifesto

Over the last three months the Tourism Alliance has been working with the Tourism Industry Council to produce a paper highlighting the impacts that Brexit could have on the UK tourism industry and what needs to be done to mitigate some of the potential problems associated with leaving the EU. Having completed this work, we are now looking at developing a new tourism manifesto that looks at what the policy environment should be in order to support the UK tourism industry in a postBrexit environment. Here are four ideas as to how tourism policy could change to provide additional growth. 1. Amending the Package Travel Regulations

implemented by member states before 1 April 2018 – a year before the UK leaves the EU. A simple solution to this problem is that a sunset clause is inserted in the new regulations that states that their application to domestic tourism products will cease when the UK leaves the EU. This has two significant benefits – first, it means that the Government doesn’t have to go back and amend legislation that it has only just implemented, which would require a further consultation and more parliamentary time. And second, it would allow domestic tourism businesses the certainty that a change will occur so that they can work together and be ready to

Credit lazy llama – fotolia.com

The Package Travel Regulations, while important for intra-EU travel, have long been problematic to the domestic tourism industry as they make it difficult for small local domestic businesses to work together to develop value-added products. Leaving the EU means that we are in the position to resolve this by simply removing its application to domestic tourism. However, last year the EU issued a new Package Travel Directive that must be

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launch new products when the clause is triggered. It is estimated that this simple change would boost domestic tourism revenue by up to £3.6bn per annum.

Credit alice_photo – fotolia.com

Four policies for post-Brexit tourism

2. Replacing the CAP Programme Rural tourism is an important component of the UK tourism industry. In 2015, 355m trips were made to rural destinations where visitors spent £20.7bn. This, in turn, provided over 380,000 full-time jobs in the rural economy. The loss of central and local Government funding for domestic tourism development and promotion means that rural tourism is increasingly dependent upon the £80m allocated to rural tourism businesses via the Common Agricultural Policy funded Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) and the LEADER programme, However, while tourism now brings more revenue to rural communities than agriculture and employs more people in rural areas than agriculture, the funding available for tourism development through CAP is only a very small fraction of the €27.7 billion in direct payments being

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received between 2014 and 2020.

What is needed is a scheme that recognises the linkages between farming, the environment and maintaining a unique landscape which attracts millions of visitors every year. Developing a more holistic approach to rural funding will not be an easy task but it is important that the role tourism plays in maintaining a sustainable rural economy is more fully understood and is incorporated into the forthcoming discussions. 3. Developing a New Aviation Strategy One of the main opportunities that arises from Brexit is to strengthen the UK’s domestic aviation infrastructure so that it better supports the objective of the government’s Tourism Action Plan of getting overseas visitors out from London and into the regions. This opportunity comes from the interplay between three components: a) expanded Aviation Capacity b) removing domestic APD c) boosting the Regional Air Connectivity Fund Subject to the confirmation of the decision to allow a third runway at Heathrow there will be significant additional capacity that can be used to reinstate and expand those regional domestic services that have been discontinued in favour of more profitable international routes as capacity has decreased. This would significantly increase the ability of Heathrow to act as a hub for inbound visitors connecting them with a final regional destination. Secondly, leaving the EU means that the problem of double taxation on domestic routes can finally be resolved. Further, the Government could remove APD altogether from domestic flights in order to boost their viability without having to do the same for flights to European destinations. Removing £26 from the cost of a domestic return fare would provide a significant boost to the development of

Revised PTR should make it easier to add activities that it is very likely that the UK will opt domestic routes. for an ESTA-type scheme whereby EU Finally, there is the opportunity to boost nationals fill in forms online that contain the Regional Air Connectivity fund which such details as to provide a level of is designed to kick-start routes to regional reassurance that they are not economic airports. While very important, the use migrants and can still enter the country of this fund is hampered by very strict through the existing EU channel. EU State Aid rules which means that its current use is limited to providing funds for route development to airports that have fewer than 500,000 visitors a year. While this is good for maintaining service to remote Scottish islands, it is unable to help boost flights to Bristol, Newquay, Liverpool or Leeds. Leaving the EU provides the opportunity for this fund to be used in a more strategic way to develop new international routes directly into the regions and more routes that link with Heathrow. In this way, the expansion of Heathrow, combined with the greater freedom afforded by leaving the EU, provides a real opportunity to boost international tourism to the regions. 4. Revising Passport Control When the UK leaves the EU, immigration officers will be required to introduce checks to ensure that EU nationals are not trying to live, work and study here illegally. The current method of doing this is through the non-EU immigration channel where visitors are questioned as to the purpose of their visit. However, this level of inspection is significantly more resource-intensive and slows down processing times, meaning

‘In this way, the expansion of Heathrow, combined with the greater freedom afforded by leaving the EU, provides a real opportunity to boost international tourism to the regions.’

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Credit ARochau – fotolia.com

It is accepted that the UK will have to develop and implement a replacement scheme for CAP from 2020 if the agricultural sector is to survive and the UK’s historically and environmentally important rural landscape is to be maintained. This provides an opportunity to both reassess the incentive structures that underpin CAP payments and for payments to recognise the high and increasing importance of tourism to the rural economy.

However, this ESTA-type system also provides an opportunity for the tourism industry. Rather than having an EU channel and a non-EU channel, you now have a low-risk channel and a high-risk channel. This means that the UK could review which countries present the same level of risk as EU visitors and allow them access to this low-risk channel. For example, it would be very difficult to argue that visitors from Japan, Canada, the US, Australia or New Zealand pose a greater risk of being terrorists, smugglers or economic migrants than visitors from the EU. And what about visitors from countries like China? At the moment only 4-6% of Chinese visa applications are rejected, so an ESTA-type scheme would acknowledge this low risk level. And there is no reason why the ESTA requirements need to be the same for each country, which would allow more stringent information requirements for people applying for an ESTA from one country than another. The main thing is that there is an opportunity to be creative in how we use the immigration channels in future that has the prospect of boosting tourism. These ideas illustrate that while we need to continue to work to ensure that Brexit does not cause significant impacts to the UK tourism industry, it also provides opportunities. The sooner we can identify these opportunities, the better placed we will be to exploit them and provide postBrexit tourism growth. Kurt Janson MTS l Policy Director, Tourism Alliance

National Coastal Tourism Academy

Creating a vision for Britain’s coast A break to the seaside? It’s all about buckets and spades, beach huts, rockpooling and crispy fish and chips – the quintessential hallmarks of a great British seaside holiday. Thanks to the Victorians, an escape to the coast remained the mainstay of the domestic holiday industry for more than a century. Roll ahead to 2017 and coastal destinations are evolving, some have been transformed and now offer world-class seafront dining, chic places to stay and enticing events and activities. And the good news is, despite a surge in popularity for city and rural breaks, trips to the coast are still (just) the largest domestic overnight sector. But what is the future for coastal communities, what research has there been on coastal tourism, and what can and should be done to ensure the coast delivers a quality visitor experience in the future? In 2013 the National Coastal Tourism Academy (NCTA) was set up to answer these very questions with funding from the Coastal Communities Fund. Its purpose is to understand the nature of coastal tourism, and to help accelerate growth in the coastal visitor economy. It is tasked with undertaking new research, sharing best practice and finding ways to overcome barriers to growth to ensure coastal communities, big and small, have a sustainable economic future. Over the last three and a half years the NCTA has built up an in-depth understanding of the visitor economy on the coast. Initially focussed on Bournemouth, but working nationally for the last two years, the NCTA has identified opportunities for growth off-peak through robust new research, it has found innovative solutions to the challenges faced by SMEs on the coast and built up a network of stakeholders in the coastal economy across England. All of the NCTA’s research, business support tools, case studies, and online

Harbourside pubs, Falmouth training courses are freely available for businesses and destinations via its Resource Hub, www.coastaltourismacademy.co.uk/ resource-hub. The NCTA’s work is all about making change happen and leading development for the benefit of coastal communities. Last year the NCTA published its ‘2016 Coastal Tourism report’, a summary of the opportunities and challenges for the visitor economy on the coast, and recommendations for achieving growth. The report highlights the significant unrealised potential of England’s coastal visitor economy. At a national level, the coast has not received the attention and recognition it deserves – in part due to the fragmented nature of the industry and very high number of SMEs making it historically difficult to have one voice. The coast also has an awareness issue, particularly among the under-35 age group and international visitors, but it is also an issue for all nonvisitors to the coast. There was no national strategy or action plan for the development of the visitor economy on the coast, one created by industry and recognised by government, one with realistic and achievable goals in the current economic and political climate.

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The NCTA had developed a good level of engagement with coastal destinations and businesses around the coast, and kept hearing the same messages – the desire for a stronger voice, greater collaborative working and a united effort to raise awareness of the coast’s offer and change perceptions. To address this, the NCTA staged its first Coastal Tourism Forum in October last year. More than one hundred coastal destination representatives, business leaders, academics and leading tourism organisations converged to hear the latest coastal research and debate the industry’s future. To assess the industry’s views firsthand, Forum delegates participated in a workshop to create a national strategy. They identified their priorities as support to facilitate and encourage greater collaboration, for clear leadership and greater understanding of how the coast can work together. They voiced the need to raise awareness of the coast, to present a positive image and change public perceptions. They also called for a lead body to liaise with the media on coastal issues and for more support to help businesses and

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Traditional seaside entertainment destinations develop the product to tackle seasonality and promote their distinctive offer. Based on their recommendations, wider consultation and on the research undertaken by the NCTA, Sheffield Hallam University and others (evidenced in the Academy’s 2016 Coastal Tourism Report), a new Vision and Action Plan has been created. It supports the work of the New Economic Foundation’s Blue New Deal, the priorities of the Coastal Communities Alliance, and the NCTA is working with the British Hospitality Association to agree areas of alignment with its Coastal Powerhouses paper. The Vision outlines the major challenges on the coast: tourism employment, skills gaps, lack of awareness, perceptions among non-visitors to the coast, seasonality, the predominance of SMEs (making coordination and speed of change difficult), lack of collaboration and the wider social and political environment that put

increasing pressure on local government funding. But it also identifies the greatest opportunities for growth off-peak based on the NCTA’s new research: targeting under-35 year-olds and the over-55s, developing a health and wellness offer, attracting international visitors, cultivating ‘secondary’ business events and fostering growth in activity holidays. So what is the Vision’s goal? To create vibrant, distinctive coastal communities working together to make the coast a desirable place to live, work and visit – providing people with meaningful experiences and opportunities to grow the coastal visitor economy. To make this happen, the Vision includes four objectives: n to improve the visitor economy to support wider sustainable growth, n boost competitiveness to provide a quality experience, distinctive activities and places to visit, n greater collaborative working, and

n presenting a positive image of the coast through robust communications to raise awareness of the coastal offer. The strategy also includes a number of actions to achieve these objectives. The strategy has been warmly received by the industry and the NCTA have received an overwhelming number of volunteers to take part in the working group to oversee its delivery. The working group will comprise strong, visible, proactive individuals with a passion for the coast representing all the key stakeholders in the coastal visitor economy. The English coast is a beautiful and valuable asset with significant unrealised potential. Over the past 10 years the visitor economy on the coast has grown in importance; however, it is not keeping pace with national growth rates for the tourism industry. With the right support and a shared desire for change, the NCTA believes that the visitor economy can be strengthened, and that this Vision can start to address seasonality to create a more sustainable and viable coastal economy. The ultimate aim is to create great places to live, work, invest and visit that are collaborative and connected. The new Vision has been developed so that its core aims can be realistically achieved even in the current economic climate, but only if there is shared learning and collaborative working. The NCTA hopes that this is the start of a new chapter for the coast, leading to greater prosperity for its communities and re-establishing a pride in the culture and heritage of the coast to match the unsurpassed natural beauty of its landscape and marine environment. To find out how you can help support the Vision and for further information, download the full Vision and Action Plan via the NCTA’s Resource Hub – www. coastaltourismacademy.co.uk/resource-hub.

