Celebrating Success in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds during ... · Oxfordshire Cotswolds we embraced it...
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ISSUE 24 www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org MAY 2012 news www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org March saw the first ever English Tourism Week and here in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds we embraced it wholeheartedly with a range of events throughout the week that saw support from local residents, our industry partners, the national tourist board and the Prime Minister! We received significant coverage in both the local and national media for the events we held during the week. Top level support for local tourism industry Tourism in the Cotswolds could play a greater part in boosting the country’s economy. That was the message given by the Prime Minister at our networking event held at the Oxford Witney Four Pillars Hotel on 16 March. David Cameron spoke about his passion for the tourism industry and, as the country’s third largest export, its importance to driving the economy. He acknowledged the work people were doing promoting the industry, but felt there was potential to do much more. He said, “London, is obviously a massive tourism hotspot, but I think we have enormous untapped reservoirs in terms of the potential we have in our country, particularly right here in the Cotswolds where we welcome a lot of tourists, but could welcome a huge amount more.” David Cameron commented after the event, “I was delighted to attend the English Tourism Week event held in my West Oxfordshire constituency.” The networking event gave the industry an opportunity to examine the value of tourism to the nation as well as demonstrating its role in promoting the Oxfordshire Cotswolds to tourists and visitors. Among those attending the event were Lady Penelope Cobham, Chairman of VisitEngland and David Curtis-Brignell, Chairman of English Tourism Week. Cllr Richard Langridge, Cabinet Member for Communities, said: “It was a pleasure to welcome the Prime Minister, Lady Cobham and David Curtis-Brignell to the district as part of English Tourism Week. All of the businesses and organisations represented here have played a big part in ensuring that the Oxfordshire Cotswolds remains a top holiday destination in England. By bringing them together and sharing ideas it can only boost the industry further.” The event also saw the Prime Minister present Charles Holmes, CEO of the Four Pillars Hotel Group, based in Witney, with their Silver Green Tourism Business Scheme accreditation across the whole group of hotels, which is a fantastic achievement. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Oxford Witney Four Pillars Hotel for hosting what was a highly successful networking event that saw over 100 local businesses attend. To view the Prime Minister’s speech and the footage of the English Tourism Week Networking Event go to http://oxbox.tv/showvideo.php?video=6028328 or www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CtGpG7u4Ko Celebrating Success in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds during English Tourism Week
Transcript of Celebrating Success in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds during ... · Oxfordshire Cotswolds we embraced it...
ISSUE 24 www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org MAY 2012
news
www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org
March saw the first ever English Tourism Week and here in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds we embraced it wholeheartedly with a range of events throughout the week that saw support from local residents, our industry partners, the national tourist board and the Prime Minister! We received significant coverage in both the local and national media for the events we held during the week.
Top level support for local tourism industry
Tourism in the Cotswolds could play a greater part in boosting the country’s economy. That was the message given by the Prime Minister at our networking event held at the Oxford Witney Four Pillars Hotel on 16 March.
David Cameron spoke about his passion for the tourism industry and, as the country’s third largest export, its importance to driving the economy. He acknowledged the work people were doing promoting the industry, but felt there was potential to do much more. He said, “London, is obviously a massive tourism hotspot, but I think we have enormous untapped reservoirs in terms of the potential we have in our country, particularly right here in the Cotswolds where we welcome a lot of tourists, but could welcome a huge amount more.”
David Cameron commented after the event, “I was delighted to attend the English Tourism Week event held in my West Oxfordshire constituency.”
The networking event gave the industry an opportunity to examine the value of tourism to the nation as well as demonstrating its role in promoting the Oxfordshire Cotswolds to tourists and visitors.
Among those attending the event were Lady Penelope Cobham, Chairman of VisitEngland and David Curtis-Brignell, Chairman of English Tourism Week.
