Destination Management Handbook - The Tourism Management ... · tourism businesses and communities where tourism happens (the local destination) and at the same time are linked into

Destination Management HandbookA sustainable approach

Introduction

Section 1 Destination auditIntroduction

1A Surveying visitor satisfaction

1B Determining the local economic impact of tourism

1C Surveying local community attitudes to tourism

1D Determining local carrying capacities in an area

Section 2 Destination planning2A Addressing tourism within local authorities

2B Developing tourism partnerships

2C Engaging tourism micro-businesses

2D Tourism and the planning system: gaining value locally

2E Developing visitor management plans

Section 3 Destination developmentIntroduction: taking a quality approach

3A SME training and business support

3B Promoting e-business

3C Developing sustainable visitor transport

3D Setting up a visitor payback scheme

3E Ensuring access for all

3F Identifying and developing local distinctiveness

3G Biodiversity Action Plans for tourism

3H Assisting tourism businesses with waste management

3I Sustainability schemes and awards for businesses and destinations

3J Marketing

Section 4 Monitoring performanceMeasuring overall tourism performance

Section 5 ReferencesWhere to go for help

© ENGLISH TOURIST BOARD AND TOURISM MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE 2003

IntroductionContents

Foreword

Contributors

Introduction

Strategy and service improvements plans

1 What is sustainable tourism?

2 Delivering real change at destination level

3 VICE: a model for sustainable destination management

4 Developing and implementing your destination management plan

5 What you will find on the CD-ROM

6 How the handbook will help you

7 Taking sustainable tourism forward

Case studies

Sources of information and help

Implementing a destination management plan (table)


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ForewordThis handbook is designed for the use of tourism destination managers and their staff. Theterm destination refers to a significant land area managed for the development of tourismby Local Authorities, National Park Authorities, Public/Private Partnerships, AONBManagement Teams or Private Sector Businesses.

It is being increasingly understood that destination managers have a very significant role toplay in delivering successful and sustainable tourism solutions, both on the ground in eachlocal destination and as a collective UK network of professionals. Furthermore, they are inthe unique position of both being able to play the role of honest broker with visitors,tourism businesses and communities where tourism happens (the local destination) and atthe same time are linked into the regional, national and international tourism picture.

Destination managers can therefore make a significant contribution in establishing thecomplex local and sub-regional relationships and networks that deliver consistentnational/regional policy actions at the coalface, where they actually count. This is particularlypertinent in light of recent international tourism issues and the need to make solutions workquickly and effectively for the benefit of tourism throughout the UK.

A fundamental requirement for this vision will be the consistency of approach adopted bydestination managers to establish a coherent national framework for destination management:a framework which at the same time creates the flexibility to respond to the differentdestination circumstances that make the UK such a hugely diverse international tourismproduct. We all have a piece of the jigsaw; the trick will be for us all to work together tocreate that bigger picture to benefit the tourism offer of the UK as a whole.

This is just a start. We hope that the evolving nature of the handbook will provide thecatalyst to develop this common approach and by working together, identify and promote best practice in all aspects of destination management. We want this handbook to become the fundamental resource of every destination manager, so it will be developedand updated regularly. Each component will be ‘edited’ by a fellow destination managerlisted in section 5, so keep them informed of things we’ve missed or any relevantdevelopments in that subject. Together, destination managers can make a huge difference.

ContributorsThe following organisations and individuals have contributed to this handbook:

Tourism Management Institute/Local AuthoritiesSu Beswick, South Hams District Council; Anthony Climpson, New Forest District Council;Peter Lane, Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council; Sarah Osborne, Royal Borough of Windsor& Maidenhead; Colin Potts, Chester City Council; Amanda Shepherd, Chair of TMI IT Panel.

English Tourism CouncilDavid Lunn, Board member; Andrew Daines; John Dent; Claire Dinan; Jane Fletcher; Helen Ford; Stuart Heath; Paul Jeffries; Chris Veitch.

Tourism for All ConsortiumJenny Stephenson

Regional Tourist BoardsChristopher Howard, East of England; Neil Warren, East of England; Peter Colling, Southern;Liz Craven, South East England; Jo Jury, Heart of England.

Disability Rights CommissionMarie Pye

Resource – The Council for Museums, Archives and LibrariesMarcus Weisen

Other contributorsGraham Barrow, Independent consultant; Tamsyn Butler, English Nature; Becky Collier, Island2000 Trust; Annabel Grant, SBS; Rebecca Hawkins, independent consultant; Jeremy Roberts, independent consultant; Matt Todd, independent consultant

© English Tourist Board and Tourism Management Institute 2003

Published by the English Tourism Council, Thames Tower, Black’s Road, London W6 9EL in partnership with the Tourism Management Institute, c/o Anthony Climpson, New ForestDistrict Council, Leisure Services Department, Appletree Court, Lyndhurst, Hampshire SO43 7PA, tel 023 8028 5102; fax 023 8028 5457; email [email protected]

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mailto:[email protected]

IntroductionThe English Tourism Council (ETC) and the Tourism Management Institute (TMI) have workedtogether to create this handbook. We hope that it will help provide destination managerswith the tools for implementing a sustainable approach to tourism and thereby secure asuccessful future for tourism at a destination level throughout the UK. We also hope that the approach taken in this handbook will form an enduring framework for the ongoingdevelopment of destination management, recognising that inevitably this work will need toevolve further to achieve a fully comprehensive approach. In order for this to happen, wewould be grateful for your participation in helping shape its future.

Strategy and service improvement plans

The handbook seeks to deal with enhancing professional development in destinationmanagement as a whole. It is important to draw a distinction between each of the elementsof a sustainable and integrated destination management plan. The primary component isthe strategy itself, which encompasses drawing individual stakeholders together and creatinga framework for their interaction and collective animation. Integral to this is the managementprocess and the arrangements put in place to deliver and monitor the service and itsperformance. This service delivery process forms a key part of an authority’s approachtowards performance management and the process of continuous improvement required as part of the Best Value and Comprehensive Performance Assessment initiatives.

We have included some work of the National Tourism Best Value Group in the followingcomponents, and in future editions of the handbook we hope to join all the performanceand service delivery outputs in one publication. Best value is covered in more detail inSection 4 Monitoring performance.

The following points are covered in this introduction below:

1 What is sustainable tourism?2 Delivering real change at destination level3 VICE: a model for sustainable destination management4 Developing and implementing your destination management plan5 What you will find on the CD-ROM6 How the handbook will help you7 Taking sustainable tourism forward

1 What is sustainable tourism?

A logical starting-point for this handbook is to consider the meaning and importance of asustainable approach to tourism. As a concept, sustainable tourism’s underlying principles are well understood: it is about managing visitor impacts on the local destination’s economy, communities and environment to benefit all stakeholders both in the present and the future. The principles of sustainable tourism apply to all tourism destinations,wherever they are, and to all forms of tourism, whether niche or mainstream. Indeed,sustainability is necessary for the successful future of tourism itself.

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The key importance of this approach has been recognised for some time. In 1999, theGovernment published Tomorrow’s Tourism, which identified the pursuit of sustainabletourism as a priority, and gave the ETC lead responsibility for developing policy in this area.With the help of a sustainability taskforce, the ETC developed its Time for Action strategy,which identified three objectives for sustainable tourism:

• to benefit the economy of tourism destinations• to support local communities and culture• to protect and enhance the built and natural environment.

The challenge for developing tourism sustainably is to find the optimum balance betweenthese interrelated objectives, whereby no one objective is disproportionately favoured to thedetriment of the others. If this can be achieved, the benefits will be significant, as asustainable approach to tourism will help create:

• Economic growth Tourism is the fifth largest industry by employment and accounts for7.6% of employment in England. Between 1995 and 2000 tourism was in the top five job-creating sectors, responsible for nearly 10% of all new jobs. Tourism uses more locally-produced goods and services than other industries and brings revenue into remote or peripheral regions where there are few alternatives.

• Better facilities Tourism can be a good reason to preserve and protect the built andphysical environment. It relies on clean beaches, attractive natural environments, beautifullandscapes, well-preserved historic sites and interesting buildings for its success; moreovermany of these assets are maintained by visitor income.

• An engine for regeneration Tourism is an increasingly important element in driving social,economic and environmental regeneration. Related developments can provide a new leaseof life for disused buildings and help to regenerate neglected areas.

These factors will lead to an improved visitor experience, a higher quality tourism productand benefits for the local community in terms of an enhanced local economy, employment,amenity and environment. The value of this approach is further illustrated by the researchfindings summarised below, showing that visitors themselves are becoming increasinglyaware of sustainability and the benefits it brings by influencing their behaviour.

The ETC recently carried out research to investigate domestic tourists’ attitudes tosustainable tourism. The results suggest that UK residents have a positive attitude andawareness of the issues.

