Agenda item

Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles (no decision required) – will include a presentation from Creative Tourist Consults

The Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles introduced Andrew Palmer from the tourist consultants, Creative Tourist Consults.  The committee were given a PowerPoint presentation which summarised the report that had bene circulated with the agenda.  

The following responses were given to members questions by the Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles and Andrew Palmer, of Creative Tourist Consults;

·         The report made clear that the ‘full’ offer was of equal importance to the cultural offer (currently 16 weeks of Festivals), but Cheltenham was culturally rich and as such, this was a major focus.  

·         The consultants advocated an honest appraisal of the existing Festivals and felt that this could be easily undertaken given the number of comparable events across the country.  One suggestion was that Cheltenham, as other towns and cities had started to do, should look to use public open spaces as part of the offer, with innovation being key to success. 

·         The key focus of the money that had been set aside, but by no means the sole purpose, would be manpower, rather than simply improving websites.  The consultant’s report would be taken to Cabinet on the 8 March and the recommendation was that Tim Atkins, Managing Director, Place and Economic Development, be delegated authority to consider the delivery plan and proposed delivery mechanism. 

·         Marketing and promotion would be the next area of focus for the Partnership, but whilst it was important to have a creative campaign, it was equally important to target the right markets in order to get the best return from any investment. 

·         It was recognised by all (Cheltenham, Cotswolds and Gloucester) that working together would improve the message and therefore the overall offer.  The Cotswolds was internationally known but it was for Cheltenham to decide what it wanted/needed from the DMO.  Gloucester were in the process of creating a cultural strategy and had invited Cllr Hay to contribute.  Marketing Gloucester would be invited to participate on the Tourism Partnership. 

·         The 2011 report did not include details of how Cheltenham could or indeed, should, improve its offer, it simply set out that the products were good but could be better.

·         Creative Tourist Consults were commissioned and Cheltenham Tourism Partnership established because the council recognised it did not have anybody with the right skills set to take tourism strategies forward. Whilst the council needed to drive the programme forward for now, it was not envisaged that the council would always be leading on this.

·         Areas where a Business Improvement District had been developed had seen improvements to tourism and culture simply by attracting people to the geographical area itself.  It was important that resources dovetailed rather than crudely overlapped and therefore it was vital to have early conversations, which was being put into practice by the inclusion of Kevin Blackadder. 

·         If the action plan is successfully delivered then examples of the difference that could be seen in 5 years’ time would be a coherent and consistent message with greater penetration, assets being used to their full potential, with time specific reasons to visit (events) increased and enhanced.  Whilst existing markets would continue, new audiences would be coming in. 

·         Free events were available at most festivals, though there was always scope to do more, but with no central place to access information, these events were not always as well publicised as they could be.  However, it was most likely that the more expensive events would result in more revenue and would therefore, always be promoted to a greater degree.  The consultants suggested that festivals with free entry could in fact raise the market for everyone.

·         The report acknowledged that the Wilson was perhaps not the best location for the TIC.  Seasonal or even pop-up TICs, and not just in the town centre, but at transport gateways and slightly out of town locations, could be a means of using assets in the most effective way in the future.

·         No one person would be responsible for, or able to take forward all of the actions on the action plan.  Work had already been undertaken to improve advertising and marketing by the Wilson and this demonstrated that some of the actions could only be realised with the help of Partners. 

The report highlighted a number of reasons as to why the town was not being promoted as it should, however, members were asked to be mindful of the fact that the 2011 strategy was drafted at a time when the council was losing staff year on year and it was proposed that now was the time to look forward rather than dwelling on the past and focussing on what went wrong.  Partners had an appetite to work together and this coupled with the BID process, put Cheltenham in a strong position to take advantage of all opportunities and he envisaged that in 5 years time, Cheltenham would be nationally recognised.  

One member felt that most people would access tourist information online rather than seeking out and visiting a TIC and therefore did not place significant value on this arrangement going forward, suggesting that a TIC would be even less important in 5-10 years.  He went on to say that in order for Cheltenham to boost its economy it needed to attract more people to live and work in the town and that this started with tourism, but he felt that as a town, there was a reluctance to attract such increases, which it needed to overcome. 

The committee were happy to endorse the recommendations that were going to be considered by Cabinet at their meeting on the 8 March, to accept the consultant’s report, delegate authority to the MD Place and Economic Development to further consider and progress the proposed delivery mechanism and to allocate funding required to source the additional capacity needed to take the programme forward. 

The Chairman thanked Andrew Palmer from Creative Tourist Consults and the Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles for their attendance. 

No decision was required.