Tourism - edition 163

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Re-make,Re-modelFrom a rather disorganised start in 1970with 1,500 people in a field, GlastonburyFestival has evolved into a very modernhigh-tech event. It may still take place in afield – or rather, lots of fields now, as itspreads across 900 acres – but theimproved sound quality and huge screens,not to mention international broadcastingof the event, have helped it develop andkeep pace with the expectations of itscustomers.

You don’t even need to bring your owntent and, depending on your budget canopt for a seriously pampered glamping experience.

As Glastonbury Festival heads towards its 50th year in 2020 it hasbecome hugely successful by essentially offering the same thing – agreat selection of bands and performers – but in a way that keepsup with changes in how people like to consume their experiences.

This constant refreshing of the offer is an important aspect of anytourism business, from the destination level right down to the one-man-band Bed & Breakfast. Speaking to me for this issue, BernardDonoghue, director of ALVA and newly-elected chairman of theTourism Alliance, stressed the importance of the Product (one ofhis three Ps, the others being People and Price) and the need to“refresh, refurbish and improve”.

Sometimes these changes are determined by what the customersare calling for – extra comfort, extra connectivity, extra value, extrasustainability – and incremental development by operators,hotelliers and attractions will keep pace. At other times, though,circumstances outside the immediate sphere of these businesseswill force them to adapt more radically and quickly.

In Kenya, for example, terrorist events and poor governance haveput a real brake on tourism; on page 28 Ekta Bid describes howshe has had to establish new areas of activity in response to thissituation in order to remain in business.

Refreshing the message as well as the physical is also important. Inhis article on pages 12 and 13,Tom Buncle takes a look at logosfrom destinations around the world, citing effective and lesseffective examples.

Some have a built-in expiry date and others remain relevant andsuccessful for many years.The trick is knowing when to move onand redevelop your brand or image.

The Tourism Society’s own brand was refreshed earlier in the

summer. The new logo and colour scheme are being launchedacross all our communications channels, including this journal. Ihope you like it.

Gregory Yeoman FTSExecutive Director

[email protected]

www.tourismsociety.org 3Issue 163 Autumn 2015

Editorial ContentsGovernment View:Tourism: we mean business 4Tracey Crouch MP, Minister for Tourism

Policy:A cunning plan? 5 Kurt Janson MTS, Policy Director,Tourism Alliance

Tourism Consultants Network View: Consultants offer their views on the 6 Five-Point Tourism Plan

Travel and Tourism’s Policy Agenda:A busy time ahead 7 Stephen D’Alfonso, Head of Public Affairs,ABTA – The Travel Association

Equality in Tourism:Will tourism recognise the contribution of women? 8-9Tricia Barnett, Director, Equality in Tourism

Customer Loyalty: Strategies to help create longer-term relationships 10Liz Sharples,Teaching Fellow, University of Portsmouth

Destination Slogans: Silver bullet or meaningless puff? 12-13Tom Buncle FTS FTMI, Managing Director,Yellow Railroad

Climate Change and Heritage Tourism: Placing the National Trust 14-15on the climate change mapDr John Floy, Lecturer, University College Birmingham

Community-Based Tours: Broadening the catchment of tourism stakeholders 16-17Julian C. Zarb FTS, Resident Visiting Lecturer, Institute for Travel,Tourism and Culture,University of Malta

Festival Focus I: Glastonbury 18Gregory Yeoman FTS, Executive Director,The Tourism Society

Festival Focus II: It’s only rock and roll but our international tourists love it 19 Joss Croft MTS, Marketing Director,VisitBritain

Business Improvement Districts:A role in destination marketing 21Giles Semper, Director and Becky Chantry, Project Coordinator,The means

An interview with... Bernard Donoghue FTS 22-23

Student View:Work placements 24Zivile Buragaite, MSc International Hospitality and Tourism Management,Sheffield Hallam University

Hospitality: How the strength of OTA positions are changing in relation 25to Rate Parity developmentsFrank Reeves, Co-Founder and CEO,Avvio

Golden Years: Balkan Holidays marks 50 years of change 26-27Chris Rand, Sales and Marketing Manager, Balkan Holidays

View from Kenya: Diversification in times of hardship 28Ekta Bid MTS, Managing Director,African Sojourn

Focus On... Oman 29Alison Cryer FTS MTMI, Managing Director, Representation Plus

Marketing:The power of celebrity 30-31Mike Bugsgang FTS, Managing Director, Bugsgang & Associates

Tourism Symposium 2015:A great success with seal of approval 32-34from the new tourism ministerLinda Moore, Moore Communications

Membership News 35

The Back Page: Chairman’s view with Sandra Matthews-Marsh MBE 36FTS MTMI

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© Copyright 2015 The Tourism Society

Tourism is the journal of the Tourism Society.Theviews expressed in Tourism are those of individualauthors and not necessarily those of the TourismSociety.Whilst unsolicited material is welcomed,neither transparencies nor unpublished articlescan be returned.The Tourism Society cannot be held responsible

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It’s not so long ago that tourism was seenas a bit of a poor relation in government.

Ministers could see that it was animportant sector within the economy, butcouldn’t see what needed to be done togrow it further.

All the obstacles to further successseemed to be for others to break down.

The last government tried to grasp thenettle by investing big money in theaward-winning GREAT campaign topromote Britain as a destination foroverseas visitors.

They also set up a Red Tape Challenge tosimplify regulations affecting the industryand, where they could, abolish themaltogether.

This approach – quality marketing andstrict deregulation – did a lot of good.And, together with the world-wideattention that London 2012 drew, itmeant that the industry grew to the pointwhere it now contributes £60billion to theUK economy with millions of overseasvisitors each year, and supports almostone in ten of all jobs here.

But I’m a great believer in the notion thatif something ain’t broke, it doesn’t meanyou shouldn’t keep trying to make it evenbetter.

So in mid-July we launched a new strategy– a Five-Point Plan – to build on progressalready achieved, further support theindustry, and bring together the whole ofgovernment to do so.

In a nutshell, the key challenge for us nowis to work out ways of getting this successstory to make an impact in all parts of theUK.We in government and you in theindustry know that there are vast areas ofthe country that boast wonderful scenery,a rich and glorious heritage and history,and world-class attractions – but so far it’sproved to be a real struggle to getoverseas visitors to go there.

This is what we are going to do.

Firstly, we’re aiming to find ways tocoordinate the sector better.We wantlocal attractions and places workingtogether with tourism organisations andtrade bodies to help grow the sector foreveryone, not compete with one anotherto no-one’s advantage.

Secondly, we’re going to take steps toattract the brightest and best into theindustry.This is a globally competitivesector, so we need talented, creative anddriven people across the country toconsider tourism as a career choice - andwe need to ensure that they have accessto the skills, training and business supportto make it a success.Tourism is all aboutpeople, and that means we have to putpeople first, both our visitors and thosedelivering the service.

Thirdly, we have to ensure we keep ourfoot on the deregulation pedal, hackingaway still more of the red tape that canhold back growth.The last governmentmade a great start, but there’s more stillto do.

Fourthly, we’ll look at transport.Thetransport and tourism sectors need towork together if we are to unlock theeconomic potential of the growth inoverseas visitors to the whole of thecountry. In the end we have to make sureoverseas visitors can get out and about, ifwe are to make a truly national offer tothem.

And lastly, we’re going to work togetherto make sure that the welcome we offer

to visitors as they cross our borders istruly world class.We have so much to beproud of and how we greet those whocome here, whether on business or forpleasure, should reflect this.

This is a plan for more than just mydepartment. Culture Secretary JohnWhittingdale is to chair a cross-government ministerial action group tomake sure everyone is pulling in the samedirection, and at the same time. So therewill be Ministers from the CommunitiesDepartment, the Home Office,Transport,DEFRA and BIS.

And to make sure we’re focused on thewhole of the UK, the group will also drawin Ministers from the Scottish,Welsh andNorthern Ireland governments, where andwhen needed.

I’ve now been Tourism Minister for nearlythree months.

Everything I’ve seen of the sector so farhas impressed me.Yes, the task ahead –putting our plan into practice – will behard work, requiring goodwill anddetermination from all sides, but I’m surewe can make further progress.

Believe me, we mean business.

4 [email protected]

Government View

Issue 163 Autumn 2015

Tourism: we mean business

Government aims to boost tourism outside London

Tracey Crouch MP l Minister for Tourism

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Policy


Kurt Janson MTS l Policy Director,

Tourism Alliance

A cunning plan?The Prime Minister recently published the Government’s newfive-point plan for tourism to replace the tourism strategyproduced by John Penrose in 2011.

And it’s fair to say that the two plans could not be moredissimilar.

The John Penrose strategy was a 50-page document that setclear five-year targets for both domestic and inbound tourismgrowth:

� To attract 4 million extra visitors to Britain over the next 4years.

� To increase the proportion of UK residents who holiday in theUK to match those who holiday abroad each year.

These key targets were supported by 33 different policy actionsthat the Government was committed to undertake to helpensure that the goals of the strategy were achieved.

These covered a very board range of issues from encouraging all-weather tourism facilities and reforming the criteria for BrownTourism Signs through to refocusing the activities of VisitBritainand VisitEngland and improving visa processing.

By comparison the new five-point plan for tourism is only eightpages long and contains no targets for tourism growth oremployment whatsoever, which means that it will be very difficultto judge whether the plan has been a success of not.

The Plan is also sketchy about how exactly the Government isgoing to deliver the growth that it envisages for the tourismindustry and the UK economy as a whole.

While the document outlines how the Government’s efforts willfocus on five key areas and contains 19 actions that theGovernment is going to take to improve the UK’s performance inthese areas, there are significant gaps in the plan.

For example, while the focus of the Plan is to get people awayfrom London and into the regions, there is no mention of anyactions to resolve the very significant problems being faced bythe Destination Management Organisations that are responsiblefor tourism development and promotion in the regions.

Another example of a glaring gap in the Plan relates to tourism-related taxation.While the World Economic Forum’s Travel &Tourism Competitiveness Report 2015 ranks the UK 5th overall,it found that the UK ranked second to last on price due to threethings – Air Passenger Duty, Fuel Duty and VAT onaccommodation.

However, the new five-point plan makes no mention of anyaction to review tourism-related taxation, let alone seek toresolve this problem.

And yet, despite all the gaps and lack of detail, this may actuallybe a very cunning plan.

The reason for this is the Comprehensive Spending Review thatis being undertaking at the moment.

It was announced in the Summer Budget that the newGovernment is seeking to find £12bn of public spending savingsas part of this Review – a task made even harder by there beingthree Departmental budgets where spending is being protected,

including the high-cost areas of the NHS and schools.

As a result, the Chancellor recently told all unprotectedGovernment Departments to draw up savings plans of 25% and40% as part of the CSR process.

The scale of these proposed cuts will present many GovernmentDepartments with some very difficult choices in terms of funding.

And this is where the new five-point plan for tourism couldactually be something that is more supportive of the tourismindustry that it seems on first viewing.

If you are a Secretary of State and do not want Treasury toremove funding from a particular area of your responsibility, oneof the best ways to protect that funding is to produce a strategythat commits the Government to a course of action to supportthat sector. In this context, the detail of the strategy is notimportant – it’s the commitment that counts.

And an even better way of trying to protect that funding is tohave the Prime Minister launch the strategy so that he has a levelof personal responsibility for its delivery (and therefore thefunding).

So, for all its brevity and gaps, this may actually be a very cunningplan.

This is a positive statement fromGovernment. A weakness is that itunderplays domestic tourism and iscuriously centralist.The section headed‘Tourism Landscape’ is primarily aboutnational structures, yet it ignores theserious challenge of maintaining the qualityof the actual landscape for tourism(heritage, beaches, parks, trails, towncentres). Rather than simply warning aboutcompeting DMOs, it should championlocal management structures andcommunity endeavour to support thoseassets that are the real generators oftourism. And surely ‘A GREAT Welcome’ ismore than just an improved visa andborder service?

Dr Richard Denman FTS MTMI,The Tourism Company

The section of the Plan headed ‘A GreatWelcome’ is a good start but a better andhumbler recognition of the challengesfacing potential visitors to the UK whoneed a visa would be more appropriate.Along with a recognition that in other

competing countries the visitor welcomeextends to not requiring a visa at all.

Experience elsewhere points to the valueof an inter-Ministerial coordinating group,providing it has clear objectives, meetsregularly and the top people actuallyattend. Reform of the Tourism Council isalso to be applauded. Extending thewelcome to the Landing Card? I’m notholding my breath.

Oliver Bennett FTS

The plan says “Where local destinationorganisations compete against each otherrather than collaborating, it becomesharder for the visitor and business alike”yet 80% of tourism revenue is generatedwithin the UK so a large element ofinternal competition remains inevitable. Inplace of a LEP-patchwork free-for-allapproach England could, of course, thinkabout taking a strategic regionalperspective to tackle wasteful competition.

The establishment of an inter-Ministerialgroup to coordinate action in support of

the sector is a 'no brainer’, but do wereally need a Tourism Council and aTourism Alliance? The one change inregulation which really would help (andpay for itself) is avoided – a competitiverate of VAT for tourism goods andservices. APD remains iniquitous:Walesawaits its devolution keenly.

Peter Cole FTS MTMI

Long on motherhood and apple pie, shorton new policy ideas - there’s a pungentwhiff of old wine in new vessels. Come ongovernment, you can do better than this,starting with a decision on the big issues:London airports, APD, and visas.

Progress will be carefully monitored onthe stated aims of cutting red tape andcompeting on a level playing field withother European countries by “streamliningand improving” the visa regime, whileunderstandably navigating the “trade-offsbetween costs, service improvements andsecurity.” It can, and must, be done!

Tom Buncle FTS FTMI

6 [email protected]

Tourism Consultants Network View


Consultants offer their views on the Five-PointTourism Plan

Should we be complementary, or shouldwe speak the unspeakable? TheGovernment’s “Backing the TourismSector – a Five Point Plan” isdisappointing – a rushed pot-pourri, butnot a workable plan.