Local inhabitants at Wallasea Island, Essex

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Samantha Richardson l National Coastal Tourism Academy Director

Luxury Travel

Falcon 7X over Dubai As Crystal Cruises launches a range of private jet journeys aboard its Boeing 777 – 200 LR Business Jet (named Crystal Experience) this year, a boutique collection of 15 to 29-day all-inclusive journeys under the banner ‘Crystal AirCruises’, are we to see this as the start of more private jet tours entering the market? The concept is no different from a luxury cruise in many respects and the Crystal Cruises Boeing 777 (operated by Comlux Aruba, a VIP aviation operator on behalf of Crystal) which only seats 84 passengers (as opposed to a commercial Boeing 777 of around 350 passengers) has been fitted with glamorous dining areas, full service bar and lounge seating together with ‘Crystal Executive Class’ seats – handcrafted Welsh flatbed 180-degrees sleeper seats, fully reclining and designed for ultimate comfort. Beautiful luxury duvets, blankets and pillows accompany each seat. Even ‘Sky Butlers’ (cabin crew) are there to look after the passengers’ every need, serving Michelin star-inspired cuisine and the leading drink brands of the world

Credit Dassault Aviation

Are private jets the new niche tourism product?

including champagne from the SkyCellar. The largest 24” HD in-flight monitors in the industry herald a new state of the art on-board entertainment system, with Bose noise-cancelling headphones, Apple iPads, an abundance of USB slots and on-board Wi-Fi as you would expect. To complete the offering, an on-board chef is there to ensure passengers only receive the best food, served on full bone china dinner service and silver cutlery; drinks are served in cut crystal glasses to complete the luxury dining experience. Prices are around £82,000 pp for an all-inclusive journey. The idea of private jet tours goes back to 2015 when the global luxury hotelier Four Seasons launched round-the-world itineraries in a retrofitted Boeing 757 that featured interiors by the hotel group’s designers and which accommodated just 52 passengers rather than the 233 this category of aircraft would usually carry. Guests who book round-the-world tours sit in seats that are sheathed in white Italian leather, and receive Bulgari amenity kits, blankets made of Mongolian cashmere

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and personal iPads. Other hotel groups have subsequently followed Four Seasons’ lead, with Aman Resorts, andBeyond and the Oetker Collection now offering their customers the opportunity to join intimate private-jet tours that will travel around the world from one property to another. Prices are around $135,000 per person. An example itinerary is The International Intrigue Four Seasons private jet experience, departing September 14th and returning October 7th. Passengers will travel to Seattle (USA), Kyoto (Japan), Hoi-An (Vietnam), The Maldives, Serengeti (Tanzania), Marrakech (Morocco), Budapest (Hungary), St Petersburg (Russia) and end their trip in London. Aboard national carriers on conventional airlines and airliners, the most luxurious aviation experience available is undoubtedly found aboard The Residence, a three-room, ‘better than first class’ cabin found aboard Etihad’s A380 services. With a lounge, private lavatory with shower and bedroom at their disposal, a maximum of two passengers will enjoy the undivided

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Well specced interiors, as expected luxurious as a private jet; nonetheless, attention of a Savoy hotel-trained butler they are a great introduction to air cruising and a host of additional privileges including aboard private aircraft. Air Cruises are personalised menus and concierge services aboard a Dornier 328 Jet seating about 28 before, during and after their trip. passengers and the Embraer Brasilia 120 TCS World Travel, a tour operator that prop-jet seating 19 passengers. specialises in round-the-world trips aboard private jets, has meanwhile inverted Crystal Cruises expansion strategy by offering its clientele the opportunity to cruise. The Seattle-based company has partnered with Seadream Yacht Club to launch Sea. Sky.Safari itineraries. Up to 52 participants will fly on a Boeing 757 aircraft private jet for much of the journey but will also sail in the Mediterranean aboard a Seadream yacht that normally accommodates up to 112 guests. Departing in May, a 20-night tour that commences in Spain before continuing to destinations including Portofino, Rwanda, Cape Town and Marrakech, costs $107,000 (£82,000) per person, all-inclusive. In the USA there is a more down to earth private air cruise company – in terms of pricing – starting at around $1,200 per person. Mauiva Air Cruises offer an interesting range of itineraries from two 6-day air cruises to either the west coast of the USA (covering San Francisco, Yosemite National Park, King Canyon National Park, the breath-taking Grand Canyon, and Las Vegas) or the east coast (covering New York-Manhattan, New York to Niagara Falls, Toronto, Hershey Chocolate Factory, Lancaster, Washington DC, and Alexandria). The Air Cruises include all accommodation, breakfasts, dinners, flights, ground transportation, taxes, admission fees and gratuities. The company are long-established and well known for their value for money. I have sold those in the UK market and they proved very popular although were probably ahead of their time! Mauiva Air Cruises are not quite as

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As you can see the market is growing as high net worth individuals search for something different and luxurious. As far as the private jet market is concerned, “We continue to see relatively slow economic growth projections in many mature business jet markets. While developed economies are generally faring better, commodities demand, foreign exchange and political uncertainties remain as concerns,” said Brian Sill, president, Commercial Aviation, Honeywell Aerospace. “These factors continue to affect nearterm purchases, but the survey responses this year indicate there is improved interest in new aircraft acquisition in the medium term, particularly in the 2018–19 period. In the meantime, operators we surveyed this year indicated plan to increase usage of current aircraft modestly in the next 12 months, providing some welcome momentum to aftermarket activity, which has been flat recently.” I was fortunate to visit EBACE (European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition) in Geneva in 2015 and experience the amount of wealth in private jets around the world - and what a huge business it is, led by the Americans but also featuring the French, Japanese, Germans, Italians, Swiss, Canadians, Arabians and Russians. There are also many new innovations in the private jet market, such as the availability of ‘empty legs’ ie unused sectors of a flight that are empty and available for purchase. Many air charter brokers and new web-driven innovators advertise these on their websites hoping that someone

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will take advantage of the discounted price instead of flying on scheduled flights. At the time of writing this article, a flight from Luton to Le Havre is £1,250 for a Cessna Citation Mustang, a 4-seater private jet. You have the option of changing the routing if you require to Rouen or Paris and just pay any difference. One of the biggest innovators is Britishowned private jet operator Blink. Designed as a European Air Taxi Jet Service, the operator was founded in 2007 and now operates 9 Cessna Citation Mustangs – it was the first operator in the world to operate the 4-seater private jet and therefore offers some of the most competitive prices compared with scheduled air fares across Europe. Many operators manage owners’ private jets so that they can maximise the return on investment for the owners by offering the aircraft for charter and look after the crewing and operations of the aircraft and sometimes maintenance, too. As the market continues to grow, mainly due to increased wealth by the top companies and individuals acquiring private jets, opportunities to innovate come along. Packaging empty legs with quality accommodation and ground transportation, for example, can offer ‘the ultimate lifestyle experience’ for the ordinary person, providing an opportunity to sample the high life. The trip may include an executive jet on the outbound and returning on a scheduled airline – but the pricing is kept to an ‘affordable luxury’ such as £599pp for Luton to Dublin return. Passengers can enjoy the experience of having their own executive jet together with a champagne bar on board and the use of complimentary refreshments and amenities at the private jet terminals where there are no check-in queues or car parking charges. Look for further innovation in this exciting market! Peter Buckell MTS l Principal, ClubjetVIP

Responsible Tourism

Animal welfare – driving improvements in tourism attractions

Interaction with animals on holiday is more common than you may think. Examples include mules carrying bags on a trekking holiday, a parrot show as a hotel entertainment programme, watching a performing dolphin or volunteering on a conservation project. Safaris are perhaps the most obvious example, where animals are central to many an itinerary. The potential for contributing to abuse is very real. A recent high profile example is the tiger ‘sanctuary’ in Thailand, with animals beaten, drugged and being bred for their body parts. Innocent tourists were an intrinsic part of this abuse by paying to visit and pet the heavily sedated tigers. Tourists may also often encounter animals in resort, such as stray cats and dogs. Local attitudes can differ greatly from those in the generally animal-loving UK. The Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad (SPANA) conducted a survey in 2012, which showed that 52% of customers would be put off visiting a country again if they saw an animal being mistreated. Mistreatment and abuse is not good for animals, but it is also potentially damaging for a country’s reputation. At ABTA, animal welfare is a critical part of our Sustainable Tourism work. We collaborated with the NGO the Born Free Foundation to develop comprehensive guidance and industry standards, which resulted in the ABTA Global Animal Welfare Guidelines (2013). This guidance underwent a multi-stakeholder consultation process involving experts from around the world as well as Members of the ABTA Animal Welfare Working Group. ABTA supports its Members to improve animal

Nikki White l Director of Destinations and Sustainability, ABTA

Credit: Born Free Foundation

Viewing and interacting with animals can be a popular and rewarding part of a holiday. ABTA consumer research found that one in four people had some kind of interaction with animals as part of their trip. The travel industry can play a large part in enabling the experience to be a positive one for customers, local people and, most importantly, the animals themselves.

Tourists using animals as photo props involving bad practice welfare in their supply chain and works camp certification process which is based with them to implement the standards set on the ABTA Guidance. Buffalo continues out in the ABTA Guidance. to work collaboratively to improve the welfare of elephants as well as provide ABTA and our Members are taking responsible travellers with the best possible proactive steps to improve standards in elephant experience. The ultimate aim is animal welfare and making good progress. to improve overall industry standards for Most recently Thomas Cook have elephant tourism in Asia. announced they will conduct full audits of excursions that include animals against There are many other ABTA Members the standards set out in the ABTA Global using the ABTA guidance to bring about Welfare Guidance. positive changes to improve animal welfare Two great examples of the guidelines at as well as protecting the livelihoods of work are given by ABTA Members Exodus those who work closely with animals in and Buffalo Tours. Exodus state: “We ask destinations. our travellers to refrain from visiting any Alongside the work with our Members, venues that exploit animals or use them ABTA plays a role in raising awareness of for any forms of entertainment. Facilities animal welfare issues with destinations. We displaying captive animals and advertising encourage governments and authorities activities like cub petting, walking with to use the guidance as a tool to support lions, elephant riding or handling of wildlife policy and enforcement. Ultimately, tour are all actively excluded from our trips operators will have greatest traction with and guidance is provided as to why our their suppliers with consistent messaging travellers should avoid these in general – based on evidence, rather than opinion. we fundamentally believe that education This is why industry collaboration, both is the key to securing animal welfare in within the UK and internationally, is key the future and tourism is well-placed to and why ABTA has a pivotal role to play. start the conversations locally that may not otherwise occur.” For sustainability and animal welfare Buffalo Tours is also working with Travelife for Tour Operators to initiate an elephant

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enquiries, please email sustainabletourism@ abta.co.uk.

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Travel Technology The rise of robots Research by global travel deals website Travelzoo into the use of robots in travel found most consumers anticipate they will interact more with machines in the future. Without doubt people should expect robots to play an increasingly pivotal role in the tourism industry because, whether they realise it or not, they already do. Google offers this definition of a robot: “A machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically, especially one programmable by a computer”. Based on that almost everyone who has ever stepped foot on an aircraft, in a hotel or consulted an online travel agent or price comparison site has interacted with a robot. Clever computational algorithms invisible robots capable of learning from experience - are routinely used today to hone the online travel research and buying process. However, robot humanoids of the sort we’re used to seeing in sci-fi TV shows and films are also already among us, and being put to work. In Nagasaki, Japan – where else? – there’s even a hotel, called the Henn-na, staffed entirely by robots that check you in, clean your room and securely store your valuables. On Royal Caribbean’s latest mega cruise ships a robot barman will mix you your favourite cocktail. At last year’s Abta Travel Convention, hotel giant Marriott’s Mario think Twiki from Buck Rogers circa 1979 – shared the stage as Travelzoo presented its research. His rather limited repertoire left the audience somewhat underwhelmed, but we were assured he had a lot more tricks up his sleeve when in a one-to-one situation. Mario is installed in the reception of Marriott’s Ghent property where he answers guests’ questions, hands them their keys or even orders them a taxi. It was these sorts of functional activities respondents to Travelzoo’s study said they could accept, but there was less

enthusiasm for robots taking on more personal tasks. Despite this European travel giant Tui, parent of Thomson and First Choice, revealed last November it is working with IBM’s powerful Watson technology to create a virtual agent. The vision is that artificial intelligence will enable Tui’s websites to communicate with customers just like they would engage with one of its store or call centre agents today. An incredulous response from actual human agents questioned whether machines will ever make sense of the many nuances of human-to-human interaction. However, a Future of Travel report compiled last year by web retail experts Qubit predicted fully conversational technology is well on its way to becoming a reality. Brennon Williams, chief executive of Iridium Systems and Robotics Corporation, claimed at the report’s launch this will significantly speed up computer interfaces. Next-generation Cognitive Artificial Intelligence will process meaning beyond just words, using voice pitch and rhythm analysis and facial recognition to determine context. Williams said this will allow computers to comfortably process commands at the speed of speech rather than typing – 160 words per minute versus just 60. Already we are seeing how this might look, with the launch of Amazon’s Echo smart speaker bringing the online retailer’s Alexa virtual personal assistant into your living room. The emergence of devices like this has prompted Expedia to declare that voice search could be on the cusp of having as revolutionary an impact on the world as the iPhone did. As we move from touch and swipe screen interfaces to audio, it won’t be long before we are ‘talking’ to our hotel room to order room service or check if our flight is on time. Once we’ve ordered our cab from

‘As we move from touch and swipe screen interfaces to audio, it won’t be long before we are ‘talking’ to our hotel room to order room service or check if our flight is on time.’

