April 2008 Archives
Karen Roebuck, Head of Marketing for 'Tourism South East', gave a presentation on the importance of face-to-face communication between suppliers and customers, mainly through Group Travel Fairs and exhibitions.
'Tourism South East' was created to support coach operators, organise exhibitions and support groups who are new to working in tourism.
Karen discussed the point of attending events in order to meet new contacts, as well as talk to organisers and explain to them how your product meets their needs. To make it easier at fairs, Karen Roebuck suggested that you prepare in advance for different groups and interests and match those to your project.
Website Usability Consultant, Sabrina Mach, recently assessed the usability of a tourism website and decided to share her findings.
Sabrina discussed what constitutes a user-friendly website and how to achieve this. She discussed simple issues that are easy to forget such as having aesthetically pleasing images on a website, as well as having an easy navigation system around that website. She also provided advice such as not using PDF files online because they are not very user-friendly.
The main issue addressed, though, was to talk to users. Sabrina drew on the importance of reading feedback from those people that use your website and implementing any useful improvements that they suggest.
Online Development Consultant, James Page, spoke about the role of the web with regards to the travel industry.
One of the first issues James addressed was that of the travel agent. More and more travel agents are closing down because an increasing number of people are booking their holidays directly, rising from 45% of people in 1998 to 72% of people in 2007.
Furthermore, in 1998 people were looking at package holidays abroad, rather than in the UK and this was down to the travel agents not promoting the UK as a top destination. However now, the majority of people use the media as well as 'media wee' which are comments from the public that are published on the internet. Therefore in order to keep the group travel industry successful, people must adopt the use of the internet to reach greater numbers of people.
Alun Williams, Head of Partnership at 'Wiltshire Tourism Partnership', spoke about different partnerships for different markets. He discussed the issue of the fastly dwindling group travel market and how this could be rectified.
Key ideas addressed included the need for new attractions, new ideas and more promotions to keep the group travel industry booming. Without developments, the industry will suffer.
Further to this, Alun suggested that more, new, package-trips should be available because they provide an opportunity for the media to discuss something new and of interest. This increases the amount of publicity the attraction receives and the publicity will result in a greater amount of business.
The editor for 'British Tourism: A Guide for the Travel Trade', Tom Evans, delivered a presentation about new organisations, across the UK, that have formed since funding of the regional tourism bodies switched to the 'Regional Development Agencies'. The presentation provided brief examples of the organisations across the UK and how they operated.
Sub-regional bodies were discussed and the different formats that these bodies take. One body discussed is 'East Midlands Tourism' who has five destination member partnerships which set about to increase tourism through bespoke marketing campaigns. Other organisations are set up in areas with already existing tourism, such as in the Peak District.
London, on the other hand, consists of a Development Agency that is divided up into five sub-regional development managers, covering the North, East, South, West and Central parts of London.
Gini Wilde and Emma Bodly from 'Bonner and Hindley Communications' are Senior Account Manager and Marketing Executive respectively. At the seminar, the pair discussed the 'Yorkshire Attractions Group' to demonstrate how large attractions can benefit one another.
Established in 1999 with 6 members, the 'Yorkshire Attractions Group' aimed to bring together attractions with the same views, values and audiences to make a big attraction, bigger. The core members consisted of the National Railway Museum in York, The Deep in Hull, as well as Eureka! in Halifax, to name a few. The group grew from the idea that working together achieves more results than working against one-another. Costs could be shared, better value for customers would be achieved and Yorkshire would be promoted as an excellent destination for visitors.
The company is funded through members' subscriptions and an annual budget of £90,000 is set to pay for overheads such as advertising, leaflets, exhibitions and vouchers.
In the afternoon, Wilde and Bodley came back to discuss further benefits of collaborative working explaining that by joining with key partners, maximum success will be achieved because resources and costs can be shared, as well as ideas.
They used the Leeds Hotels Association as an example. Consisting of 28 hotels in Leeds, promotions, press releases and websites were created to raise the profile of the hotels. Such advertising would have never been possible if the hotels worked by themselves and as a consequence, the hotels will benefit from extra business.
Caroline Edmunds, Director of 'Pennington Public Relations', discussed the 'Seven Wonders of the Weald', which are a collection of seven varying attractions across the Weald of Kent, as well as how these attractions came together to appeal to more visitors.
A major new road layout was responsible for associating seven attractions with one another and it was decided that these attractions could work together to increase tourism to the area. The venues, which include vineyards, gardens and castles, are said to offer history, sport, culture and fun.
In order to promote the 'Seven Wonders of the Weald', the company increased the amount of advertising by producing press releases, while also embracing any television or radio opportunities. However, although the company is self-funding now, original funding came from a selection of organisations, including SEEDA, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council and Interreg.
Pennington PR are able to keep this relationship between the attractions healthy and valuable by meeting regularly, implementing regular change and encouraging support from tourism bodies.
Valentina Diamanti-Fox, Marketing and Events Manager for 'Better Bankside', was the second person to speak at the seminar and discussed 'Business Improvement Developments', otherwise referred to at 'BIDs'.
The idea behind a BID is that a given place, in an up-and-coming area, will be improved upon to make it more appealing to visitors and local residents. A BID is established by ballot and once voted in, a compulsory levy charge is implemented for all businesses in that area in order to fund the project. This charge would be around 1-2% of their revenue, therefore further funding would also need to be acquired, often via fundraising or voluntary contributions from landowners.
'Better Bankside' is an example of a BID between Blackfriars and London Bridge, in South London, which promotes attractions and services to visitors. Plans are discussed and implemented by the 'Better Bankside Board' which is a collaboration of people from associated businesses as well as council members. Developments vary from more lights under bridges to extra cycle paths.
Catherine Anderson, 'Marketing Manager of East of England Tourism', was the first to speak at the London seminar, 'Working Together to Attract More Visitors', on 3rd April 2008.
'East of England Tourism' brought together a total of 50 partners from local authorities, attractions and a transport operator, to create an on-going homogeneous relationship. Called the 'Let's Go!' programme, it's aim is to increase the number of off-peak, day visitors to the East of England and also raise awareness of the benefits of taking short breaks to the area.
The company also aims to increase the number of people that use trains as a mode of transport, joining with transport operators such as National Express to achieve this. Discounted entries to attractions, two-for-one tickets, as well as packages that cover the train costs and entry to an attraction, are all offered to promote tourism to the area.
Further information can be seen at the website: www.visiteastofengland.com