Our new Secretary of State, JohnWhittingdale, is a knowledgeableexaminer of Government’s attitudes andactions on tourism. He chaired the AllParty DCMS Select Committee withdistinction for many years, producinginsightful reports on the condition andneeds of the industry. Now he is in thehot seat. I wonder what he thought whenshown this document, trundled out sosoon after his appointment? It is tidy,Cameron up front, nice pictures, arguablycommendably brief, solid soundingheadings, and bullet points on selectivetopics. But it doesn’t reflect the nature oftourism throughout Britain, or whatGovernment needs to do or permit to

encourage solid, sustainable growth.

They seem only to be aware of, or careabout, inbound tourism.Yet 80% of thevolume and value of UK tourism isdomestic.Whilst rightly supporting VB itfails to recognise the strong role that VEmust play with England’s industry, or thestill critical input of Local Authorities. Itscore topic is Gateway: “spreading thebenefits of tourism growth across thecountry by encouraging more (inbound)visitors to travel beyond the capital”.

Nutshell comments on the Five Points:

1. “Tourism landscape” – the text beginswith a bullseye – “the lack of effectivecoordination ...with local DMOscompeting rather than collaborating” –but the bullet points are mostly unrelatedto this urgent and pervasive need.Theypromise a cross-Governmental Ministerialgroup...hooray at the top, but what aboutthe sub-national and local level? I believe

collaboration needs leadership, and VEneeds the funds and authority to inspire afunctioning network in England.

2. Skills and Jobs...and apprenticeships: domore. Agreed.

3. De-Regulation: the last Governmentgot a list of 60 from an industry workinggroup but did almost nothing; why will itbe different this time?

4.Transport – consider tourists’needs...and air transport capacity.Yes.

5.Welcome – improve ...and visas to besimpler and cheaper.

Worthy so far as it goes, but selective.Something borrowed, something(Conservatively) blue, but too little that isinsightfully new – and not a plan of actionon what really matters, everywhere.

Ken Robinson CBE FTS MTMIChair,

Tourism Society Think Tank

Tourism Society Think Tank Comment

Travel and Tourism’s PolicyAgenda


Stephen D’Alfonso l Head of Public Affairs,ABTA

– The Travel Association

A busy time ahead As MPs head back to Westminster afterthe summer recess spent either in theirconstituencies or on holiday domesticallyand abroad, we can reflect on what Ibelieve to be an encouraging start for ourindustry under the new Government.

I was particularly delighted to see thePrime Minister, David Cameron, announcethe Government’s new tourism strategy‘Backing the Tourism Sector – A Five PointPlan’, on July 17th.

A Prime Ministerial announcement withinthe first 100 days of a new Governmentsends a very positive message about thevalue Government places on tourism as adriver of jobs and growth within the UK.

ABTA welcomes many of thecommitments made, especially aroundtransport infrastructure, the creation of anew inter-Ministerial group, and commonsense regulation. It will be the job of uswithin the industry to ensure thesepromises are kept over the life of thisParliament.

Tourism Society members may be awarethat, in preparation for a potential newGovernment and mindful of the key policydebates that lay ahead, ABTA ran a socialmedia-led engagement campaign with allcandidates ahead of the May GeneralElection.

#ValueTourism was designed to make arobust economic and employment casefor the UK’s vibrant mix of inbound,outbound and domestic travel andtourism businesses.

All candidates standing were engaged, withABTA contacting a further 500 candidatesdirectly.

Of these, over 100 candidates across theUK and from a cross-party backgroundsupported the campaign by email,Twitteror Facebook, and 31 tourism advocateswere elected to the House of Commonson May 7th.

Since May 8th, ABTA has continued in thisproactive manner, taking the positiveeconomic and employment message ofUK tourism directly to new and returningMPs in meetings in Westminster.

It is heartening that our message is beinglistened to, and understood.

ABTA has also been engaging in jointworking initiatives with other industry

bodies to communicate with key MPs fortravel and tourism policy matters, on across-party basis.

A key example of this latter approach wasseen in the industry’s work around theoutcome of the Airports Commission,which reported on July 1st, recommendinga third runway for Heathrow, and thusre-igniting one of the most contentiouspolitical debates in the UK.

On July 14th, ABTA, the AOA,TourismAlliance and UKinbound, held a lunchevent to promote our new joint report‘Tourism and Aviation’, highlighting theinterdependence and interconnectivitybetween these two vital UK industries.

The lunch was attended by a selection ofMPs, including the new Tourism Minister,Tracey Crouch, the Aviation Minister,Robert Goodwill, and their respectiveshadows from Labour.

The message conveyed from industry wasclear – the leisure market plays a vital rolein underpinning many key strategic airroutes to the UK and the needs of leisurepassengers must be a key consideration inthe forthcoming aviation capacity debate.

Elsewhere, in Europe, we also now havean agreement on the revision of the EU

Package Travel Directive.

This agreement will be rubber-stamped inthe autumn and, while the new Directivewill not be effective in the UK until spring2018, the UK Government is likely tolaunch the necessary consultations onchanges to UK laws later in this year.

For the industry, this will mean changes tothe Package Travel Regulations and AirTravel Organiser’s Licensing (ATOL)Scheme.

These changes will have a significantimpact on many travel agents and touroperators within the UK and it isimportant the industry is prepared toengage early in the revision process.

A new tourism strategy, a new runway,taxes under constant review, andimplementation of the EU’s revisedPackage Travel Directive represent only apart of what is a very busy agenda for oursector in Westminster, and Brussels.

I haven’t even found the space to writeabout Air Passenger Duty, where A FairTax on Flying continues to lead calls forfurther reductions,VAT campaigns or thereferendum on the UK’s future EUrelationship.The industry is certainly goingto be busy this autumn.

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Mark Tanzer (ABTA), Tracey Crouch MP and Deirdre Wells (UKinbound) atthe launch of ‘Tourism and Aviation’

8 [email protected]

Equality in Tourism


Will tourism recognise the contribution of women?It is an uncomfortable truth that thehospitality and tourism industry is notmuch interested in gender equality.

Where are the discussions taking placeoutside of academic, government-initiatedor union-sponsored research? Unless itbecomes a criminal offence to exploitwomen in the workplace, it is unlikely thesituation will change.

There is evidence aplenty of the generickind to show there is a very seriousproblem both at home and abroad,although much of it, such as the DavisReport of 2011, focuses on the dearth ofwomen in the boardroom and thebusiness advantages of having women atthe top table. Equality in Tourism – withour strapline of Creating Change forWomen – came into being to encourageand work with the industry to take up thechallenge of embedding gender equalitythroughout its business.

No business can claim to be sustainable ifwomen and men don’t have the samerights and opportunities.

But why is the discussion so blocked? I’mtold we have to give the industry time.There is zero direction from the tradeorganisations.

Gender equality questions are notintegrated into the certification processesof schemes such as Travelife or the GreenBusiness Scheme.

Having failed to get permission to quotefrom anyone relevant, I took the challengeto Gavin Bate, Director of AdventureAlternative and winner of the ResponsibleTourism Awards.

He identified the resistance to adoptinggender equality into the industry as “thesame as the climate change tipping pointwhich has been passed yet still businesses

won’t change their practices until theirclients demand it and it starts to affect thebottom line.

The debate washes around and it’s easy toignore.There is no pressure to changeeven though there’s a general moralconsensus on the need to change.

The same is true of sustainable tourism;no interest in adjusting a business model ifit is not affecting the bottom line. Businessis business.”

So what is it like down at thebottom of the chain?Hotel cleaners, housekeepers or roomattendants take pride in their work.

They want every guest to feel good aboutthe high standards they achieve but

working conditions make the workers’lives very hard.The Observer newspaperrecently exposed the sorry fact thatBritain’s hotel workers are bullied,underpaid and have few rights.

The report highlighted how exhaustedroom attendants are – they have to cleanincreasing numbers of rooms with noextra pay when they were alreadyunderpaid.

They have few rights. Joining a union isvery often not an option. It’s not surprisingthat union representation in the hospitalityindustry is amongst the lowest in thiscountry.

Recently published research reinforces thissituation.The University of Warwick’sScrubbing the Hotel Industry Clean:Removing ‘piecework’ for Housekeeperswithin Coventry, Leamington Spa,Warwickand Birmingham focuses on leading,internationally-known hotels in the areathat fail in general to meet basic standardsfor its workers.

Only 24% of the individual hotels engagedin good legal practice. 44% engage in badlegal practice and 32% have uncertain legalpractice.

Piecework payment mostly occurs bystealth with payment of the national

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‘Equality in Tourism is both a researchorganisation and a consultancy.We arecommitted to bringing about equality ofopportunity, of decision making, of pay andof working conditions throughout theindustry.’

minimum wage being conditional upon thenumber of rooms cleaned.The report isclear that unreasonable expectations areplaced on housekeepers – although it failsto mention that they are women(http://bit.ly/1OzaRIs).

So is it workers themselves that need totake part in collective action to bringabout change? In the UK it takes a bravehotel worker to join a union. “You needcourage to try to organise”, Ewa Jasiewicza part-time organiser supported by Unite,explained to me: “Housekeepers areatomized.

They’re on their own, room after room,with only half an hour for lunch.They’re ina vicious circle.The workers know theyare vulnerable and there is the fear factor.The turnover is high and there is littleexperience of collective action.” In NewYork visitors can consult a list of FairHotels and are exhorted to ‘Sleep withthe Right People’, as a result of unionactivity.

Equality in Tourism is both a researchorganisation and a consultancy.We arecommitted to bringing about equality ofopportunity, of decision making, of pay andof working conditions throughout theindustry.

The culture and practice of underminingwomen’s working rights permeatesthroughout, from top to bottom. Myfellow directors at Equality in Tourism,Daniela Moreno Alarcón and LucyFerguson, are quoted in Tom Baum’spenetrating report for the ILO Hotels,

Catering and Tourism division in 2013 thatstates that the gender pay gap reflectsongoing discrimination and inequalities.

The norm is a culture of genderstereotyping in the labour market andstructural, unquestioned institutionalbarriers that affect recruitment, retentionand board make-up.Within this is lack offlexibility and opportunity for employeesto manage their work and familycommitments. It is not only gender that isaffected by this but wider diversity.Weexplore this in depth in our report Sun,Sand and Ceilings (http://bit.ly/1DMfYiN).

The Office of National Statistics has beenvery helpful in providing a 2013 analysis oftourism jobs by gender – something thatis not automatically analysed.Womenmake up 58.2% of the workforce in theaccommodation sector and 52% in foodand beverage but only 39% ofmanagement and 33% of skilled trades.Some would argue that it could be worse,but then we don’t have an idea of wagesand working conditions. Perhaps DavidCameron’s push on transparency in wageswill help.

The status quo is exemplified by theBritish Hospitality Association’s chiefexecutive Ufi Ibrahim who tells us in theannual report that “the best way toprotect the future is shape it”.There is nomention of working conditions foremployees, or reference to anycommitment to gender equality. Such apity when ONS figures show that in 2009-2013 full-time employment grewcumulatively by 4.2%.

This is over double the 1.8% growthwithin UK non-tourism industries. Part-time employment grew cumulatively by6.8%, slightly above the 5.7% of UK non-tourism industries. In 2013, 22.4%(251,000) of part-timers reported theyhad no choice because they couldn’t findfull-time work. How helpful it would be tohave a gender breakdown.

Equality in Tourism wants to engage withpeople working in tourism and hospitalityto understand what the obstacles andopportunities are.The issues raised hereare a global problem.We will be holding asession at the World Travel Market toexplore them. Please join us.

We really don’t need to go over the well-known arguments again but we can worktowards erasing gender stereotyping in themarket and at work, and the institutionalbarriers this has created.We can promotebroader awareness of the business casefor gender equality.There are plenty ofexamples about how business can helpstaff to overcome the work and familydivide.We have to push for genderequality and diversity managementprinciples being the bottom line forbusiness.

Let’s work together to turn around GavinBates’ sorry belief “that there is no interestin adjusting a business model if it is notaffecting the bottom line.”We’d bedelighted to find ways forward with you.Or will business continue to be business?In the meantime, do look at Unite’sfacebook page: hotelworkersunite and atour website: www.equalityintourism.org.


Tricia Barnett l Director,

Equality in Tourism

Women hospitality workers with paintings by one of Unite's Polish housekeeping members depicting herexperiences in hotels

Gender equality means thatwomen and men have equalconditions for realising their fullhuman rights and for contributingto, and benefiting from, economic,social, cultural and politicaldevelopment.

Gender equality is therefore theequal valuing by society of thesimilarities and the differences ofmen and women, and the rolesthey play.It is based on women and menbeing full partners in their home,

their community and their society.

Gender equality starts with equalvaluing of girls and boys.

(Source:ABC of Women Worker’sRights and Gender Equality, ILO,Geneva, 2000)

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Within the highly competitive tourismindustry it is acknowledged that consumerloyalty is difficult to capture. Ourcustomers are renowned for theirfickleness and lack of commitment totourism providers and prefer one-offcasual flings rather than long-termrelationships.

The benefits of a loyal customer-base areclearly understood by destination andattraction managers but successfulstrategies for building these partnershipsare often difficult to identify.While it isrecognised that loyal customers are veryvaluable to the sector strategies to keeptourists visiting (and spending!) are oftenconsidered too difficult and awkward toimplement.

Research has highlighted that many venuesand destinations offer annual passes, whichencourage repeat patronage but areunlikely to install the emotionalconnections essential to loyalty.

Investigations at the Portsmouth HistoricDockyard (PHD) analysed their tourismloyalty scheme and highlighted keyrecommendations to help create moremeaningful customer relationships andimprove retention.

The PHD is a naval heritage siteencompassing major attractions includingthe Mary Rose Museums, HMS Victoryand HMS Warrior 1860.The venue, whichreceived over 740,000 visitors in 2014,also provides an extensive education andconference programme.The loyalty passscheme offered a two-tiered product –Admiral and Captain boarding passes bothprovided unlimited entry to theattractions; however, the higher-pricedAdmiral pass also included free evententry.