Almost two-thirds (63%) of consumers stated that a well-managed environment was animportant feature in choosing the destination of their last holiday or short break in England;76% thought it important that their holidays in England should benefit local residents at theholiday destination.

Interestingly, the respondents backed up these attitudes by stating that they would bewilling to pay more for accommodation providers that followed sustainable tourismpractices:

• 63% of consumers said they would be willing to pay extra to stay with a provider whichtries to buy local products.

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• 63% of consumers said they would be willing to pay extra to stay with a provider thattries to employ local staff and pays them good wages.

• 65% of consumers said they would be willing to pay extra to stay with a provider that wascommitted to good environmental practices.

The potential marketing advantage that sustainability offers is just one of many goodreasons why destinations should address the issues presented within this handbook. Thechallenge for us all will be to initiate and maintain the real changes that are necessary toadopt a more sustainable approach.

2 Delivering real change at destination level

In order to develop a national approach to sustainability that will promote real change at alocal level, we need to recognise that destinations collectively represent a hugely diversegrouping. The challenges and solutions for tourism may differ from one destination to thenext, although there will be common factors. For example, seaside resorts may faceindividual problems such as the maintenance of sea defences, which would not be a problemfor landlocked spa towns. However, they may share the same problems in terms of decliningvisitor numbers and capitalising on local distinctiveness. Meanwhile, areas of outstandingnatural beauty and historic towns and cities may be more concerned with reducing visitornumbers whilst increasing economic benefits.

National policies, strategies and targets will therefore be vital to establish common prioritiesand create a consistent policy framework and infrastructure that will support nationalsustainable development. However, it is only at the local destination level that real changecan be brought about. Local destination managers will be the drivers of this change but it isimportant to remember that these changes cannot be brought about by them alone. To besuccessful, destination managers must work with a wide variety of stakeholders includinglocal land managers, businesses, communities and the visitors themselves. The importance ofthese partnerships in bringing about a sustainable tourism future is stressed throughout thehandbook.

Trying to address these many interrelationships makes destination management about ascomplicated a management activity as there is. We all know how difficult a subject it is tocommunicate and resource – this is at the heart of destination tourism’s main problem: a lack of understanding of what it actually is. TMI have therefore developed a destinationmanagement model, which is simple, comprehensive, consistent but flexible and providesboth the simple explanation and the means of integrating the many stakeholders, which will benefit from local, regional and national sustainable management solutions.

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3 VICE: a model for sustainable destination management

The VICE Model identifies destination tourism as the interaction between Visitors, theIndustry that serves them, the Community that hosts them and their collective impact on,and response to the Environment where it all takes place:

It is the job of the sustainable destination manager to make sense of their own specific set oflocal VICE circumstances and through an array of collective partnerships create a destinationmanagement plan which:

• welcomes, involves and satisfies Visitors• achieves a profitable and prosperous Industry• engages and benefits host Communities• protects and enhances the local Environment

The VICE equation can also be applied as a simple check against the future viability(sustainability) of any tourism decision. How will this issue/decision affect the visitor? Whatare the implications for industry? What is the impact on the community and what is theenvironmental effect? If you cannot find a positive answer to all four questions, theproposition is likely to be unsustainable.

It is the aim of TMI to develop the VICE concept locally and sub-regionally as a means ofmaking tourism a catalyst for regeneration everywhere and recapturing a sense of localcommunity control, financial independence and pride that will improve both the localquality of life and the visitor experience in every destination throughout the UK. However,sustainability is a complex mission that takes a long time to achieve and a lot of organising.

The TMI destination management model builds on this concept to create a simple, flexiblematrix for the engagement, construction and delivery cycle of collective tourism solutions in any local setting.

The model integrates the basic work areas of destination management (eg research andquality) with the four basic stakeholder groups, Visitors, Industry, Community andEnvironment. The consistency comes from the overall approach (VICE) and the commonmethod of measuring the performance outputs/indicators of the overall plan. Flexibilitydevelops through the various means employed to integrate destination management and thefour stakeholder groups and in the detail of the objectives which come out of this process.

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Environment

Industry

Visitor

Community

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Local Destination Management Model

Destination management services

Each destination management service will have its own approach to the way it organises itswork and in the way it engages its own stakeholder groups. The local model lists the broadareas of responsibility likely to be of significance to the work of any destination managementservice. The problem for most tourism officers is that resources and/or organisationalstructures normally make it difficult for them to coordinate this wide range of activities.

It is likely that initially you won’t be able to engage in all the work areas listed in the model, so fit in what you’ve got, or, if you are responsible for them, add new work areas such as event management/public buildings/museums. The important thing is to integrate all your areas of work with your four stakeholder groups in delivering your destinationmanagement plan.

Stakeholder groups

The model identifies four distinct groups of stakeholders: Visitors; Industry; Community;Environment. The main problem is that they cannot all be engaged in the same way. There isalso the confusion of some people being in more than one group; for instance, visitors caninclude large numbers of local residents. Overall, however, the public sector and industry willdirectly benefit by encouraging community and environmental interests to help influencethe overall visitor experience and the way in which the destination area is managed.

In making any destination plan work, the stakeholders therefore divide into two types:

• Public sector, agencies, landowners and industry, who must lead and set an example bytaking co-ordinated action and facilitating the participation of the remaining stakeholders.

• Visitors and local residents, who should not be expected to initiate action of their own,but whose engagement and participation is still essential for the success and sustainabilityof any plan.

Stakeholder engagement

There are many ways to organise stakeholders into the four VICE groups and this will dependon the nature of the destination, the level of commitment/resource provided by the localauthority/agency/landowner and the current state of local tourism.

If you are starting from scratch it’s important to begin with your local industry. The mosteffective means is to establish a single cross-sectoral industry partnership/association. This willtake a huge effort for a couple of years but the benefits are enormous if you are successful.If this isn’t possible, then at the very least create an annual cross-sectoral forum to act as acollective sounding post and for industry to feed into your management plan process.

With the industry on board and working with you, you can start to set about establishingthe four programmes which are most likely to engage the interest and input of eachstakeholder group.

• Visitors: visitor stewardship programmeThis is the means by which you engage your visitors in the destination strategy. It can beas simple as a set of key messages in a leaflet or as complex as a comprehensive packageof visitor media, interpretation, information, payback and accreditation, linked to everyaspect of your destination strategy.

It doesn’t really matter what approach you adopt as long as it is owned and consistentlydelivered to visitors by all appropriate destination stakeholders. A visitor stewardshipprogramme will reflect and interpret the destination’s values, cultural heritage andlandscape in a way that communicates your local distinctiveness and fits with the policiesand actions of your overall strategy.

Whatever you choose to do, make sure you consistently replicate the messages/themes ofthe programme in all your visitor communications and in your promotional and productactivities; eg visitor information centres, public buildings, industry sites or bedroombrowser. If you operate a local distinctiveness/LA2I/sustainability scheme and logo, thevisitor stewardship programme is a powerful tool to incentivise industry take-up. However,the main benefit is to get the visitor to actively play their part in making the destination abetter place to live and visit by having a more personal involvement through an improvedwelcome and a greater understanding. To achieve this, the programme needs to bedeveloped by getting ownership and input from your industry and community groups,with overall leadership coming from the environment group.

• Industry: destination marketing and product development programmeThere are many aspects of destination management that provide you with the opportunityto engage with your local industry. However, there is nothing more effective than asuccessful joint public sector/industry destination marketing programme. This approach has the added bonus of potentially being totally inclusive of all your local visitor-relatedbusinesses and a major source of investment and product development that’s in keepingwith the wider needs of the destination.

If you follow the VICE model you will be able to develop that total ownership by feeding in all four stakeholder groups’ needs to the destination’s marketing programme. Such aprogramme then becomes a tool to promote, sell and reinforce the values, culture and

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heritage of your destination to both your stakeholders and your visitors. This can be verypowerful, particularly if you tap into those local residents who are regular visitors.

The marketing programme can also be used as an incentive for the industry to sign up to quality/local distinctiveness/LA21/sustainability schemes. If you can provide successfulreturns from your marketing programme, it will become the glue which holds yourindustry and your destination strategy together. The levels of success from your marketingprogramme will be hugely improved if you have a cross-sector tourism partnership/associationor forum to represent the industry group and help devise and deliver it.

Time hasn’t allowed us to pull together a comprehensive marketing component for thisfirst edition of the handbook. Section 3J is a summary of how to construct and promote asustainable marketing plan.

