Agenda item

(i)       Joint Report of the Assistant Chief Executive and the Corporate      Director of Regeneration and Economic Development.

(ii)      Presentation by the Chief Executive, Visit County Durham.

The Chairman thanked the Chief Executive, Visit County Durham (VCD), Melanie Sensicle who was in attendance to give an update presentation for Members in relation to the development of the tourism offer within County Durham (for copy see file of minutes).

The Chief Executive, VCD noted the last update focused upon County Durham as a visitor destination, and this update would focus on the work of VCD.  It was explained that VCD worked in partnership with between 650-800 small businesses, most being “micro-businesses” including: accommodation providers; visitor attractions; activity providers; and other linked businesses such as restaurants, bars, taxi firms and so on. 

It was explained that the Board for VCD included the Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Councillor N Foster and Corporate Director of Regeneration and Economic Development, Ian Thompson as Board Members, as well as experienced leaders from within the sector such as the Director of Beamish Museum and the Principal of East Durham College.  It was noted that directions were underpinned via evidence from visitors, to attract greater visitor numbers and meet the needs of the sectors involved.

The Chief Executive, VCD noted that high level measures included: the reach of VCD’s national marketing campaign; the additional spend created by the Visitor Information Network (VIN); the reputation of Durham for its food and drink; the impact of the “Welcome to Durham” programme relating to customer service skills; and working in partnership and engaging with local businesses.  Councillors learned that additional measures included: strategic planning and research; marketing and information; partnership development and support; product development; and 2014-15 targets relating to tourism measures.

Members noted the “reach of VCD’s national marketing campaign” was measured by a proxy, namely the number of unique visitors to thisisdurham.com, with the target being 850,000, the year-end figure being 882,073.  It was explained that customer habits were changing, with more visitors accessing information via the internet rather than more traditional leaflets and posters and that the number of unique visitors to the thisisdurham.com site had increased steadily year-on-year since 2008.  It was added that the proxy measure in respect of additional spend generated by the VIN was that of the added value of the Durham Pocket Guide, with a target of £6 million, the year-end figure being £7 million.

The Chief Executive, VCD explained that the visitor perception and satisfaction with the quality of food and drink was measured every 3 years via the visitor survey, a proxy measure for Taste Durham, and it was noted that despite many activities, this seemed to have plateaued, suggesting a new approach may be required and indeed a reinvigorated Taste Durham programme was being developed.  It was explained that the Welcome to Durham proxy had been that of the number of people with the “Welcome Host Gold” standard, though now this had been superseded by the “World Host Gold” standard.  It was noted that the target had been for 9 people, the year-end figure being 19.  Councillors were informed that the engagement with businesses was measured such that it was those that had actively been engaged with, not just being sent information, and this equated to 81% at the year-end, ahead of a target of 80%.

The Committee learned that through strategic planning and research, there had been a “levering in” of £1.2 million of investment into tourism development and VCD had hosted the Tourism Management Institute Conference, very important in showing Durham to the world’s tourism professionals.  It was added that 20 partners had been secured as “brand ambassadors” and that the work of VCD was recognised with five initiatives being identified as examples of best practice, and Durham receiving 7 out of an available 15 gold awards at the regional tourism awards.

Members received statistics relating to marketing and information and work ongoing in respect of partnership development and support, including: a weekly “e-bulletin”; an autumn conference translating to increase engagement with Taste Durham; and a new training provider for “Welcome to Durham”, enabling the course to be self-financing. 

The Chief Executive, VCD reminded Members of the success of the Lindisfarne Gospels project, with over 500 events in the regional festival, reaching a global audience of 18 million.  Councillors noted £100,000 from Arts Council England as a contribution to Lumiere 2013 and noted 203 businesses had received one-to-one visits within the year.  Members noted product development included: the Bishop Auckland food festival; the new Taste Durham, with an industry-led steering group; Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) funding of £500,000 for the Northern Lands programme of which two were led by VCD, sense of place training and food tourism; and the production of a play “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Durham”, supporting the Lindisfarne Gospels.

The Committee noted that targets for 2014/15 included: 950,000 unique visitors to thisisdurham.com; maintain the level of £7 million of additional spend, given the current wider economic position; have 50 people with the World Host Gold accreditation; and for 65% of core tourism businesses having actively engaged with VCD.

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

The Committee asked questions relating to: what constituted a core tourism business, linking into events such as the Polar Express; more visitors to the rural areas of the County, highlighting activities such as walking and cycling; and how long people visited the thisisdurham.com site for and any work relating to its google ranking.

The Chief Executive, VCD noted that core tourism businesses were those directly involved such as visitor attractions or accommodation, rather than those indirectly associated such as restaurants and bars.  It was noted that it was felt that County Durham could absorb greater visitor numbers, however, though it was noted that the County had not yet moved from the “attraction” stage to the “management” stage in terms of numbers visiting the County and that it was important to benchmark County Durham in the context of similar historic cities/towns with large rural surroundings such as York, Chester and Bath.  It was noted that VCD did not directly deal with issues relating to walking and cycling, it did liaise with an Officer Working Group that included colleagues from the DCC Rights of Way Team / Countryside Department.  Members noted another way of promoting rural areas included “food trails”, highlighting local restaurants, local producers and linking to activities such as foraging for wild foods; and dark skies discovery sites, for astronomy. 

The Chief Executive, VCD noted thisisdurham.com was on the first page of searches for Durham via google and visitors to the site stayed for an average of 2½ minutes.  

Resolved:

(i)          That 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 and the performance of Visit County Durham at a future meeting.