The MSc project aimed to examinerelationship management within tourismloyalty cards and to suggest ways toestablish increased loyalty between thevenue and its members.

Tourism theory highlights that to improveloyalty venues must give customersattention and make them feel valued. Inaddition, the successful use of technologyis essential to build a committed following.This can be through online purchasesystems or social media interactions. In the

research over 800 respondents werecontacted through online and postalquestionnaires.The survey collected avariety of data but the most relevant weremembership duration, the reasons for passpurchase, how members felt about theproduct, what improvements they wouldlike to see, if they felt loyalty to thescheme and whether they wouldrecommend the programme.

The key findings included:

� Over a third of respondents hadbelonged to the scheme for more than 8years

� The main reason for purchasing themembership was value for money andattraction variety

� Over 95% thought the Dockyardprovided excellent customer service

� Over 80% agreed they were valued asa customer

� Fast-track entry and more exclusivemember-only events were the mostvalued potential improvements

� 87% felt brand loyalty towards thescheme. Brand loyalty was identified as a

product which is high quality and value formoney

� All would recommend the scheme to afriend or relative.

The research showed that to helpimprove loyalty several strategies can beutilised. Managers must focus on providinga high quality and value for moneyproduct. Customer service must beoutstanding and where possiblepersonalised for scheme members.Feedback should be encouraged toincrease dialogue and allow customers tobecome involved with the programme.

Furthermore to help loyalty schemesmaximise revenue three separateapproaches should be considered:

� To increase spending:Target profitablesegment, develop more revenuegenerating member-only events, improverevenue tracking and improve retailopportunities through transactionalwebsites.

� To improve renewal rates: Offerdiscounted rates (trial period), investigatereasons for not renewing, promote valuefor money through membership literature.

� To widen membership: Develop socialmedia presence, launch price comparisonand/or price per day, target new visitorsegment, establish non-memberknowledge of the scheme and purchaseinterest.

In December 2014 the PHD was takenover by the National Museum of the RoyalNavy and the programme is currentlyunder review. Future plans includeappealing to a wider market-base, newticketing approaches, an improved CRMsystem and additional payment methods.

Bill Sainsbury, Customer RelationshipsManager at the National Museum of theRoyal Navy, said: “These are exciting timesfor us with opportunities for buildingrelationships with our visitors to sustaingrowth.”

It is proposed that all destination andattraction managers should considerwhether they are content with a quickfling or if their venues would benefit frommore committed customer relationshipsand investigate the potential of a loyaltyscheme.

10 [email protected]

Customer Loyalty


Strategies to help create longer-term relationships

HMS Warrior, Portsmouth HistoricDockyard

Liz Sharples l Teaching Fellow,University of Portsmouth


Destination Slogans


Silver bullet or meaningless puff?Virginia “is For Lovers”, Egypt is “Where it AllBegins”, and Dubai is “Definitely Dubai”. Buthow much impact do destination sloganstruly have?

Adding ValueToo often the plaything of marketingagencies (at the DMO client’s expense),destination slogans invariably fail to hit themark and add little to what mightotherwise be a brilliant brand.

How much money has been wasted withcreative agencies generating mediocre callsto action in insipid slogans? Slogans, likelogos, should be an expression of thedestination brand. So, ideally, they shouldaim to be a ‘forever thing’ defining thedestination, or at least designed to last forlonger than this year’s marketing campaign.

Otherwise they are eminently forgettableand add as much value to the destinationas sugar to tea – something that is notnecessarily an enhancement and you areprobably better without.

Memorable and ImpactfulSlogans are great when they are inspired,convey a destination’s appeals succinctly ina way that evokes the essence of theplace, and could be nowhere else. It helpstoo if they say something new to you andsay it in a way that grabs you, makes yousmile and think “yeah, that’s nicely put”.

A slogan needs to be impactful,memorable and contain one strong idea,such as Egypt’s “Where it All Begins”, CostaRica’s former “No Artificial Ingredients” andeven Texas’s “It’s Like a Whole OtherCountry”, whose folksy tone succinctlyconveys both the character and the size ofthe state…..or New Zealand, a countrythat seldom puts a foot wrong in tourismmarketing, whose killer slogan “100% Pure”manages simultaneously to be both sloganand logo and evoke not just the country’sscenic beauty but also the quality of itsnatural produce.

Great SlogansApart from New Zealand, there havebeen few killer slogans in the history oftourism branding.

“Ireland – the Ancient Birthplace of GreatTimes”, which was used several years agofor incentive campaigns in the USA, getsmy vote for cleverly juxtaposing two ofIreland’s strongest brand values – heritageand fun – and claiming a unique space asthe inventor of the craic. Croatia has sadlyhad to retire “The Mediterranean as it OnceWas”, as it has become just as congestedand expensive as the rest of the Med.Similarly Costa Rica’s bold, if not entirelysubstantiated, “No Artificial Ingredients” hasbeen dumped in favour of a could-be-anywhere “Essential Costa Rica”.

Changing PerceptionsSometimes slogans can have a less-than-forever life, if there’s long-held perceptionproblem to address – usually in a marketthat is relatively familiar with the country.

Mexico, which had become a jaded ‘been-there-done-that’ place for manyAmericans, introduced a new slogan a fewyears ago in the USA to challenge thiscomplacency and refresh its appeal:“Mexico – The Place You Thought You Knew”.

But, for sheer courage in tackling prejudiceand fear about visiting the country head-on, it is hard to beat Colombia’s nowdiscarded “The Only Risk is Wanting toStay”. Although this could only ever havebeen temporary to get over the crisis ofconsumer confidence in previouslyviolence-and corruption-ridden Colombia,its new Gabriel Garcia Marquez-inspiredslogan of “Magical Realism” falls short of itsbrave former, no-prisoners, in-your-faceslogan.

PitfallsBut mostly destination slogans failspectacularly.

The risk is that a destination looksamateurish and hick if it tries too hard andfails to come up with a compelling slogan,in which case no slogan at all is betterthan an embarrassingly lame one thatpatronises readers – and, moredisquietingly, residents.

If it doesn’t paint a visual picture, it’s a dog.But it’s not easy.

Unearthing a destination’s brand values isonly one step on the ladder; translatingthem into a slogan that’s original,distinctive, succinct and compelling is aHerculean task.

You can just imagine the marketing teampouring over a SWOT analysis and comingup with Belarus’s “Hospitality BeyondBorders” or Bulgaria’s “Unique in itsDiversity” – both well-meaning butuninspiring.

Similarly, you can see what Zambia’saiming at with “Let’s Explore” and Canadawith “Keep Exploring”, even if your innerIndiana Jones does just that and keeps ontruckin’ to somewhere moreundiscovered.

Worse still, slogans should never be directtranslations of the original.

What might work in one language isalmost certain to come across as clunky inanother. Quebec may have been “ProvidingEmotions since 1534”, but does this turnyou on?

Use Your Stand-Out AssetsIf you can’t come up with the Holy Grailof a killer, emotionally evocative slogan, it’sbest to use a descriptive one that anchorsthe place in a single powerful idea, whichat least paints a picture of yourdestination, ideally based around a uniquerecognisable icon if you are lucky enoughto have one, such as Peru’s former “Landof the Incas”, Innsbruck’s “Capital of theAlps”, or Tanzania’s “Land of Kilimanjaro,Zanzibar and the Serengeti”.

Or be bold and claim the space, as long asyou can back it up, like “Angus – Scotland’sBirthplace”.

Conclusion: Keep It RealAs with all branding, consistency andlongevity, which require both sustainedmanagement will and a significant budget,are essential. 52% of Americansinterviewed1 recognised that Virginia is

indeed “for Lovers”.

But perhaps that’s no surprise, as the statehas been running this slogan for 46 yearssince 1969.

“Incredible India” and “Malaysia – Truly Asia”may not in themselves be visuallyevocative, but the investment ploughedinto them over the years, associated witha jingle that lodges in your brain like acheesy pop riff, has paid off.

Finally, a warning: if you feel the urge torebrand, think carefully about how muchbrand equity has been built up over theyears and don’t be tempted to change forchange’s sake.

I was once asked by a client how long anNTO logo usually lasts, to which I repliedwithout hesitation “the tenure of oneCEO”.

Changing logos and slogans can create anillusion of movement, just like a go-fasterstripe on a Toyota.

But think carefully before you squanderyour inheritance.

And, if it isn’t underpinned by substance,like the government reforms thatunderpinned Colombia’s “Only risk”campaign, then it’s no more thanmeaningless marketing puff.

And, worse still, people will see throughyou in an instant and tell their hundreds ofdigital friends you’re a fraud.

So, it’s worth bearing in mind Jeff Bezos’s(CEO Amazon.com) observation:

“If you make customers unhappy in thephysical world, they might each tell 6 friends.

“If you make customers unhappy on theinternet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.”

In other words, get your brand right, try tofind a meaningful slogan that succinctlyreflects what you’ve got, stick with it, andtreat consumers as potential visitors whowant to be inspired and informed, notpatronised.

Oh, and take heed from Hong Kong’sunfortunate timing, whose slogan at theoutbreak of the severe acute respiratorydisease (SARS) epidemic in 2003 was“Hong Kong Will Take Your Breath Away”.

So, make sure it’s credible!

1 http://bit.ly/1KWb4a5


Tom Buncle FTS FTMI l Managing Director,

Yellow Railroad

100% pure landscape in New Zealand’s fiordland

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Climate Change and HeritageTourism


Placing the National Trust on the climate change map

This article begins with a brief backgroundon the science and politics of climatechange and tourism research over the past30 years on this phenomenon.

These events provided the background toa recently completed research degree inwhich, using the National Trust as a lens, Iexplored the contribution of climatechange policy to sustainable heritagetourism.

A glimpse into my research is provided,concluding that the charity has respondedcomprehensively to climate change butthat visitor travel by car continues toundermine its sustainability credentials.

Climate change is a natural phenomenonas old as the planet itself, evidenced byproxy indicators of climate-relatedvariables such as ice cores containing CO2levels, sand dunes and ocean sedimentcores. Satellite imagery can now monitorchanges taking place at the polar caps.

Much of the polemic on global warminghas centred on climate change scepticsquestioning the veracity of the science andthe extent to which the planet’saccelerated warming can be attributed tohuman activities (principallyindustrialisation since c.1750).

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

Change (IPCC) in its fifth assessmentreport (AR5) of 2014 stated: ‘Warming ofthe climate system is unequivocal, andsince the 1950s many of the observedchanges are unprecedented over decadesto millennia … Human influence on theclimate system is clear, and recentanthropogenic emissions of greenhousegases are the highest in history’1. Currentlywe are living in an inter-glacial period, witha natural warming-up process, but onethat has been accelerated byunprecedented concentrations ofgreenhouse gases (GHGs).The UnitedNations Framework Convention forClimate Change’s (UNFCCC) annualsummit of 2010 held in Cançun in Mexicoconcluded that warming of the globe bymore than two degrees Celsius by the endof this century would be unacceptablydangerous because exceeding thisthreshold would lead to irreversiblechanges such as melting the polar icesheets and release of latent CO2.

The late-1980s saw the establishment ofinternational sustainable developmentgoals (Brundtland Report of 1987) as wellas the creation of the IPCC and theUNFCCC, the latter staging the annualclimate change summits known asConference of Parties (COPs). Against this

background of international developmentsand the politicisation of climate change,the UK established a sustainabledevelopment strategy in the early 1990sand participated in the Kyoto Protocol; theNational Trust too, developed its responseto climate change at this time.

Hitherto associated with destinationplanning2 or marketing3, my researchinterpreted sustainable heritage tourism asa convergence of heritage tourism andsustainable tourism: the former describedas the oldest form of tourism4 which, forGB in 20145, accounted for approximately475 million visits (indoor and outdoor)generating £10 billion expenditure; andthe latter, a concept, arguably now aparadigm that emerged from sustainabledevelopment in the early 1990s.Tourismresearch into climate change ischaracteristically international, beginningwith impact studies in the mid-1980s andsince 2000 focusing more on travelbehaviour and the quantification of carbonemissions across the diverse sectors oftourism; the notion of responsible tourismhas also emerged. In the Tourism Society’sown quarterly publication, contributorshave already discussed, for example, therealities of a green future for travel (TriciaBarnett, Issue 142); responsible skiing

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(Veronica Tonge, Issue 149); andsustainable development, green growthand travelism (Geoffrey Lipman, Issue154).

I decided instead to research into land-locked tourism locally in the Midlandswhere the National Trust is a majorprovider of heritage tourism experiencesalongside its core purpose of conservationof places of historic and natural beauty.UK-wide, an estimated 239 million visitswere made to the charity’s sites during2013/146. My research7 explored how thecharity developed its climate change policythrough which its approach to sustainableheritage tourism could be appraised.

Although the Trust’s Enterprise Neptune,launched in 1965, was a campaign toprotect 900 miles of the UK’s unspoiltcoastline from what the charity deemedto be inappropriate post-war planning anddevelopment, it can be viewed as aprecursor to the Trust’s adaptationmeasures to combat climate change in theface of coastal erosion and rising sealevels. Fifty years later, tackling climatechange has become part of the Neptunestory. Conservation implies a degree ofmanagement and adaptation in addition tothe purer process of preservation, part ofthe Trust’s statutory responsibilities since itwas founded in 1895.

References to climate change appeared inthe charity’s public domain in the early1990s, a period that saw the Trust adoptthe principles of sustainable development.Its first press release on climate changeappeared in 1998 and by 2005, a formalstatement of intent had been published.

This resembles a centralised approach tomitigation (reducing dependence on fossilfuels); adaption (minimising risks to itsproperties); and a commitment to raisingawareness on the issue and influencingpeople’s behaviour (much of my fieldwork

explored this aspect).

Since 2010, the charity has implemented adecentralised approach to themanagement of its properties, enablingmanagers to develop various initiativesand adapt to climate change (notablyextreme weather events) tailored to localconditions and priorities. However, allproperties are required to meetcentralised energy reduction targets, whichcan sometimes conflict with the perpetualgoal to increase visitor numbers.

