Agenda item

The Chairman introduced the Chief Executive, Visit County Durham (VCD), Melanie Sensicle who was in attendance to give Members an update in relation to Tourism in County Durham (for copy see file of minutes).

The Chief Executive, VCD thanked Members for the opportunity to provide and update and began by informing the Committee that a proportion of Regional Growth Fund (RGF) monies received by Visit England (VE), had been allocated to Visit County Durham to be spent upon promoting the county to a national domestic audience as a tourist destination.  Councillors noted that VCD had been allocated £420,000 over three years with a requirement to match this with £210,000 of match funding from the private sector. Members were shown a brief video, showing the marketing activity and the results it had delivered, and it was explained as residents within the County, Members may not have seen the campaign across the country, for example at King’s Cross Station in London, and along the East Coast mainline.

Councillors noted that County Durham had been one of fourteen destinations in England to receive direct investment alongside more developed destination such as Cornwall, the Lake and the Peak Districts. 

Members noted that the Durham Tourism Management Plan 2012-16 was available via the VCD website and that the document had been considered by the Durham County Council’s (DCC’s) Cabinet and there had been wide consultation with those within the County Durham tourist industry. 

The Committee noted that vision for Durham as a visitor destination was:

“County Durham will offer a visitor experience that matches its outstanding natural landscapes and internationally famous built heritage.  The visitor economy will support long term social, economic and environmental sustainability right across the County and be recognised by the County’s residents as important to the quality of their lives”.

The Chief Executive, VCD noted that while tourism can positively impact on residents quality of life, the focus of Visit County Durham was on the benefit to the economy, through increased numbers of jobs and increased spend within the County.  It was noted that specific aims were:

·       by 2015 Durham will offer a visitor experience that matches or exceeds the best offered by England’s premiere county destinations

·       the County will fulfil its potential as one of the North East of England’s lead destinations, attracting visitors to the region from across the UK and target overseas markets

·       by 2020 the County’s visitor economy will account for 17% of the County’s economy.  This will deliver 2,300 additional jobs.

The Committee noted that in respect of the first point, Durham is not yet on a level with more developed destination such as behind York and North Yorkshire, Chester and Cheshire and Bath and North Somerset.  It was added that over the last 10 years, over 3,000 jobs had been created via Tourism, and the target of an additional 2,300 by 2020 was thought to be a realistic and achievable target if all the relevant plans worked together to deliver.

Members were informed that in order to deliver those aspirations there needed to be help for businesses to improve their performance, to maximise their potential in the midweek and off-peak seasons and to improve the “visitor journey”, offering lots of information and options that could result in another visit and to generated positive “word of mouth” promotion.  The marketing as demonstrated via the video was reiterated but it was emphasised that marketing alone is not enough, there is a need to “develop the product”, building a critical mass to tap into the UK trend for short breaks of 2-3 days up to an optimistic week stay.  It was explained that there would a need to ensure that visitors had a good personal experience to encourage repeat visits and good word of mouth promotion and this came from having a well trained tourism and hospitality workforce, fit to deliver.  The Chief Executive, VCD noted that to support those necessary conditions, there was a need to look to good partnership working, carry out quality research and gather market intelligence to help in decision making. 

It was added that evaluating the performance of the visitor economy was vital in being able to see what worked and what needed support.  The Committee noted that current performance showed, for 2012, 17.8 million people visit the County, £708 million was spent by visitors in the County and 10,643 jobs were supported by the visitor economy. 

It was explained that these figures included contributions for direct and indirect jobs/spend and that the proportions were considered within a mathematical model, for example taking into account the proportion of a restaurant’s trade as being provided from tourists.  The Chief Executive, VCD noted that whilst the 2012 Olympics may have been a source of national pride and a success internationally, at the time it had a negative impact as much of the nation was watching the events at home on television and not travelling. 