Cllr Richard Langridge, Cabinet Member for Communities, said: “It was a pleasure to welcome the Prime Minister, Lady Cobham and David Curtis-Brignell to the district as part of English Tourism Week. All of the businesses and organisations represented here have played a big part in ensuring that the Oxfordshire Cotswolds remains a top holiday destination in England. By bringing them together and sharing ideas it can only boost the industry further.”
The event also saw the Prime Minister present Charles Holmes, CEO of the Four Pillars Hotel Group, based in Witney, with their Silver Green Tourism Business Scheme accreditation across the whole group of hotels, which is a fantastic achievement.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Oxford Witney Four Pillars Hotel for hosting what was a highly successful networking event that saw over 100 local businesses attend.
To view the Prime Minister’s speech and the footage of the English Tourism Week Networking Event go to http://oxbox.tv/showvideo.php?video=6028328 or www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CtGpG7u4Ko
Celebrating Success in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds during English Tourism Week
English Tourism Week networking event at the Oxford Witney Four Pillars Hotel
The Rt Hon David Cameron MP presents Charles Holmes, CEO of the Four Pillars Hotel Group, based in Witney, with their Green Tourism Business Scheme silver award
The Rt Hon David Cameron MP, Lady Penelope Cobham Chairman of VisitEngland and David Curtis-Brignell, Chairman of English Tourism Week showing their support for English Tourism Week
Beautiful South Awards for ExcellenceThe Beautiful South Awards for Excellence 2012-2013 will be officially launched at the end of this month but you can register your interest now by emailing [email protected]
This year sees the introduction of a new category recognising one of Britain’s greatest traditions – Pubs. It would be wonderful if the first winner of this new category was one of our great local inns!There is a wide range of categories for the Beautiful South Awards and they offer a great opportunity for tourism businesses of any size to showcase their organisation to a regional audience and to garner some good local and regional publicity.
Winners can go on to enter the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2013 – an opportunity for some really significant national exposure as evidenced by the Bay Tree Hotel in Burford after they won Small Hotel of the Year in 2011.
www.beautifulsouthawards.co.uk
www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org
Holiday Heaven on EarthOxfordshire Cotswolds Features on Prime Time TV
The Oxfordshire Cotswolds was the only destination in England to feature on the new travel programme Holiday Heaven on Earth on Channel 5. The series saw a host of celebrity TV presenters travel the globe to search out new and exciting locations.
Our episode was a great showcase for the destination and featured Burford, The Bay Tree Hotel, Burford Ghost Tours, Aston Pottery, Blenheim Palace and the Swan Inn at Swinbrook.
If you missed the programme you can view it at www.channel5.com/shows/holiday-heaven-on-earth - it’s Episode 10!
A winning photoThe 2012 Oxfordshire Cotswolds photographic competition has ended with an impressive 160 entries of the highest quality. The judging has been conducted in partnership with Blueprint Imaging Ltd in Witney. We are pleased to announce that the winner of this year’s competition is Mr Kevin Goodey who submitted a stunning countryside image, taken near Chipping Norton.
Mr Goodey will receive a 30inch x 20inch canvas print of his winning photograph (above), which is being kindly donated by Blueprint Imaging Ltd.
Thank you to everyone who entered this year’s competition.
News in brief
Olympic Torch Relay
The Olympic Torch Relay will be passing through Woodstock and Blenheim Palace on the afternoon of Monday 9 July.
Plans for the day are not yet finalised but there is a growing sense of excitement about this once in a life time opportunity to see the torch passing through the Oxfordshire Cotswolds.
www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org/events/london-2012
WOW Returns
This year’s West Oxfordshire Week will run from Monday 17 to Sunday 23 September.
For further information or to get involved contact Chris Jackson
New Tourism South East Chairman
Tourism South East has a new Chairman: Ken Robinson CBE assumed the role of Chairman in April.
Ken Robinson is also Chairman of VisitEngland’s Visitor Attractions Group, a member of VisitBritain’s British Tourism Industry Group, a Board member of the Tourism Alliance and Chair of the Tourism Society Think Tank.