• Community: local tourism plansIf you want to operate a sustainable destination, then you need to fully involve yourdifferent communities. Some destinations already have well-established tourism networks,linking community interests into the VICE model via community tourism groups (CTGs) orforums. An effective way to get the ball rolling is to bring any community’s local industrygroup reps, parish/town council, chamber of trade and resident groups together to devisea local tourism action plan for that community area. These can simply be a list ofprioritised issues to tackle, or a more comprehensive community tourism developmentplan. There are many ways these can be created using the Four-stage Plan from thehandbook; the important thing is that they add value and link into all the principles andactions of the destination strategy.

The Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) is an ideal vehicle for destination managers to link incommunity support with their own work. The best way to do this is to use the LSP to forma Community Action Network for tourism, made up of CTGs representing each community.Each group could undertake their own Four-stage Plan and be linked in to yourdestination strategy process via a community action team for tourism, itself linked to theLSP Board. Local members of your industry partnership/association can often provide theinitial leadership to get a CTG going and it’s surprising how often residents eventuallytake over the role in the long term.

• Environment: LA21/Sustainable Tourism ProgrammeWhatever setting your destination enjoys, urban, coastal, rural, or a combination, itsenvironment is without doubt its most important asset. Managing the impact of tourismand visitors on this fundamental asset is a key responsibility of any destination manager.The environment is a huge management subject and there are many interests, agencies,landowners and individuals involved, some of whom can be somewhat ‘anti-tourism’.

So how do you get the environment working for tourism and tourism working for theenvironment? As this handbook demonstrates, the answer is that we are only just startingto find out. Without doubt the best way a destination manager can make a start is bygetting all the many interests together in an LA21 tourism group or similar and gothrough the Four-stage Plan to produce an LA21/sustainable tourism programme inputinto your destination strategy. Using the VICE model this would include the creation of alocal distinctiveness programme or participation in the proposed national sustainabilityaccreditation scheme. Other key roles could include overseeing the visitor stewardship

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programme, the tourism input to: local produce, biodiversity, planning/development,transport and the environmental elements of tourism research, quality, training,marketing, information and ICT.

The creation of an LA21 tourism group brings together a myriad of cross-cutting issuesusually out of the direct control of a destination manager both within the local authorityitself and throughout the destination. Ideally, because of the large number of peopleinvolved, an LA21 tourism group would only meet occasionally maybe once or twice a yearbut keep in regular contact through sub-group action and email. Members of the groupshould be drawn from within the council: eg Corporate Planning, Environmental Health,Public Services, Public Relations, Planning, Development Control, and from outsideorganisations: industry representatives, community representatives, Highway Authority,transport operators, National Parks/ AONBs, RTBs, environmental agencies, landowners.This process provides the means to get an environmental stakeholder input into thedestination strategy and action plan whilst engaging those interests which mightotherwise work against you either by chance or design.

The above programmes should be linked with all the other elements of the local model to form your overall destination management strategy and action plan along with agreedperformance indicators and identified responsibilities for delivery. The outputs of the planand P/Is are reviewed and fed back to the stakeholder groups to start the nextcycle/modification of the strategy/plan and its process. Wise growth, like best value, is aboutcontinuous improvement.

Sub-regional modelNo destination is an ‘island’ and we all have much to gain by working with neighbouring or like-branded destinations. So the local model links to a sub-regional model, which in turncan link into the regions and beyond. Assuming the destinations that make up the sub-region are all using the VICE model, then each destination plan’s output is collectively fedinto the policies and actions of the sub-regional steering/strategy group providing thecontinuity of the VICE (sustainability) concept in all sub-regional tourism management anddevelopment activity.

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This is just an example of a sub-regional structure. There are many ways to organise yourapproach as long as you remember to feed up, down and across to create benefit for alldestinations in the partnership and link with your neighbours. There is no doubt, from theexperience of destinations that already work in this way, that a collective sub-regionalapproach allows many of the bigger issues to be tackled far more effectively by usingeconomies of scale and collective resources. This is particularly important for individualdestinations given the new focus on regional government.

4 Developing and implementing your destination management plan

Having identified the national and local importance of a sustainable tourism approach andhow it can work in practice, the next step is to make it happen by developing and deliveringa destination management plan/strategy.

In principle this plan should aim to incorporate the national actions identified from the Timefor Action strategy, where they are relevant, whilst addressing the destination’s own prioritiesthrough stakeholder engagement achieved through the VICE approach. Flexibility is requiredhere in order to successfully meet the needs of each specific destination, whilst allowingthem to interact with national programmes and initiatives. The planning process should aimto identify and effectively address any conflicts that may exist between national and localpriorities, and seek to benefit from common issues.

In line with all effective managerial systems, destination management should be viewed as aprocess of continuous improvement to increase the quality of the overall product, followingthe key steps of the business planning cycle; ie audit, plan, develop and monitor/evaluate.Not only is this necessary for the overall approach, but the same principles also apply to theindividual components within this handbook. As a result, these four stages are a commontheme throughout this handbook as they provide the structure to aid development andimplementation. The following table illustrates the key aspects of each stage. It is important to remember that each of these stages must be carried out in partnership with the relevantVisitor, Industry, Community and Environmental stakeholder group.

Beyond this process, there are many ways to consider the actual activities and elements thatmake up the overall management plan. This handbook identifies a suggested framework ofactivities that can be used as the building blocks for your plan; it is your task to fit them toaddress your own circumstances. The many case studies included will provide good examplesof how this can be achieved.

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5 What you will find on the CD-ROM

The CD-ROM inside the back cover of this handbook contains all the components for sections1 to 5 in pdf format. These can be browsed in Adobe Acrobat Reader on PC or Apple Mac,and printed out as and when needed and inserted into the handbook binder. This meansthat components not currently within your plans can be left on CD, and components whichare used more often can be reprinted if necessary.

There are quick links to individual components from the Contents page, and you cannavigate easily around the documents by using the clickable buttons on each page. Thereare live links to websites for references and case studies to enable you to follow them upeasily. If you don’t already have Adobe Acrobat Reader, the CD-ROM also contains a facilityto install Acrobat Reader. (Please note that Acrobat Reader can be downloaded or installedfree of charge.)

As mentioned in this introduction, sustainable destination management is a developing and growing area. The Tourism Management Institute’s website, www.tmi.org.uk, willcontain updates on the existing components and information on further areas in sustainabledestination management for you to download in the future. Live links to the TMI websiteare also included on the CD-ROM.

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Stage

Audit and research

Destinationmanagementplanning andpartnership

Development and delivery

Monitoring and evaluation

• Where are we now? – demand, the product, impacts andperceptions. Research and analysis are fundamentally important in order to identify the key issues and find the right approach.

• The ‘partnership’ develops a mutually owned strategy and actionplan. Starts with a shared vision, in order that all stakeholdersunderstand and agree the desired outcome. The strategy will beguided by the agreed vision and will work around issues andopportunities identified. The strategy must incorporate actionpoints with deadlines that are allocated to specific individuals ororganisations.

• Partners deliver elements of the action plan and work is co-ordinatedby the destination manager. This is where the concept of partnershipis particularly important. Those involved in the delivery of the planmust have ‘bought in’ to the vision in order to have the necessarycommitment to achieve the strategy.

• Once the strategy has been implemented, the work does not stopthere. It is essential to keep monitoring the work throughout toensure that it continues to achieve what it set out to achieve.Performance is measured against mutually agreed targets and fed back into the cycle by adjusting future plans.

http://www.tmi.org.uk

6 How the handbook will help you

This handbook is designed to take you through the key stages in the process of creating asustainable destination management plan, from initial audit to performance monitoring and evaluation.

In doing so, it also makes the connections with the work of the National Tourism Best ValueGroup and the Time for Action strategy, in which a range of sustainable tourism issues wereidentified as benefiting from clear guidelines for destination managers. These issues havebeen developed as components, with reference to the VICE approach to local engagement.

The handbook is therefore a collection of practical components/tools to help destinationmanagers tackle common national issues in line with their own circumstances. Each componenthas been designed to be read individually or as part of the wider planning process and theinteractions between them have been illustrated throughout. Extra components will beadded in time as the handbook develops. The overall relationship between the planningprocess, the activities covered by the handbook components and the interrelationship withstakeholders is demonstrated in the two-page table which follows this introduction.

Some of the components also provide information specifically relevant to others, particularlytourism businesses, thus recognising the need for a joined-up approach in every aspect ofsustainable tourism. We hope that destination managers will use this information to helplocal enterprises develop sustainable tourism practices in all aspects of their business.

In terms of their structure, the components themselves provide a background explanation, a‘how to’ practical section and lists the key determinants of success and failure. Case studiesare provided to illustrate possible approaches. Finally, each section ends with a collection ofreferences and contacts to help you to find further information on that subject. Section 5 is acomprehensive list of reference and contacts found througout the handbook. We hope thatthose who become familiar with the contents of the handbook will find the final referencesand contacts section a useful resource that can be referred to quickly and easily.