Currently, the Trust’s headline target for itsenergy policy is for the charity to be using50% of its energy from renewable sourcesby 2020 (‘getting off oil’). In 2013, theBoard of Trustees approved an investmentof £35.5 million into renewable energysources, projected to achieve anacceptable rate of return and save anestimated 2,500 tonnes of CO2 perannum.

The charity’s mitigation measures inresponse to climate change have graduallymaterialised as its energy policy.

My research concluded that although theNational Trust can be given credit forimplementing a raft of adaptation andmitigation initiatives to protect itsproperties and reduce its carbonfootprint, as well as participating in publicpolicy debate and collaborating with like-minded environmental NGOs onenvironmental issues such as climatechange, visitor dependency on the privatecar to reach what are mainly rurallocations belonging to the Trust remainsthe charity’s Achilles heel in terms ofsustainable heritage tourism.

This has been a thorny issue for thecharity since its vigorous transport debatein the early 1990s – and has been carriedforward into the context of climatechange.The Trust’s conservation workrelies on visitor revenues and commercialactivities derived from visits to properties

whose activities of late are creepingtowards the post-modern touristexperience.

For the charity to raise awareness ofclimate change issues and encouragebehavioural change alongside its essentialcommercial activities is a challenge facedby the wider tourism industry.

The National Trust will continue to offermuch material for the sustainable tourismagenda both for tourism practitioners,commentators and academics.

References1. Climate Change 2014 Synthesis Report:Headline statements from the Summaryfor Policymakers.http://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5syr/

2. Du Cros (2001) A new Model to Assistin Planning for Sustainable CulturalHeritage Tourism, International Journal ofTourism Research, 3: 165-170.

3. Donohoe, H. (2012) Sustainableheritage tourism marketing and Canada’sRideau Canal world heritage site, Journal ofSustainable Heritage Tourism, 20, (1): 121-142.

Marschall, S. (2012) Sustainable heritagetourism: the Inanda heritage Route andthe 2010 FIFA World Cup, Journal ofSustainable Tourism, 20, (5): 721-736.

4. Timothy, Dallen J. & Boyd, Stephen W.(2006) Heritage Tourism in the 21stCentury:Valued Traditions and NewPerspectives, Journal of Heritage Tourism, 1,(1): 1-16.

5.Visit England,Visit Scotland & Visit Wales(2015) The GB Day Visitor Statistics 2014.

6. Annual Report 2013/14,The NationalTrust.

7. Floy, J. (2015) Sustainable HeritageTourism, Climate Change and The NationalTrust, PhD thesis, University ofBirmingham.


Dr John Floy l Lecturer,

University College Birmingham

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A solar-powered ticket machine inthe car park at Sheringham Park,Norfolk


Community-Based Tours


Broadening the catchment of tourism stakeholdersThe development of tourism over the pastfifty years has had social as well aseconomic impacts on communities,societies and countries.

The UNWTO has described this ‘industry’as: “A social, cultural and economicphenomenon which entails the movementof people to countries or places outsidetheir usual environment for personal orbusiness/professional purposes.” But thequestion is: Is tourism simply another cashcow for a destination?

Admittedly, we have come to depend onthe quantitative indicators for tourismsuccess: the number of tourists visiting asite or destination in a given period, thenumber of bednights and revenue spentby the tourist and the seasonal distributionfor tourism.

But we are forgetting one importantfactor here – tourism is not just anindustry where production and profits canbe measured simply by output. It is abouthospitality, about service and about amore overarching concept; it is aboutpeople. The socio-cultural impacts of theactivity on a host and visitor communityare what will really create that experiencefor tourists today.

MacCannell (1976) first coined the term“Authentic and Inauthentic” for thoseexperiences which the tourist canconsider in the selection of destinations asoffering worthwhile and value-addedsojourns.

Of course, these selections are not simplybased on the financial issues – the valuefor money – but on those aspects of howmuch the tourist felt entertained and, to alarge extent, how much they integratedwith the community and society. In hisbook The Ethics of Sightseeing (2010),Maccannell speaks of the “other” as thatdestination where the tourist feels thatthis is the “place as symbolic shelter forevery tourist desire, the ultimatedestination”.

Five years ago, during my time as Director(Tourism) with the Ministry for Tourism,Culture and the Environment in Malta, andas part of my doctoral research, I wasinstrumental in the development of aninitiative that could add value to thetourist experience and diversify the

market for Malta and Gozo from themainstream, leisure market during thesummer months to a more socio-culturalapproach for the shoulder months.

The initiative was called ‘Discovering Maltaand Gozo through its People and Culture’.

It was successful in getting some fifteenlocal councils in non-traditional touristareas to prepare an itinerary and touristmap intended for the individual tourist. In2014, this initiative took on a broaderscope; from a project to developitineraries for the individual visitor whochooses to build his or her own travelprogramme, the project became one thatpromoted the idea of a community-basedtourism experience working within theInstitute for Travel,Tourism and Culture atthe University of Malta.

Over these last months, together with anumber of students from Spain, Italy andthe UK, we have managed to create thefirst pilot Community-Based Tour. Sincethere is no definition for the Community-Based Tour in literature this is theinterpretation for this phenomenon:

A community-based tour defines that

opportunity for a visitor to participate in asocio-cultural experience through director indirect interaction with the hostcommunity; getting a clear understandingof the history, stories and legends aboutthe localities visited from the hostcommunity; savouring the local food andbeverage specialities; participating in thetraditional and folkloristic activities – all ofwhich are organised, primarily, by the localcommunity for their own education andentertainment.

Community-based tours offer anopportunity for more stakeholders toenter the tourism field, in those areas thathad never been considered as touristareas.

The case study that I will describe nowconcerning the concept of thecommunity-based tour was instrumental ingetting local councils to work togetherwith the main objective to promote theirlocalities for visitors – domestic as well asforeign.

The pilot tours are different from themore popular, sightseeing tour, since theyfocus on ‘meeting the people’ rather than

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simply ‘seeing the places’.

The very fact that this concept was tocreate a new function for the localcouncils as well as a number of newstakeholders meant that there needed tobe discussions and dialogue about theprogramme, logistics and actual scope forthe tours.

Such projects, that involve a community,should ‘belong’ to that community; itshould be their responsibility to feelcommitted, to develop a trust between allstakeholders. Commitment should notbelong to one person but needs to be acollective factor and this can be done ifthere is consistent and continuousconsultation which is meaningful and doesnot simply satisfy any PR and politicalrequirements.

Each project should have its ‘champion’who drives the scope and objectiveforward and engages his or her colleaguesto ensure its continuation and success.Trust is a factor that can be inculcatedthroughout the process of consultationbetween all stakeholders and thefacilitator, but trust depends on two keyissues: honesty and synergy.

Without the three factors of commitment,trust and synergy any project forcommunity-based tourism may dissolveinto obscurity. One final important factoris the consistency of momentum – do notallow the stakeholders to dissolve into astate of fatigue’ or apathy.

A well-structured agenda and action-focused plan would be imperative.Thenext stage should include a full list of theassets and attractions which the localitypossesses; it is important that thisinformation comes from the local councilas the primary owner of the visitorpromotion programme.

The sense of ownership should not bebased simply on the economic returns butmust be developed around the sense ofbelonging which needs to be instilled in

every local resident within the community.The collation of the itinerary for theselocalities was developed through the localcouncil together with a number of localresidents who have an interest andknowledge about the locality itself.Thismethod will certainly be inclusive andcreate that sense of ownership and pridefor the local resident; it will also mean thatthe assets and sites may not only be theiconic areas within the locality but, as well,those assets and sites that are only ‘locally’known and can offer an alternative andunique attraction for the visitor.

Once the itineraries are completed, thescope is to promote these for that visitorwho is looking for a different experience,the visitor who may already have been tothe destination and experienced the mainiconic attractions.

There needs to be personal interactionand pride in those whose role it is towelcome the visitor (preferably, thesepeople should receive some form of

remuneration for their commitment andknowledge) to the locality.This is not atour based on seeing the places alone butin meeting the locals, listening to thestories, legends and histories.

The process of community-based tours inMalta and Gozo is still a work-in-progress;there are plans to manage the success andprogress of the tours and the community-based tourism experience in a qualitativemanner focusing on the social,environmental, cultural and economicfactors that impact the local hostcommunity as well as the visitors.

Hopefully, we will be able to bring you thefirst results for this project in the comingmonths.The first pilot tours have beendeveloped and are now ready forpromotion on a test basis between threetypical villages just on the periphery of theinternational airport on the island.

There is talk about the implementationand process of a sustainable andresponsible tourism activity; there areattempts to identify these processes andtry to implement them; indubitably, weoften fail.

The main reason for this tends to be thefact that we look on the activity as aneconomic industry and we focus, primarily,on reaching certain targets – so manybednights, so much occupancy, so muchrevenue.We benchmark our results bycomparing to the annual results from theprevious year.

The irony of such reporting is that we arelooking at the tourism activity in itsnarrowest form – as it affects thehospitality and travel sector.

By adopting a process for implementing abroader community-based activity andmeasuring its success in qualitative termswe will offer a better level of hospitalityand service for the visitor ; the host-visitorinteraction can be more meaningful andauthentic and, what is more, the economicbenefits will reach more stakeholders andoffer better incentives.


Julian C. Zarb FTS l Resident Visiting Lecturer,

Institute for Travel,Tourism and Culture,

University of Malta

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Ask anyone whom they consider to bethe grandfather of the British music festivaland one name will feature above all theothers: Michael Eavis.

Listed as one of the 100 most influentialpeople in the world by Time magazine, hestood for Parliament in 1997 as Labourcandidate for Wells, where he polled over10,000 votes, and was awarded a CBE in2009. In February this year he picked upthe Outstanding Contribution award atthe South West Tourism Awards. Not badfor a dairy farmer.

Eavis put the first Glastonbury Festivaltogether (then known as the Pilton PopFestival) on an impulse after attending theBath Festival in 1970. From a modest 1500attendees at that first one, the event isnow the world's largest green-field openair festival, featuring over 1500performances across more than 100stages during five days in June each year.Total attendance, including staff andperformers, is 177,000.

As far as its contribution to the localeconomy goes, Eavis claims the festivalbrings £100m to the economy ofSomerset every year.The secret to hissuccess, he says, is to “Start very small andbuild up a reputation of trust and honestythrough the years. Give really good value,and don’t rip people off!”The event itselfhe recently described as “44 years ofsemi-controlled chaos”.

The festival-going public’s expectationshave changed over the years, both interms of levels of comfort available andtechnologically. “It’s taken 45 years to getwhere we are now,” says Eavis. “Every year

gets more techy and sound qualityimproves – visual screens are improving allthe time too.Television has helpedpromote the show all over the world.”Thefestival works with the BBC as its mediapartner, featuring in over 30 hours of livebroadcast on BBC2 and BBC4, as well asextensive coverage on radio and online.

Bringing so many visitors to a rurallocation for just a few days can strainrelations with local residents. According toEavis, “The important thing is to engageand if possible, employ as many localpeople and businesses as possible.”Volunteers also help the festival runsmoothly and help the site return to itsformer condition once the last visitor hasreturned home.Two Tourism Societymembers are regular helpers:

Blanche Fitzgerald MTS has been anOxfam campaigner, Oxfam steward and amember of the Recycling team.

Describing her experience, she writes:“The six-hour shifts were sometimesgruelling, especially if you were put on anearly shift (6am-midday), waking with thethought that only large swathes of sticky,wet mud await you.The scale of thefestival became increasingly apparentwhilst recycling and seeing just how manypeople it took to rid an area of all of itsrubbish. On completing an area one felt ahuge sense of satisfaction and relief. 1,300volunteers form the Recycling Crew and itis estimated that in 2014, 983 tonnes ofwaste were recycled or diverted from

landfill.”

The benefits of volunteering are not loston her. “I’d highly recommend it,” she says.“With the advantage of clean facilities, freemeal vouchers and a roomy campsite,who could say no?”

Robin Barker FTS FTMI finds a few dayseach year at Glastonbury to be theequivalent of an annual sabbatical toreflect on humanity, your work-life balance,and – remarkably – to catch up on sleep!

For around 10 years he has worked as astage fire-steward, which means access tobackstage bars, secure camping and –importantly – showers.

The event has become an annual reunionwith a different circle of friends and family,often holding conversations that simplydon’t take place elsewhere. He highlightsthe opportunities for people-watching:

“They are the friendliest bunch imaginable– you can start up a conversation withjust about anyone.

There’s also of course the music – somegreat, some dire – and a huge assortmentof other activities to keep me occupied. I,for one, plan to keep on going for as longas I can.”

And what of the future? Eavis is showingno signs of stepping back from theorganisation. His daughter Emily has growninto the job of helping him with thefestival, but he is not handing things overjust yet. “In the long-term, when I’m‘clapped out’, she’ll take on the reins!”


Festival Focus I


Glastonbury

Glastonbury Pyramid Stage

Gregory Yeoman FTS l Executive Director,The Tourism Society

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Festival Focus II


Joss Croft MTS l Marketing Director,

VisitBritain

It’s only rock and roll but our international touristslove it Music is a truly global language that hasthe ability to bring together millions ofpeople sharing an unbridled passion.

Or one thousand people, in the case ofthe Rockin’1,000 from Cesena, Italy: agroup of devoted Foo Fighter fans in afield serenading their heroes with a uniqueperformance of the hit song ‘Learn to Fly’.In response, the band has agreed to play aconcert in Cesena.

If you haven’t seen the video yet, check itout: www.rockin1000.com. It makes forinspirational viewing.

But back to Britain – a mecca for musiclovers the world over. Britain’s musicalheritage is legendary and our live musicscene has valuable international pullingpower.

Overseas music fans are increasinglytravelling to see their favourite bandsperform live at Britain's festivals andconcerts, driving wealth into localeconomies across the UK.

Festivals like Glastonbury – arguably theworld’s most famous music festival – holdiconic status on the world music scene.Tickets to Glastonbury this year sold outin 25 minutes.

