Agenda item

Joint Report of the Assistant Chief Executive and Corporate Director of Regeneration and Economic Development – presented by the Marketing Manager, Visit County Durham, Regeneration and Economic Development.

The Chairman introduced the Managing Director, Visit County Durham (VCD), Michelle Gorman and the Marketing and Information Manager, VCD, Sarah Johnson who were in attendance to give an update presentation as regards progress of recommendations from the Committee’s Review on the Tourism Marketing Activity Undertaken by VCD (for copy see file of minutes).

The Marketing and Information Manager referred Members to the recommendations from the review as set out in Appendix 2 to the report.  Councillors recalled Recommendation 1: “In relation to the partnership approach to marketing, VCD seeks to extend its work with partner destinations and the Durham Strategic Marketing Partnership (DSMP) using major events to attract out of region visitors to raise the profile of the county as a visitor destination”.  The Marketing and Information Manager reminded Members of the role of VCD in terms of the Northern Tourism Growth Fund, with target markets including the United States, China, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and the Netherlands.  It was explained that the programme had ended in March 2016 and VCD was discussing with DSMPs and other destinations as regards continuing to market County Durham overseas.  Members noted that there would be the use of destination events as hooks to try to encourage visitors to stay longer, and use the “This is Durham” branding and logos for a consistent message.  Members noted the new events such as Kynren at Bishop Auckland and Open Treasure at Durham Cathedral, both of which had dedicated marketing plans and VCD staff had been working closely with Eleven Arches and Durham Cathedral for several months.

The Committee learned that there were positives in terms of Recommendation 2: “That VCD continues to develop and redesign the “thisisdurham.com” website and ensure that it remains responsive to the increasing and changing information demands resulting in developments in social media applications”.  It was explained that the thisisdurham.com site was converting around 66% of web traffic from a possible visit to a definite visit, and that in 2015/16 there were 904,498 unique visitors to the site, exceeding target.  The Marketing and Information Manager noted that the website was currently being redesigned to ensure all the latest functionalities were in place, including additional social media integration. 

Members noted that VCD was ranked number 1 in the North East in the English Tourism Social Media index, an annual league table which grades tourism bodies in England, and number 6 out of 129 nationally.

Councillors were asked to recall Recommendation 3: “That VCD continues to research and identify national marketing campaign opportunities which benefit partners within the DSMP and promote County Durham as a tourism destination”.  It was explained that while the VisitEngland was no longer running domestic campaigns that destinations could participate in, VCD had continued to identify national marketing opportunities. 

The Marketing and Information Manager added that, as mentioned at previous meetings of the Committee and Working Group, the latest theme being used was “heritage” and was in partnership with Eleven Arches, Durham Cathedral, Durham University and the Culture and Sport section at Durham County Council (DCC), and a 8 page supplement had been included in the Times newspaper on 7 May 2016, encourage visits and short breaks.  Members noted in addition a campaign regarding “outdoors” from Autumn 2016, with media activity including an online film with Ben Fogle, as part of the Great British Adventure series.

Councillors recalled that Recommendation 4 was that: “VCD ensures that robust performance targets and monitoring procedures for all online and offline marketing activity are in place” and it was noted that target were set and monitored, included in the performance reporting to Committee.

It was explained Recommendation 5 had set out: “That the performance evaluation of the effectiveness of marketing activity undertaken in relation to the national marketing campaign is promoted and reported to the County Council as part of its performance management process”.  Members noted the usual quarterly reporting against RED Performance Indicators.

The Marketing and Information Manager reminded Members that Recommendation 6 had stated: “That VCD maximises all identified future marketing opportunities for 2015/16 including: the use of major events and developments at attractions in County Durham; the Northern Futures Fund, a new source of funding which promotes northern destinations to overseas markets; and championing as a future priority with the NECA the importance of the tourism related economy”.  In this regard, the Marketing and Information Manager noted the Northern Futures Fund, now the Northern Tourism Growth Fund (NTGF) and all the major events were being utilised in promotion of the County.  Members noted the success of the relaunched Virtual Lumiere App and the inclusion of developments at Killhope and Beamish Museums as part of the marketing work.  Councillors learned that in terms of the NTGF, VCD was heavily involved in the development of the programme with its role including: taking part in all appropriate activities; encouraging as many Durham businesses to take part as possible; and ensuring Durham was profiled in remaining appropriate activities.  The Marketing and Information Manager concluded by noting that VCD worked, as part of the Northern Tourism Alliance (NTA), to highlight the importance of the visitor economy in Durham and wider region with the NECA and the NELEP.

The Chairman thanked the Officer and asked Members for their questions on the update report.

Councillor D Hall referred to the previous item in respect of the CDP and asked how VCD fed into that process.  The Managing Director explained that the Durham Tourism Management Plan was the strategy document used by VCD and it was through this that issues and development opportunities would be set out.

Councillor E Adam asked if overseas marketing campaigns had ended in March 2016 and was there any evidence of an impact of the success of the campaigns.

The Marketing and Information Manager explained that the evaluation was being carried out by VisitEngland and VisitBritain and that the information would come through in 2017 as regards the impact, though there was some specific campaign information available.   

Councillor E Adam noted the performance in terms of the number of jobs supported by the tourism industry had reduced, and the Chairman noted information as regards this was included within the next item on the agenda.

Councillor M Davinson asked what the definition of unique visitor in terms of the thisisdurham.com website was, with the Marketing and Information Manager explaining it meant a unique IP address of a visitors.  Councillor M Davinson noted the supplement within the Times newspaper had included a map with several attractions within the County highlighted, however not mentioned within the articles.  The Marketing and Information Manager explained that as the current campaign was focused on “heritage” this was the main element being promoted via the supplement and the focus would move to “outdoors” in terms of the campaign from Autumn 2016.

The Chairman noted that the target for web traffic had been set lower than previously and asked why this was the case.  The Marketing and Information Manager noted this was in response to the process of changing over to the new thisisdurham.com site, to take into account any impact.  Members noted that the target once the new site was in place would be for 1 million unique visitors.

Councillor R Ormerod noted that there were 2 historic counties in our area, County Durham and North Ridding, and asked if there was any connection in terms of VCD’s work.  The Marketing and Information Manager noted the historic connections, however, VCD was charged with developing a strong unique brand for County Durham.  It was noted that going forward there would be increased cross-border collaborations with neighbouring destinations.    

Resolved:

(i)    That the progress report be noted.

(ii)   That the Economy and Enterprise Overview and Scrutiny Committee receive a further update report detailing progress made in relation to the recommendations contained within the Scrutiny Review Report at a future meeting.