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Your friendly new concierge the hotel’s virtual concierge, a driverless Google or Uber car will whisk us to the airport and sell us lounge access or an upgrade on the way. At the airport we’ll be checked-in, given security clearance, buy our click-and-collect duty free and board all without encountering another human being other than our fellow flyers. A dystopian vision? Maybe. Many travel firms, particularly in the luxury sector, are sure to continue prizing highly human resources that intuitively provide that vital personal touch. Arguably, tourism is a sector associated more than all others with distinctly human concepts like happiness, adventure, a thirst for knowledge and shared memories. So it will be our natural squeamishness, issues of trust and emotional context – along with the impact on jobs – that will determine the rise of the robots and what we’ll permit technology to do. Lee Hayhurst l Editor, Travolution

Attractions

Charged or ‘Free’?: The uneven playing field for Attractions

Attractions – a very un-level playing field operated attractions, at which The UK has over 6500 admissions revenue is their main attractions. Just under half of source of revenue. these operate with free access, and more than half of all visits Labour’s great egalitarian gesture of ‘free’ are free. admission to over 50 national museums The attractions sector is unusual, in that the product – access for visits – is in many instances available without charge to users.

This would be unthinkable for other leisure products such as transport, accommodation or the provision of food and drink. Most free attractions are in the public sector, where free entry is provided by public policy as a social or cultural amenity; often these are major cultural and heritage attractions. A few third sector attractions, and philanthropically funded and/or sponsored attractions, are also free as are places where charging is impractical, such as landscape areas, or smaller noncommercial attractions like local churches. So the great divide, the ‘unlevel playing field’, for the operation of visitor attractions is between those in public or charitable ownership with free or subsidised access, and private sector and commercially

was introduced by Secretary of State Chris Smith in 2001, reflecting his belief that this would enable people who could not afford to pay, from lower socio-economic groups, to visit. No politician has dared to challenge this since, despite the great pressures to reduce public expenditure. Museums and other heritage attractions in Local Authority ownership have in the past usually offered free or subsidised access. The existence of these free and subsidised access attractions in the public sector has very marked effects on the private sector’s ability to operate attractions commercially, matching visitor expectations of improved presentation, and maintaining their structures from earned income. The resulting disparities in the operational environment for attractions are exacerbated by public investment such as grant aid for developmental or regeneration purposes that even when not specifically directed to visitor attractions,

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often stimulates investment in them. The Government also controls the National Lottery that funds major investment in heritage and cultural attractions in public or charitable ownership, for which private sector attractions are not eligible. Charitable attractions that do charge for admission are also eligible for valuable taxation reliefs, such as Gift Aid rebates on admissions payments from UK taxpayer visitors, and to qualify, most offer ‘free’ return visits – hence further extending the impact of ‘free access’ on overall demand. Hugely valuable Business Rate relief is available to charities (80% mandatory, 20% at the Local Authority’s discretion). In summary, political and public policy has created a very ‘un-level playing field’ for Attraction owners, with two major effects: the economic inequity for private sector attractions of similar style and content to those in the public sector undermines their viability – and in the longer term this polarises provision between the two ownerships. Many have become primarily dependent on public funding and tax benefits, which, it is assumed, must continue to support

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these mainly cultural and heritage assets. However, since the financial crisis of 2008-9, Government is searching for cuts to reduce public expenditure – so visitor attraction beneficiaries are coming under scrutiny.

Credit iQoncept – fotolia.com

Sequential cuts to Local Authorities have forced them to reduce allocations to owned and supported cultural and heritage attractions, so an increasing number are having to introduce admission charges to make ends meet. The public spending squeeze is also pushing further restructuring from direct state and Local Government ownership and control, to independent trusts and charities. Despite these pressures, the Government has been clinging steadfastly to the maintenance of free access to national museums while trying to make economies. Beneficiaries are having to manage funding cuts, by finding permitted ways to generate revenue from visits, often through separately charged special exhibitions and events and more trading. Focusing on exhibitions, events and other sources of revenue can lead to management and operational resources being disproportionately dedicated to these elements to the detriment of the main permanent features. This distraction was highlighted many years ago by the doyen of museum professionals, Sir Neil Cossons (the greatly experienced former Director of Ironbridge, The National Maritime Museum and The Science Museum – chairman of national Museums organisations, and English Heritage). In short, he believed that enforced ‘free access’ was detrimental to both the achievement of curatorial objectives, and the experiences that visitors derived from their visits to national museums. Yet most curators of national museums remain strongly in favour of retaining Government funding and remaining free. So even in tough times, the politicians of all main parties have shied away from this contentious issue. Currently DCMS is completing a formal review of Museums, with particular emphasis on doing more, better – but of course at less cost. Their terms of reference are that the review will “Examine the need for the functions performed by the museums and whether existing funding and delivery models remain appropriate….and consider

a number of issues including, but not limited to: The role of government sponsored museums in widening participation in culture; How the overall investment can most effectively be deployed; (and) What criteria should inform investment decisions after the current Spending Review period.” And yet, over-riding this is the edict that: “Free admission to the permanent collections of national museums will be retained and will not be considered by the review”. Enough of dogma, what are the facts? 1. The ‘great success’ of free access has been repeatedly claimed as being the massive rise in the annual number of ‘visitors’. In truth, most of the increase is in ‘visits’ not ‘visitors’; as people visit more often, and spend less time, compared to when charges were applied, visiting only once or infrequently and staying a long time to get best value for money. Free museums are extremely popular when it rains. 2. In 2016 the Association of Independent Museums (AIM) conducted an in-depth authoritative survey of attitudes to admission charges and it concluded: “the overall enjoyment of visits (rated on a scale from 1 to 10 by the visitors), shows there is very little difference between the quality of the visit at paid admission sites (average score of 8.7) and free admission sites (average score of 8.9), suggesting that charging or not charging is not a major influence on the overall quality of the visit”. 3. The free access policy was primarily intended to enable lower-socio economic and minority groups who did not visit, to do so. The AIM report also showed that “charging does not affect the social mix of visitors to museums”, yet museums rely on trumpeting the higher visit numbers as

From ‘Yes Minister’: Sir Humphrey (calmly): “Bernard, subsidy is for art, for culture. (Almost furiously) It is not to be given to what the people want! It is for what the people don’t want but ought to have!”

evidence that the social and cultural split is being overcome. Positive action to attract the intended beneficiaries would be much more effective.

4. Over half of the visits to free national museums are by visitors from overseas. The Government says that as inbound visitors are most strongly attracted by the heritage, this greatly improves the value for money of a visit to Britain (which is relatively poor because of Air Passenger Duty and VAT they impose). Yet, most overseas tourists when questioned say that they had no prior idea that the national museums were free, they expected to and would have been happy to pay. Even museum professionals are wavering, responding to a recent Museums Association online poll voting 70% to 30% in favour of charging visitors from overseas. 5. The great myth is that the ‘right’ to free access to national museums is dependent on their being free for all, all the time. The principle could be maintained by making visits free for all but subject to practical conditions, such as for education groups, local residents, or any UK resident who pre-books as instructed, or visits at publicised free access times. Diversion by DCMS of the funding that pays for free access to other more culturally-effective opportunities, would be ideal, especially as other grant sources are increasingly threatened in a post-Brexit world. But it would be a culturally disastrous if liberated funds were just clawed back into the Treasury. My conclusion: it is time to correct this un-level playing field and by so doing, make private sector investment more commercially attractive. Politicians, Curators and Museum Directors need to think the unthinkable, of the advantages and opportunities that ending ‘free access’ can bring. Ken Robinson CBE FTS |

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UNWTO

6th UNWTO Silk Road Task Force, Iran But we must work together to ensure Travel and tourism is today firmly that, as tourism continues to grow, it fulfils established as one of the major sectors of its responsibility to contribute to more the global economy, a sector that has seen sustainable and inclusive societies through above-average growth for the past seven innovation, collaboration and a crossyears. The number of international tourists cutting approach to tourism development. has grown by orders of magnitude, from 25 million travellers in 1950 to over 1.2 Thankfully, many countries have realised billion in 2016. the potential for tourism to become a pillar of their development. This Today the sector contributes 10% of commitment is attested to by the inclusion the world’s GDP and as many as one in of tourism in the universal 17 Sustainable every eleven jobs globally. Exports from Development Goals (SDGs) agreed international tourism have swelled from upon by 193 nations in 2015. Tourism is only $2 billion in 1950 to $1.5 trillion in mentioned explicitly in the targets of three 2015. This equates to 7% of global trade, of the 17 SDGs: Goal 8 on promoting a larger contribution than from any other growth and decent work, Goal 12 on export sector except fuels and chemicals. ensuring sustainable consumption and For many countries, tourism is an production, and Goal 14 on conserving important contributor to ensuring balance marine resources. of payments.

But, in the words of Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, “tourism also cuts across so many different areas of life, and involves so many different economic sectors and socio-cultural currents, that it is connected to the entire Agenda.” For example, we have found that for every direct job created through

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Credit UNWTO

How can heritage tourism make the world a better place?

tourism another 1.4 jobs are created indirectly. Such factors position our sector as capable of advancing all 17 SDGs, from poverty alleviation to gender equality or the fight against climate change. And, according to Secretary-General Guterres, “beyond the measurable advances that tourism can make possible, it is also a bridge to better mutual understanding among people from all walks of life.” Recognising all of this, the United Nations General Assembly has designated 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. This is a golden opportunity to celebrate the value of tourism to social, economic and environmental sustainability; to recognise its important contribution to mutual understanding and peace, social progress and human rights – the major principles of the United Nations. And all this on a global scale and at the highest political level. 2017 is also a unique opportunity for us to determine, together, the exact role we will have tourism play in the sustainable development agenda, to and beyond

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2030. Throughout the year, activities and initiatives across the spectrum of tourism will celebrate its transformational influence on our global efforts to create a world that is cleaner and greener, more equal and more inclusive.

Cultural tourism can also raise awareness of the value of heritage and the need for preserving sites that risk irreversible damage – and more than that, it provides financing for conserving them. We must remember that our natural capital consists of both environmental and cultural heritage; each is essential to the long-term sustainability and competitiveness of any destination. They should therefore be supported by our financial capital – and also by the dynamic currents of innovation that flow through our sector. By sharing information and good practices, we can draw upon the combined forces of creativity, innovation and investment to help promote and conserve this heritage.

On the Camino de Santiago We can develop how we market cultural tourism products to ensure tourists and host communities are properly educated on the importance of preservation. We can improve management structures at heritage sites and cultural destinations to ensure sustainability as tourist numbers rise. And at a governance level, tourism and culture administrations can together develop a common institutional framework for sustainable cultural tourism, including heritage conservation, so that all stakeholders are on the same page when turning plans into actions. Cultural tourism routes, such as the Silk Road and the Way of St. James, can be significant catalysts for sustainable tourism development. They combine an experience of unique cultural history with a chance to meet and empower local communities, while promoting sound heritage management. The trans-boundary nature of cultural routes inherently stimulates regional cooperation, as well as collaboration amongst public sector entities and between the public and private sectors. Heritage tourism can in this way strengthen the working relationship and the bond of friendship between businesses, countries and regions.