Members understood, however, that the general trend for Durham had been upward over the last 10 years and that 2013 should received a boost as it is the Durham “Year of Culture” including highlights such as the return of the Lindisfarne Gospels at Durham University which had helped to fill hotels in County Durham and further afield, as well as the success of the Ashes Test being held at the Riverside Ground (Emirates Durham International Cricket Ground) at Chester-le-Street. 

The Chief Executive, VCD explained that there were gaps in the County Durham Tourism offer as set out in the presentation, notably an absence of National Trust and English Heritage properties a lack of formal gardens, with none having Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) accreditation, however, there was difficult to persuade organisations such as the National Trust or English Heritage, or indeed private owners, to invest in existing gardens or to create new ones. 

Members learned that those visitors that stayed overnight represented 10% of all visitor numbers, but equated to 40% of the overall spend, highlighting the value in promoting a 2-3 days visit over a day trip.  It was added that seasonality was still an issue for County Durham, however this was more pronounced in rural communities and non-serviced accommodation which is located in more rural areas.  Councillors noted that 30% of those visiting the County were visiting friends and relatives during holiday periods with a proportion of those people stopping at the relatives homes, not staying in hotels or holiday lets.  Members learned that 50% of visitor expenditure came into food and drink businesses, with only 9% going to accommodation providers.  It was explained that in 2012, several thousand non-serviced beds (self catering, camping/caravans, hostels) had been lost, an example being Durham University withdrawing a 650 beds for sale, and that this had negatively impacted on the volume value of the visitor economy for 2012.

The Chief Executive, VCD noted that Members may be surprised to learn that the Vale of Durham, the areas between the A19 and A68 roads was the most valuable to the tourism economy, representing a worth of around £295 million per annum, and that the numbers of visitors to the County Durham coastline and the Durham Dales were roughly comparable, albeit with more overnight visitors to the Dales, more day trip to the coast.  It was noted that Durham City needed to do more to drive the County’s visitor economy.

The Chief Executive, VCD reminded the Committee of the role of VCD, as a destination management organisation, supported by DCC and led by the private sector, noting that 95% of the businesses with the tourism industry in County Durham were “micro businesses”. 

It was explained that VCD was seen as an example of best practice nationally by Visit England and had just over 20 staff.  Members noted that VCD staff attended over 40 different forums, groups and meeting a month including the Area Action Partnerships (AAPs). 

Councillors were reminded that VCD led on the promotion of the Lindisfarne Gospels exhibition, had secured a £450,000 investment from Visit England to market the County nationally and it was expected to secure an investment of £750,000 from the Department for Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) for rural tourism development.  The Chief Executive, VCD concluded by referring Members to a table (for copy see file of minutes) setting out a summary of the visitor economy development in Durham since 2007, with 8 priority areas of activity.

The Chairman thanked the Chief Executive, VCD for her presentation and asked Members for their questions.

Members asked questions on several issues including: the contrast in overnight stay numbers in the Dales in comparison to the coast, given lack of accommodation along the A19 corridor and East of the County; the impact of poor transport infrastructure on tourism; attracting foreign visitors; promoting of the Durham coast and its relatively poor connection to Durham City; a lack of family attractions; linking attractions to their local towns, an example given being Locomotion and Shildon; accessing EU Transitional funding to help support the small tourism businesses; input at the local level from Town and Parish Councils; what was required to fill the gaps as identified; what the relative spend would be in achieving the 17% contribution to the County’s economy by 2020; and the Miners’ Gala being linked to tourism.

The Chief Executive, VCD explained that in the case of accommodation at the coast, a number of developers have a “Plan A” to develop tourist lets, however market conditions can force a “Plan B”, more likely than not to go for residential development.  It was added that VCD would help support any Plan As and encourage, however, confidence in the market was key and that recent accommodation study had shown that the types that were required in County Durham were: holiday parks; glamorous camping or “glamping” and 3 or 4 star hotels in Durham City. 