More details can be found on the Tourism South East website at www.tourismsoutheast.com/board-of-directors
Jubilee Celebrations
The Jubilee weekend looks like it will be a wonderfully lively celebration throughout the Oxfordshire Cotswolds.
All the towns in the area and most of the villages have a number of festivities planned. Some of these are closed events but there are plenty of events open to the public and to visitors to the area.
To find out what’s on, or to publicise a local event, visit www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org/events
Tourism partners achieve great success at the West Oxfordshire Business AwardsMarch saw the second West Oxfordshire Business Awards (WOBAs) take place at a glittering awards evening at Heythrop Park Resort and we were delighted to see so many of our tourism business partners not only make it to the final cut but also win several categories!
Congratulations go to The Theatre Chipping Norton who won both the Tourism and Leisure Award and the Social Media Award and to Caswell House who won the New Business Award and Foxbury Farm who won the Rural Business Award.
Well done also to Cotswold Wildlife Park and Crocodiles of the World, who were the other finalists in the Tourism and Leisure category and to Aston Pottery, who were a finalist in the Social Media category. Well done to you all.
For more information on the awards go to www.woba.co.uk
And the success doesn’t end there: all the finalists were entered into the Oxfordshire Business Awards and we are delighted to announce that our tourism partners have been shortlisted in several categories: Cultural Events and Tourism Award – Cotswold Wildlife Park and The Theatre Chipping Norton and New Business Award – Caswell House.
The winners will be announced at the awards evening on 15 June. For more information go to www.oxfordshirebusinessawards.co.uk
The Theatre Chipping Norton receiving the Tourism and Leisure Award
www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org
Oxfordshire Cotswolds Bedroom BrowserThe 2012 Bedroom Browser is now published and available, free of charge, to all accommodation providers in the area.
The browser is our major publication for visitors who have already arrived in the area and is a great promotional tool for the Oxfordshire Cotswolds authoritative and informative it avoids the hotpotch of seemingly random leaflets that you often see in accommodation in other areas of the country.
We estimate that the browsers represent about 300,000 bednights of publicity as they sit year round on the bedside tables of local accommodation providers helping to persuade visitors to spend more of their stay (and money!) in our area.
Many thanks to all the attractions who support the publication and to the accommodation suppliers who stock it.
If you would like further information, or stocks of the browser, please contact Chris Jackson
www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org
Cotswolds DiscovererMay saw the launch of a new integrated bus & rail ticket for the Cotswolds, aimed at encouraging more visitors to use public transport to both get to, and around the Cotswolds.
The Cotswolds Discoverer ticket provides unlimited rail travel in and around the Cotswolds, including the Cotswold Rail line that runs through the centre of the Oxfordshire Cotswolds from Oxford to Moreton in Marsh. The ticket includes bus and coach stops as far afield as Swindon, Kemble, Stroud, Gloucester, and Cheltenham, providing unlimited bus travel with participating operators: Cotswold Green, Johnsons Excelbus, Pulhams Coaches, RH Transport and Swanbrook.
The Discoverer tickets, which are valid seven days a week anytime (after 8.50am Monday-to-Friday for rail users), can be bought at any UK rail station and on any of the participating bus services. They are available as one-day and three-day tickets, costing £10 and £25 respectively – though reductions are available with Railcards and at half price for children under 16.
It is hoped that more bus operators will join the scheme in the future, but in the meantime, the Cotswold Conservation Board have come up with some itinerary suggestions using the new ticket. These and other details - including links to timetables and a downloadable leaflet - are available at: www.escapetothecotswolds.org.uk/discoverer
The initiative will initially run for a trial period of 6 months, until October 2012. It is then hoped that operators will continue to operate the scheme in the future, with a view to enhancing the offer further by incorporating discounted entry into attractions and extending the area of coverage.
Promotional leaflets are being printed and will be distributed to railway stations and Visitor Information Centres throughout the Cotswolds.
