Exmoor Tourism Partnership News
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Transcript of Exmoor Tourism Partnership News
From the Chairman
www.exmoortourismpartnership.org.uk
The 2012 Exmoor Tourism
Conference takes place on the 28
November from 10am to 4pm at
Halsway Manor in the Quantock
Hills.
Highlights of the day will be hearing
from Kevin Redpath on New Media
and James Crowden about Literary
Somerset (see back page). The day
will also include workshops and
news round shorts that are sure to
give you lots of tips, ideas and help
in converting potential customers.
Lovely Halsway Manor located
within the Quantock Hills Area of
Outstanding Natural Beauty is our
host for this year, and we do hope
that you will take advantage of
visiting this 'extension' to the
stunning landscapes of Exmoor. We
will be allowing plenty of time for
networking with industry colleagues
both old and new.
Book early to avoid
disappointment by downloading
a form from the ETP website.
Another year has passed and, despite
the continuing challenge of the
economic climate and even bigger
challenges from our natural climate,
the tourism sector in our area has
continued to make significant strides.
In 2012, your Tourism Partnership was
further strengthened with new core
partners Somerset County Council
and North Devon+, and associate
members Quantock Hills AONB and
Somerset Tourism Association, its
Chairman Bob Smart being a welcome
contributor to our quarterly meetings.
Our meetings are short, focussed and
collaborative: how can we best use our
combined resources? There is no time
for protectionism or politics. Every
partner is focussed on the health of
the tourism sector and making it
strong and self-supporting going
forward. Long may it continue! Some
highlights since our last newsletter
The industry is now managing the
Visit Exmoor and Visit Somerset web-
sites
Exmoor Tourist Association com-
pleted a robust business plan, essential
to satisfy investors and attract and re-
tain members
The Walking Festival ran without
heavy subsidy, working to a clear finan-
cial plan
West Somerset Council has ap-
pointed Rob Downes as its Tourism
Officer and is working closely with
partners to gain maximum benefit from
any Hinkley Point planning gain
Exmoor National Park Authority
has granted a further £45.5k from its
discretionary budget towards fulfilling
years two and three of our three
year marketing plan
We are strengthening skills in the
tourism industry, mindful that we are
in it for the long haul and local au-
thority funding cannot be guaranteed
North Devon+ has been tremen-
dously supportive with numerous
training seminars to improve skills,
employee culture and the pursuit of
excellence and a forum for people to
swap ideas.
We have a superb marketing group,
with members from key local
enterprises – the small sums of
money available to our partners goes
so much further when marketing is a
collaborative venture, with no
duplication of effort. Digital
marketing and social media are taking
an ever higher profile and I for one
am pleased that we have the com-
bined support of some of the best
marketing and PR brains in the SW.
Clearly, tourism continues to make a
vital contribution to the wider
economy of Greater Exmoor. ETP
will do everything it can to ensure
tourism’s pivotal role in the area’s
economic health is given due
recognition, both locally and nation-
ally. I very much look forward to
seeing you at our November confer-
ence.
Evelyn Stacey, Chairman
Exmoor Tourism Partnership
Exmoor Touir Tourism Conference
2012 update
Heaven’s Above
At the end of last year Exmoor Na-
tional Park Authority’s bid for Ex-
moor to be designated the first Dark
Sky Reserve in Europe was an-
nounced as successful.
Since then tremendous press cover-
age has been achieved in most na-
tional papers, a
range of maga-
zines and a live
screening from
Dulverton on the
popular BBC Star-
gazing Live pro-
gramme with Prof.
Brian Cox.
Dark Sky Reserve Pocket Guides are
available from the National Park Au-
thority to help your guests explore
the heavens above.
European shows, and an online
version of the guide.
Find out more by visiting www.exmoortourismpartnership.org.uk.
Stunning New Guide Around
The Corner The 2013 version of the highly
praised Exmoor, the Coast and
Quantock Hills visitor guide is set to
hit shelves this December. If you
would like to book advertising space
in this years guide call us on 01271
336 037 before the deadline of 31
October 2012.