7 Taking sustainable tourism forward

We hope that this handbook won’t stay on your shelf but will be a valuable and practicaltool in helping you employ and encourage more sustainable tourism at your destination. This work has been, and will continue to be, a collaborative effort and we would like tothank those who have helped so far in its development and those yet to get involved.

Sustainable tourism is a responsibility shared by government departments, national andregional agencies, local authorities, destination management groups, not-for-profitorganisations, tourism businesses and ultimately everybody. The future of tourism in the UKdepends on our collective ability to manage and develop it responsibly. The English TourismCouncil and the Tourism Management Institute are committed to a sustainable approach totourism and believe that only by implementing its principles today – through this handbookand many other initiatives – will we all have an environment that can be enjoyed tomorrow.

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yThis has been a simple introduction to destination management, outlining the stakeholdersto be engaged, the range of issues to be addressed and the process that can be applied. Formore information on each element, please now turn to your required component.

Case studies

Ecosert Ecosert was a three year 2.5million euro project, supported by the European Union topromote sustainable tourism. Three European regions are working together to developaction plans involving everyone affected by tourism in their rural areas. The three Europeanregions are:

Provincia di Avellino – Italy Magnesia – Greece Dee Estuary Partnership (local authorities serving Chester, Ellesmere Port,

Neston and Wirral plus British Waterways) – UK

In each area those involved included: • local residents • visitors • local services • attractions and accommodation • transport operators • food producers • environmental groups • landowners

The main output of the project was a Regional Environmental Sustainable Tourism Plan foreach area, prepared to a common format. Each area has developed a number of pilotprojects to test different aspects of encouraging sustainable rural tourism. The sustainabilityof the projects has been ensured by the application of EMAS. For further information visitwww.ecosert.org.uk or contact Mike o’Kell at Chester City Council.

Greater Manchester District Tourism ForumThe ten districts are: Tameside, Stockport, Rochdale, Manchester, Oldham, Wigan, Bury,Salford, Trafford and Bolton. The organisation was formed following the dissolution of theMetropolitan County Councils. Without an organisation in place to deal with countywideissues, the districts could not hope to compete with other destination for tourism business.

At the same time the former County Conference office was re-positioned to form theGreater Manchester Visitor and Conference Bureaux and this subsequently becameMarketing Manchester.

Marketing Manchester remit is the promotion of the city region in particular as aninternational destination; the Tourism Forum is more focussed on the domestic market. Theten districts pay in the order of £300,000 per annum to Marketing Manchester. The AirportAuthority, which is also owned by the Ten District, has been making a contribution of inexcess of £1 million per annum, a limited amount of private sector income made up of goods

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http://www.ecosert.org.uk

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in kind and membership income. The district also contributes £2,500 per annum and thisprovides an operational budget for the Forum of £25,000.

Collectively, Marketing Manchester and Tourism Forum have substantial funds, which enablefurther funding opportunities as they provide the necessary match funds.

The work undertaken by the forum includes:

• establishing thematic partnerships• publications• website development• training• familiarisation trips• lobbying• support to the private sector• market research and Economic Impact Studies.

The forum meets regularly and the forum members are joined by representatives fromMarketing Manchester, North West Tourist Board, Arts about Manchester and North West Vision (formerly the film and television commission) These are interesting and oftenlively meetings.

Taking the destination management approach in the way that the forum does, enables apositive response very quickly. Major initiatives like the Commonwealth Games, and criseslike FMD and September 11, are more effectively dealt with if everyone is pulling in thesame direction with shared information and workloads. Working together reducesduplication and improves the probability of success.

The forum enjoys a good relationship with Marketing Manchester and together they makethe marketing of Greater Manchester as a destination a very strong international product.

Sustainable Tourism Management in the New ForestFor the last 12 years, New Forest District Council has worked with a wide range of localinterests to improve the management of tourism in a way that resolves conflicts, minimisesadverse impacts and brings benefits to all concerned. The approach adopted by New ForestDistrict Council with each of the groups of stakeholders representing visitors, the tourismindustry, the local community and the environment is as follows:• to understand and address their individual needs first, so building up their trust and

confidence• to encourage them to understand the concerns of the other constituencies and to take

action to meet them• to help them appreciate that this wider action can very often also be of direct benefit to

themselves, and to help them gain this benefit• to establish an agreed plan and work with all partners to deliver it, undertaking regular

review on the way.

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continued

For further information, please see: Our Future Together II 2003-08 – A Tourism and VisitorManagement Strategy and/or Sustainable tourism management in the New Forest: ACountryside Agency case study. Leisure Services, New Forest District Council, Appletree Court,Lyndhurst, Hampshire, SO43 7PA Tel: 023 8028 5102; email: [email protected]

Sources of information and help

British Tourist Authority. Sustainable Tourism Strategy: A Strategy for the Sustainable Growthof Tourism to Britain, 2002.www.tourismtrade.org.uk/pdf/sustainable_tourism.pdf

Countryside Agency. South Hams Tourism and Marketing Strategy 2000-2005. Please contactThe Countryside Agency, John Dower House, Crescent Place, Cheltenham, GL50 3RA www.countryside.gov.uk

Countryside Agency. The Green Audit Kit. Countryside Agency, Cheltenham, 2001. Details canbe found above.

Denman J and Denman R. Big Apple ’89: An Initiative in Green Tourism, Insights, Vol. 11(3).English Tourism Council, 1990, p.263-264.

English Tourism Council. Green Labels for the Travel and Tourism Industry: A Beginner’sGuide. Insights, Vol. 9. English Tourism Council, A11-19.

English Tourism Council. The National Accessible Scheme, 2002. www.accessibletourism.org.uk

English Tourism Council. www.englishtourism.org.uk

Exmoor National Authority Park. The European Charter for Sustainable Tourism.www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/Projects/Euro_Charter/Report_Evaluation.htm

Fieldfare Trust, 67a The Wicker, Sheffield, S3 8HT.Tel: 0114 270 1668, Fax: 0114 276 7900. www.fieldfare.org.ukThe Fieldfare Trust works with people with disabilities and countryside managers to improveaccess to the countryside for everyone.

Holiday Care Service, Holiday Care, 7th Floor, Sunley House, 4 Bedford Park, Croydon CR02AP www.holidaycare.org.uk Holiday Care Service is a source of travel and holiday information and support for disabledand elder people, families, friends and carers.

Tourism Management Institute Regional Network. Contact details about regionalrepresentatives may be found at www.tmi.org.uk

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http://www.tourismtrade.org.uk/pdf/sustainable_tourism.pdf

http://www.countryside.gov.uk

http://www.accessibletourism.org.uk

http://www.englishtourism.org.uk

http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/Projects/Euro_Charter/Report_Evaluation.htm

http://www.fieldfare.org.uk

http://www.holidaycare.org.uk



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Process Component Key actions and stakeholder relationships

Visitor Industry Community Environment

Des

tin

atio

n a

ud

it

1A Visitor satisfaction

Undertake visitor satisfaction survey

Take part in visitor satisfaction survey

Take note of results and implement changes

accordingly


accordingly


accordingly

1B Local economic

impact

Develop local economic model for tourism

Relate model outputs to visitor management plan, thus informing

overall strategy

Return information on visitor spend and occupancy levels

Relate model outputs to community

development, thus informing overall

strategy

Relate model outputs to environmental

management, thus informing overall

strategy

1C Community attitudes

Undertake community attitudes survey

Address community attitudes within visitor

management plans where relevant


accordingly

Take part in the survey


accordingly

1D Carrying capacities

Incorporate study within visitor management plan

Take part in survey work

Take part in survey work and take note of results

Take part in the survey

Take part in survey and take note of results

Des

tin

atio

n p

lan

nin

g

2A Tourism within local authorities/destinations

Produce local authority tourism strategy/destination management plan

Develop visitor management plan as

key component of overall strategy/plan

Participate in consultations



2B Tourism partnerships

Establish stakeholder meetings and public/private partnerships

Participate in visitor stewardship programme

Participate in trade associations/forum/

partnership (for all sectors of the tourism industry)

Participate in community tourism action network (for all interests in each destination community

including industry/residents/retailers/parish)

Participate in LA2I tourism group

2C Micro-businesses

Create development framework and incorporate within strategy/management plan

Promote small business role

and importance to visitors

Engage with tourism offi ce and local TIC

Importance of small businesses to

communities needs to be refl ected in tourism

management plans

Promote environmental principles through

guidance; eg Green Audit Kit and certifi cation

2D Land Use planning for

tourism

Tourism guidance for planning department and agreed tourism/planning department relationship


Liaise with planning authority

for applications


Participate in consultations and ensure that the

bio-diversity action plan is referred to when

planning applications are consulted upon

2E Visitor management

Develop visitor management plan


Take part in consultations and

implement the actions stated in the visitor management plan


Take part in consultations and

implement the actions stated in the visitor management plan

Implementing a destination management plan

The table below demonstrates the process for developing and implementing a destinationmanagement plan in partnership with key stakeholder groups. The activities making up thedestination management plan are also identified, as covered by the handbook components.