We’ve also got T in The Park in Scotland,the Isle of Wight Festival, the Green ManFestival in Wales’ beautiful BreconBeacons, and of course,The Proms inLondon – to name but a few.

VisitBritain capitalises on this passion forBritish music in our work promoting thecountry as a tourism destination aroundthe world.

We use music as one of our keymarketing themes in the GREAT campaignalongside Culture, Heritage, Sport,Countryside, Food, Shopping, Luxury, Loveand Adventure.

Earlier this year VisitBritain staged a#BritainRocks musical takeover across oursocial media channels to create buzz andconversation amongst our overseasaudiences on the upcoming festival seasonin Britain by showcasing Britain’s iconicmusic heritage.

The results showed an increase inengagement across our digital channelsand very positive sentiment from our

overseas audiences, expressing a desire tocome and experience our live music scenefirst-hand.

The vast economic contribution ofinternational music tourism to Britain hasbeen recently quantified in UK Music’sannual report Wish You Were Here 2015(www.ukmusic.org/research/music-tourism-wish-you-were-here-2015).

According to the report, 546,000 overseasmusic tourists visited the UK in 2014 toattend music events – a dramatic 39%increase since 2011.These tourists spendan average of £751 per visit, which goesdirectly to UK businesses.

When you break it down by Britain’snations and regions it’s an impressivepicture:

This increase in music tourism provides ahuge boost to employment throughoutthe country, with 38,238 full time jobs inthis sector in 2014.

Because it’s not just the concerts thatbring in money – there are the extra costsof food and drink, accommodation, taxis,charging phones and merchandise, tomention but a few.

And the businesses that provide theseservices employ local staff.

Tourism is Britain’s seventh largest exportindustry and currently worth £24billion tothe country’s economy.

Britain’s booming festival business is one ofour most acclaimed and profitable globalexport assets.

When you put them together, it is clearthat music and tourism are powerfuldrivers for growth.

Britain’s music scene also helps with howvisitors perceive our country – as amodern, exciting and cosmopolitan placeto visit. Not to mention motivating Britain-wide travel, getting international visitorsexploring different parts of the country,providing a massive boost to our nations,regions and local economies.

VisitBritain’s ambition is to attract 40million overseas visitors by 2020.

We want to capitalise on the power ofBritish music to help reach that goal andhave plans to develop and extend theMusic is GREAT component ofVisitBritain’s successful campaigns.

By ramping up our activity and forgingbetter relationships with festival organisers,promoters, venues and producers we canboost music tourism growth together.

Region Biggest festivalin the region

Total direct &indirect spendgenerated bymusic tourism inthe region

Average spendper internationalvisitor

East of EnglandSouth WestScotlandLondonWales

LatitudeGlastonburyT in the ParkWirelessGreen Man

£273million£221million£155million£148million£69million

£983£980£922£860£920

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Business ImprovementDistricts


Giles Semper, Director and Becky Chantry,

Project Coordinator l The means

A role in destination marketingBusiness Improvement Districts (BIDs)have been in existence in the UK since2004.

To date there are 210. BIDs are businessled, owned and funded companies,dedicated to raising the quality andperformance of a commercial location.

The average BID has an income of£363,000p.a and money generated is usedto fund place-specific projects.

BIDs are well-known for their role in‘placemaking’, with BID signage andcollateral a familiar part of many town andcity quarters. However, place marketingand events are a crucial and growingaspect of BID programmes.

The means was invited to partner withLandor’s Group Travel Organiser magazineto run an event in London, designed toshare best practice and introduce BIDs asa viable component of regional andnational destination marketing.

In advance of this,The means conducted asurvey of 31 BIDs, aimed at determiningthe extent of their destination marketingactivities. All responded that they arespending money on promoting their place,with 72% committing 10-30% of theirannual budget.The survey suggests thatBIDs tend to bring a ‘broad brush’approach to destination marketing,targeting a range of audiences. But whenasked to be more specific about primetargets their confidence appeared to belower with national, international touristsand business tourists.

73% of BIDs say that there are otherorganisations that take responsibility fordestination marketing in their place and68% of BIDs identify that they work inpartnership. Our experience bears thisout – that BIDs, with relatively lowbudgets, are always seeking opportunitiesto work collaboratively. However, when

asked what barriers they hadencountered, many focused on thedifficulties faced in forming successfulpartnerships – with national and regionalbodies. It was suggested that, in a regionalcontext, partnerships are often ‘bossed’ bylarger destinations. Buy-in can beexpensive and competition exists betweenBIDs, Destination ManagementOrganisations (DMOs) and others forfunding. Some BIDs expressed the viewthat DMOs and other local/regionalbodies tend to ‘protect their turf ’ whilefrequently struggling for viabilitythemselves.

With respect to national bodies such asVisitEngland, BIDs expressed the view thatthey tend to seek relationships withDMOs rather than with BIDs.This has theeffect of excluding BIDs from potentiallybeneficial national marketing programmes.

Several BIDs also shared views on LocalEnterprise Partnerships (LEPs), of whichtourism is often identified as a growthpoint. However, they tend to focus onother priorities – perhaps where larger

capital is available.There is scope for LEPsto have more involvement, with BIDsperhaps helping them to deliverprogrammes.

A general feeling emerged that themarketing tools being used by all agenciesare behind the times.There is a need tomove beyond print media to embrace thepossibilities offered by digital platformsand social media. At the end of our ‘LocalTourism & the Visitor Economy’conference paper we asked how thefuture might look.

We asked whether each place would nowhave a BID with tourism or a DMO or aLEP or a Local Authority tourism officer?Or would each place have one of each?

This scenario appears disastrous. Howevera case study from New Zealand suggestedthat the ‘federal’ approach can work, aslong as there is a high degree of co-ordination.

This has the potential to be achievedthrough effective strategies that identifycommon aims and objectives and howthese will be delivered.

Shrewsbury BID Year 1 Destination marketing programmeMarketing is a major focus forShrewsbury BID, spending half of itsincome on this priority.

The first year has seen the BID cementitself as the new brand builder for thetown centre, which is being usedsuccessfully to promote Shrewsbury as

an ‘original and one-off ’ place to live,work and visit.The campaign has built astrong online presence with the launch oforiginalshrewsbury.co.uk and twoseasonal video productions whichgenerated more than 49,000 hits onYouTube.

A targeted PR strategy produced nationalpress coverage and profile-raising featssuch as flower bombing and a love lockstunt became a social media sensation.More than £175,000 worth of PR andmarketing had been delivered,representing a sound return oninvestment for Shrewsbury BID.

Shrewsbury BID’s love locks promotion – a hit on social media


An interview with...


Bernard Donoghue FTSThe Tourism Alliance was established in2002 following the recognition of a lack ofcoordination between Government andthe industry over the impact of theprevious year’s Foot and Mouth outbreakon tourism.Thirteen years after attendingits second meeting, Bernard DonoghueFTS is now its Chairman. He is also theDirector of the Association of LeadingVisitor Attractions (ALVA) as well as beinginvolved as chairman or trustee in a longlist of other important organisations.Witha foot in the political door, he has seentourism’s profile grow significantly amongthose who make the policies… but thereis still much to do. Gregory Yeoman spoketo him.

GY:What was your first tourism-related job and how did it comeabout?BD: My first role was working for the thenBritish Tourist Authority and English TouristBoard in 1997. I was appointedGovernment and Parliamentary Affairsmanager – the first time the boards hadsuch a role – managing our relationshipswith and accountability to Parliament,DCMS and wider government.The rolesoon expanded to liaise with the broadertourism industry on policy issues and I’vebeen working in that field ever since.Having not worked in tourism before itwas fascinating to find such aneconomically and socially important sectorwith such a relatively low political profile.

GY:Tourism businesses in the UKhave often been criticised forpresenting a fractured,

uncoordinated message.Would youagree with that this impressionseems to be changing?BD: It certainly is changing not leastbecause we in the tourism sector havereplied to Ministers and MPs that theircharge that tourism’s voice is fragmentedand uncoordinated is simply lazy politicsand disingenuous.Thanks to the TourismAlliance, and Kurt Janson in particular, oursector has become better, moredisciplined and more confident in ourlobbying. An excellent example of that isthe unity which we displayed in ourmessages and recommendations to theCommons’ Culture Select Committee’sinquiry into tourism last year.

GY:You have been an advisor to anumber of politicians. Have youever felt inclined to stand as aparliamentary candidate?BD: Honestly, yes, but not for a long time!My first jobs were as a parliamentaryresearcher and speechwriter inWestminster and a similar role in theCouncil of Europe in Strasbourg. I hadbeen chairman of the British Youth Councilin my late teens and early twenties andthought that I would follow the politicalroute that previous chairmen – includingPeter Mandelson, Charles Clarke and JackStraw – had taken, but I soon saw that ifyou wanted to change things politically itwasn’t always necessary to be an MP.Thatsaid, I’m a political junkie and I love mycurrent role as being a happy blend ofvisitor attractions, ‘The Thick of It’ and ‘TheWest Wing’.

GY: How helpful has knowing how

the political system works been inyour various roles?BD: Incredibly, as is the ability for anorganisation to be critically honest withitself and not be too awed by its ownpropaganda. Politicians are busy peoplewith competing demands and little timeand therefore knowing how best tomarshal your arguments, win support,cultivate supporters and affect change isjust a political version of good CRM. Andsometimes that means translating oursector’s vocabulary of millions, percentagesand ROIs to more memorable andcompelling phrases like “last year morepeople visited the British Museum and theNational Gallery, combined, than visitedBarcelona” or “more people visit heritagesites every weekend than go to footballmatches”.You match your vocabulary andtactics to your audience for very specificeffect.

GY: Over the years as chair of theTourism Society’s Question Timesession at the Best of Britain andIreland show (now the BritishTourism and Travel Show), have younoticed a shift in the messages thepanellists have been hoping to getacross, or in their understanding ofthe main issues?BD:Yes, definitely. It’s true that there arenot huge differences between parties intheir support for or understanding oftourism, but there are a raft of otherpolicy areas which have an effect on ourindustry and those are often the places ofcontention. Such as the introduction andthen abolition of RDAs; immigration andvisas; transport infrastructure; AirPassenger Duty and VAT onaccommodation and attractions.With aGovernment majority of 12 I can onlyassume that the desire to win every voteat the next election will influence a lot ofthe way this Government listens, andresponds, to economic sectors over thenext four years.

GY: In 2012 many of the ALVAmembers experienced a drop invisitor numbers, but recovery hasbeen strong.What are the current

Bernard Donoghue at this year’s Best of Britain and Ireland

trends?BD:There was a double whammy in 2012of poor weather and the domestic andinbound displacement caused by theOlympic and Paralympic Games. Much ofthat business was won back if not by theend of that year then in 2013. Since thenALVA members have been out-performing the rest of the attractionssector. Across the UK last year we saw a6.5% increase in visitor numbers to ALVAmembers with Scotland doing particularlywell partly because of the CommonwealthGames; we learned our lessons from 2012and shared them with our Scottishmembers and the Glasgow organisers.

GY: Overall, the UK is performingvery well on measures such asvisitor numbers and spend.Arethere other measures to take intoaccount as well?BD:Yes, enjoyment and repeat business.But when you say that the UK is doingwell on inbound visitor numbers that’scertainly true – last year was a recordyear and we should celebrate that – butas a nation we have been losing our shareof global business for a number of yearsand that’s affecting our internationalcompetitiveness. At VisitBritain it woulddrive me crazy to hear some politiciansmouth their assumptions that sooner orlater, unprompted, everyone would visitthe UK for a holiday or business, as if wehave some divine right to expect theworld to lap-up on our shores. Everyvisitor to the UK is an investor in the UKand the fact that they have decided tospend their precious time and hard-earned money with us should be thegreatest compliment we can receive – andwe should treat it as such.

GY:The government’s new five-point plan wants to spread thebenefits of tourism countrywide. Ifyou could add a sixth point whatwould it be?BD:To implement the entire list of theCommon’s Culture Media and SportCommittee’s Tourism Inquiryrecommendations. If you want a list ofeverything that’s right with our industryand a list of how we, collectively, canovercome our challenges, I recommendreading it.

GY: Can you sum up how theTourism Alliance has becomeincreasingly important over theyears?BD: By being more evidence-based in ourlobbying; by being more disciplined andcoherent in our messaging; and by beingmore confident in articulating theachievements of our sector and ourappetite to grow more successfully andsustainably.Those things are the result ofthe collective will and hard work ofChairs, board members and member

organisations and, of course, the hardwork of Kurt Janson, our Director. I’mdelighted to be playing a new role in thatcollective effort.

GY:With many tourismresponsibilities devolved, how doesthe Tourism Alliance work with theScottish Tourism Alliance and theWales Tourism Alliance?BD:We meet, share information, agreecommon approaches and listen to eachother. Devolution has completely changedthe tourism landscape of the UK andespecially the level of public funding whichgoes into infrastructure and marketing.Our default position should be to aim togrow the size of the overall UK inboundtourism cake, rather than be infatuatedabout the size of the respective slices.

GY:You have spoken aboutconcentrating in your year asTourism Alliance chairman on thethree Ps: People, Product and Price.What are the main challenges andopportunities in each of thoseareas?BD: People: the greatest differencebetween getting a 5-star Tripadvisorreview and a 4-star is that a staff memberor a volunteer is more likely to be namedin a 5-star review.

People are the differential.We are nothingwithout our staff and volunteers whoactually deliver the experience and definethe visitor or customer experience.Weshould strive to reward, retain and investin them and ensure that Governmentpolicies allow us to do that.

Product: we are a sector which knowsthat to refresh, refurbish and improve is tosurvive and grow.We should work hard toensure that political initiatives, like theComprehensive Spending Review cuts, donot harm our product offering irreparably,whether to our tourist boards or to ourpublicly funded museums and galleries.

Price: as a nation we are losing ourinternational competitiveness.We are

already seeing the effects of a strongSterling against a weak Euro and that,combined with having the second highestrate of VAT on our accommodation andattractions in the EU, means that we haveto be critically honest about our price as adestination.