Pre-VAT advertising prices have been
held at the same rates as the past
two years, and with a full programme
of marketing activity planned
throughout 2013, entry in the guide
offers excellent value in promoting
your business to tens of thousands of
potential visitors.
Next year’s accompanying marketing
plan will include national PR and
distribution, regional and national
advertising campaigns, e-marketing,
promotion at national and
Mobile sites are designed to be
quick and fit neatly on a mobile de-
vice screen without the need to
zoom or scroll sideways.
The VE website stats already show
that 19.5% of visitors are viewing
the current site on mobile devices.
At the moment their experience will
not be brilliant as they will have to
scroll and zoom to see the content.
This figure has grown rapidly in the
last 3 months from about 10%, so
there is clearly a need for this mo-
bile site as more people get
smartphones.
This new mobile site, coupled with
visit-exmoor will make our site even
more attractive to advertisers as it
becomes more accessible. One of
the main strengths of being part of a
main tourism destination site is that
search engines see this site as very
important. This means we enjoy
good listing positions for our
keywords. But a less obvious major
advantage is the link from the VE
site to yours. This is a powerful
relevant inward link to your site,
boosting your own sites positioning
on search engines. As we know,
getting relevant inward links to our
tourism accommodation websites is
a nightmare, so links from major
local sites are very effective.
Visit-Exmoor Web Update &
New Mobile Site The Visit Exmoor website
(www.visit-exmoor.co.uk) is
performing well, getting about 8000
visitors each month who stay on the
site for over 3.5 minutes each. 25% of
these visitors return to find out more
information. Looking at the way they
go through the site, the Where to
Stay section is the most visited,
followed by the Must See and Do
pages.
The new Exmoor TV advert caused a
noticeable peak in visits to the site
and the Exmoor Guinea has also
generated interest. Like the Groat
before it, it produced a lot of free
publicity for the area including articles
in two national papers, and we have
had a few reports of it bringing in
business.
We are now building a new mobile
website for Visit Exmoor, funded
through Western Somerset Local
Action for Rural Communities
(LARC) scheme, West Somerset
Council, Exmoor Tourist Association
and Exmoor National Park Authority.
This new site will reflect the standard
VE website showing all the
accommodation providers, events
and things to do through searches.
Good management needs good re-
search and monitoring. Over the
years we’ve collected some good
quality data on why people come,
what they like, dislike and what they
do when they're here. Now, for the
first time we have some up to date
information on why people don’t
visit, thanks to research conducted
by the University of Exeter with the
Exmoor National Park Authority.
89% of respondents had heard of
the area and nearly 50% of non-
visitors had no particular reason for
not visiting before. Several of Ex-
moor’s selling points were rated as
‘strongly desirable’ or ‘desirable’ by
over 70% of respondents (such as
being a ‘haven for wildlife’; offering
‘plenty of opportunities to relax and
unwind’; hosting the ‘highest coastal
cliffs in the country’; being Europe’s
first ever ‘International Dark Sky
Reserve’ and containing a ‘wealth of
history and heritage’). The full re-
port can be downloaded from the
Community section of the Exmoor
National Park Authority website.
Non-Visitor Research
In 2012 for the first time we
ventured overseas and represented
Exmoor at Vakantiebeurs which is a
very large travel show in Utrecht.
Interestingly we heard from many of
the visitors to the stand that they
were not visiting the UK in 2012
“Prices will be very expensive and
travel will be very difficult because of
the Olympics.” Nevertheless we
sincerely believe the loyalty to the
Exmoor brand is as strong as ever.
All this costs money so if you have
£500 to spare, or more if you are
sufficiently affluent, we would be de-
lighted to hear from you just contact
Antony Brunt, Chairman of the
Exmoor Tourist Association
Exhibiting Exmoor
Many of us predicted an unusual
trading pattern this year and we were
not disappointed.
This put greater need than ever to get
out and promote Exmoor at the
major UK travel fairs. We have
attended, the Visit Britain Show
(BOBI) at the NEC, Great Days Out
Show in Manchester, Group Leisure
and Travel Show at the NEC, and are
shortly to exhibit at the Excursions
Show in London.
We have also kept up the promotion
on a more local level with stands at
the North Somerset Show and the
Taunton Flower Show.