For each activity/component, a key action is suggested and the involvement of eachstakeholder group identified.

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Process Component Key actions and stakeholder relationships

Visitor Industry Community EnvironmentD

esti

nat

ion

dev

elo

pm

ent

Quality

Adoption and promotion of National Quality Schemes, and/or participation in relevant transitionary initiatives such as Stepping Stones or Fit For Purpose

Raise awareness through through visitor information

material, marketing campaigns and e-business

Participate in relevant quality scheme

Quality schemes should incorporate community relationship; eg through

certifi cation

Quality schemes should incorporate environmental

principles; eg through certifi cation

3A Business training and

support

Business training and development programme

Visitor satisfaction survey and other forms of

visitor feedback to assess standards

Participate in all sector destination training/

business development programme





3B E-business

Create IT-based destination management system and website

Promote destination website to visitors

Encourage contributions to and links with

the destination website and destination

management system

Consider community use of and representation on

destination website

Encourage contributions to and links with

the destination website and destination

management system

3C Transport

Inclusion of tourism needs in local transport plan and or visitor transport intitiative

Encourage visitors to use alternative forms or

public transport

Encourage visitors to use alternative forms or public

transport; liaison with transport providers


public transport


public transport

3D Visitor payback

Promote and support visitor payback scheme/s

Encourage participation in visitor payback schemes



to enable funding of community schemes


to enable funding of environmental schemes

3E accessibility

Develop local accessibility action plan

Take part in survey work to ensure visitor needs

fully refl ected in management plan

Take part in consultations and implement the actions stated in the accessibility plan, participate in the

National Accessible Scheme

Action plans must incorporate community as

well as visitor needs

Take part in consultations and implement the actions stated in the accessibility plan; participate in the

National Accessible Scheme

3F Local distinctiveness

Destination branding strategy and local producer group, events, festivals and programmes

Encourage participation in visitor payback

schemes, local events, and the purchasing

of local produce

Encourage participation in visitor payback schemes,

local events, and the purchasing of local

produce. Ensure that new developments are in line with local distinctiveness

guidelines


schemes, local events, and the purchasing

of local produce


schemes, local events, and the purchasing of

local produce

3G Biodiversity

Develop local Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) for tourism

Assess visitor impact when developing BAP and communicate plan

to visitors

Take part in consultations and implement the actions

stated in the BAP

Address community needs within BAP


stated in the BAP

3H Waste management and tourism

Waste management initiatives, certifi cation and incorporation of tourism business needs in LA waste management strategy

Promote visitor awareness through campaigns,

certifi cation

Engage through waste initiatives and certifi cation

Co-ordinate activity with community-based

initiatives

Engage through waste initiatives and certifi cation

3I Sustainability awards and

schemes

Participate in destination awards and promote/develop industry certifi cation

Market designations to visitor and assess response

through surveys

Promote industry participation, supporting

underlying activities and training

Ensure community needs are identifi ed and addressed and benefi ts

realised through schemes

Work with environmental groups and stakeholders

to maximise local environmental benefi ts

through schemes

3J Marketing

Develop destination marketing strategy


Take part in and implement marketing/product

development programme





Mo

nit

ori

ng

an

d

eval

uat

ion

4 Measuring performance

Develop local benchmarking programme



recommended in the programme

Community interaction incorporated in

benchmarking approach

Take part in consultations and implement the

actions recommended in the programme

Best value audit programme and performance measures


Supply information for the industry-specifi c

performance measures

Supply views on community-specifi c

performance measures

Supply information for the environment-specifi c performance measures

Section 1 Destination audit

Introduction

However good perceived wisdom and experience are, before planning your destinationmanagement plan there is no firmer foundation to build on than an accurate audit of thefour constituents of a destination: its visitors, local tourism industry/economy, communityand environment. The value of such information, however basic, is essential to the success ofany destination management plan and can be crucial in arguing for policy or resources atany level. The audit is a vital part of the overall business cycle.

The whole science of tourism destination research is still embryonic. But slowly the idea ofcollecting ‘real’ data at the coalface in a fully integrated fashion is being recognised as farmore valuable than traditional methods. One of the main aims of this handbook’sdevelopment process is to create a viable model for destination research that providesconsistency, economies of scale, reduced costs and perhaps even more importantly, accuratereal time snapshots that are comparable across all destinations.

As with all components in the handbook, developments in policy and delivery willnecessitate regular updates, and research is no exception. What is contained in the followingfour components/tools represents what we’ve found to date. If you are aware of any newinformation/approaches that are relevant and improve the content, please contact us.

It is also important to point out that elements of audit and monitoring are synonymous, andthat the results of research can be used at both the beginning and the end of the businesscycle. In this regard, section 4 Monitoring performance also contains examples of researchtechniques that should be borne in mind.

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Section 1 Destination audit1A Surveying visitor satisfaction

Introduction

Why monitor satisfaction at your destination?

How to conduct a visitor satisfaction survey: the 14-point plan



Introduction

It’s obvious that the most successful destinations and tourism enterprises are those whichsatisfy their visitors. However, many of us do not know enough about how and when wesatisfy or dissatisfy our visitors or indeed how to go about finding this out. We may think we are delivering what our visitors want, yet research surveys can show that there is often a mis-match between what destinations think they are offering visitors and what the visitorsthink they are receiving.

This component sets out the basic principles of managing and conducting your own visitorsatisfaction survey. It tries to highlight the common problems you come across when carryingout this type of research as well as giving examples of the kind of information you should beable to gather about your destination during the research.

Why monitor visitor satisfaction at your destination?

What exactly do we mean by ‘satisfaction’? Basically, satisfaction is concerned with how thevisitor perceives the products or services we offer and whether or not they think this meetstheir needs effectively.

As well as highlighting your destination’s strengths and the areas requiring improvement,the visitor satisfaction survey can provide you with a sound basis for future marketing andbusiness development. Some of the ways it can achieve this (depending on the questions youask, the people you speak to and the type of research you carry out) are by:

• identifying the profile and origin of visitors• examining their behaviour once at the destination• evaluating the effectiveness of marketing activities• assessing the quality of service and levels of visitor satisfaction• testing reaction to new or proposed developments, services or promotional materials.

Carrying out visitor satisfaction surveys should not be seen as a one-off exercise. It’simportant to carry out these surveys on a regular basis (ideally each year or every two years),to build up an ongoing and comparable picture of satisfaction with your destination. Moreimportantly, this will allow you to monitor visitor reaction to any changes made at yourdestination as a result of carrying out visitor research.

The regional tourist boards (RTBs) in England offer a ‘Destination Benchmarking Service’which enables destinations to carry out the standard RTB visitor satisfaction survey allowingthem to compare their survey results over time, as well as with other destinations in on alocal, regional or national basis.

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How to conduct a visitor satisfaction survey: the 14-point plan

The following section looks at ‘The14-point plan’ for conducting and managing your ownvisitor satisfaction survey. By following this plan and taking note of the advice and examplesat each stage, you will hopefully be able to conduct your own survey to produce credible,usable and comparable research and avoid many of the common pitfalls that can occur whencarrying out market research.

Before you start the project…

Depending on the budget available you may decide that you would prefer to commission aprofessional market research agency to carry out your survey.

The following may help you if you choose this option:

• You can get helpful advice and research services from your local Regional Tourist Board(RTB) (see section 5 Further information for contact details).

• For a list of market research agencies registered with The Market Research Society searchtheir online Research Buyers Guide at www.rbg.org.uk

• For general information about market research, search The Market Research Societywebsite www.mrs.org.uk

However, for many destinations, commissioning research from an agency is too expensiveand they are faced with a choice of conducting the work themselves or not at all. Thisprocess will be made easier by thinking through each of the steps outlined below.

1 Creating a survey plan

Before embarking on a market research project it’s worth taking some time to think throughwhat you want to achieve from the market research. At this stage you don’t need to thinkabout the phrasing of the actual questions themselves – this will come later.

The survey plan is actually a list of answers you want to see coming from the research ratherthan a list of questions. Consider some of the following areas and think about the servicesand facilities in your own destination before you go any further with your research:

• Think about the type of information you need to gather and why you want to carry outthe research. Is there a particular issue in your destination that you want to know moreabout; eg parking facilities, facilities for children, signage, shop opening times orstandards of street cleanliness?

• Surveys can measure both negative and positive visitor reactions; eg is there somethingyou think works well in your destination? What do visitors think about this? You may haverecently implemented a new bus service or opened a new shopping area in yourdestination – is this useful for visitors?