GY: I have heard you describe thelist of heritage features that youpass on your 15-minute bus routeto work. Promoting pocket-sizeditineraries like this would be greatfor helping people who work or livein the UK’s towns and cities toappreciate their environment andlook at it with a fresh perspective.What could be done to encouragethe development of such a project?BD:You’ve got a good memory! We oftentake the amazing history and heritage thatwe have on our doorstep and aresurrounded by, for granted. I love thatEnglish Heritage and the Heritage LotteryFund are supporting projects thatencourage people to tell their stories oftheir neighbourhoods and theircommunities and, through this oral history,instil community pride and enable peopleto be marketers and advocates for theirown cities, towns and villages. A numberof DMOs are using the authentic voices oftheir local citizens as part of theirmarketing message; that should certainlybe encouraged.

GY:Which do you go for on holiday:beach, mountain or yourdestination’s leading attractions?BD: In the UK a complete mix: I’ve beenspending a week every year for 19 yearsat the Edinburgh festival every August. I’dvisit my members whether I was in thisjob or not (why wouldn’t you?) and as aformer Chair of VisitManchester I do lovea city with a great cultural buzz. And bars.And restaurants. Overseas I need abalance between city life and beaches so Igo for a multi-venue holiday, and theholiday feels longer because you’ve fittedmore things in.


Jousting at Blenheim Palace, an ALVA member

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I once read that you should rememberwhat you liked to do when you were achild in choosing a career that is right foryou.

Even though my decision to choosetourism as a career was based on avariety of factors, I can still remember as achild spending hours looking throughtravel brochures and admiring sandybeaches, exotic places and luxurioushotels.

My first experience of the tourismindustry as an ‘insider’ was during myundergraduate degree (in Japanesestudies!) in Lithuania, when I spent mywork experience semester at a smalltravel agency.

This determined my future career, showingme how exciting the industry is and alsohow beneficial placements can be.

I have always loved travelling myself andwanted to do something I am passionateabout in the future.

Therefore when I finished myundergraduate studies in Lithuania Idecided that tourism would be the rightcareer for me.

Nowadays competition is fierce, especiallyfor young people looking for their first job,so it is important to stand out from othercandidates.

Combining a postgraduate degree andgaining more in-depth work experiencewas my strategy to finding my ‘dream job’.

I chose Sheffield Hallam University for mypostgraduate studies not only because ithas a strong reputation in the tourismsubject area but also because it offeredthe option for a work placement year.

Even though it was challenging andrequired quite a few sleepless nights fromtime to time, I have never regretted mydecision, as I gained so much.

Although I learned a lot from the taughtprogramme, academic experience is notenough to develop confidence in thesearch for a job in the real world.

Starting to look for your first job is alwaysdaunting and sometimes you are not evensure where to start and what to do, so itwas really helpful and inspiring to haveadvice on all aspects – even starting withhow to create your CV and where to look

for suitable placement opportunities.

It is also nice to share your job huntingexperience with your fellow students, asyou can learn a lot from each other andget ideas on how to improve yourchances.

Looking for a work placement is not aneasy process. I sent quite a few CVs outbefore I finally secured my first interview –and fortunately this produced a job offer.

I was really excited to receive CosmosHolidays' invitation to join an assessmentday for the role of Overseas OperationsAssistant.

My university experience was one of themain factors helping me to secure the joboffer – not only as my postgraduatedegree strengthened my profile, but alsothe work experience classes provideduseful tips such as how to prepare for ajob interview and what to expect on anassessment day.

My work experience was rather short (sixmonths), but very intensive andinformative – it has become one of the

best times I will always remember.

I was working in a dynamic overseas rolein Venice and learned not only aboutoverseas operations related to lookingafter tourists when they step off the planeand arrive at the resort, but also morewidely as I was communicating with otherdepartments on a daily basis.

Even though I decided not to stayoverseas, this experience helped mesecure a position at Jet2holidays a fewmonths after I completed my placement.

My new job is giving me insights into howthe different departments of the businessfunction, before I choose my preferredrole.

Every career path is different, but the firststep is always the hardest and it makes itso much easier when somebody helps youalong the way.

The tourism sector is huge and there arenumerous and varied paths to take, but Ibelieve the best advantage of study andplacement is that they give you a steppingstone to start from.


Student View


Work placements

Zivile Buragaite l MSc International Hospitalityand Tourism Management,Sheffield Hallam University

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Hospitality


Frank Reeves l Co-Founder and CEO,

Avvio

How the strength of OTA positions are changing inrelation to Rate Parity developmentsAgainst the buoyancy of increasingOccupancy and Average Daily Rate(ADR), the rising cost of acquiringbookings continues to erode profit growthfor UK hoteliers.

These costs are primarily made up of thefees related to OTAs (Online TravelAgents) and the advertising costsassociated with driving website traffic.

While many hotels are recording year-on-year growth in excess of 15% via theirOTA channels, the commission charged(approximately 20%) is amongst thelargest costs to hoteliers and it is notunusual to find properties now receivingup to 50% of total business through thesehigh-cost channels.

Additionally, the cost of acquiring websitetraffic is increasing dramatically. Analysis ofAvvio’s client datasets indicates a rise indigital advertising cost that is primarilyconnected to OTAs competing for hotelbrand names to achieve top page rankpositions in paid search listings (such asGoogle PPC ads).

Our research shows that this competitionhas impacted notably on hoteliers’ CPA(cost per acquisition) metrics: in Q1 2015many independent UK hotels were payingup to 55% more to advertise on theirown brand name compared to Q1 2014.

Another advantage enjoyed by OTAs,underpinning their aggressive competitiveapproach, comes from the contractualobligation put on hotels to desist fromdistributing public rates below the OTA’srates. ‘Rate Parity’ allows OTAs topromote ‘guaranteed best rates’– a verystrong marketing message – and preventshotels from advertising more enticingdeals to consumers, therein eroding thebook-direct benefits.

Despite the cost of acquiring bookingsgrowing twice as fast as RevPAR for manyhotels, there are some long-overduechanges coming.

OTA Rate Parity under firethroughout EuropeA decision by European regulators inJanuary has triggered Booking.com andExpedia to revise their contentious rate

parity terms.

Hotels no longer need to maintain paritybetween different online channels –meaning that they can offer different roomrates to their OTAs. However, hotels’direct channels have not been protectedby this regulation. In fact, a number ofrevised OTA contracts specifically excludethe hotel’s direct channel from thisarrangement.

By insisting that a hotel’s own website stillcannot publically offer a lower room ratethan OTAs, many industry bodies, includingthe BHA, feel that hotels and consumersare getting a raw deal.

Recently, the French National Assemblyremoved the parity clause entirelybetween hotels and OTAs, threateningfines of up to €150,000 for violators, andthe BHA is putting pressure on the UKCompetition Markets Authority (CMA) tofollow suit. Its decision will be published inAugust 2015.

With Europe questioning whether thecurrent situation may be againstcompetition legislation, it seems that thedays of Narrow Rate Parity may benumbered, so hoteliers should beprepared.

A future without Rate ParityRegardless of the outcome on rate parity,it is difficult to find another industry asfragmented and confusing for customersas online travel.

Price comparison services provided by

MetaSearch brands, like Trivago andTripAdvisor, have become essentialresearch tools for frustrated shopperslooking to find the best hotel option.

And so, as price-disparity increases goingforward, this fragmentation will continueto drive customers to these newdistribution channels, where rate-shoppingis made easy.

To protect their most profitable directchannel, hotels must equip themselves totake advantage of these alternativechannels and, at the same time, shouldrefrain from handing the majority of theirlistings to OTAs.

While the online landscape is evolving andbecoming increasingly nuanced, thingsfinally seem to be changing positively forconsumers and savvy hoteliers certainlystand to benefit substantially from a worldwithout rate parity.

OTAs will not be going away – nor shouldthey – but acquisition costs will continueto grow for now.To that end, hoteliersneed to focus on driving their mostprofitable channel, direct website bookings,by 15% or more each year to ensure aprofitable long-term online strategy.

Additionally, traditional strategies or off-the-shelf solutions can help growcompetitiveness and profitability forhoteliers.

Whether rate parity disappears or notremains to be seen, but hotels that growin online sophistication will not onlysurvive but thrive.

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Golden Years


Balkan Holidays marks 50 years of changeIn 1966 England was celebrating winningthe World Cup, John Lennon met Yoko,the first British credit card was launchedand the BBC began broadcasting in colour.

It was against this background that theBritish package holiday market wasentering boom times.

Cheap flights to what seemed at the timelike exotic destinations had led the way.British holidaymakers were tired ofwartime austerity and the lure of sun andsand at an enticing price paved the wayfor tour operators to create packages tonew destinations.

Spain and Southern Europe were at theforefront of the boom. Keen to get theireconomies back on track they realisedthat they could guarantee what Britishresorts could not – a great climate.

Even the traditional British fear of ‘foreign’food could easily be overcome once therestaurants and hotels worked out that‘chips with everything’ was the key tosuccess.

It was in this scenario that newdestinations fought for market share. Spaincould not have it all its own way. Just asthe Spanish had been quick to put uphotels and create an industry, othercountries were following suit.

Bulgaria was one such destination. Itsresorts on the Black Sea were a popularholiday destination for Communist Partyleaders. Both Russian and Bulgarian bigwigswould go there for their holidays staying inresorts that we know today as SunnyBeach and Golden Sands.

Hotels started to spring up on the BlackSea during the 1950s. Nearly 380kilometres of coastline, hundreds ofnatural mineral springs and stunningbeaches, many of which today aredesignated Blue Flag resorts, made it anobvious target for investment.

The then Communist BulgarianGovernment could see the opportunitiesfor enticing British trade unionists andblue-collar workers to their beautifulbeaches.

That was how Balkan Holidays, which iscelebrating its fiftieth anniversary nextyear, came into being, created as part ofan all-encompassing organisation known as

Balkan Tourist. Balkan Tourist wasresponsible for all aspects of tourism inthe country and under its auspices theplan to fly British tourists to the Easternbloc for summer holidays began.

In the early days state-owned BalkanHolidays was established to give anopportunity to other operators to haveairline seats from the UK to Bulgaria.Charters were shared with companies likeGlobal. It was in co-operation later with

Balkan Bulgarian Airlines that the firstcharter flights were started.

Product Manager Nely Yeneva who hasbeen with the company almost since thebeginning recalls: “Flights were everyfortnight and carried about 120passengers. In the early years the hotelswere 2-3 star but of a good quality andnewly built. Sunny Beach was very green;you could hardly see the hotels.

In the days before high-rise most hotels

Brochure launch with John Inman

had 2-3 floors; there were bungalows anda campsite. It was nice, lots of greeneryand lovely beaches.”

Mike Walsh, who was Sales Manager atBalkan Holidays from 1970 to 1974, recallshow travel agents played an essential partin establishing Balkan Holidays in thoseearly years.

“Balkan Holidays had great support fromagents, both multiples, miniples andindependents – companies like ThomasCook, AT Mays, the Co-op and Travel Clubof Upminster. Many agents were adept atattracting business from trade unions andfactory workers using the Communistconnection as a sales tool.Travel agentsand the trade unions were the life-bloodof Balkan and provided the foundation onwhich the company was able to grow inlater years,” he said.

By 1970 Balkan Holidays had its ownoffices and shop front in South MoltonStreet, long before the designer jewelleryshops and Mayfair boutiques of today.Walsh recalls how bookings were taken inthose days.

“Administration and reservations weresituated on the first and second floors ofthe South Molton Street office. Iremember it being quite cramped as therewere probably about 20 people workingin the building at that time. I introducedthe reservations system that Global used.

“It revolved around a small cardboard tagthat was turned over to show the sales. Itmight seem primitive now but it wasremarkable how effective the system wasand of course completely immune to thecomputer crashes that we have to livewith today.”

As the 1970s progressed Balkan Holidayswas carrying about five thousandpassengers on charters from Heathrow,Gatwick, Manchester and Glasgow.Thecompany chartered a Boeing 707 fromBOAC in 1974, the first operator to

charter a BOAC flight to a Communistcountry.

The inaugural flight was used to carry 30travel agents and the then Editor of TravelNews (now Travel Weekly), Jeff Mills, on aneducational to Sunny Beach, Albena andGolden Sands. It made quite a big splashin the travel trade publications at the time.

Brochure launches could take on a life oftheir own with entertainment playing akey role in educating audiences. “One ofour most memorable brochure launcheswas at the Royal Lancaster Hotel inLondon with about 100 agents and press. Ihired John Inman who at the time was ajobbing actor prior to his ‘Are You BeingServed’ fame.

For £50 and a meal, he took on the rolesof a city businessman, a young lady seekingfun, a hippy and a pensioner. I played thepart of a travel agent and responded tohis various characters’ questions abouttravelling to the Eastern Bloc,” said Walsh.

By the end of the 70s Balkan Holidays wasexpanding to other countries and hadbegun a winter ski holiday programme toBulgaria’s Bansko, Pamporovo andBorovets resorts.

Winter charters were being shared withcompanies like Inghams. By now Balkanhad moved offices to Regent Street.

The 1980s saw further expansion withBalkan Holidays operating to othercountries including the former Yugoslavia,Turkey, Romania, and Cyprus and even, forone year, Cuba.

Perestroika in the late 1980s broughtabout major political changes acrossEastern Europe.

The Iron Curtain fell and Communist rulefinally came to an end in Bulgaria in 1990.In 1991 when Intasun ceased tradingBalkan Holidays passenger loads increasedas they put on extra flights and the stafftally increased to 48.

Two years later Neli Walker, OperationsManager, who has been with the companyfor 36 years, recalls travel agents queuingoutside Balkan’s offices to make bookingsto Bulgaria because of the war inYugoslavia.

Balkan Holidays had charters to Mamaia inRomania at this time.The company wasselling city breaks to Russia, Poland andCzechoslovakia, plus Bulgarian wine tours,monastery tours, and botanic tours, inaddition to package holidays.

It was to be another nine years from theend of Communism before BalkanHolidays was finally sold into privatehands.