Exmoor Strategy & Charter
Work has begun on producing a new
strategy and 5 year action plan for
tourism on Exmoor incorporating
the work of different ETP partners
and others in the area. The revised
strategy and action plan will form
part of the National Park Authority’s
revalidation of the European Charter
for Sustainable Tourism in protected
areas. Exmoor was one of the first
National Parks in the country to re-
ceive this prestigious award in 2007
and is one of over 100 charter hold-
ers across Europe demonstrating
that conservation and tourism can
work hand in hand for mutual
benefit.
Active Exmoor
Exmoor continues to attract and
successfully host a range of active
events including cycle sportives,
mountain biking trials, the
Perambulation (Exmoor’s longest
walk in a day), triathalons, fell run-
ning and much more. The Ironman,
hosted by South West Lakes Trust at
Wimbleball had a record entrance of
over 2,000 competitors and this is
estimated to be worth over
£750,000 to the area in spend plus
additional benefits in PR and
promotion.
The annual Walking Festival runs this
year from the 26 April to 5 May
2013 and is being supported by
Ilfracombe, Lynton and Lynmouth,
Porlock and Dunster—all of which
have gained ‘Walkers are Welcome’
accreditation.
Exmoor Brand A new brand has been launched to
promote all things to do with
Exmoor tourism whether on the
Coast, Quantock Hills or National
Park.
There are different versions available
promoting the distinct regions that
make up the Exmoor brand. There
are versions for businesses and
organisations to download too from
the Exmoor Tourism Partnership
website along with brand guidelines.
The new brand does not replace
things like the National Park or
Quantock Hill AONB logos which
remain as the identities for these
areas as well as the bodies that are
responsible for them. Rather the new
brand will comfortably sit alongside
these where appropriate providing a
co-ordinated and unified approach to
marketing this diverse area. The
brand includes the logo which
incorporates a stag in the colour of
Exmoor’s famous heather and the tag
line ‘Dream, Discover, Explore’ which
identifies the key qualities we have to
offer potential visitors.
Do make use of the new brand—
there are suggestions for copy and
images in the brand guidelines, to
promote your part in Exmoor’s
tourism offer.
Business Support Two new schemes are offering
business support to businesses in
North Devon and Western Somerset.
The ‘Collaborative Business
Enterprise’ is a free Business
Mentoring service to businesses in
Western Somerset, delivered by ex-
perienced business owners and pro-
fessionals volunteering their time to
support local businesses.
In North Devon the ‘Business
Buddies’ scheme provides a similar
service with 20 highly experienced
volunteer Mentors.
These schemes are open to people
ready to launch their business and
established businesses employing less
than 10 people. The Business
Mentors are all qualified and accred-
ited mentors, and are experienced
business owners who have run and
grown their own businesses, or
people with specialist knowledge who
have operated at a senior level in
larger companies. They provide an
independent view of your business,
helping you to identify and address
key issues and exploit opportunities
to grow your business.
To find out more contact
If you have experience of successfully
growing your business and would be
interested in giving your time
voluntarily to assist fledgling compa-
nies in the area, the project teams
would also be interested in hearing
from you.
Banner ads can now be displayed on
the Visit Exmoor website providing
you with a more prominent display
listing on the site.
Prices start from as little as £8.50/
month with discounts of up to 25%
off for bookings of 2 or more
adverts.
Adverts can be static or animated
and a cost effective design service is
available if enquired. For more
information visit the Advertise with
us page linked at the bottom of the
Visit Exmoor website.
Banner Ads Now Available
The Exmoor Tourist Association is
looking for an Honorary Treasurer
to oversee the finances of the
organisation. The Treasurers role
would involve assisting the secretary
in managing the finances and
preparing the accounts for auditing.
A formal accounting background isn’t
needed but a good knowledge of
figures and spread sheets is required.
Anyone interested in this voluntary
role should contact Sharon Routley,
Secretary of the Exmoor Tourist
Association by email at
Treasurer Needed
Marketing Exmoor The Exmoor Tourism Partnership
has been working hard to continue
to promote the area as a first class
destination in order to support the
tourism sector.