Members noted that in general, the main North/South arterial links such as the East Coast mainline and A19 and A1 were very good and that around 85% of visitors came via car, therefore public transport issues were secondary.  It was noted that a lack of “excursion products” was a potential solution  but the  main provider of excursions in the county had recently said that we are short of visitor numbers in the city to support a profitable excursion trade. The Chief Executive, VCD estimates that  and additional 2 million visitors to the city was required to provide a case for viability for new attractions and for the excursion market.  In relation to advertising to attract foreign visitors, it was noted that advertising abroad was very expensive and that with no direct links to the region to the USA or the far-east money spent could be wasted.  It was noted that Durham was part of a “heritage group” that included Bath and Chester and others, and this group was a vehicle for overseas marketing.  Members noted that, as an example of what is needed to be effective in overseas markets, Visit Scotland had an office in New York and there was no substitute for being “there on-site”. 

It was added that it was important to try and engage with the travel trade and encourage them to add Durham to their  itineraries, again with a need to develop more products to promote and sell being key to achieving this.

The Chief Executive, VCD noted that the Durham coast featured heavily in the pictures promoting Durham that had been displayed nationally, including a centre-spread in the Independent newspaper’s “pull-out”.

It was suggested by Members that there would be a need to continue to push the coast as an issue.  Members noted that the Tourism Management Plan highlighted several gaps in product that needed to be filled.  Durham’s visitor profile was mainly couples over 45 years. It was noted this could be seen as consequence of a lack of family orientated attractions and, albeit with the success of Beamish, Adventure Valley, Hall Hill Farm and Locomotion, there were not products within the County akin to a “Center Parcs” or a “Lightwater Valley” for example.

Councillors noted that it was important to try and maximise the potential of the visitor attractions and to link up to local towns, to try and lengthen stays. The Chief Executive, VCD explained that at the moment EU funding was not available for customer facing businesses, rather for business to business support.  It was added that therefore it was important to try to link in such as way to support the visitor economy such as between travel companies and tour operators and to look at any possible means of getting funding more directly with the new funding programmes coming up. 

Members noted that 3 AAPs had Tourism as a priority: Weardale; Teesdale and Durham City and these AAPs had been attended by VCD staff.  It was noted that the majority of AAPs had the economy as a priority, with Tourism being just one aspect of this.  Councillors noted that some Town and Parish Councils were heavily involved in tourism issues, with several that engaged regularly with VCD including Seaham, Bishop Auckland, Barnard Castle and Stanhope.  Members learned that Stanley Town Council had recently approached VCD with a view to creating a destination development plan for the town “tourism plan” VCD were happy to work with them in this regard.

The Chief Executive, VCD noted that to tackle the gaps as identified there was a need for funds to invest in products and the workforce/staff to deliver those products, within the tourism industry and VCD.  Members were reminded that with the loss of the Regional Development Agency (RDA) One North East, there was a reduction of approximately £1 million in the budget to deliver tourism services, with the teams in position now marking a minimum provision.  It was reiterated that the 20 VCD attended over 40 meetings with partners, community groups and business a month and that the tourism was a “hands-on people industry”, with County Durham having relatively few staff in comparison to similar areas with similar tourism ambitions.  The Chief Executive, VCD noted that the spend required deliver the 17% contribution from tourism to the overall County Durham economy by 2020 was difficult to quantify, however, it was noted that funds from RGF and DEFRA would help alongside other funding streams and it was noted tackling the lower achieving mid-week and off-peak periods by building up the conference/meeting side of the Durham tourism offer may provide an opportunity to work towards the 17% target. 

Councillors noted that in the past, the Chief Executive, VCD had tried to link in with the Miners’ Gala and the Portfolio Holder for Economic Regeneration, Councillor Neil Foster noted that the Miners’ Gala was promoted in conjunction with the Durham Brass Festival. 

Members noted that there could be opportunities to promote further events around the Gala day, as it was a known fixed point within the “Durham calendar” and the Chief Executive, VCD noted that expanding on events to capitalise on the benefits of overnight visits was important.

Resolved:   

(i)       That the information within the report and presentation be noted.

(ii)      That the Economy and Enterprise Overview and Scrutiny Committee receive a        further progress report on the development of the tourism offer in County Durham at    a future meeting of the Committee.