Agenda item
TOURISM PROGRESS REPORT
To consider a report by the Team Leader: Tourism, Marketing and Events (copy attached) detailing progress achieved to date with various tourism initiatives and their contribution towards delivering the Council’s overall ambition in relation to economic development and seeking members’ views thereon.
11.15 a.m. – 12 noon
Minutes:
In the absence of the Leader the Tourism
Leader: Tourism, Marketing and Events introduced the report (previously
circulated) detailing the progress achieved in relation to various tourism
initiatives and their contribution towards delivering the Council’s overall
ambition in relation to economic development.
During his introduction the Tourism Leader drew
attention to the success of the North East Wales and North Wales Tourism
Partnerships and the latter’s achievement in being awarded £140k Welsh
Government funding for the purpose of promoting the area’s winter tourism
offer, which would support the vision of marketing the area as an all-year
round tourist destination. The aim of
this was to increase the number of tourists visiting the area, but in doing so
realising sustainable all-year round economic benefit rather than mass seasonal
tourism which benefited the economy for a limited period of time.
In response to members’ questions the Corporate
Director: Economy and Public Realm and the Tourism Leader advised that –
·
the Council’s
Tourism, Marketing and Events staff were willing to work closely with local
tourism and events groups when they arranged events in their local areas. With a view to simplifying the process and
achieving maximum promotional coverage for local events the Events Notification
process had been simplified. The Events
Notification form had now been reduced in size to two sides of A4. Upon receipt of a completed form it would be
shared with all services and officers who would need to be notified of the
event. In addition the proposed date for
the event would be checked against other known events being held that day and
if it was felt that the event would be impacted by other events in the local
area the organisers would be notified.
This did not necessarily mean that the date would have to change it was
just a mechanism in place to raise awareness and help support the success of
all local events
·
as part of
the work to deliver the ‘Connected Communities’ corporate priority a report was
scheduled to be presented to the ‘Communities and Environment Board’’ at its
October meeting on how infrastructure in the county could be improved to
support the holding of different types of community and tourist focused events
·
there would always
be a need for additional visitor overnight accommodation in Denbighshire. The central part of the county seemed to have
a limited number of overnight accommodation for tourists. South Denbighshire was well served by hotels
and guest houses, whilst the north of the county had a large number of touring
and static caravan sites. Nevertheless,
Denbighshire did have a considerable number of quality self-catering
accommodation, many of which were 5* rated
·
Visit Wales
had funding available for holiday accommodation businesses who aspired to be
awarded 4* or 5* ratings to help them achieve this goal
·
social media
coverage had definitely increased the number of potential visitors accessing
information on the local area in recent years, this was illustrated in the
various appendices attached to the report, including Appendix 13 which included
the Scarborough Tourism Economic Activity Monitor (STEAM) information. STEAM measured the impact of both day and
staying tourists on the local economy
·
social media was
used to raise the area’s profile and what was on offer in Denbighshire for
tourists, but it was only one of a number of profile raising platforms used for
this purpose. The number of social media
‘hits’ seemed to peak when specific awareness raising campaigns were undertaken
·
work was
underway to reduce the number of social media platforms currently used by the
Council’s Tourism, Marketing and Events Service to promote the local offer,
with a view to delivering more focused marketing material and information
·
the ‘Blogs’ to which
links were included in the appendices were written by independent
individuals. These individuals were
funded by Visit Wales to produce the ‘Blogs’, and whilst some of their
narratives may be subject to editing for factual correctness, every effort was
made to ensure that the individual ‘blogger’s’ personality and style was
clearly visible in their ‘Blogs’
·
that all
public information produced by the Council and its public partners were
published bilingually
·
the Council had not
closed any of its Tourist Information Points (TIPs), there were a number of
these unmanned facilities across the county in public buildings, e.g. libraries
and recently one had been opened at the Rhug Estate, Corwen. Discussions
were currently underway with the operators of the new Premier Inn in Rhyl to
explore the possibility of locating a TIP there. The Council currently operated two Tourist
Information Centres (TICs) one in Rhyl and the other in Llangollen
·
there were no plans
at present to reduce the level of service provided at the county’s TICs. TICs could also generate income through
bookings and the sale of books etc.
Information on the number of visits to TICs on an annual basis would be
provided to members
·
local businesses
already worked collaboratively with TICs in relation to bookings, goods and
activity packages etc. whilst accommodation providers which were part of a
chain tended not to regularly interact with TIC booking services. There would always be room and opportunities
to improve the services on offer
·
the county’s TICs
and TIPs held a wealth of knowledge on local points of interest and
history. Library Service staff in
particular were well versed on their local areas and were an invaluable asset
for sharing knowledge with visitors to help them maximise and enjoy their
experience of visiting the area
·
there was no
evidence that local accommodation businesses were raising their prices when
‘special’ large events were held in the county.
However, as they were independent businesses they were permitted to
lower and raise their prices as they so wished, private businesses were guided
by market forces in this respect
·
some considerable
amount of funding for tourism projects did come from the European Union. Consequently Visit Wales was at present
seeking assurances from both UK and Welsh Governments on future funding
following the UK’s departure from the European Union. Future funding for tourism, similar to a
number of other areas, was unknown at present
·
the all-year round
visitor experience in Denbighshire and the neighbouring areas would target both
day visitors from nearby cities such as Liverpool and Manchester as well as
individuals and groups who wanted to spend quiet weekends in the area, or
experience outdoor activity weekends away.
A mixture of both low and high spend visitor experiences, and
·
North
Wales was now beginning to develop its own tourist identity, similar to the
Lake District. The winter tourism
project was the first time that the entire region had worked together on a
specific single project, therefore this project was being regarded as a
potential ‘blueprint’ for the future.
Following detailed discussion the Committee –
RESOLVED that subject to the above
observations and the provision of the requested additional information, to
receive the data and information provided in the report and associated
appendices.
Supporting documents:
- TOURISM REPORT, item 6. PDF 124 KB
- Tourism Report 251018 - App 1, item 6. PDF 107 KB
- Tourism Report 251018 - App 2, item 6. PDF 813 KB
- Tourism Report 251018 - App 3, item 6. PDF 337 KB
- Tourism Report 251018 - App 4, item 6. PDF 480 KB
- Tourism Report 251018 - App 5, item 6. PDF 371 KB
- Tourism Report 251018 - App 6, item 6. PDF 288 KB
- Tourism Report 251018 - App 7, item 6. PDF 314 KB
- Tourism Report 251018 - App 8, item 6. PDF 469 KB
- Tourism Report 251018 - App 9, item 6. PDF 286 KB
- Tourism Report 251018 - App 10, item 6. PDF 207 KB
- Tourism Report 251018 - App 11, item 6. PDF 159 KB
- Tourism Report 251018 - App 12, item 6. PDF 156 KB
- Tourism Report 251018 - App 13, item 6. PDF 489 KB