Credit nnerto – fotolia.com

There continue to be manifold opportunities for heritage destinations globally, and particularly across Europe, a continent steeped in history and peppered with evocative monuments and captivating traditions.

Managing visitor activity at sites like Angkor is important

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With this in mind I very much look forward to the Tourism Symposium 2017, which will be held this coming June in Edinburgh, Scotland – itself home to some of the richest and most stunning cultural heritage in the United Kingdom. The symposium will be an excellent occasion to steer a course together for the future of heritage tourism management in Europe. If there is one thing I will always remember from my time in this captivating and

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rewarding sector, it is that tourism is a sector of hope. Not only is it one of the most resilient economic sectors, but it also unites people across backgrounds, cultures and continents every day. Through travel, we gain understanding, tolerance, and empathy for our fellow man – essential in the era of globalisation, where our global village can only prosper through harmonious living. Heritage tourism, as a source of public education, identity and pride, is an unquestionable contributor to maintaining tourism as a force for good, for everyone, in all corners of the world. And in this International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, all actors in heritage tourism have a chance to remind the world that, when we all work together to advance tourism, we can have a truly positive change. Let us allow the tremendous hope that our sector provides to inspire us all to act for the good of people and planet. And let us all remember that, whatever we do in life, our core business is to make this world a better place. I wish you a very happy International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017, and I wish the Tourism Society a very fruitful Symposium in June.

Taleb Rifai speaking at INVESTOUR 2017

Credit UNWTO

In this regard, one of the areas of tourism that is best at giving travellers the power to make a positive change on their surroundings is that of cultural tourism. This diverse phenomenon helps to at once foster economic growth, inclusive social development and cultural preservation. It brings new opportunities for investment, employment and entrepreneurship, builds bridges between visitors and hosts, nurtures pride within communities, and revives traditional activities and customs.

Credit Imagenatural – fotolia.com

It is a celebration for each and every one of us: those who work and have interest in the sector and its sustainability, and also those consumers who travel to discover, to experience, and to give something back in return. Research shows a rise in the numbers of travellers who want to tread lightly, reduce their impact on the environment, and act in ways beneficial to the countries and communities they visit.

Taleb Rifai | Secretary-General, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

Tourism Developments

Development near Sochi, Russia As a consultant I’ve undertaken numerous cost benefit studies, and I’ve also undertaken economic impact assessments in areas as diverse as transport, mineral extraction, museums, hotels, sports resorts and residential development. In my last job in government (in Australia), I led the development of guidance on the appraisal of land use projects. Planning legislation required appraisals to include a local impact assessment in order to capture how a community might ‘experience’ a proposed project. The following is intended to help both practitioners undertaking impact assessments and decision makers using the outputs of impact assessments to understand how to make better use of this approach. First, one should be clear about when impact assessment might be useful, while understanding what it can and cannot do. Appraisal is about providing decision makers with the information they require, so one might argue that elected decision makers have the right to ask for information on the effects of a proposal on their area of interest, and to select the metrics in which they are interested. While cost benefit analysis (CBA) is arguably the

Credit Wilding – fotolia.com

Some lessons for Economic Impact Assessments

best tool for project appraisal (as per the Treasury Green Book), CBA might not provide all the information decision makers wish to use. CBA is in principle borderless, which means that benefits and costs can accrue over a very large area, and generally it is not feasible to identify ultimate beneficiaries. Therefore, while CBA represents a sound approach at the national level, it may be less useful to a local politician or a developer who is making a case for (or against) a project based on how it will affect an area such as a town or a county. This aligns with the needs of bodies such as local authorities that have a legitimate interest in investigating ‘what’s in it for them’. It is understandable that a local authority should focus on local outcomes, especially if most of the dis-benefits like congestion and pollution will affect their territory, while the benefits might be spread across a much wider population. It is therefore difficult to argue that decision makers should avoid using impact assessment, despite a number of issues surrounding the soundness of impact assessment as an appraisal method. Unlike CBA, there is no received methodology for impact assessment, and so it can

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provide fertile soil from which to produce ‘alternative facts’ to be used for advocacy. Therefore, decision makers should be aware of what might be missed when relying on an impact assessment, and where impact assessment can overstate local effects. Nonetheless, impact assessment can make a contribution to appraisal – provided it is approached objectively and consistently. Impact assessment’s chief attraction is, therefore, to shed light on how a proposal might affect a specific area or sub-set of the population; that is, it provides some information on distributional outcomes, and especially how some costs and benefits are distributed spatially. The “some” is important, however: most impact assessments limit their scope to effects that result from transactions in a market, including jobs, wages and GVA. A better approach would extend this by (at least) listing and where possible quantifying effects such as congestion, pollution and visual amenity. Even looking at market transactions will miss important benefits, in particular the benefits of residential development; impact assessment might count only construction jobs and some effects arising from resident

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Second, there should be a clear definition of the spatial area of interest, within whose boundary impacts, positive and negative, will be counted and reported, while all effects outside the boundary are to be ignored. The boundary then needs to be applied correctly, for example in considering expenditure by visitors attracted to an area by a new hotel and leisure development. It should generally be possible to estimate total expenditure by hotel guests, but then it is necessary to consider whether some of that expenditure would take place within the boundary anyway, and whether expenditure at the new development displaces expenditure at other establishments within the boundary. It should also be recognised that a proportion of expenditure will take place in surrounding areas because those guests will cross the boundary to visit other attractions. The smaller the spatial area of interest, the greater is the proportion of total expenditure that is likely to take place across the boundary. On the other hand, a new development might attract people to a town who would not come to that town without the development. These represent additional visitors and expenditure at a small spatial level. But at a larger spatial area such as a county, it will be much harder to argue that people would not come to the county if the development did not go ahead. More formally, the assessment needs to consider what is genuinely additional at the level of the defined spatial area. Next, considerable care is needed when deciding on metrics. Unsurprisingly, local authorities and politicians want to know how many jobs a project will generate, but this is a metric that is often mis-used.

Not all workers will be local people living in surrounding counties.

If that new expenditure is divided by an average ratio of retail jobs to retail sales, it might yield an impressive number of jobs.

These should not be counted as jobs for people normally resident within the defined spatial area. Similarly, while a number of ‘local’ people could be employed in the construction work, most of these would be employed anyway on other projects. Therefore, work on the proposed development simply replaces other work. The (first-round) benefit to the local area would be limited to the employment of people who otherwise would have been unemployed, plus some additional labour earnings arising from a combination of wages being bid up and working more overtime due to tightening of demand for skilled workers. The latter would arise when the proposed project was added to whatever construction demand would have existed anyway. The net change in labour earnings arguably represents a better way of assessing local labour market effects than simply estimating the number of jobs. For most proposals, impacts should be estimated at the margin. For example, a project might attract a seemingly impressive amount of new expenditure to be ‘injected’ into the economy of a town.

Credit success photo – fotolia.com

For example, a project that involves large-scale construction might claim to offer several hundred jobs. But on closer inspection, it could be the case that most of the skills required would be provided by

Credit Sondem – fotolia.com

expenditure, missing the potentially huge benefits that would be captured in a cost benefit analysis.

However, it is likely that much of the new expenditure can be absorbed without any increase in employment, because there is usually spare capacity in businesses such as retail establishments. Because it is rarely feasible to match numbers of employees to volume of spending, staff in hotels, cafes and shops are either very busy or under-employed, and so occasional bursts of additional expenditure at peak times might lead to longer queues and perhaps more overtime working, but the number of additional hires is likely to be significantly less that the number estimated by applying average ratios. The real benefits from additional expenditure are therefore likely to be increased productivity, some additional labour earnings and increased profits to businesses: it is worth pointing out that where businesses are owned outside the defined ‘local’ area, such benefits accrue externally and should not be included. Finally, in many studies considerable attention is given to the derivation of local multipliers, especially when the area under consideration is relatively small, when national or regional multipliers are likely to overstate outcomes significantly. Unfortunately, the use of multipliers is a case of ‘garbage-in-garbage-out’: if the first-round effects are poorly estimated, applying multipliers will make things worse, and therefore many assessments would benefit by paying greater attention to firstround effects. Impact assessment has a role to play in local decision making, but its value is diminished where estimates of effects are ‘over-cooked’ by ignoring additionality and displacement, and by applying average rather than marginal ratios. John Stephens FTS |

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Issue 167 Spring 2017

Film Tourism

Seen on Screen! The Film Tourism agenda has moved on. We all know and love film tourism and, whilst different surveys come up with differing results on the power of film tourism as a motivator to travel, the statistics may change, but the power of film and television to promote travel and tourism doesn’t. If the ’80’s were about Crocodile Dundee and Out of Africa, and the ’90’s featured Notting Hill and Braveheart, then the ‘Noughties’ were captured by Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Da Vinci Code, Pride and Prejudice, Miss Potter and, of course, Bond. In current times, whilst Paddingon, Swallows & Amazons and The BFG have whetted screen tourism appetites, it’s the massive TV series which dominate and have consolidated ‘screen tourism’, rather than just ‘film tourism’ in our psyche. The Crown and Sherlock for London, Downton Abbey and Poldark in the provinces, and series like Game of Thrones and even Top Gear internationally. Amongst national tourism organisations, VisitBritain has continued to lead the way in screen tourism, but countries across the world are catching up fast. Working with the cross-departmental GREAT campaign, the UK tourism sector has been able to benefit from ‘Film is GREAT’, and VB’s screen tourism marketing has reached wider markets than ever before. Seen on Screen Following the EU-funded film tourism project ‘EuroScreen’, which Film London successfully led between 2012 and 2014, November 2016 saw the capital’s screen agency tie up once again with VisitBritain to host the international conference ‘Seen on Screen’. Held at the atmospheric Ciné Lumière in South Kensington, Seen on Screen attracted over 100 representatives from destinations, attractions, film agencies and other organisations. Film Producer Andy Harries was the conference’s keynote speaker, and with Wallander in his credits, and The Crown just about to launch on Netflix, there

Martin Evans FTS | Managing Director, The Tourism Business

Tourism Ireland’s stand at last November’s World Travel Market could not have been a more appropriate pushing this May’s re-incarnation of King keynote to talk about the location Arthur, whereas, on the small screen, selection process and the impact of new series from Game of Thrones to showcasing these places on screen. Last Tango in Halifax, and from Death in Paradise to the third series of Broadchurch, Next up of 20 speakers was Emma Gorman, Tourism Ireland’s Digital Manager. will continue to have an amazing effect on When the makers of Star Wars: The Force tourism to those locations. Awakens needed a striking backdrop for Luke Skywalker’s dramatic re-introduction into the franchise, Ireland’s County Kerry and Skellig Michael provided an ideal setting and the opportunity to brand Ireland as a Star Wars location. Emma commented that the key to a successful marketing campaign was TI’s ability to build a relationship with Lucasfilm and develop behind-the-scenes content with them. Other topics aired at ‘Seen on Screen’ ranged from how to develop screen tourism products (with presentations on Nordic Noir’s The Bridge and Northern Ireland’s Game of Thrones tours), to the growing power of ‘Bollywood in Europe’. VisitScotland has produced a popular Bollywood Locations Map, and Madame Tussauds now features Bollywood superstars amongst its models. Coming to a screen near you Of course, for many tourism sectors, it’s all about the Next Big Thing. On the big screen, VisitBritain and VisitWales will be

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In other areas of the media, gaming is putting cities and regions on screen like never before, whilst the unstoppable growth in social media is giving all of us new routes to market, such as the ‘Seen on Screen’ conference’s surprise package, film tourism bloggers Fangirls Quest (google them!). Are you chasing the Holy Grail?

New film and TV tourism opportunities will continue to emerge. From a marketing perspective, film tourism is tied into two of the most powerful marketing mantras of the age – global exposure, and brand recognition. With the AFCI (Association of Film Commissioners International) now having devoted a recent annual conference wholly to the phenomenon, and Britain currently enjoying some decent filmmaking tax breaks, isn’t it time that any tourism operators who haven’t developed their own film tourism strategy and product, get amongst the Tourism Oscars themselves?