After a challenging period when thecompany had to recover from its previousstate ownership Balkan Holidays soonbounced back.

During the Noughties the ski resort ofBansko underwent substantial investment.Once just a village with one hotel andinhabited by wild horses, Bansko hasflourished to such an extent that it nowregularly hosts World Cup Ski events.

Now firmly ensconced in offices named bya previous Managing Director after theBulgarian capital Sofia in London’s ConduitStreet, Balkan Holidays can reflect on aneventful 50 years. In a period of timewhich has seen some smaller touroperators go out of business, it is indeed atremendous achievement for BalkanHolidays to be celebrating its GoldenAnniversary.

The present Managing Director AlexStoyanov sums it up like this: “There havebeen both positive and negativemilestones that have helped BalkanHolidays to become the company that it istoday. Balkan remaining a specialist nicheoperator has undoubtedly been a hugebenefit as larger operators have moved inand out of the market.”

Here’s to the next fifty years!


Chris Rand l Sales and Marketing Manager,

Balkan Holidays

Golden Sands resort

At present, the Kenyan tourism industry isexperiencing a downturn because ofterrorism, insecurity and bad governance.

After the Al Shabab attacks along theKenyan coast, the Westgate Mall attack, theGarissa University and many smallerattacks, government-issued travel warningswere immediately strengthened fortourists travelling to, and foreigners livingwithin, Kenya.

Furthermore, the extremely negativeportrayal in the international media haspushed potential tourists to alternativedestinations such as Tanzania and SouthAfrica.

The effects are varied. Event organisersare looking elsewhere – Skal cancelled thisyear’s planned congress to Mombasa as aresult of the travel warnings and mediacoverage.

But the travel warnings were lifted twoweeks after the cancellation.

As a result of the downturn, manyindustry staff have been made redundant.

This in turn has increased the crime level. Ihad some guests in Diani, the hotelrestaurant and Kenya-based expats allrobbed while they were having dinner.

Thankfully everyone was safe, butconfidence is dented.

According to a report by the KenyaTourism Board published in June 2015,visitors to Kenya fell by 25% within thefirst five months of the year.

This shows that the industry has beenbadly damaged by the Islamist attacks. In2014, KTB reported a drop by 25.4% invisitor numbers; British visitors dropped by35% and American visitors by 22%.

Those who do come are still drawn to thehoneypots, such as the game reserves.

However, many of the five-star Kenyanlocations like the Maasai Mara havedegraded as an attractive touristdestination due to poor governance.

The National Reserve has exceeded itscarrying capacity for accommodation andthere are too many cars at one time at ananimal sighting.

The sustainable balance between the wildanimals and the Maasai’s grazing livestockhas been lost.

As a result tourists are not getting valuefor money and are choosing to visitprivate conservancies which are properlygoverned.

Better cooperation between the localcommunities, the county Government,hoteliers and tour operators working inthe Maasai Mara would be a welcomeimprovement.

For example, in Mara TriangleConservancy cars are only allowed off-road to see the big cats. A maximum offive cars at one time is allowed at anysighting and watching-time is limited to tenminutes.

Cattle grazing is not allowed in theTriangle. As a result there is only one built-up lodge in the Conversancy, a few campsites and one tented camp.

The players within the Kenyan Tourismsector have had to reinvent themselves toremain solvent.

Some hotels at the coast have startedturning part of their property into long-term apartments. Other lodges and hotelsare concentrating on local events andconferences. My business, too, has had todiversify.

Conservation has always been a passionand I have always wanted African Sojournto promote conservation and supportlodges and hotels that are sustainable. Iwas actively involved and tried tocoordinate a captive breeding programmeof Lammergeyer vultures. But due to

political pressure this project had to beput on hold.

I have started an events division.Weorganise corporate and individualfunctions.

We are looking at tying up with a fewresorts to host special interest tourismweekends such as art tourism and yogaretreats.

A new venture which I hope will be long-term is agri-tourism. A family farm growscitrus, berries, lemons and a variety of fruitand vegetables.

The plan is to have day and overnightpackages where visitors can come, picktheir own fruits and make their own mealswith the fresh produce.

As we deal with the hardships of thetourism sector in Kenya we have tried todiversify in order to remain a viablebusiness.

Hopefully an improvement in the sectorwill make this a fruitful and sustainablebusiness venture.

President Barack Obama’s visit to Nairobion 24th July this year for the GlobalEntrepreneurship Summit will, I hope, alsohave helped restore internationalconfidence in Kenya as a safe place to visit.And to help spread the word, the KenyanTourism Federation has launched the ‘WhyI love Kenya’ marketing campaign, whichcan be found at www.facebook.com/WhyWeLoveKenya or on twitter at@whyilovekenya.


View from Kenya


Diversification in times of hardship

Controlling visitors in Mara Triangle Conservancy

Ekta Bid MTS l Managing Director,African Sojourn

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Focus on... Oman


Alison Cryer FTS, MTMI lManaging Director,

Representation Plus

Beauty has an addressWhen placing the Sultanate of Oman’stourism development in the context ofthe wider Gulf region the centres forimmediate comparison with Muscat are itsneighbours Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and forSalalah in Dhofar, the southern part ofOman’s Indian Ocean coast, it would beRas Al Khaimah.

Oman welcomed a record 2.1 milliontourists in 2014 as opposed to AbuDhabi’s 3.1m and Dubai’s 13.2m.

These destinations are primarilycomparable by the nature of theirlocation, their luxury beach, spa and golfproducts and desert experiences.

The Sultanate has over 5,000 years ofhistory and culture to base its tourismproduct on.

The UAE do not have this advantage sothey have built attractions and createdactivities that have enjoyed internationalacclaim, from high-rise modern towersand shopping centres to theme parks andski slopes.

Meanwhile, Oman opened the majesticSultan Qaboos Mosque and Royal OperaHouse, with a new national museum andbotanical gardens in the pipeline for2016/7.

Oman Sail, launched in 2010, has revivedOman’s seafaring heritage, competinginternationally, with an Omani becomingthe first Arab to sail around the world.

Some would argue that Dubai’s success is

due to its natural location as a hub almostequidistant between Europe, Far East Asiaand Australia and the government’sforesight in developing its national carrier,Emirates, in 1995.

Bahrain, Oman and Abu Dhabi on theother hand shared Gulf Air ownershipuntil Etihad was launched in 2003 andalthough Oman Air has operatedregionally since 1993, its first long haulflight to London wasn’t until 2007.

How much Oman and its neighbours havecapitalised on the displacement of touristsfrom Tunisia, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria orEgypt over recent years is debatable as itis more likely that this traffic has gone toTurkey or Greece due to cost anddistance.

However, there has been a certainpercentage of cultural tours, cruises, luxurybeach holidays and more recently interestin the sailing that Oman has attracted.

When describing the tourist landscapethat Oman is operating within, the bestterm would be ‘ever evolving’ – 12 yearsago when the Sultanate started issuingvisas on arrival for tourists and opening itsoverseas tourism offices Dubai was inmajor construction mode.

Oman was able to attract repeat visitorsto Dubai who were looking for a luxurybeach and Arabic experience without thedisruption of building sites.

With the majority of Dubai’s constructioncompleted Oman itself has and is alsoundertaking new hotel development dueto the growing demand from tourists.

Due to the space available this does notaffect the visitor experience – Oman isafter all approximately the same size asGermany with an Indian Ocean coastlineof over 3,000km.

However, building was disrupted by thediscovery of new archaeological siteswhich are given priority.

Three new boutique hotels have beendeveloped in the Hajar Mountains, anotherof Oman’s unique and untouched aspects,offering a cooler climate in the hottermonths.

The Gulf region has become very price-led due to the vast bed stock and airlift inneighbouring countries.This makes it hardfor Oman to compete on price and the

current strategy of differentiation suitsOman’s hotel capacity in the winter buthas not yet harnessed the summermarket, when temperatures are slightlycooler than Dubai, similar to Turkey orGreece and significantly cooler if you stayin the mountains or Salalah.

In 2015 the Sultan celebrates his 45thanniversary. Initially, priority was given tothe health, welfare and education of hispeople enhanced by a modern roadnetwork.

Since 2005 there has been a master planfor Oman’s tourism developmentfundamentally based on sustainability,protecting the environment and enhancingthe future for the people of Oman.

Oman’s biggest tourism opportunitiesremain in the development of the leisure,cruising and activity market and the MICEmarket with the opening of a newconvention centre in 2017 and airportexpansion and developing its portfolio ofannual events (Salalah Khareef Festival,Tour Oman Cycling Race, Muscat Festivaland The Xtreme Sailing Series).

The Oman Ministry of Tourism is a CorporateMember of the Tourism Society.Jebel Aktra

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Marketing


The power of celebrity

As the cult of celebrity continues to riseseemingly unabated, travel industrymarketers are increasingly joining theirFMCG counterparts by contracting theservices of high profile personalities tobecome their brand ambassadors.

But what are the upsides and potentialpitfalls of adopting such a strategy?

The media has been at the forefront ofthis celebrity phenomenon, particularly thetabloid newspapers and magazines.

However, even the front pages of TheTimes and The Telegraph now frequently

use images of high profile showbiz andsports stars.

Likewise, the mainline television channelshave also entered the celebrity arena inrecent years. Add to this the explosion ofcelebrity websites and social media usagewith fans hanging on every 140-charactermessage of their idols (pop star Katy Perryhas over 46 million followers on Twitter)and the perceived power of such celebrityendorsement for products is difficult todeny.

Those in the pro camp are quick to pointout that the selection of a celebrity to

front their brand is a serious businesswith in-depth research undertaken beforea final decision is made. Matching the rightcelebrity with the brand and ensuring thatcustomers can relate to the person is ofparamount importance.

Let’s face it, getting Joanna Lumley topromote a holiday centre operator simplywould not be credible in the eyes of manyconsumers.

Running intensive checks on potentialcandidates to ensure there are no‘skeletons in their cupboard’ is apparentlycommonplace as is the fall back of havinga substitute available should a negativeissue arise.

This year has seen a proliferation of travelindustry companies using celebrities intheir promotional campaigns.

VisitEngland has used cartoon characterShaun the Sheep and his pals to highlightdestinations in the domestic market.

James Berresford,VisitEngland’s ChiefExecutive, said: “Following on from thesuccess of the third ‘Holidays at Home areGREAT’ campaign last year, which starredWallace & Gromit we have partneredagain with Aardman to create anothersuper TV advertisement. I am confident

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Shaun will fuel the public’s imagination andinspire them to take a holiday in the UKthis year.”

In the outbound sector, P&O Cruises hashad comedian Rob Brydon appearing intheir TV and press advertisementsextolling the total relaxation that can behad on this type of holiday.

P&O Cruises’ marketing directorChristopher Edgington said: “Rob Brydonis the perfect embodiment of a newcomerto cruise who brings his own personalityand sense of adventure and fun to cruise.Rob was the obvious choice to front thecampaign as he is well loved with a greatsense of humour and it is easy forpotential customers to imagine themselvesin his shoes.”

Not to be outdone in the celebrity stakes,VisitBritain enlisted the support of Welshsinger Katherine Jenkins to appear in itsGREAT campaign promoting inboundtourism.

Conrad Bird, Director of the GREATBritain Campaign, said: “British creativetalent has produced some of the world’sbest music. Katherine Jenkins is a powerfulsymbol of this talent, and shows in nouncertain terms why Wales, where shehails from, is known as the land of song.”

Other high profile travel campaigns usingcelebrities currently running includePremier Inns with Lenny Henry andTurkish Airlines featuring footballers DidierDrogba and Lionel Messi.

Of course, it is not always full-blownmarketing campaigns that are fronted bycelebrities.

In recent years there has been anincreasing move towards usingpersonalities to ‘sample’ holidays forarticles in newspapers and magazines.

The Mail on Sunday has beenincorporating this tactic in its travel sectioneditorial for some time. As you mightpredict, these articles tend to cover highend holidays such as the Caribbean and cruising but, occasionally, more basic

options appear such as cycling and walkingbreaks.

However, not everyone in the marketingfraternity is convinced that celebrityendorsement works, arguing that it is amistake to let someone else’s personalitytake over that of your brand.

Major brands take years of hard work andinvestment to build but can easily bedestroyed in an instant by the wrong-doing of the celebrity contracted to act asan ambassador. Prime examples of this inthe past include Lance Armstrong,TigerWoods and Oscar Pistorius.

More recently, the Australian actressNicole Kidman, was castigated by theAssociation of Professional FlightAttendants for her starring role in theEithad Airways campaign.

The Association claimed that thesponsorship deal conflicted with the star’srole as the United Nations Women’sGoodwill Ambassador as the airlineallegedly has a poor track record in its

treatment of female staff.

Another factor put forward by the anti-endorsement lobby is that sometimes thecelebrity endorses several different brandsand yours can be lost in the melee orconfused with another sponsor’smessaging.

In today’s marketplace consumers aremore savvy than ever and are less likely tobe blinded by the claims of a celebrityendorser who they know full well is beingpaid handsomely for their appearance.

According to the doubters, it isauthenticity that counts rather than starsin your eyes. Most of the travel researchpresentations that are published point torecommendation by friends and relativesas the most important influencer onholiday decision-making.

Does that mean huge amounts ofadvertising spend are being wasted oncelebrity ambassadors? Back to the muchused quote: “Half the money I spend onadvertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don'tknow which half.”


Mike Bugsgang FTS l Managing Director,

Bugsgang & Associates


Tourism Symposium 2015


A great success with seal of approval from the newtourism ministerA debut performance by the new TourismMinister,Tracey Crouch, a stellar list ofspeakers, plus the best in terms of tourismthat Kent has to offer, made the TourismSociety’s Symposium held over two daysin June one of the most successful to date.

Over 240 delegates representingbusinesses throughout Britain togetherwith leading industry professionalsattended the event, hosted by Visit Kent.

The theme for this year’s Symposium was‘Connecting to the Future’.

High-profile speakers included Sir PeterBazalgette, Chairman of The Arts Council,Steven Norris, former Transport Minister,and celebrity chef and broadcasterRosemary Shrager.