Highlights in the last year include:
Regional and national marketing
campaigns comprising prize
draws, adverts in national maga-
zines and specialised web content
targeted at walkers, families and
stargazers (building on last years
designation of Exmoor as
Europe’s first International Dark
Sky Reserve)
Development of a mobile version
of the new Visit Exmoor website
to be launched soon
The launch of a new brand iden-
tity for Exmoor tourism to pro-
vide a consistent and strong
brand message to visitors who
are encouraged to visit Exmoor
to ‘Dream, Discover, Explore’
Successful PR work through Star-
fish PR resulting in numerous na-
tional and specialist travel press
articles, journalist visits and devel-
opment of social media channels
The launch of the area’s first TV
advert, viewed by over 3m
(against a target of 2m viewers)
with over 2,000 You Tube views
in the first week. Locally the
advert met with mixed responses,
from the love it to hate it. The
point being it caused a reaction
and people noticed—as evidenced
in a noticeable peak in visitors to
the website.
Attendance at a range of travel
shows for the trade and consum-
ers including the first visit to an
international show at Utrecht in
the spring
Production and distribution of the
Exmoor brochure.
The work has been achieved through
the continued collaboration of key
players working to support the
tourism sector across Exmoor
including the Exmoor Tourist
Association, Exmoor National Park
Authority, West Somerset Council,
North Devon+, Quantock Hills
AONB and Somerset County
Council with financial support from
the ENPA Partnership Fund, Industry
contributions and partner support.
North Devon+ Supporting
Exmoor Exmoor tourism will receive a boost
next year when The North Devon
and Exmoor Guide marketing
campaign starts in January. The
campaign, by North Devon+,
incorporates advertising in national
media alongside a partnership
campaign with Visit England to
promote coast and countryside.
70,000 copies of the 132 page
magazine are being printed. The
2013 Guide is also being produced as
a mobile website for the iPad, which
literally ‘brings content and adverts
to life’ delivering customer enquiries
direct to the advertisers website.
The 2013 guide has a bumper 16
page Exmoor section compiled for
North Devon+ by Naomi Cudmore,
of the Exmoor Magazine. Look out
for copies on display at leading
attractions and Tourist Information
Centres across Exmoor and North
Devon from January, or order your
copy online from
www.northdevon.com.
West Somerset Council have recently launched the Minehead Town Guide
App to help promote Minehead businesses, as part of a series of initiatives lead
by the Minehead Visioning Group to help make Minehead more vibrant.
The App is a business directory with a tourism aspect to it to promote Mine-
head to town visitors and increase public awareness. The App incorporates
Town Trails with geo-accurate maps so that when you walk around, points of
interest pop up with the information.
The App includes an A-Z, About, Minehead Folklore, Who's
Who, Services, Food & Leisure, Maps, Travel & Accommodation
so it's a really useful source of information. Check it out using the
QR code (Android and I-phones only currently).
Minehead Town Guide App
The Exmoor Tourism Partnership
appoints professional PR services to
help promote Exmoor, its offering
and events, to national travel
journalists and publications. A good
story is always needed—we know
Exmoor is beautiful but that won’t
get published. Instead we need up to
date information on events, new
developments and quirky news that
can publicise Exmoor widely. In
most cases at least 3 months notice
is required for events etc so feed in
your stories—see the PR page in the
marketing section of the ETP web-
site for contact details. A regular
blog is also written on the Visit
Exmoor website. Why not link to it
on your site, or circulate the link to
guests for all the latest goings on!
PR For You
A successful bid for £135,000 of EU
Interreg funding has been made by a
partnership including Somerset
County Council, West Somerset
and Sedgemoor District Councils
and the Exmoor National Park
Authority.
The cool tourism project will work
with other partners in the South of
England and across the channel in
France to develop new technologies
in marketing and explore how busi-
nesses can better work together for
mutual benefits to the visitor
economy. Further details to follow
soon.
Cool Funding News
Somerset Links with Exmoor A message from Bob Smart,
Chairman of the Somerset Tourist
Association.