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Urban Arts Trails Unlocking Tourism Potential As city destinations become ever more competitive, there is a need for DMOs to promote and facilitate fresh product and innovative ways of unlocking potential. Where possible, such new product needs to be rooted in the special characteristics of the place in order to accentuate authenticity and to engage local residents. One of the most unheralded (and in my opinion, under-rated) options for such investment is the urban arts trail or a developing collection of well-sited public art. These can be temporary ‘event installations’ or permanent legacy projects. While common in mainland Europe, they are still relatively rare in UK cities. The popular view of such trails is that they are comprised of large scale and often quite monolithic and intrusive sculpture. In reality, this is rarely the case, with many examples of fine and subtle contemporary sculptures mixed with more functional installations such as quirky street furniture and creative lighting. There are also cases where art has been subtly intertwined with heritage interpretation or navigational aids. By essentially assuming the role of an art gallery ‘in the open’, art trails are an egalitarian concept and have a number of persuasive qualities: they promote the exploration of the urban environment on foot; they can direct visitors to explore ‘off the beaten track’; they can form part of regeneration initiatives as new parts of the city emerge as visitor areas; and they can be enormous fun, bringing a smile to the face, and an occasional amused frown, of course. Most significantly, they have the potential to engage local residents, both in the conception of the art (involving local artists) and in creating a buzz around the symbolism and meaning of the installations. When these initiatives work well, it is typical for locals to use public art as meeting places and as places to bring visitors as part of informal tours of their own city. While most arts trails in the UK inhabit city parks, there are some very good examples of successful art trails in the streetscape

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Paloma Weisz’s Rug People in the abandoned Folkestone Harbour Station, 2012 – now part of the Folkestone Artworks trail financial investment to deliver quality of some of our cities. Not surprisingly, Brighton offers some inspirational public and permanent legacy. Contributions art and some seaside towns have started from local business and from arts experimenting with public arts installations. organisations have been prime instruments The Folkestone’s Artworks trail, comprised of funding leverage. There is the danger of vandalism and consideration needs to of 27 surviving installations from the be made for regular maintenance of the last three Folkestone Triennials, are a masterstroke and lasting legacy of a cutting installations. And of course, there will always be sceptics and critics of bringing edge arts festival. The ‘Sculpture in the contemporary art, often provocative and City’ trail in the city of London has been sometimes divisive, into the open arena of running since 2011 and brightens up the the urban environment. otherwise oppressive urban-scape of the Square Mile. Also in London, the evolving Such downsides can be overcome arts trail known as ‘The Line’ is playing an through strong project development and important role in connecting and opening management. Projects can stutter or fail up a new pedestrian route between because of red tape and poor leadership. Stratford and the Royal Docks. Perhaps strong DMOs should step in as project leads in such cases, with their In an alternative vein, some cities have natural skills of stakeholder management experimented with temporary arts trails and abilities to create links between the with family appeal, notably Southampton’s tourism, arts and planning interests. ‘Zany Zebra’ trail in the summer of 2016, which installed 48 individually It seems to me that public art and designed and painted life-sized ceramic tourism are natural bedfellows and zebras throughout the city, delivering a need to embrace each other more community arts project, a temporary city readily. Contemporary art is designed to attraction and valuable promotion for stimulate debate and help to articulate Marwell Zoo, all in a neat and fun package. local character, and can facilitate social engagement between local and visitor, There are some planning issues which something often lacking in the urban need to be tackled when devising an arts trail. An arts trail will need a considerable tourism experience.

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Simon Curtis MTS | Senior Lecturer, University of Westminster

City of Culture

Boosting perceptions, partnerships, and visitors The assertion that ‘culture, like God and politics, is everywhere’ is probably more apt now than when it was first proclaimed by Gilbert Adair some 35 years ago. Culture is once again being feted as a catalyst for economic and social regeneration. And for boosting tourism. The UK has previously hosted the European Capital of Culture twice – in Glasgow 1990 and Liverpool 2008. And despite some early Brexit fears, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has confirmed the government’s intention to proceed with the competition to nominate a UK city to be awarded the title in 2023. Glasgow and Liverpool are frequently cited as the best examples of culture-led tourism focused predominantly on their use of a major cultural accolade as a platform for image change and a dramatic growth in tourism. Which is why cities including Leeds, Dundee, Milton Keynes, and possibly Nottingham and Truro are clamouring to become our next Capital of Culture. UK City of Culture grew out of Liverpool’s phenomenal 2008 success with the government creating a new quadrennial national cultural accolade. This year sees Hull, now recognised by Rough Guide as one of the best destinations to visit in the world, enjoying its time as only the second UK City of Culture. It’s even being showcased daily on the BBC weather map! Stoke-on-Trent has declared its intention to bid to become UK City of Culture in 2021. As have Coventry, Hereford, Paisley, Perth and Sunderland. Promoted as an opportunity to bring communities together, build local pride, change external perceptions, develop new partnerships, and attract tourists from across the UK and beyond, more cities are expected to join the competition before the registration deadline. The winning city will need to curate a high quality cultural programme that reaches a wide variety of audiences to deliver catalytic and lasting change. From a tourism perspective, there is a specific requirement to demonstrate how the city will build on

Paul Williams FTS | Seconded from Staffordshire University to lead Stoke-onTrent’s City of Culture Bid

The Aperitif by Wet Picnic, Appetite, Stoke-on-Trent 2016 is to a greater or lesser extent cultural. and strengthen its existing tourism offer Culture and the visitor economy have an and infrastructure, grow visitor numbers interdependent relationship. Visitors do and spend in the lead up to 2021, during not differentiate between cultural activities the ‘cultural party year’ and in subsequent and promotion by tourism bodies. Whilst years. For example, Hull is committed to Stoke-on-Trent has an established tourism attracting a million additional visits and a infrastructure, we also recognise that we £60 million boost to the economy during must bring the culture and tourism worlds this year alone. closer together. A successful Arts Council/ Stoke-on-Trent’s arts and cultural VisitEngland ‘Cultural Destination’ funding profile has been strengthened by its application has created a new consortium award-winning theatres and museums, of tourism and cultural organisations to contemporary arts events, and the work in partnership to grow the visitor outstanding Arts Council-funded Creative economy and support the city’s culture People and Places programme, Appetite. bid. Its industrial heritage is increasingly seen as a primary motivator for discerning cultural tourists visiting its ‘must-see’ pottery attractions, the British Ceramics Biennial and Literary Festival. A worldwide renown for ceramics gives it a global presence in a recognised art form. The city is also benefiting from increased cultural tourism from an unexpected source. BBC2’s The Great Pottery Throw Down has prompted a surge of interest in pottery tourism resulting in more purposeful and serendipitous cultural visitors to what some historically regarded as an unconventional destination. This heightened interest in cultural tourism reflects the fact that all tourism

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To ensure we learn from best practice, we have contracted consultants Blue Sail to help to develop a new culture-focused visitor economy strategy, and Blue Chip Tourism who are working closely with the bidding team to develop a 10-year culture strategy and what we hope will be an incredible City of Culture bid. A bid which recognises the authenticity of place and reeks of the cultural character and personality of Stoke-on-Trent. Culture, it seems, is the orthodoxy by which Stoke-on-Trent and many other cities hope to breathe new life into their communities, and simultaneously boost their visitor economies.

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Education Career Colleges – a new option for tourism students in Northumberland Our tourism businesses face a great many challenges, but one of the frustrations most often highlighted to me by industry partners is the difficulty in finding good, well-qualified staff.

This problem is especially acute in rural areas. A lack of good staff impacts every area of a tourism business, including quality of customer service and the ability of the company to expand. In a county like Northumberland, with almost 12% of the workforce involved in tourism (which constitutes our second largest industry after the public sector) the implications on our economic prosperity are profound. The problem has another, often unacknowledged side. Not only do we need to help businesses find the staff to ensure their success in an increasingly competitive industry, but we also need to consider how we can convince young people that tourism is a worthwhile career option for them, where they can learn valuable, transferable skills, get great job satisfaction and live and work in one of the most beautiful parts of the UK. Northumberland is lucky in that we have a local college – Northumberland College – that is committed to working with businesses to ensure that their students are obtaining the specific skills that companies really need. A business advisory group has been in place at the College for some time and has had great influence over the curriculum offered to tourism and hospitality students. There is also a great deal of effort given to providing meaningful work experience within tourism businesses of all sizes and types. Often however, by the time a career in the local tourism industry is suggested to students, they have already embarked down a different path, or worse, are interested in tourism only as a passport to a summer in the sun. In response to this, Northumberland College have recently launched the Northumberland Career College. The College will target 14 to 19 year olds and will provide young people with the opportunity to combine academic

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Lord Baker, Marcus Clinton (College Principal) and Jacqui Henderson (Chair of Governors) – with staff and pupils studies with high quality, practical learning within the tourism industry. Career Colleges are a national initiative conceived in 2013 by former Education Secretary Lord Baker, who attended the launch of the Northumberland Career College in October. He feels that one of the reasons for the skills shortages currently experienced in the UK was the demise of technical schools and a lack of vocational pathways for young people. He believes that high quality technical, practical and vocational training should be offered to students from age 14, to allow them to take practical steps towards a career. Again local tourism businesses, many of whom expect to benefit directly from this initiative, helped design and deliver the new curriculum, to ensure that students will develop skills that are wholly current and relevant to the world of work in tourism. The concept has support from some of the county’s major tourism organisations (such as Northumberland National Park and Kielder Water & Forest Park, which in 2015 was awarded Silver in the Tourism Event of the Year at the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence for their annual

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Winter Wonderland). Smaller businesses, which make up the great majority of the industry in Northumberland, are also fully behind the idea, led by St Cuthbert’s House – named best B&B in England in 2014. This new Career College joins a network around the country, specialising in a variety of industries. They provide a realistic alternative to traditional educational routes with the specialist vocational training underpinned with solid academic teaching in core subjects like maths and English, meaning that students also receive a wellrounded education. I sincerely hope that the College will help us to address the widening gap between students and their studies and the world of work that they are eventually propelled into. Studying at the new Northumberland Career College will not only allow young people to continue their academic studies whilst gaining real skills of value to a future employer, but it also gives the opportunity for them to thoroughly explore their chosen career path, determining early, through hands-on experience, if a career in hospitality and rural tourism is really one that they will enjoy and flourish in. Jude Leitch | Director, Northumberland Tourism

ATHE Award Winner: Leadership in the Visitor Economy The Destination Leaders Programme Delivering our growth ambitions will rely on industry-wide collaboration on a common agenda, with strong leadership at business, local and national level.” Tourism Scotland 2020 The Destination Leaders Programme (DLP; www.napier.ac.uk/dlp) is a partnership between the Tourism Subject Group at Edinburgh Napier University (ENU) and Scottish Enterprise (SE). The DLP advances the ambition for increased leadership and collaboration across the public and private sector as set out in Tourism 2020, the National Tourism Strategy for Scotland. It also advances key strategic objectives of Scottish Enterprise (SE) in meeting the Government’s Economic Strategy. Inspired by a successful model delivered in Australia (the Melbourne Tourism Industry Leadership Program) and initially developed in 2013 as a two-year pilot as the UK’s first tourism industry focused Destination Leaders Programme, this innovative 6-month programme has been designed specifically to enhance leadership capabilities within destinations in order to realise real growth in the visitor economy. In 2015 ENU secured a further three-year contract from SE. From the outset Scottish Enterprise and the DLP participants were drawn to the value of delivery of the programme by Edinburgh Napier University, with its reputation for tourism and events research and teaching. The programme is delivered by the Tourism and Languages subject group working alongside industry associates and experts, Visiting Professors and ENU alumni. In 2015/16 the Programme ran with a mixed cohort from Edinburgh and Glasgow, and in 2016/17 is being delivered in Aberdeen and Tayside due to an increasing focus on tourism after the decline of the oil industry. The programme runs from October to April, ensuring the delivery is outside delegates’ busier key tourism season. DLP consists of 4 one-day workshops, three residential weekends (including a learning journey to a key European

Dr Jane Ali-Knight MTS and Kenneth Wardrop FTS | Programme Leaders, Edinburgh Napier University