• Who will be looking at this research? What are they expecting you to report on; eg areyou trying to build a case for more budget, or perhaps gather evidence for a new facility,or a change to existing services?



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http://www.rbg.org.uk

http://www.mrs.org.uk

• Talk to your colleagues to gather their ideas. If you can, look at examples of visitorsatisfaction surveys and reports from other destinations.

• Do you want to be able to repeat this survey to build up visitor trends over time?• What basic information do you need to know about your visitor? Consider things like age,

transport used, length of trip, frequency of visit to your destination, area of region orcountry lived in, number of people in the party.

Once you have thought about what you want to achieve with your research you are ready togo on to the next stage in the plan.

2 Deciding on the most appropriate survey type

It’s now time to think about the most appropriate survey type (or types) to use. There aretwo types of market research:

• Quantitative research- Collecting information from respondents via a set of questions on a questionnaire.

Responses can be collected either through an interviewer talking directly to therespondents (either face to face or over the telephone).

- By respondents being sent a questionnaire in the post or picking up a questionnairethemselves, then completing and returning the questionnaire to you.

• Qualitative research- Talking to an individual or group of people for about an hour to gather their opinions.

This type of research is structured and may contain deliberate questions, but the overallpattern would be a discussion rather than gathering answers to a set questionnaire. Thesuccess of this method depends very much on the skill of the interviewer.

Generally, quantitative research is used for visitor satisfaction surveys – usually face to faceinterviews conducted by an interviewer. The advantages of this method of research are:

• Personal contact with the respondent increases the number of interviews achieved(response rate).

• You are better able to control who the interviewer talks to, and therefore talk to a morerepresentative group of people.

• Verbal explanation can be given by the interviewer if necessary and the questions you askcan therefore be slightly more complex.

• Misunderstandings can be reduced as the interviewer can gauge how the respondent hasinterpreted a question and clarify if necessary.

• Unhelpful or inadequate replies from the respondent can be probed by the interviewer.• Missing answers (blanks) are generally avoided as few people refuse to answer questions

put to them, but may have left them blank when filling in the questionnaire themselves.• You have control over when the respondent is approached, ie during their visit when their

experience is still fresh in their memory rather than two weeks after a visit when theyreceive a questionnaire from you in the post.

• This method allows a considerable amount of information to be collected quickly andaccurately by well-trained staff.



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There are a couple of disadvantages that you should be aware of:

• This type of survey can be subject to interviewer bias, such as the interviewer not selectingthe respondent randomly. Trained staff and strict sampling (see later) can minimise thisproblem.

• This type of research can still be costly to implement.

3 The sampling method and size

When you organise a questionnaire survey you are involved in statistics and are dealing withsamples of population. In this case the population are all the people who visit yourdestination and the sample are those who are selected for interview. The accuracy of thedata you collect and therefore the conclusions you are able to draw from your research willdepend on how you select your sample.

A basic knowledge of sample design will be necessary so that you can plan a survey and thefollowing notes should help you do this. However, it may be useful to seek help on sampledesign from research experts in your area (for example your RTB).

Basically, sample design looks at WHO, WHEN and WHERE

• WHO you interview• WHEN the interview takes place• WHERE the interview takes place.

A sample framework needs to be created to ensure that a representative sample of visitors isinterviewed during the survey. The size of your destination and the depth to which you wantto analyse your data will determine the overall number of people you interview (the samplesize). Generally, to get accurate results from your survey, you should aim to interview aminimum of 400 people.

To achieve a representative sample (by talking to a cross-section of visitors) you need tobreak down your visitors into groups according to:

• day visitors to your destination• overnight visitors to your destination• a good cross-section of age groups (this is usually controlled with bands of ages for

example 16-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64 and 65 years or more)• male or female visitors• area of residence; eg visitors living within a radius of 20 miles from your destination and

visitors living more than 20 miles from your destination• method of transport used to travel to destination.

You will also need to interview a cross-section of visitors on each day of the week (includingthe weekend) to ensure that your sample is representative. Finally, you must make sure thatyou have interviewers positioned at a variety of places within your destination, ideally atplaces used or passed by visitors and that interviews are carried out throughout the day.

Once you have worked out the visitor sub-groups you want to interview and how manypeople you will interview in these sub-groups you will have constructed a ‘sample



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framework’ for your survey. Each interviewer working on your survey will be instructed tointerview a number of people from each of the sub-groups. This is known as ‘quotasampling’. The interviewer’s aim is to fill each quota. Once a quota has been filled, anysubsequent respondent from that sub-group can be thanked for their assistance but will notneed to be interviewed at length.

4 Looking at the resources needed – financial, human and time

At this point in your plan it is important to look at the resources you have available to you interms of finance, time and human resources to make sure that your plans are not tooambitious. If this exercise isn’t carried out, then the survey can quickly run out of control andtake up more resources than you ever expected.

The main cost is likely to be staff time, not just in terms of interviewing, but also in planningand preparing the survey, in training and being trained and in carrying out the analysiswork. You will need to calculate the total number of work hours needed to complete theproject and how busy staff are on other projects. How much money you spend on the surveywill, of course, depend on the amount and nature of the information you wish to collect.

Before finalising your calculations you should consider whether all the necessary skills for theproject exist within your organisation or whether you will need to buy in expertise oradditional help from outside. This will therefore add to the overall costs of the project.

5 Analysis methods

Before writing your questionnaire it’s important to think about the method you will use toanalyse the results of the survey. Again, this is an area where it is useful to seek help fromresearch experts in your area (for example your RTB).

Generally, surveys are analysed with the help of a computer software package. Analysingthe survey data involves inputting the information collected on the questionnaires into thepackage so that the answers are aggregated together to produce a set of data.

There are two main types of software that can be used for this task:

• statistical packages; eg SPSS, SNAP• spreadsheet packages; eg Microsoft Excel.

Inputting the information from the questionnaire involves ‘coding’ the answers that therespondent has given. This simply means that answers are converted to a single digit code.Coding is often printed on the questionnaires and takes the form of a list of possibleresponses to a question with a number alongside each response. For example, the coding fora simple question which required either a ‘YES’ or ‘NO’ response would be YES=1 and NO=2.If the respondent answered ‘YES’ then the interviewer would tick box 1 and the personentering the data from the questionnaire into the software package would type ‘1’ into thecomputer.

Sometimes questions can bring more than one response. For example, if a respondent wasasked which days of the week they usually visit the shopping centre at your destination theycould answer anything from ‘never’ to ‘every day of the week’. In this case the interviewermay have to tick more than one box for this question. This is known as multicoding ormultiple response.



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Similarly, questions where the respondent’s opinion or motives are being asked (known asopen-ended questions) do not have a list of possible answers (pre-coded questions) and haveto be coded very carefully.

Some software packages have a maximum amount of data or number of responses that canbe handled and it’s important that you understand the capabilities of the package youchoose for analysis before you start to design your questionnaire.

6 Questionnaire design (and coding)

This is the crucial part of the project and mistakes made here could cause serious problems atthe analysis and reporting stages. It’s a good idea to look at some examples of otherquestionnaires and how they are worded before you start to design a questionnaire. If youhave ever been interviewed for a survey think about how you felt. Were the questions easyto answer or too complicated and were there enough options to choose from?

Here are a few points to consider:

• The questionnaire needs to be well set out and the spaces and boxes for entering theanswers should be of a good size and positioned well.

• The questions should be phrased in a simple way which can easily be understood by therespondent.

• Keep questions short and avoid jargon.• Read over the questions and check whether they can be misinterpreted. For example, the

question ‘Have you visited the children’s play area recently?’ doesn’t mention a specifictime period so it is up to each respondent to interpret the word ‘recently’. This could be avisit made in the last week, month or year.

• Open-ended questions (where the opinions or motives of the respondent are beingsought) are difficult to answer and difficult to code and analyse. It’s a good idea to limitthe number of open-ended questions to about two or three per survey.

• If you would like to assess attitudes or views on a certain topic and don’t want to use anopen-ended question consider using a scale. An example of this would be, ‘How wouldyou rate the cleanliness of the public toilets?’ with the possible options being ‘verygood/good/average/poor/very poor’.

• Take care when wording personal or sensitive questions; it’s better to say, ‘Please couldyou tell me your age on your last birthday?’ and allow the respondent to point to an ageband printed on the questionnaire than to ask them directly, ‘How old are you?’

• During a face to face interview it’s possible to show the respondents pictures or maps if itwill help them to answer the question more accurately. These are known as ‘showcards’.Showcards can be a useful interviewing tool, but to keep the interview simple for theinterviewer it’s best to use them sparingly.

• Think about the flow of the questions. Put questions about similar topics together.• Don’t make the questionnaire too long – a successful face-to-face interview lasts no longer

than ten minutes.