Promoting your business is all about
effective networking, and making
sure that everyone is pulling in the
same direction. As Chairman of the
Somerset Tourism Association I’m
delighted to say that we’ve accepted
an invitation to join the Exmoor
Tourism Partnership. We will be
working closely with the existing
ETP members to help your business.
In marketing terms there are two big
brand names in Somerset: Exmoor
and Somerset itself. The STA is to
the historic County of Somerset
(which includes North Somerset and
Bath and N E Somerset), what the
ETP is to Exmoor. We’re a
Community Interest Company, with
over 400 member businesses. We
work with all the local authorities.
We run the County’s tourism
website (www.visitsomerset.co.uk)
and produce the Somerset – Jewel of
the South West brochure, as well as
doing all sorts of other things to
promote the County.
We’d be delighted to have you as a
member, and delighted if you can
come along to our annual Confer-
ence (coincidently one day after the
ETP Conference) at Haynes
International Motor Museum on
Thursday 29 November, with buffet
lunch and an afternoon session. You
can get more information from the
website, as above, or by contacting
me direct on 01749 835416 or
[email protected]. We look
forward to working with you!
West Somerset Council, allocations for 3 of the Districts
Tourism Information Offices and funds to be utilised for
research, marketing and promotion. The Section 106
requires that a Tourism Action Partnership (TAP) is set up
comprised of West Somerset Council, Sedgemoor DC and
Somerset CC. It is the intention to also include
representation from Exmoor National Park Authority and
tourism businesses on the TAP. We were delighted to
recruit Robert Downes to the post of Tourism Officer for
West Somerset. He has hardly had the chance to pause for
breath since he started in May, and has really got stuck in to
delivering the diverse range of tourism development and
destination management.
Hinkley Point C Development The examination process for the planning application for the
construction of two new nuclear reactors in West Somerset
has now been completed. The Planning Inspectorate
will submit their findings to the Secretary of State by the end
of this year, and the Secretary of State will make his decision
on whether or not to award consent in Spring 2013.
The Local Authorities have negotiated two Section 106
Agreements with EDF, with funds towards tourism
mitigation contained in both.
Funds will be released at various trigger points throughout
the next 6 years and this includes a tourism officer post for
The Exmoor Tourism Partnership is a ‘virtual’ partnership. The role of the Partnership is to enhance the quality of the visitor
experience, to improve the viability, sustainability and performance of tourism enterprises and to develop, promote and champion
the Exmoor and West Somerset brand in appropriate markets.
Core Partners: Exmoor Tourist Association ● West Somerset Council ● Exmoor National Park Authority
North Devon+ ● Somerset County Council. Key Organisations: Quantock Hills AONB ● Somerset Tourism Association.
Exmoor Tourism Network: Minehead Hoteliers ● Lyn Association for Commerce and Tourism ● Porlock Tourist Association
● Combe Martin Tourist Association ● Exmoor Holiday Group ● South Molton Tourism Association ● WACET
Exmoor to Sea
www.exmoortourismpartnership.org.uk
Going Local to Enhance the Visitor Experience Using literary connections and local produce to attract
visitors will be at the heart of a keynote speech at this
year’s Exmoor Tourism Conference on 28 November by
local author, poet and broadcaster, James Crowden.
Star of the award nominated BBC Radio 3 programme,
Out Counting Sheep, and author of Literary Somerset,
James will be sharing his passion for the local landscape and
its heritage, as part of the annual tourism event organised
by the Exmoor Tourism Partnership. James said:
"Exmoor and West Somerset are laden with wonderful
literary associations, and their importance is often
underestimated by local businesses. The secret is to use
these intriguing connections to make small literary tailor-
made tours for your guests as a new and exciting way of
promoting this beautiful area. Combine that with excellent
local food and drink and you generate an irresistible desire
to explore the area which will keep bringing visitors back
time and again."
James Crowden has lived in Somerset for over 25 years and
was a sheep shearer, shepherd, cider maker and
backwoodsman before turning to writing and poetry. See
the front cover for booking details.
Why not join the 700 who are already following us on twitter @visitexmoor?
In just ten months Visit Exmoor’s twitter page has been joined by a community
of people, businesses and groups seeking to share information and help spread
the word about what’s new and great in Exmoor.
Tweeting for Exmoor!