Successful third cohort of DLP graduates and Gothenburg, as well as presentations tourism destination), and an assessed from eminent Tourism Academics from leadership project. The delivery is highly Hong Kong, Australia and the United practical with content covering subjects States. including destination development principles; influencing policy agendas, social An Executive Certificate in Destination justice, equality and sustainability; the digital Leadership is awarded from Edinburgh economy; the customer journey; product Napier University to delegates upon innovation and marketing, all set in the successful completion of the DLP. context of developing a new wave of Subsequently, the participants become professionals who will have the strategic DLP Alumni continuing their learning skills to lead better within their businesses journey through regular events, sharing and, vitally, at a destination level. Now in information and providing a strong support its fourth year, the programme is attracting network. The programme has delivered participants from visitor experiences such a number of sustainable outcomes, with as tour and transport operators, visitor the development and uptake into industry attractions, public sector organisations, policy and practice of strategic and festival, events and accommodation commercial projects that were proposed providers. and investigated as part of the assessed project work: The DLP is a ground-breaking first recognising the need for increased n Argyll & Isles Tourism Co-operative leadership and collaboration in the Scottish area – ‘The Tourism Collaboration Toolkit’ Tourism Sector. Key features of the model and the ‘DMO transformational leadership are the knowledge transfer between e-toolkit’ (supported by Highlands and Higher Education and industry, the use Islands Enterprise); of current research to inform it and its n Edinburgh ‘China Ready’ and ‘Our contribution to sector skills development Edinburgh’ (supported by Edinburgh delivering on the ‘Skills Investment Plan Tourism Action Group); for Scotland’s Tourism Industry’ action: n ‘Women in Tourism’ network set up to ‘Improving Management Leadership and inspire, motivate and support women in Enterprise in the Sector’. leadership in the tourism sector. A defining aspect of the DLP is learning The strength of the emerging DLP alumni from global best practice which, in as ‘strategic destination leaders’ coupled addition to the ‘learning journeys’ for a with case study evidence recording significant destination such as Manchester, informal product innovation based on new Amsterdam and Copenhagen, has been collaborations amongst DLP participants realised through the inclusion of senior highlights the strong leadership impact of industry guest speakers such as the CEO the programme. of the Vienna Tourist Board, Head of Marketing from Amsterdam Marketing, and The Tourism Society is proud to sponsor the former CEOs from Destination Melbourne ATHE ‘Making the Case for Tourism’ Awards.

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ATHE Award Winner: Leadership in the Visitor Economy The Co-Lead Tourism Erasmus+ Project Launched in February 2016, Co-operation for Leadership in Tourism (Co-Lead Tourism) is a two-year European project, co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission, partnering the University of Malta, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Jlag Tourism Consultancy and the Bulgarian Economic Forum. Co-Lead Tourism is developing the groundbreaking Project Management for Sustainable Development (PM4SD™) methodology using capacity building training tools to increase Vocational Education and Training (VET) standards in Tourism Project Management. By training and empowering tourism professionals, civil servants and trainers with key management skills and expertise to design and deliver transformative sustainable projects, the key actions of the project include: n An up to date revision of the PM4SD™ handbook n Development of 10 new case studies demonstrating the application of PM4SD™ n Academic accreditation for PM4SD™ knowledge and application via work-based learning assessment n A New Online Platform to host training resources and online discussion forums n Pilot training to test online platform and new learning materials. Endorsed by the European Commission, PM4SD™ is a project management methodology delivered to countries worldwide for the last four years to support the implementation of sustainable tourism principles and indicators that can assist destinations, public authorities, international third sector organisations and private sector enterprises in their project management strategies, plans and actions for sustainable growth and development. The PM4SD™ methodology ensures the success of sustainable tourism development initiatives and projects in a wide variety of sectors and contexts of tourism development including construction, education, infrastructure, product and service development and organisational change. The underpinning policies which support the Co-Lead Tourism Project are the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and three priorities of the Europe Union Growth Strategy 2020: 1. To assist the transition to smart growth through a tourism economy underpinned with enhanced knowledge and innovation 2. To support growth through efficient management of European tourism destinations 3. To provide inclusive growth as a result of job creation and successful management in tourism destinations. PM4SD™ builds upon elements of PRINCE2® and is tailored to specific project environments with a focus on business justification aligned with the application of sustainability principles through the necessary organisation structure for the project management team to ensure sustainable project outcomes and

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bring environmental, social or economic change as a result of the project. This is achieved via a product-based planning approach, manageable and controllable stages and development of a multistakeholder approach including the end users and suppliers to the project. Benefits arising from the application of PM4SD™ include an improvement in destination management; more efficient spending of public funds; professional orientation and synergy in sustainable tourism; career development opportunities in tourism and facilitation of public-private partnerships. A core element of the project is the development of a new online training platform by Cardiff Metropolitan University. This will enable other educational and training institutions in the UK and Europe to adopt similar online formats to deliver PM4SD™ training. The online training platform will ensure the provision of online course materials, case studies and online learning opportunities to support the PM4SD™ Foundation and Practitioner training content. This will assist the trainer and participants with extended learning opportunities to compliment face-to-face delivery via universal virtual learning environment technology. This allows specific PM4SD™ course content to be integrated with online learning via tests, quizzes, online lessons, resource files, web links, videos, photos, assessments and feedback facilities. During the project there will be opportunities for local and regional organisations or companies to join the following activities: n PM4SD™ Foundation and Practitioner Training in Cardiff (June 12th –16th) n If you are working for an organisation which has run a sustainable tourism project that could be developed as a case study to explain potential applications of PM4SD™ principles or if you are interested in participating in the Cardiff Foundation and Practitioner training, please contact us using the following email addresses: Dr. Sheena Carlisle MTS (Cardiff Metropolitan University) scarlisle@cardiffmet.ac.uk or Silvia Barbone MTS (Jlag) silvia@jlageurope.com. For more information and background to PM4SD™, please visit the website www.jlageurope.com. The Tourism Society is proud to sponsor the ‘ATHE Making the Case for Tourism’ Awards.

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Dr. Sheena Carlisle MTS | Senior lecturer, Dept of Tourism, Hospitality and Events, Cardiff Metropolitan University

Transport

On the right track: how the West End is gearing up for the Elizabeth line This February marked one year since the Queen, aptly adorned in purple, visited Bond Street station in the heart of the West End and announced that Crossrail will be known as the Elizabeth line when it opens from December 2018.

And businesses are not exempt from this ‘journey’. Along the 40 stops linking London and the South East, there is much evidence of preparation for the opening of the Elizabeth line. In the West End, for example, we are pushing for innovation and investment in the district to capitalise on the colossal opportunity that the new railway brings to our streets. So colossal in fact that the new line is predicted to transport around 200 million passengers each year, with the West End retail district alone set to garner an extra 60 million visits annually. That translates into 30% more visitors, with an extra £1.5 billion in spend a year. Retail sales will be boosted annually to £10billion for the first time – an average of £27million each day. Couple this with the fact Crossrail provides central London with a muchimproved link to Heathrow Airport, and the West End’s reputation amongst locals and tourists alike is set only to soar. Inbound visitors to the UK, for example, will be able to reach Bond Street in just 30 minutes. Gross development value in the West End is also predicted to increase by at least £2.5billion with the Elizabeth line’s arrival. To cater for these increased visitor numbers, over 2.5 million square feet of brand new commercial space are currently being developed across the district. On a local level Selfridges & Co. is investing £300million in its iconic destination store, just in time for 2018. This, along with the redevelopment on

Jace Tyrrell MTS | Chief Executive, New West End Company

The line itself has already been on quite a journey, from the discovery of Victorian jam jars during excavations early in 2009 to the new trains being put through their paces in extreme weather testing in Austria this winter.

New development above Tottenham Court Road station In conjunction with Cross River Bond Street – both the construction Partnership, the project has already seen surrounding the new Crossrail station and daily waste vehicles on neighbouring Bond the plans to overhaul the luxury shopping Street reduced by 94% (from 144 to 9) as district – show the West End is clearly a result of a consolidation project. investing in Crossrail’s potential to bring a new era to the area. Sadiq Khan himself also recently highlighted However, flagship retailers are not the only that the Elizabeth line will allow people to reach certain parts of the West ones gearing up for the change. Oxford End without the need for diesel buses, Circus Tube is predicted to have a 20% encouraging a reduction in traffic on reduction in passengers, with footfall Oxford Street in particular. This will help redistributed across the length of Oxford Street. This means smaller retailers, located the area cope with increased footfall, and also pave the way for improving air quality on the neighbouring streets, also need at a time when more people than ever will to consider development. With 41% of be flocking to the West End. people admitting less crowding would encourage them to visit the West End The fast approaching arrival of the more, more people are expected to Elizabeth line means that even though flock to the area, welcoming the changes preparation is underway, there is more that the new line brings.1 The next step that can be done to make its arrival as will be for affected businesses to make smooth and successful as possible and appropriate investments and changes to allow London to capitalise on a once in a cater for increases in footfall. generation opportunity. Just as critical as the in-store experience is ensuring our streets are safe, clean and congestion-free.

The Mayor of London announced plans to invest £2.5m into tackling air pollution, an initiative which works in tandem with our own Air Quality Strategy launched in April last year.

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1. From a survey commissioned by New West End Company and Harper Dennis Hobbs using a sample of 3,000 people in August 2015 – 2,002 from a survey conducted in the West End and 998 in a supplementary survey in key surrounding centres (Ealing, Woolwich, Brentwood and Maidenhead).

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Tourism Ambassadors The face of community tourism in South Wales

Credit jonah95 – fotolia.com

Across South Wales there has been a growth in Tourism Ambassador programmes, initiatives which have introduced a new breed of volunteers to community tourism. These are people who are passionate about the place where they live and work, willing to give time to share local knowledge and help make the visitor experience a memorable one. Early Tourism Ambassador programmes in New York provided inspiration and in 2008 the first British one was launched in Kent with the establishment of a ‘Meet and Greet Scheme’. A year later, the first programme to be launched in Wales was in the Brecon Beacons National Park, followed by similar schemes introduced in the South Wales Valleys through the Valleys Regional Park Initiative. From these beginnings Tourism Ambassador programmes have captured the imagination of local communities throughout the South Wales Region. From Monmouthshire in the Welsh Borders, to Vale of Glamorgan, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, local people have been recruited and trained to deliver Tourism Ambassador services. In January this year, Bridgend became the latest destination to announce the establishment of Tourism Ambassadors. The rise in consumer use of social media and web-based information, which has led to reduced visitor dependency on Tourist Information Centres (TICs) for assistance before and during their stay, together with a need to respond to the challenges created by reduced funding and smaller public expenditure budgets, created a need to develop new funding models for TICs. Across South Wales, local authorities have examined how to adapt profitable Tourist Information Centres to continue offering visitor services. Approaches have included introducing business-based TICs, closing information centres or transferring responsibility for funding and management to public sector-community partnerships, and allowing local authorities to continue

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Aberthaw, Vale of Glamorgan influencing tourism objectives through less direct involvement in funding and management roles. Tourism Ambassador programmes were a new model of information and visitor service delivery to emerge. Destinations perceived that Ambassadors could contribute benefits to the visitor economy – they could encourage more visits, longer stays, greater expenditure, and enhance the visitor experience through supporting local businesses and active engagement with visitors once they have arrived in the destination. Overall, they would be enhancing rather than replacing services that TICs have provided over the years. Destinations benefited from funds available through the European Regional Development Fund and the European Agricultural Fund, as well as funding opportunities created by Welsh Government. Applications were often being made as part of wider community development projects, such as the Collabor8 Project that contributed to the evolution of a Tourism Ambassador programme and aided wider tourism development in the Brecon Beacons National Park. Tourism Ambassadors are equipped to perform their role through a training programme and continuous personal development opportunities such as ‘Welcome Host’ and ‘Sense of Place’. These help to build skills in customer service and local knowledge in practical and informative ways. Inspiration, motivation and opportunities to engage

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with visitors are encouraged by local coordinators. Personal development opportunities have been instrumental in helping people in the community, new to tourism, to benefit from their induction as a Tourism Ambassador. The role is a voluntary one and individuals are free to develop and manage it as they choose. Overall, the skills and knowledge learnt or enhanced are put to beneficial use in gaining practical experience within the local visitor economy. Some Ambassadors use their new accreditation in an existing tourism business, while others engage with visitors through the manning of Tourism Information Points at local events and attractions. The variety of roles developed by Ambassadors ranges from walking festival leaders and providing services at food and drink festivals, to welcoming visitors at local churches, or interpreting history and cultural experiences at local attractions. Some have been inspired to lead roles in local tourism initiatives, such as dog-friendly tourism in Vale of Glamorgan, and take up opportunities to create new tourism business activities. The rewards that come from being a Tourism Ambassador are both personal and professional. Visitors and the local visitor economy benefit, and the programmes provide a ‘sense of purpose’ through which people living and working in the community can have a positive engagement with tourism and its ongoing development. Ian Thomas MTS | Vale of Glamorgan Tourism Ambassador & Wales Tour Guide