Commenting on the event afterwards, thenew Tourism Minister, who is MP forChatham and Aylesford, said: “It wasbrilliant to be able to celebrate the best ofBritish and Kent destinations in my firstministerial speech.We have a world-classtourism offer, which is why a recordnumber of international visitors spent arecord £21.8billion in local economies lastyear. But this is a very tough market, so it’sreally important that symposiums like thisone are taking place for industryprofessionals to share best practice andmaintain our tourism growth.”

The event began at Eastwell Manor with aB2B workshop by UKinbound foroperators and suppliers, before delegatesembarked on an afternoon of tours todifferent parts of the county.

Attendees were given a choice of threethemed tours. ‘East Coast Art’ visited theEast Kent Coast for a tour of TurnerContemporary and a behind-the-sceneslook at Dreamland Margate. ‘AshfordExperience’ included a tour of Chapel

Down Winery and a ride on the Kent &East Sussex Railway in Tenterden, followedby a visit to Ashford Designer Outlet,while ‘Medway and Maritime’ featured atour of the Shepherd Neame Brewery, aDickens tour of Medway, a visit to theHistoric Dockyards Chatham, plus achance to view the 1300 FavershamMagna Carta, on temporary display in thetown’s Alexander Centre.

In the evening delegates attended areception where local producers had anopportunity to showcase their productsincluding Kentish crisps, cheese, wines andice cream. Details were also unveiled ofAshford’s new tourism wine trail byBorough Councillor Clair Bell.

On day two, the Symposium switched tothe University of Kent’s Colyer FergussonConcert Hall, which hosted the businesssessions. Delegates attended a series oftalks and panel discussions on varioustopics affecting the tourism industry,including ‘Connecting to Quality’; ‘What’sthe Future for Destinations – Do DMO’sHave a Future?’ and ‘Driving VisitorEconomy Growth Through Local CulturalProgrammes.’

Panel discussions were chaired by keyindustry figures including Sally Balcombe,CEO VisitBritain, Deidre Wells, CEOUKinbound, and Kurt Janson, PolicyDirector of Tourism Alliance.

Study tour to Ashford – Kent & East Sussex Railway

Lunch at Chapel Down Vineyard

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There was also an opportunity to learnabout a couple of new attractions thathave come or are coming to Kent in thefuture, including the new DreamlandMargate, which opened a couple of weeksafter the Symposium was held.

Wayne Hemingway, HemingwayDesign,and Eddie Kemsley, CEO of DreamlandMargate, shared some of their plans forthe rebirth of Margate’s latest attraction,featuring 19 rides plus a host of otherentertainment attractions.

Hemingway said: “You would never havegone to Margate ten years ago.”

But now thanks to projects such as TurnerContemporary the town had recentlybeen voted one of the Top 5 Places tovisit in 2015.

He hoped that Dreamland, a populardestination for East Londoners in the1960s and 70s, would attract a newcrowd of young creatives. Dreamland wasaiming to be ‘cheeky, charming and

effortlessly cool.’The attraction wasoffering a heady mix of heritage, vintage,retro and fierce independence in a uniqueand modern setting.

But he was also confident that Dreamlandwould be sufficiently appealing to‘Grannies and Grandpas’ visiting for theday with the grandkids and be attractiveto more mature visitors during shoulderperiods.

In a fascinating look at what lies ahead fordestination tourism marketing, Nick Hall,CEO of Digital Tourism Think Tank,presented his thoughts on a digital futurefor tourism.

He shared his ideas on how customersmade their decisions when selecting adestination, travel and accommodation. Healso gave some useful insights into howdestinations and businesses couldinfluence these decisions by using digitalmedia.

Delegates also heard about another major

new attraction opening in Ebbsfleet, Kent,in 2020 – London ParamountEntertainment.The new £2billiondevelopment will occupy a 400-acre sitenear Ebbsfleet International Station on thebanks of the Thames and is expected toattract up to 15 million visitors a year. Itwill be the first NSIP – NationallySignificant Infrastructure Project – to befunded in the UK.

Executive Director Fenlon Dunphy toldthe Symposium that agreements hadalready been made with BBC Worldwide,Aardman Animations and the British FilmInsititute in the creation of exhibits andattractions at the resort.

“The theme will be the best of Hollywoodmeets the best of British,” he said.Therewill be 50-60 attractions and 5,000 hotelrooms on site creating a unique visitorattraction, which will be on a par in termsof scale with Disneyland Paris.

Celebrity chef Rosemary Shrager, whoruns her own cookery school in TunbridgeWells, Kent, shared her thoughts with theaudience about the importance ofemploying apprentices.

She said: “Apprentices are crucial for ournext generation and they are particularlyimportant for the tourism industry, whereservice is paramount.”

In the keynote address, Sir PeterBazalgette, Chairman of The Arts Council,stressed the important role that culturalattractions played in attracting tourism totowns and cities.

He said that research showed that visitorsto destinations seeking arts and culturewould traditionally spend more money.While destinations investing in culturalattractions would soon find that it wasmoney that was well spent, as researchshowed that 43% of people visiting atown would go to a museum.

He highlighted cities such as Liverpool,which had made a huge success out of itsstatus as European Capital of Culture in2008 and predicted similarly great thingsfor Hull, designated UK City of Culture in2017.

Lyndsey Swift of VisitEngland chaired aCultural Destinations update with UshaMistry (Lakes Culture), Sarah Dance (artsconsultant),Victoria Pomery OBE (TurnerContemporary) and Paul Bristow (ArtsCouncil England).

Swift highlighted some of the innovativeprojects that have come about throughthe Cultural Destinations programme andpartnership with Arts Council England,while Pomery, Dance and Mistry describedtheir own attractions in more detail.

Delegates were invited to think abouthow they could broaden their culturaloffering by developing and updating it – ahistorical basis was not always important(Mistry cited the example of the PaperBridge installation at the foot of Helvellyn,in the Lake District) and accessibility todifferent audiences would ensuremaximum interest.


Sandra Matthews-Marsh MBE

Manon Antoniazzi (Visit Wales)

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Former Transport Minister Steven Norrischaired the final session, called ‘What’s theFuture for Transport in Britain.’

He invited the panel to suggest what theywould ask for if they were granted fiveminutes with the Secretary of State forTransport and there was unanimousagreement that transport needed to bemore joined up.

Paul Kehoe of Birmingham Airport said:“We need to break down the barriersbetween organisations.We are guilty ofnot thinking about an integrated transportsystem.”

“Connectivity is everyone’s holy grail,”added Stephen Joseph, Chief Executive ofthe Campaign for Better Transport.

Summing up the proceedings, SandraMatthews-Marsh MBE, chairman of TheTourism Society and chief executive ofVisit Kent, said: “We are delighted to havehosted such a lively and thought-provokingSymposium here in Kent.

“Attendance exceeded our expectations,and the feedback on both the quality ofthe event and the setting has beenextremely positive.”

“We are delighted to have attracted somany high profile speakers, and reallyappreciate the Minister for making theTourism Symposium her first official

engagement. As a Kent MP,Tracey Crouchis well versed in her knowledge of UKtourism and has been very supportive ofthe industry in the past.

“We are all looking forward to workingclosely with her and sincerely hope thatshe stays in post for the next five years!”she added.

The Symposium was hosted by Visit Kentin partnership with Ashford Borough

Council. It was supported by VisitBritain,UKinbound, Arts Council England,Southeastern and the Coach TourismCouncil with additional support providedby Kent County Council, Medway Council,University of Kent, Eastwell Manor, QHotels, Holiday Inn, and made.

Next year’s Symposium is scheduled for6th and 7th June. See the Tourism Societywebsite www.tourismsociety.org forfurther details later in the year.

34 [email protected] 163 Autumn 2015

Rosemary Shrager

Transport panellists

Linda Moore l Moore Communications

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Symposium sponsors

Membership News


EventsSeptember 2015

18th – Tourism ConsultantsNetwork:The NorthernPowerhouse and its implicationsand opportunities for tourism;York

29th – Tourism Society Wales: StFagans Folk Museum – OverallVision of the Museum and TourismOffer

October

5th – Media Masterclass, London

November

4th – Tourism ConsultantsNetwork at World Travel Market:Tourism Consultancy – Purposes,Pitfalls and Priorities: London

4th – World Travel Marketseminar : Digital v.TraditionalMarketing in Travel and Tourism –Do or Die?; London

10th – Tourism beyond London –why bother? With VisitEngland;London

23rd & 24th – TMI AnnualConvention, City of London

25th – Employability Fair, inassociation with University ofGreenwich

December

Date tbc – President’s Debate andreception

January 2016

20th – Prospects 2016

Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, formerPresident of the Tourism Society from1991 to 2000, has died.

He was a pioneer of the ‘Stately Home’business and a strong advocate forTourism for over 60 years.

He supported the Tourism Society fromits earliest days, and for several yearsallowed the office facilities at Beaulieu toback up very limited secretariatresources.

From 1952, when he opened PalaceHouse to the public and exhibited oldcars in memory of his motoring pioneerfather, Edward Montagu’s dynamismdrove the development of the visitoractivities at Beaulieu.

He created the charitable NationalMotor Museum which opened in 1972,which was integrated with his home(Palace House), Beaulieu Abbey and theother visitor businesses at Buckler’s Hardand on the River, becoming recognisedas a leading visitor attraction, withattendances exceeding 1 million.

Lord Montagu believed Beaulieu shouldparticipate actively in all organisationsthat could support the development oftourism, and sustain the heritage forfuture generations.

He was a founder of the HistoricHouses Association, then its President,and subsequently led the Association ofIndependent Museums,The MuseumsAssociation, and he became the firstChair of English Heritage.

Apart from his Presidency of the TourismSociety and the Southern Tourist Board,he worked tirelessly to support thenational Tourist Boards, leading trademissions to the USA and Japan for theBritish Tourist Authority, and he lobbiedGovernment to support the EnglishTourist Board, and often spoke onTourism and Heritage issues in theHouse of Lords.

His life’s work was to ensure that theBeaulieu Estate would be conserved andbe improved in his lifetime – a challengethat he met.

He realised that making Beaulieu

accessible to visitors and giving them thebest possible experience, wouldencourage them to value our heritageand help maintain it in the future.Tourism and Beaulieu evolved, hand inhand, in ways that benefit visitors and thehost community, and protect the specialqualities of the places that they enjoy.

His enthusiasm for tourism and tirelessenergy to improve the quality of whatwe do, is a great example for all tourismprofessionals to follow.

Ken Robinson CBE FTS (formerChair of the Tourism Society and

Managing Director, Beaulieu)

Obituary – Lord Montagu of Beaulieu

Lord Montagu in 1909 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost outside Palace House

The Back PageChairman’s view withSandra Matthews-Marsh MBEFTS MTMI

There has been plenty of food for thoughtthis summer, whether reflecting on recentsuccesses or considering the future of ourindustry.

The Society was delighted to host thesecond Tourism Symposium, this year inKent (read our full report on pages 32-34).

After months of planning, the TourismSociety team, Visit Kent crew and leadpartners Ashford Council, Kent CountyCouncil, Ukinbound,VisitBritain, the ArtsCouncil England and VisitEngland plus ahost of supporters excelled themselves inproviding our guests with a wonderfulopening day of study tours and a taste ofthe Garden of England at Eastwell Manorin Ashford, followed by a thought-provoking day of talks and debate withsome key thought leaders at theUniversity of Kent at Canterbury.

Attendance exceeded our expectations,we achieved the collaboration ambitionswith other organisations and the feedbackon both the quality of the event and thesetting has been extremely positive.

But perhaps the biggest highlight for mewas that Kent MP Tracey Crouch chosethe event to make her first publicappearance as Tourism Minister, taking thetime to address guests at the openingreception and giving a ringingendorsement of the value of tourism tothe UK.

Fresh from general election victory, theminister was obviously feeling passionateabout her new portfolio, but there wasalso an underlying buzz that perhapstourism’s true value was (finally) being fullyrecognised by the powers that be.

Cut to six weeks later, and the PrimeMinister announcing his ‘five-point plan’ toboost tourism across the UK in which hepledged that the Government will focuson spreading the benefits of our multi-billion pound industry beyond London’sborders and into the regions.

Those of us working in the industry havespent many years calling for both a widerrecognition of our contribution to the UKeconomy and a deeper understanding ofhow multiple Government departmentsimpact leisure, business and educationaltourism.

It was interesting to note the emphasisplaced on putting the right infrastructurein place, particularly transport, which wasa hot topic at the Symposium, so I amhearted that this has been picked upnationally.

The £1 million ‘Rail for Tourism innovation’competition to help transform the travelexperience for visitors, makes so muchsense.

Many destinations already work closelywith their local transport operators toshare key messages, but the drive tofurther incentivise rail travel to passengersoffers excellent partnership opportunities.

But I also wonder if this attention toinfrastructure will include one of the mostimportant areas of all – digital tourism.

Recent work with the excellent DigitalTourism Think Tank has left me and myteam with a host of exciting, cutting edgeand cost effective ideas for boostingtourism and creating more digitaldestinations.

Yet feedback shows that somedestinations are still lacking, through nofault of their own, the resources or thetechnology to reach today’s digitaltraveller.

It is vital that we push this to the forefrontof discussions; without the resource tohelp destinations, attractions andbusinesses engage in SMART tourism, wecannot achieve the level of co-ordinationand collaboration with the consumers thatthe Government desires.

We all stand to gain from thisannouncement, and it shows that our hardwork is paying off. It is vital that wesupport this new plan and maintainmomentum, and use it to increase andimprove our engagement with theGovernment.

The Society, with its highly skilled andexpert membership, looks forward toworking with the Secretary of State andhis team, and I know that the UK’sDestination Management Organisationsand Tourism Consultants are standingready to support this plan.

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Digital technology will helpdestinations

Gerry Clarkson (Ashford Borough Council), Tracey Crouch MP and SandraMatthews-Marsh – Tourism Symposium 2015.

All-important infrastructure will keep tourism moving

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Tourism - edition 163

Documents

Transcript of Tourism - edition 163