Love your landscape?Our-land.co.uk is a new web-based initiative to help inspire visitors to be passionate about our beautiful landscape by promoting tourism businesses that celebrate the beauty, diversity and distinctive features of our protected landscapes. It incorporates accommodation, attractions and activities alongside stories of sights, tastes, sounds and smells that make the Cotswolds so special.
Thanks to £1 million from the Rural Development Programme for England, it is FREE for eligible businesses to appear on our-land.co.uk. The website has been created and managed by travel website experts responsibletravel.com, and every business on Our Land also gets featured on responsibletravel.com which currently attracts over 350,000 unique visitors every month.
Businesses get an entire page, which is created on-line by the business, with text, photos and video. Every entry includes a free enquiries tracking service, and at the moment businesses can also take advantage of additional free-upgrades. The services of a project consultant are also available, again free of charge, to help businesses get registered.
For more information, contact Vicky Parr (Our Land Project Consultant for the Cotswolds Area): Telephone: 07545 144234 Email: [email protected] Website: www.our-land.co.uk
Summer Networking EventThis year’s Summer Networking event is on 20 June between 5.30pm and 8pm; it will be hosted by the Old Swan & Minster Mill in Minster Lovell.
It is the perfect occasion to catch up with the tourism team, find out what projects are going on and to network with each other in the beautiful surroundings of this very special venue. Many good ideas for the future have been formed at such events. There will also be the opportunity of a guided tour during the evening.
If you would like to attend, please contact Tara Nielsen: [email protected]
www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org
Holidays at home are GREAT VisitEngland have secured funding from the Government Olympic Executive to run a £4m domestic TV campaign showcasing fantastic reasons to holiday and take more breaks in the UK during 2012.
The “Holidays at home are GREAT” campaign which launched on 8 March 2012 is the biggest ever domestic marketing campaign launched in the UK. VisitEngland are inviting industry partners to submit special offers showing visitors that 2012 is going to be a truly exciting year to be in the UK.
All these offers are displayed together on the campaign website (www.great2012offers.com) to create a ‘one-stop shop’ where visitors can browse and select the offers they like best. On choosing an offer, they’ll be taken to the offer supplier’s site, where they’ll be able to book directly. The dedicated website has already received over 350,000 visitors, so don’t miss out on this fantastic FREE opportunity to promote your business.
VisitEngland are asking you to give our visitors another reason to stay in the UK by encouraging you, our partners in the tourism industry, to offer 20.12% off and other great offers.
That means 20.12% off accommodation stays, meals, and other experiences. Offers and deals like stay three nights for the price of two, or two-for-one entry at attractions. They would also like to feature added-value offers, where the customer pays the usual price but receives something extra for example a free lunch or a special meal for £20.12, a guided tour, or a free pampering spa add-on. We’re sure you’ll have all kinds of creative ideas, and they’d like some truly great offers to really add value for visitors.
If you are interested in the “Holidays at home are GREAT” campaign and would like to upload your offer or find out more information, visit – www.visitengland.org/2012offers
Burford VIC achieve silver Congratulations to Burford Visitor Information Centre (VIC). Despite having only been in their new premises for nine months, they have gained a silver award in the Green Tourism Business Scheme.
They achieved a very high score overall and the judges were particularly impressed with certain aspects: their range of local products, the ‘Be a perfect visitor’ and ‘Leave the car behind’ schemes and, of course, their great range of local information.
www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org
Travel Trade Activity
Direct Selling to the APMEA Markets
The Oxfordshire Cotswolds will be represented in the forthcoming Best of Britain and Ireland event in Bangkok. The event will see over 100 key agents from the Asia Pacific, Middle East and African region attending to book and plan ahead for the coming years travel.
This is the biggest travel trade event for this region with buyers attending from Australia, New Zealand, China, India, Japan, United Arab Emirate, South Africa and Korea.
This is a great opportunity to raise the profile of the Oxfordshire Cotswolds as a must see visitor destination amongst these markets.
This is a joint project which is funded from the Local Area Agreement funds that were secured to promote tourism across Oxfordshire to the overseas markets.