30 Under 30

Nurturing talent in tourism

30 Under 30 class of 2016/17 A 2016 People1st study found staff retention problems cost the Tourism and Hospitality industry £270m per year. Yet the industry employs three times as many people under 24 than the economy as a whole, even though the potential talent pool of young workers is decreasing. It could be argued that our industry is training the leaders of tomorrow for other sectors. With this in mind, it is no surprise that projects such as Travel Trade Gazette’s 30 Under 30 – Tomorrow’s Travel Leaders programme, which actively nurtures talent and highlights the achievements of rising stars within the industry, attracts a lot of attention from across the sector. Luckily for me I was delighted when I was selected to be a part of the 30 Under 30 class of 2016/17, which my business partner nominated me for. I will be forever grateful for the nomination. Not just because of the accolade and PR boost that comes with being one of TTG’s elite 30 (as I already mentioned, the programme gets a lot of attention and over 130 applications each year) but because of the learning opportunities it has presented me with over the past months. I’ve had the chance to meet 29 other twenty-somethings from different facets of our vibrant industry; from entrepreneurs to outstanding publicists to stand-out sales people and

John Bridge MTS | Director, TravelBeat Ltd

many more, each one has a different take on the industry and something to share, which I feel can only increase our passion for tourism and ensure each of us goes forward into the industry just that little bit more rounded and more knowledgeable. One of the brains behind the 30 Under 30 programme is Daniel Pearce, Managing Director of TTG Media. He recounts: “The 30 Under 30 came about as a result of my own experiences when I joined TTG, as editor, in 2010. Going to industry networking events and conferences for the first time, I found the travel industry was quite ‘cliquey’, with the same senior people attending many of the same events while the younger people were often back in the office! “I wanted to create a new networking platform that not only identified and celebrated the best young people in the industry, but enabled them to hear from industry leaders and learn from each other at regular events of their own. Thus the 30 Under 30 was born in 2012.” Daniel hopes that participants continue to develop and work together even after the year-long programme is up. He told me: “Above all, a new network of relationships is forged among their fellow young travel industry stars that will benefit them throughout their career in travel, over a year or a lifetime. I hope the leadership stories and career advice they

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hear from our speakers have also proven to be a significant benefit for the group.” I was recently at the second 30 Under 30 dinner at which EasyJet COO Chris Browne gave an impassioned speech recounting her trials and tribulations in the industry. Not only was she the most inspiring and entertaining speaker I’ve had the pleasure of listening to at a tourism dinner in many years but she also left us with a number of lessons that I’ll keep with me. “Always keep learning, don’t be afraid to be an early adopter and be ready to admit when your job is done and it’s time for the next challenge”, she said. With the statistic in the opening paragraph in mind, hopefully the challenge that comes next for us will be within Tourism! “Every year we are seeing more and more people applying or being nominated” Daniel tells me. “We don’t just want people who are great at their job, we want people who have shown signs that they could be a real travel industry leader of the future. That’s often through a commitment to ‘doing things differently’, and through doing things that go far beyond their job role.” TTG Media will be recruiting for the TTG 30 Under 30 2017/18 this summer. Nominate yourself or get yourself nominated! I promise you that you won’t regret it for a second.

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A day in the life ... Andy Steven MTS, Head of Brand Strategy and Innovation, Promote Shetland In his role as Head of Brand Strategy and Innovation, Andy Steven manages a team responsible for ‘bringing Shetland to the world and bringing the world to Shetland’. Here is how a typical day might pan out. 6:30 Woken up by my iPhone to the streaming sounds of Australia’s ABC Triple J Rock Radio Station – I’ve listened to this station for as long as I can remember since I was in the Merchant Navy. 07:00 It’s winter, so yes, in Shetland it’s still dark! A black coffee-only breakfast while I start going through our suite of webcams. Reading the overnight comments it looks like an issue with our Cliff Cam 3 at Sumburgh Head, and the technical data confirms that. Looks like there’s been a splendid display of the Northern Lights. 08:00

08:30

The curse of email! A daily reminder that the deeply satisfying, creative aspects of my role can so easily be knocked askew by politics, people and problems. So I like to get as much of that as I can out of the way before I leave the house. 09:30 Arrive in the office on the third floor of the award-winning harbourfront building which houses Shetland Museum and Archives. We’re looking over a snowcovered Hay’s Dock, which is truly a lovely place to be based. 10:00 Meeting with local video journalist Liz Musser at the seaside Fjara Café, to discuss the camera crew for this year’s live Up Helly Aa webcast. She’s all over it with lots of new recruits from the video production course she runs for the local college. 11:00

Catch-up with the local radio station, SIBC, to find out if anything newsworthy has happened, and then a look around Promote Shetland’s social media channels.

Off to see my boss, Jimmy, as he’s heading up a major international Viking project and is hosting an event this month ahead of Up Helly Aa. We work on the presentation I am giving to the delegates.

There’s a lovely video shared by BBC Scotland News about two humpback whales filmed underwater by local wildlife guide Richard Shucksmith.

Time to head to our media suite and studios at our new Market Street creative hub. I have a conference call with Caleb at

12:00

the company JW Player in New York to discuss why our media streaming statistics have exceeded our licence... there are too many people watching! Quite simply, it’s because of the level of aurora activity and people consequently clicking on our webcam feeds, after an article in the Sky at Night magazine about Shetland being the best place to watch the Northern Lights from your desktop. 13:00 Skipping lunch today as it’s across to Lerwick Town Hall to meet some colleagues with Iain, my technical guru. It’s a key site for our Up Helly Aa webcast but the building is being refurbished this year, so we need another plan of action. 14:00 Back to our media suite and a FaceTime call with Promote Shetland staff Misa and Victoria who I catch as they’re heading to the New York subway. They are promoting Shetland Wool Week alongside our textiles industry at the annual Vogue Knitting Live event in the Big Apple and all is looking good. 15:00 It’s almost dark again. First team briefing of the entire Up Helly Aa 2017 Live project team at 4 Market Street Studio Two. Excited to have Rory there, who will operate aerial drone cameras during the procession – a first for us. 17:00 Iain remains behind for a tech meeting. It’s always a challenging end to the week as I come with a pile of technical issues and he sets about fixing them. Done! 19:00 I drive to Sumburgh Head, park and take a walk up to the lighthouse. There’s a full moon and clear skies so no need for a torch. No aurora yet, but the sound of waves from the swell after the latest storm is relaxing. I set about cleaning the cameras to make sure there is one thing less to read about in the webcam forum, in, oh, about 12 hours from now...

Checking the webcams

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Issue 167 Spring 2017

Prospects 2017

UK inbound growth but no VAT deal

Credit: Gilead Limor Photography

At the Society’s Prospects event in January delegates gathered at The Crown Estate offices to hear from a panel of distinguished speakers representing different tourism sectors: Denise Bridges MTS, managing director of Albatross Travel, and chair of the Coach Tourism Association; Richard Nicholls, head of research and forecasting with VisitBritain; Kurt Janson MTS, director of Tourism Alliance; and Derek Moore, chairman of AITO. The panel was chaired by Noel Josephides FTS, chairman of ABTA. The discussion covered a wide range of topics that will impact on inbound and outbound travel including exchange rates, VAT, the importance of green credentials, ageing demographics, refreshed products, and the Foreign Office. Richard Nicholls from VisitBritain presented key tourism statistics, looking at recent trends and turning his gaze on the year ahead. He reported that inbound visits to the UK were predicted to rise this year by 4% and spending by 8% (helped by increased buying power as exchange rates favour visitors to the UK from overseas). This would generate up to 150,000 new tourism jobs, but there was concern about where the workforce would be found, with continuing uncertainty surrounding the movement of workers and Britain’s relationship with the EU. All the panellists agreed that tourism and travel remained good sectors to work in. In addition to the more obvious opportunities for product and marketing roles it was highlighted that there’s also a need for accountants, designers and other skills. With changes ahead in how the UK works with the rest of the world, there are good opportunities for entrepreneurs and start-ups. Delegates were told that the growth in the ‘sharing economy’, notably Airbnb, was starting to have an effect on traditional hotel occupancy rates in major cities. Denise Bridges said that growth in the domestic market is likely to push up hotel rates, a move that could generate a negative impact on the traditional coach

Stuart Render MTS | Proprietor, Stuart Render Tourism

The Prospects panel (l-to-r Moore, Bridges, Josephides, Janson and Nicholls) the government was now more concerned tourism demographic. Growing the appeal about its balance of payments. With a of coach-based itineraries to a younger weaker pound and record visitor numbers market was an area of work that Bridges in 2015 and 2016 it was harder to present said was high on the list of priorities for a strong case for a reduction in VAT, so the sector, but overall delegates were any movement looked unlikely. reminded that older customers will be a key market across all sectors – they have The panel discussion included recent the time to take holidays and money to news stories about the possibility of a spend. new tourism tax being trialled in tourist hotspots. The point was made that Caution is needed on both sides, though. while local authorities see this as an easy While they may feel young at heart these way of raising much-needed revenue, in clients will need to be realistic about what reality it can dissuade people from staying they can achieve and operators will have overnight, so reducing the overall spend at to offer itineraries and facilities that reflect a destination. this. Refreshed itineraries, including more experiential and unusual elements, will also Delegates were also reminded that be more in evidence as customers choose operating into continental Europe postto do more than just visit a destination. Brexit will still require us to conform to European regulations. Derek Moore told delegates that, in general, people are expecting to pay more Gregory Yeoman, Executive Director for their holidays, but are expecting a high at the Tourism Society, said: “With so quality in return. He was optimistic about much political activity on the horizon, the the year ahead, saying his members at speakers this year had a tough job giving AITO can respond quickly to changes and confident and unqualified predictions. adjustments in the market – he compared “The level of debate has been excellent them to speedboats, rather than oil as always, though, and delegates left with tankers. plenty of great insights into what will Kurt Janson said that on VAT, while the industry would still like to see a reduction,

Issue 167 Spring 2017

influence their businesses in the months ahead.”

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Tourism Consultants Network TCN members in demand around the world

Falkland Islands – a niche market 2016 has seen members of the Tourism Consultants Network taking their skills across the world. TCN is the largest tourism consultant trade association in Europe, and our members work throughout the UK and in some of the most remote parts of the globe. In 2016, members undertook projects in locations stretching from Cheshire to the Falkland Islands, Herne Bay to Iceland, and Gloucestershire to Saudi Arabia. No consultancy project can be more challenging in terms of distance and accessibility than the Falkland Islands, where Acorn Tourism Consulting were commissioned to prepare a tourism development strategy. The Islands attract niche markets, cruises being a growth segment, as tourism becomes increasingly important for the local economy. Kevin Millington focused on increasing the length of the season through developing special interests including hiking, fishing and diving. Rural visitors were the focus for Alison Caffyn’s ‘Canal Welcome’ Project for the Canal and River Trust, in Audlem, a popular canal-side village in Cheshire Andrew Keeling of Hotel Solutions was busy with several hotel projects in 2016, including one in Herne Bay. It focused on a budget hotel and quality pub locations as part of a regeneration plan.

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Silvia Barbone and Tom Buncle took themselves to Akureyri in northern Iceland to present a ‘sustainable tourism’ Summer School. It was also a chance to see Iceland’s amazing natural attractions, including Europe’s largest waterfall and geothermal pools, and enjoy some whale watching. In Gloucestershire, Philip Cooke has been working on a feasibility study for a network of multi-user tracks for a ‘Greenway’ for walkers, cyclists, also horse riders and carriage drivers, in the Standish area west of Stroud. Robert Travers and John Robinson overcame visa glitches to represent TCN as speakers at the Saudi Travel and Tourism Investment Market in Riyadh in April, where Asia-Pacific participants were present for the first time, making this a more global event. Other 2016 TCN consultancy projects notified included: n Adrian Barsby – North Wales n Robert Brown – Laos n Sean Owens – Croatia n Tom Buncle – Jordan, China n Benjamin Carey – Jerusalem n Martin Evans – Burton-upon-Trent n Roger Goodacre – Moldova, Cyprus, Nigeria

Issue 167 Spring 2017

In Moldova

Another event-full year...

