Agenda item

(i)   Joint Report of the Corporate Director of Resources and Corporate Director of Regeneration, Economy and Growth.

(ii)  Presentation by the Managing Director, Visit County Durham.

The Chair welcomed the Managing Director, Visit County Durham (VCD), Michelle Gorman who was in attendance to provide the Committee with a progress report relating to the activity and support provided during the pandemic and recovery plans (for copy see file of minutes).

The Managing Director VCD, noted that she would normally present the Committee with an annual update on figures and progress against performance, however, this presentation would focus on the impact of COVID-19, the work undertaken to support the sector and future recovery plans.  Members noted the destination performance information and the regional context in terms of the visitor economy and the projections for 2020 having: a 56 percent fall in economic impact, from £5 billion to £2.2 billion; a 48 percent fall in visitor numbers from 72 million to 38 million; job losses of 35,900, from 62,800 to 26,900.

She explained this would equate to a loss of 8.77 million visitors for County Durham, a drop of 45.5 percent in terms of spend in the local economy from £955 million in 2019 to £520.44 million in 2020, and a 46.1 percent fall in the number of jobs supported in the county, a loss of 5,587 jobs.

The Managing Director VCD, noted the support for the sector including working in partnership with industry partners, the County Durham Economic Partnership, Business Durham, teams within the Council, the North East Tourism Alliance, the North East LEP, sector bodies, and Visit England/Visit Britain.  She added it also included; monitoring the impact of COVID-19 on the sector; lobbying for industry support; and regular e-mail communications signposting to Government and official sources of support, advice and guidance, funding and grant programmes, and industry training delivered by partners. 

The Committee noted that other elements of support included: the COVID-19 content hub, updated daily; regular telephone calls to businesses; the weekly Wednesday Grapevine; B2B social media channels; training and support tailored to business needs; monthly strategic Partner meetings; virtual networking meetings; support for the travel trade and group travel; and an appropriate and responsive approach to destination marketing.

The Chair thanked the Managing Director VCD and asked the Committee for their comments and questions.

Councillor F Tinsley noted that while it was worrying that the number of visitors had halved, the spend had halved, and the number of jobs in the sector had halved it was important to understand how to get back from that position and asked whether new marketing strategies were being developed based upon what was anticipated the world would look like from 2021 onwards. 

He also asked as regards a breakdown of “staycation” versus foreign visitors to the County and whether marketing was tailored to that.  He noted the importance of language and students and as regards developments such as at Bishop Auckland and noted Government proposals to not allow travel into the UK using a European ID Card and advised that VCD should lobby Government on this issue as the additional cost of a passport may put off potential EU visitors post-Brexit.

Mr T Bolton noted in his local area, Teesdale, holiday cottages had welcomed many visitors since lockdown had been lifted.  He noted those visiting would often bring their own food and supplies and asked if there were any links between the Council and holiday cottage providers, or an association, to be able to link local suppliers with holiday cottage providers.

The Managing Director VCD noted VCD was looking at new marketing strategies, with consumer behaviour having changed adding she felt the change was a permanent change.  She explained that the short to medium-term trend of what people would be looking for included: outdoor tourism, health tourism; and activities and experiences with friends and family.  She added that our own heritage and culture in County Durham would be very important and this was an area County Durham should continue to capitalise on.  Members noted outdoors and heritage and culture were key propositions for County Durham to benefit from, as well as eco-tourism going forward. 

The Managing Director VCD noted the North East did not receive a large number of international visitors, with only 3 percent of those international visitors visiting County Durham.  She noted work with the North East Tourism Alliance, and Visit England and Visit Britain, in terms of trying to get international visitors to go beyond London and to visit the regions.  She reminded Members of the marketing activities that had been undertaken by VCD over the last few years in this regard, including the Northern Saints Trail.

The Managing Director VCD noted, in terms of the point raised as regards EU ID Cards, VCD was working with North East Tourism Alliance in terms of lobbying Government on this matter on behalf of Destination Management Organisations and the Tourism industry, to ensure we were not at a competitive disadvantage compared to other global destinations. 

In respect of holiday cottages, there was work undertaken with accommodation providers in terms of encouraging use of local food and drink suppliers and producers, under the “Taste Durham” initiative, noting there was an opportunity with the shift in consumer behaviour towards local produce.

Resolved:  

(i)        That the content of the report and presentation be noted.

(ii)       That the Economy and Enterprise Overview and Scrutiny Committee includes in its work programme for 2021/2022 a further progress report detailing the performance of Visit County Durham in marketing the county, continued support delivered to the sector and detail of further recovery plans.