7 Carrying out a pilot survey

Once you have produced your questionnaire it’s worth carrying out some test or ‘pilot’interviews to make sure that it is understandable, not too long, or produces answers youhaven’t allowed for on the pre-coded questions.



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The pilot could be carried out amongst colleagues at work, or if budgets allow, actually withvisitors at the destination. After the pilot, it’s important to assess how the questionnaireworked and make any necessary changes to wording or question order. It may be necessaryto carry out another small pilot if the questionnaire has changed significantly.

8 Printing the questionnaire

Obviously, this must only be done once the questionnaire has been finalised. Eachinterviewer will need a supply of questionnaires. Make sure that you have an adequate stockof questionnaires.

9 Training survey interviewers

Your survey interviewers need to be capable of approaching strangers and requesting theirparticipation in the survey, following the survey instructions, and recording informationaccurately. It’s important to make sure that they are briefed about the project.

During the briefing it’s important to make the interviewers feel part of the project byexplaining why the survey is being carried out and what you hope to learn from it. It’s also agood idea to make sure that everyone is clear about where they will be interviewing (ie thelocation or locations in your destination), when and where to return their completedquestionnaires, who to call if they experience problems. Most importantly, talk theinterviewers through the questionnaire question by question and allow them to becomefamiliar with it.

10 Collecting the data

This should be one of the easiest stages in the whole survey process if you have planned thesurvey well. It’s important that the interviewers are provided with the right equipment to dothe job:

• clipboard• supply of questionnaires• maps and showcards (if you are using them)• pencils, pencil sharpener, rubber • identification letter or official badge (to prove that they are conducting an official survey

on behalf of your organisation)• Waterproof covering for completed questionnaires and for use over the clipboard if it

rains.

It’s a good idea to have someone on duty at all times during the interviewing period to dealwith any problems or queries from the interviewers. You may feel that it would be useful forthat person to tour round the interview points to check on progress and monitor interviewquality. Someone also need to be available to collect completed questionnaires and storethem safely at the end of each day.



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Cas

e st

ud

y11 Analysis and evaluation

A common source of error at this stage can be inaccurate data entry. Typing in column aftercolumn of figures can be tedious and it’s easy to lose concentration and skip a figure orcolumn. It’s therefore important to carry out a quality check on the data entry. This can bedone by looking at about ten per cent of the questionnaires and checking their accuracyagainst the entered data. Obviously, if many errors are found the entire data set will need tobe checked.

There are many agencies specialising in data entry and therefore sub-contracting this stageof the project may be possible if you have available budget.

Make use of all the functions in your chosen analysis package to help you analyse the surveyresults; eg cross-tabulations, averages, percentages, charts.

12 The final report

After the data has been analysed it’s good practice to write up the results of the survey inthe form of a report. Before writing the report think again about who will be reading it andwhat you wanted to achieve with the survey. Include a copy of the questionnaire and anyshowcards used in the appendix of the report.

13 Making sure issues are resolved

Although this seems obvious, don’t forget the reason for carrying out your research in thefirst place was to monitor the views of visitors to your destination. If the results of the surveyshow that there is room for improvement in some of the services and facilities offered inyour destination, then the next stage of the process is to begin to look at ways in whichthings can be changed. Celebrate the positive findings from the survey and examine howthese practices can be implemented in other areas.

14 Monitoring changes made as a result of survey findings

Finally, if you do implement changes at your destination it’s important to monitor how yourvisitors feel about them – and so the research process begins again!

Regional Tourist Board Destination Benchmarking ServiceThe destination benchmarking service has been run by the ten RTBs in England since 1998.

Whilst the monitoring of visitor satisfaction is becoming standard procedure in themanagement of many tourist destinations, being able to benchmark, ie compare levels ofsatisfaction with others, adds an additional dimension to the process. In order to achievethis, a standard methodology has been developed to ensure that data is collected in thesame way using common questions and scoring systems, and a central database has beenestablished where the data can be fed in, collated and fed back. This produces averagescores for a destination on each indicator, which can be compared both within a destinationover time as well as with other destinations on a local, regional or national basis.

For more information about destination benchmarking please contact your RTB.



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Section 1 Destination audit1B Determining the local economic impact of tourism

Introduction

Why measure economic impact at local level?

What do economic impact models measure?

How do these difference economic impacts affect each other?

Considerations and key steps before choosing a model

Current approaches to modelling

Cambridge model

STEAM model

PRIME model

Tourism satellite accounting

What do you do with the results?

Key determinants of success or failure

References



This component will explain the differing approaches to measuring the local economicimpact of tourism and help you choose the most appropriate measuring technique for yourdestination.

This component also relates to:

• 2B Developing tourism partnerships• 3F Identifying and developing local distinctiveness• 4 Measuring overall tourism performance.

Introduction

Local economic impact studies can reinforce the local commercial importance of tourism andare a key part of measuring sustainable tourism. A key objective of sustainable tourism isthat it benefits the economy of the destination.

Tourism statistics are collected mainly at regional level and aggregated to provide a nationalpicture. Tourism’s impact on the national economy is collated from data collected by theOffice for National Statistics, national tourist boards and other government departments andagencies.

The United Kingdom Travel Survey (UKTS) and International Passenger Survey (IPS) show theovernight volume and spending of UK-resident and overseas visitors to England’s regions.The UK Day Visits Survey measures the impact of day visits and estimates the volume andvalue of leisure day visits taken from home and by tourists away from home.

It is estimated that tourism’s total contribution to the UK economy, including direct spendingon day visits, attractions, restaurants and catering, in addition to spending on goods andservices, was around 4.5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2001.

Information on tourism’s contribution to GDP influences government and releases UK andEuropean funding for infrastructure, community services and environmental improvements,most of which have a local impact.

Why measure economic impact at local level?

Knowing the volume and the economic value for tourism is an essential prerequisite fordeveloping effective policies for managing tourism within local areas. Tourism economicimpact studies also play an invaluable role in supporting the tourism function within localauthorities. Through their income and employment estimates they provide the justificationand rationale for local authorities to invest in initiatives to support tourism industry. Theyalso help galvanise and sustain the necessary political support for tourism at a local level inthe face of increased budget cuts for non-statutory functions.

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Key uses for data from local economic impact studies therefore include:

• justifying receipt of government resources such as standard spending assessment (SSA)• helping with the preparation of strategies and policies• justifying funding from outside organisations• enabling the organisation to measure comparative performance and assist with

decision-making• monitoring in planning and other departments• encouraging inward investment• improving local infrastructure• releasing funding from national and European agencies• justifying/unlocking appropriate funds within the organisation• creating partnerships with the commercial sector• supporting expansion plans from the area’s tourism operators• monitoring the results of project commitments• carrying out best value and benchmarking assessments.

If the tourism policies and activities of the destination are to be soundly based, there needsto be an awareness of, and account taken of, the existing levels and type of visitor activity inthe locality and the economic impact that results from them.

What do economic impact models measure?

Economic impact models provide:

• estimates of the volume and value of tourism activity including day visitors within an area• estimates of income generated and employment supported by visitor expenditure.

To produce these estimates, impact models identify three main effects.

• Direct effect – from visitor spending in first-line businesses• Indirect effect – from direct businesses buying from their suppliers and so on down the

supply chain• Induced effect – from the wages earned in businesses in direct and indirect receipt of

visitor spending.

Models include visitor and business surveys to establish the direct effect. Indirect and inducedeffects are estimated by using models that apply multipliers to the known direct spendingdata.

Direct effect

The starting point for determining tourism economic impact is measuring the volume andvalue of tourism.

The direct spending categories that are collated to provide the data for the three mainnational tourism expenditure surveys are shown below. These same categories provide thebasis for measuring tourism spending in the local area.



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Indirect effect

Front-line businesses such as hotels and restaurants buy supplies and services to satisfy visitorneeds so suppliers experience the indirect effect of visitor spending. There are several layersof indirect effect from tourism spending. Each one diminishes in importance further downthe supply chain. Businesses make the initial purchasing decisions that determine whatvisitors will buy. If a front-line accommodation business decides to buy local productswherever possible, the visitor will by default also buy mainly local goods.

Encourage tourism industry to buy locally-produced goods and services to maximise spendingretention and economic impact in your area.

Induced effect

The wages and profits earned by employees and business owners employed in, or operating,tourism-oriented enterprises, or indirectly via these front-line businesses, induce economicimpact.



