Issue - meetings

Report of the Leader

RESOLVED THAT

1.    the five-year strategy to grow Cheltenham’s visitor economy and its action plan be adopted

2.    authority be delegated to the MD Place and Economic Development to work with the Cheltenham Trust and Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles to undertake and complete the handover of the marketing service for a go-live date of 1 August 2017 and also to bring forward plans for the future of the Tourist Information Centre in line with the timescales outlined in the report.

3.    a Variation to the management agreement between the Council and the Cheltenham Trust to remove tourism marketing from the agreement be approved

The Leader introduced the report which sought Cabinet’s approval of a five year strategy to grow Cheltenham’s visitor economy. It set out the vision for Cheltenham’s tourism offer, the aims and outcomes and an action plan for achieving them. It also provided the framework for the council’s place strategy outcome of a thriving visitor economy. The Leader explained that Kelly Ballard had been working with partners on the strategy and key to the action plan for the first two years was the establishment of a new partnership-based marketing service. Once the five year strategy had been approved by Cabinet officers would work with the Trust to hand over the tourism marketing service ready for a go-live date of 1 August 2017. Officers would also begin the process of determining plans for the future of the TIC in consultation with the Trust and the Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles which would include a review of the current model within the context of a 21^st century tourism marketplace to understand visitor need and to determine how best to meet that need in the future. The review would be completed by the end of November 2017. This would enable the legal, HR and financial implications to inform the negotiation of the management agreement and management fee beyond March 2019. Further Cabinet approval to implement the future model for the TIC would be achieved by October 2019.

RESOLVED THAT

1.    the five-year strategy to grow Cheltenham’s visitor economy and its action plan be adopted

2.    authority be delegated to the MD Place and Economic Development to work with the Cheltenham Trust and Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles to undertake and complete the handover of the marketing service for a go-live date of 1 August 2017 and also to bring forward plans for the future of the Tourist Information Centre in line with the timescales outlined in the report.

3.    a Variation to the management agreement between the Council and the Cheltenham Trust to remove tourism marketing from the agreement be approved