Through working closely with Visit Oxfordshire and the other District Councils we aim to raise the profile of the County and the Oxfordshire Cotswolds to these lucrative overseas markets.
March Marketplace (MAMA)
In March this year we took part in ‘March Marketplace’ (MAMA) at Wembley Stadium where we met 150 international buyers brought by VisitBritain from over 20 markets including the US, China, India, Brazil, Russia and Germany.
This two day Tourism event comprised 2 parts; The Hosted Buyers Marketplace (HBM) and the Britain and Ireland Marketplace (BIM). Together these two back-to-back workshops represented a great opportunity to reach key buyers through a programme of pre-scheduled and open appointments.
Great for Groups
This event was held at Ascot Racecourse in April and is the group travel market’s newest event, which gave organisers and tour operators the chance to interact with the UK’s key attractions.
Great for Groups was geared to attracting the very best of the UK group travel industry for a full-on, one day travel & trip extravaganza and offered a vast selection of ideas for group trips. It was promoted by the Coach Tourism Council who promote travel and tourism by coach on behalf of 300 members.
Hudson’s Heritage Explorer Pass Burford and Witney Visitor Information Centres are now stocking The Hudson’s Heritage Explorer Pass, which offers people the chance to visit over 200 iconic sites in the UK at discounted prices.
Each pass comes with a free souvenir guidebook and map. Prices start from £29 for a two-day pass, and holders can gain entry without making additional on the door payments.
For more information visit: www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org/vics
Mobile growth Google has estimated that by the end of 2011 28% of all travel related queries in the UK came from mobile devices.
Within that, tablets account for nearly a third.
What’s more, during the weekend when bookings are typically highest, these devices account for an even greater percentage of total queries.
Hayley BeerTourism Services Manager
[email protected] 861561
Chris JacksonTourism Development Officer
[email protected] 861563
Diane Blackwell Tourism Development Officer
[email protected] 861553
Vivienne StoboVisitor Information Centres
[email protected] 861780
West Oxfordshire District Council Tourism Team
DIARYdates2/5 June Jubilee Weekend
Events across the Oxfordshire Cotswolds celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee
15 June Oxfordshire Business Awards Oxford Thames Four Pillars Hotel
20 June Oxfordshire Cotswolds Summer Networking Event Old Swan & Minster Mill 5.30-8pm
26 June Welcome All Oxfordshire (Venue TBC) Tourism South East full day training course giving staff the confidence and skills to provide great service to customers with disabilities. Special discounted rate of £25 (usually £99)
26-28 June British Destination Annual Conference Blackpool
9 July Olympic Torch Relay Woodstock & Blenheim Palace
12 July Tourism Society Annual Conference London
17-23 Sept West Oxfordshire Week
Join the Oxfordshire Cotswolds on and
Website trivia April was a record month for our Oxfordshire Cotswolds website with over seven times as many unique visitors as at the launch of revamped website in November 2007.
Where do our virtual visitors come from and what are they looking for?
Two thirds of visitors come from the UK. The rest of the visitor top 10 is made up by the USA and assorted European countries along with Australia and Canada: Russia (11th) and China (14th) have been moving steadily up the rankings.
What information are they after? The answer seems to be everything and anything! Accommodation, Attractions and Towns & Villages each attract about 20% of visitors; Events, Activities, Food & Drink and Visitor Information each get about 10% of the traffic.
Where and how do they find us? Over two thirds of visitors find us through search engines and there’s probably no real surprise in finding that Oxfordshire (11.3%) and Cotswold/s (11.1%) are the two top search terms.
So what are our potential visitors interested in doing? Some search for cycling/a cycle ride, while others are looking to go biking/for a bike ride! Walking/walks may be far more popular than hiking/hikes as search words but there are plenty of other interests that lead people to the Oxfordshire Cotswolds website: museum(s), church(es), fishing, shopping and swimming to name just a few.
The Oxfordshire Cotswolds really is a destination website: visitors use over 3,000 different words each month in 6,000 different combinations!