TCN again organised a variety of successful events in 2016. In February, Chris Browne OBE, the first woman Chief Operating Officer of a UK airline (TUI), recently appointed COO of Easyjet, was presented with the Society’s Honorary Fellowship at a TCN lunch in St James’s. On Sept 15, twin events were staged, first an enjoyable lunch at the Royal Kensington Hotel where Christopher Rodrigues CBE, Chairman of VisitBritain, received an Hon. Fellowship, followed by an instructive social media seminar held at the Royal Geographical Society. The year ended with another successful TCN discussion-meeting at WTM, in partnership with UNWTO, on the theme of ‘How can emerging destinations better compete?’. 5 editions of our invaluable online TCN News were also circulated in the year. Roger Goodacre FTS | Chairman, Tourism Consultants Network

Tourism Symposium June 5th and 6th Edinburgh

Heritage and Innovation: the future of Tourism

Since its inception in 2014 as the opening event at the International Festival for Business in Liverpool, the Tourism Symposium has established itself as the leading cross-sectoral conference addressing topical themes in tourism. One of its defining characteristics is the inclusion of speakers from related sectors such as arts and culture, which helps provide a very broad catchment area for delegates and topics. Overall the Symposium emphasises the synergies and connectivity between different sectors and shows the importance of dialogue. The Tourism Symposium has previously been held in Liverpool,

Canterbury and Birmingham. This year it will move to Edinburgh, Scotland’s vibrant capital, inscribed as UNESCO’s first City of Literature and home to two World Heritage Sites (Old & New Town of Edinburgh, The Forth Bridge). Over the two days of Monday 5th and Tuesday 6th June, delegates will have the opportunity to take part in one of four fascinating discovery tours of some of Scotland’s key heritage sites before enjoying an informal networking supper followed by a full day of debate, discussion sessions and presentations looking at the theme of ‘Heritage and Innovation: the future of Tourism’.

Symposium partners

Issue 167 Spring 2017

journal@tourismsociety.org

Day 1 – Discovery Tours

Both members of UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network, Edinburgh (literature) and Glasgow (music) have justifiable reputations as centres of art, science, creativity, architecture, commerce and, of course, tourism, and over a few hours on professionally led tours delegates can explore and discover their fine heritage. The choices are:

Princes Street Gardens

3. Edinburgh’s New Town Explore the architectural and city-planning 1. Edinburgh Festivals walking masterpiece of Edinburgh’s ‘New Town’, tour developed between 1767 and 1850. Princes Journey through the capital’s New Town Street, which has become the city’s main and Old Town on foot, taking in many of street, looks across Princes Street Gardens (previously the Nor Loch, drained in the the key year-round festival sites and venues 18th and 19th century) up to Edinburgh of Edinburgh’s major festivals. This year the Edinburgh International Festival celebrates its Castle, which is Scotland’s top visitor attraction. 70th Anniversary.

Scottish Parliament building

George Square, Glasgow

2. A window on the west To Glasgow by train (sponsored by Abellio ScotRail) to discover the city’s distinctive architectural and musical heritage, rounded off with a bus tour of key sights.

Pleasance Courtyard during Edinburgh Fringe

4. Scotland: past and present Start at the National Museum of Scotland, where you can see ‘Dolly the Sheep’ (cloned in 1997, the same year that Harry Potter was born), and journey through the history of Scotland, its links with the world and a look at life today then walk down the historic Royal Mile at the heart of the ‘Old Town’ to visit the Scottish Parliament for a guided tour.

Networking reception In the evening delegates will gather at The Caves, a series of 18th-Century vaults that have a ribald history including being the site of a tavern visited by Rabbie Burns, David Hume, Adam Smith and Deacon Brodie – famous figures in the Scottish Enlightenment. James Watt and Benjamin Franklin also stopped by. Fine local refreshments will be available with plenty of opportunity for networking and recalling the Tourism Society’s last annual conference held in Scotland in 2007.

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Issue 167 Spring 2017

Day 2 – Conference Programme

The theme this year is ‘Heritage and Innovation: the future of tourism’. Speakers will cover a range of topics in panel discussions, presentations and short inspiring TEDx style ‘QuickChats’, examining different aspects of building

Our keynote speaker Ty Speer is President and CEO of Tourism Vancouver, a position he has held since 2014. Before that, he was deputy CEO of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and also had a key role with the Organising Committee of the London Olympics in 2012. Vancouver and Edinburgh are twin cities, a relationship established 40 years ago. Ty will bring a fascinating international perspective to the Symposium, backed up by his experiences in Scotland, Canada and Australia. The Venue In Scotland’s ‘Year of History, Heritage & Archaeology’, our conference sessions will take place in The Hub on Castlehill. The historic category A listed building forms an integral part of the architectural fabric of Edinburgh with the Hub’s spire the highest point in central Edinburgh.

on the past and looking to the future. These include: n Future Destination Leaders: investing in future talent n Cities as Gateways for Rural Exploration n Living Laboratories – What can festivals and event trends

tell us about the future of tourism? n The Power of Innovation and Collaboration n Successful and creative new models for funding DMO activity n Tourism and Culture: the past and the future

Taleb Rifai

Hayley Beer-Gamage FTS

Julia Amour

Sorcha Carey

David Allen

Iain Stewart MTS

Benjamin Carey FTS

Sandra MatthewsMarsh MBE FTS

Confirmed speakers Our list of speakers during the conference is drawn from a variety of disciplines within tourism: n The Rt Hon The Viscount Thurso PC FTS, President, The Tourism Society and Chairman, VisitScotland n Hayley Beer-Gamage FTS, Chairman, The Tourism Society n Dr Taleb Rifai, SecretaryGeneral, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) n Fiona Hyslop MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs n David Allen, Director of

Built between 1842 and 1845, the building was never consecrated as a Church. From 1929 it became a temporary home for a variety of congregations, was named the Highland Tolbooth St John’s Church in 1956, and fell into disuse in the 1980s. In 1999, the building was transformed into The Hub, the offices and

Issue 167 Spring 2017

Scotland, People 1st n Sandra Matthews-Marsh MBE FTS, Chief Executive, Visit Kent n Helen Campbell, Head of Global Marketing, VisitScotland n Julia Amour, Director, Festivals Edinburgh n Iain Stewart MTS, Director, freetobook n Benjamin Carey FTS, Managing Consultant, Carey Tourism n Professor Brian Hay FTS, Heriot-Watt University n Sorcha Carey, Director, Edinburgh Art Festival n Dr Roger Carter MBE FTS, Director, TEAM Tourism Consulting

a performance space for the Edinburgh International Festival. The building is a truly unique and spectacular space for a variety of events, and with its combination of contemporary design and classic Victorian architecture is a perfect setting for us to consider ‘Heritage and Innovation: the future of tourism’.

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Booking information

Tickets are available through the Tourism Society website http://bit.ly/2dVO2Wi n Tourism Society member £159 n Non-Member £199 n Tourism Society Student member (Tuesday ticket only) £45 n Non-member Student (Tuesday ticket only) £75 n Guest rate (Monday only – study tour and reception) £40

Prices for two-day tickets include study tours and evening reception on the Monday and the full-day conference on the Tuesday including refreshments. Travel and accommodation are not included. Travel ScotRail have kindly agreed to offer free travel on their network to Symposium delegates – please contact the Tourism Society office for more details. Accommodation Convention Edinburgh has set up a dedicated website offering special rates at seven centrally located hotels ranging from three- to five-star. For full details go to http://bit.ly/2jBknWN.

1977 – 2017: The Tourism Society at 40

As well as the 70th anniversary of the Edinburgh International Festival, 2017 marks the Centenary of the Russian Revolution, the 25th Anniversary of the Signing of the Maastricht Treaty and the 50th anniversary of the release of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It is also the 40th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley… and marks the birth of The Tourism Society, first conceived in Scotland in 1977. The Tourism Society has always existed to reflect and support the many different facets of our global tourism industry. For forty years our meetings and publications have provided opportunities for everyone working in tourism. From CEOs to students,

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our members continue to contribute to our development and to the everchanging world of travel and tourism. The need for our Tourism Society remains as strong as ever. As we discuss our hopes and ambitions for the next 40 years, we are determined to continually review our activities and our appeal so that we remain relevant and of

Issue 167 Spring 2017

indispensable service to all our many members. During 2017 our key events will be our annual dinner, Tourism Symposium and 40th anniversary party. We hope you will be able to join us at one or all of these and we look forward to welcoming you. Visit our website www. tourismsociety.org for full details.

Membership News Congratulations to Kenneth Wardrop on his upgrade to Fellow of the Tourism Society. Welcome to the following new Group Members: Nathan Zhang MTS, Prof Levent Altinay MTS, Dr Kate Tomlinson MTS – Oxford Brookes University; Dr Andrew Hares MTS, Hayley Stainton MTS – Buckinghamshire New University; Lucy Bell MTS, Emily Ferrary MTS, Emily King MTS – New West End Company. Welcome to the following new Society

Members: Dr Jane AliKnight MTS, Edinburgh Napier University; Luis Barreira MTS, The Tourism Society; Miriam Bonner MTS, Canterbury City Council; Claudio Giambrone MTS, South Bank London; Helen Hayes MTS, Helpful Holidays; Christy Hehir, University of Surrey; Sarah Johnson MTS TCN, Lotus UK; Seth Kirby, Anglia Ruskin University; Tony Lincoln MTS, Planet Hollywood; Laura Male MTS, IHG Crowne Plaza; Chioma Obi, Greenwich School of Management; Ron Peck MTS, Port of Seattle; Caroline Prichard; Christopher Rodrigues

Events Calendar

March 13th – TCN conference – Destination Management: new approaches for new challenges, Cardiff

22nd – Innovation in Tourism – Tourism Society Scotland with Scottish Tourism Alliance, Edinburgh 29th – Annual Dinner, House of Lords, London 30th – Fellows’ Day, Greenwich and the Thames, London June 5th & 6th – Tourism Symposium, Edinburgh July 5th – EU Referendum and Brexit – one year on; seminar with TravelGBI, London September 18th – Tourism Society 40th anniversary party, London

November 8th – seminar at World Travel Market

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

Annual Dinner 2017

22nd – Tourism Question Time at BTTS, Birmingham

October Media Masterclass – date tbc

CBE FTS, VisitBritain; Glyn Slade MTS, RDGS (RATP Dev Global sightseeing) Limited; Simon John Smith MTS TCN, Dancing Bear Enterprises Ltd; Erkan Tilki MTS, Fox Holidays; Penka Uzunova, Park Plaza Riverbank; Emmanouil Vougioukas MTS TCN, EuroTrans Consulting; Rob Way MTS, Morris UK Ltd; Sophia White MTS, The Tourism Society; Julia White MTS, The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead.

Wednesday 29th March 2017 7.00pm – 10.30pm House of Lords, London

With guest speaker Nicolas Petrovic, CEO Eurostar International This is always an interesting and entertaining evening, and is a great opportunity to catch up with friends and colleagues. Tourism Society President Lord Thurso FTS will be our host. As well as recounting a story or two he will present the Tourism Society Award, which goes to an individual or organisation that has made a significant contribution to the development of UK tourism. To book, contact Sophia White on 0203 696 8330 or reserve your place directly through the website at http://ow.ly/up08308XWvy.

Issue 167 Spring 2017

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Corporate Member

Come and meet us at the British Tourism and Travel Show On March 22nd and 23rd we will be exhibiting at the show and will also be organising one of the sessions on the main stage: March 22nd – Tourism Question Time (2.15pm – 3pm). Key industry figures from the UK and Ireland will take your questions, and this is your opportunity to find out what the national plans for tourism are. Chaired by Bernard Donoghue FTS, Director of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions. The British Tourism and Travel Show is free to attend – as is the seminar – and will be in Hall 8 at the NEC Birmingham. For full details and to register for your visitor badge, go to www.tourismshow.co.uk

Corporate Member

The Tourism Society is on stand A27 next to the keynote seminar theatre.

Corporate Member