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Category of touristspending

Travel

Accommodation

Food and drink

Services

Retail

Other

UKTS - UK TourismSurvey

• Travel

• Package trip• Independent

travellers

• Eating and drinking

• Services or advice• Entertainment

• Clothes• Other shopping

• Other

IPS - InternationalPassenger Survey

• Taxi/car hire• Public

transport/petrol

• Accommodation

• Meals out• Alcoholic drinks• Food from shops

• Entertainment• Medical services• Hair and beauty

treatment• Telephone/fax/ post

• Clothing• Souvenirs & gifts• Books & newspapers

• Other services anditems

UKDVS - UK Day VisitsSurvey

• Fuel• Fares• Parking• Tolls• Combined travel and

entrance charges

• Alcoholic drinks• Meals/snacks/non-

alcoholic drinks

• Hiring equipmentand facilities

• Admission tickets

• Gifts and souvenirs• Clothes

• Other

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How do these different economic impacts affect each other?

Visitor expenditure flows

Visitor expenditure affects businesses, employees, the self-employed, local authorities andgovernment because spending in one local business gets passed on to other local businessesand also ends up, in part, as taxes. However, inevitably, some of this expenditure will ‘leak’out of the area due to spending in non-local shops and/or on non-local products.

Although there is leakage outside the area at every stage of the spending model, the key tolocal economic success and a foundation for sustainable tourism is retaining as muchexpenditure in the area as possible.

Purchasing local supplies and services at every level of the supply chain is crucial tosustainable tourism, hence the growing emphasis on farmers’ markets, local supply groupsand improving workforce skills and training to facilitate local employment.

Job creation

The number of jobs supported by visitor expenditure is estimated by using data on thevolume and value of visitor and business spending, applying model multipliers, andvalidating the results against published labour statistics.

Specific studies have provided headline statistics to show the relationship between visitorspending and job creation. For example, a study in the English countryside suggested that an average of £36,600 of additional visitor spending supports one direct job, and £55,000 ofre-purchasing spending with local suppliers generates one indirect job (The economic impactof recreation and tourism in England. The Countryside Agency, 2000). Note, however, thatthese figures are indicative only and will not necessarily be repeated in even apparentlysimilar areas.

It must be remembered that economic impact models can only produce indicative estimatesfor the volume, value and economic benefits of tourism to a local area and not absolutevalues, and this must be borne in mind when using the data.

Considerations and key steps before choosing a model

You should ask some fundamental questions before undertaking an economic impact studyin your area:

• Why do you want the information?• What existing information could contribute to a study?• How do you carry out a study?• What should you consider before you finally decide?



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Why do you want the information?

The typical answer is to justify the tourism function and highlight the importance of tourismwithin the local economic to dispel myths that tourism is not an important economic sectorlocally.

However, there are also two other important questions:

• How much can you afford to spend on your study?• What data do you already have, or can you realistically collect (in terms of your time and

participation from businesses)?

The latter is particularly important. There is no point in tourism officers signing up to amodel which is dependent on locally generated data if the officer has:

• no time to recruit businesses, collect the data and ensure that businesses respond on aregular basis

• limited influence on the businesses to complete and return the necessary data forms; eg, ifyou have previously tried to collect hotel occupancy data in a simplified format and theyhave had limited participation, in spite of considerable effort, is the situation likely tochange?

Ultimately then, the approach ‘best for the destination’ is determined by these three factors– data needs, cost, and ability to secure good, regular local participation from businesses.

What existing information could contribute to a study?

Most models rely on information about the supply of accommodation and demandinformation on overnight and day visits. Information is usually defined as either ‘supply’ or‘demand’ side to differentiate between the product available and its market effect.

The information needed by model engineers is usually available from existing data orprevious studies. The model may use some proxy information from similar surveys and theremay be a need for completely new surveys.

The following list shows some of the information that models may need so that they canbuild a picture of tourist activity and its impacts in the selected area of study. An indication isprovided of sources of some data.

Supply-side information

• Resident population – local authority, www.statistics.gov.uk for neighbourhood data on2001 census

• Employment statistics – government office, regional development agency, local authority,business survey

• Number and type of tourism businesses including retail, catering and attractions – localauthority, commercial directories, audit survey

• Bed stock by tourism sector – local authority, regional tourist board (RTB)• Number of tourist information centres (TIC) and other information and booking agencies –

local authority, RTB• Transport services available – local authority, commercial operators



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http://www.statistics.gov.uk

Demand-side information

• Regional and local volume and spending data on overnight and day visits for domesticand overseas visitors – RTB, local authority, visitor survey, industry survey

• Occupancy levels – RTB, local authority, industry survey • TIC visits – local authority, tourist association, TIC • Recent visitor surveys – local authority, RTB• Visitor attraction and events attendance – RTB, local authority, commercial operators,

events organisers, police authority• Traffic counts and car park occupancy – local authority, Highways Agency

It is also important to bear the following in mind:

1 Key information (such as data on the supply of accommodation stock) must be as accurateas possible – under or over estimates in accommodation capacity will be reflected in (andadversely affect) subsequent volume calculations.

2 Occupancy data must be representative for all accommodation sectors – particularly in areas where the tourism product is very diverse. For example within a district there may be:

- rural B&Bs, town-based B&Bs, perhaps coastal B&Bs- independent hotels – in rural, urban, coastal locations- chain hotels – in rural, coastal, urban locations- inns and public houses providing accommodation in rural, coastal and urban locations.

For the serviced sector alone, there is therefore substantial differentiation in terms ofquality, location and type of accommodation establishment. To obtain reliable data which is representative of the occupancies of all these different types of establishmentsrequires a large, consistent sample of establishments supplying data on a regular basis; eg every month.

3 The need to ensure that sample is not biased by response from higher performingestablishments which could lead to overestimation of staying visitor numbers ifextrapolated to wider accommodation base.

4 The need to ensure consistency of response within the sample to ensure detected trendsare not more indicative of establishments erratically reporting than changes happening onthe ground.

5 The need for transparency within the process, so that commissioning destinations areaware of what data is being used, its sample size and what assumptions are being madeso that they have ownership in the process.

How do you carry out a study?

There are two main options: either to use a branded model; or to commission a specific adhoc study from an appropriate university or organisation. A branded model will probablycost less than a primary research model but will still provide exclusive results. On the otherhand, an ad hoc model can be created to answer a wider range of explicit economicquestions in the study area, and may also be used to forecast changes.



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If the information you require is to measure tourism trends, branded models will deliver this.However, local circumstances may warrant the likely additional costs of an ad hoc study.

What should you consider before you finally decide?

This handbook component is designed to introduce the basics of measuring economicimpact. Those requiring a more detailed analysis on the subject should refer to theDepartment for Culture, Media and Sport guidance pack, ‘Measuring the Local Impact ofTourism’, which is available at www.culture.gov.uk (forms and documents 1998 archive). TheBritish Resorts Association also offers advice, and the South East England Tourist Board hasproduced two papers on behalf of the RTBs.

Before seeking tenders for an economic model, the destination should create a ‘userrequirement’ identifying six key criteria:

• Reliability – how accurate do you need the information to be?• Timeliness – how soon will you want the information to be available following actual

events?• Participation – how will you involve those who will provide as well as use the information?• Cost – what is affordable, including the internal staff and other resources you will need to

support this work?• Comparability – is part of your requirement to make comparisons with other local areas,

or with the regional or national total?• Frequency – is the information required continually, meaning, say, every year or every

month? It may be as important to assess change over time as it is to estimate the level oftourism during a given period.

Information on the branded models available, with contact details, is outlined below.

Current approaches to modelling

An overview of some of the models available or under development is given below. Thishandbook does not recommend any particular model. It is assumed that ad hoc and off-the-shelf categories will be considered and models within these categories examined.

In selecting an ad hoc approach, it is recommended that having identified exactly what isrequired from a model, you should contact colleagues in your organisation who may haverequired similar information on measuring economic impact from other industries. This maybring pointers as to which commercial or academic organisation should be invited to tender.Advice from professional membership organisations and similar bodies that may haveundertaken tourism studies can also help the decision making process.

To help those that have decided to use an existing off-the-shelf model, this section providesa brief synopsis of two models that measure economic impact and one model that forecastseconomic impact.



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Cambridge Model

Name: the Cambridge Model, an abbreviation of Cambridge Local Area Model.Provides: an estimate of the volume and the economic effects of tourism activity in aselected area. It can operate at different levels according to budgets/quantity of localtourism data available.Application: region, county, district and discreet areas including branded destinations andenvironmentally designated areas such as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) andNational Parks.Method: spreadsheet model with menu driven approach. In its basic form, comprises twostages: 1 Estimating the volume and value of tourism activity including day visits within a local area:

- Regional data from the UK Tourism Survey, the International Passenger Survey and theUnited Kingdom Day Visits Survey. To achieve local estimates, drivers such as known localaccommodation stock, estimates of local residential population, visitor attractionperformance data and other survey information is used.

2 Estimating employment supported by visitor spending:- The model estimates employment using this data, the New Earnings Survey, internal

business data and estimates of spending by different visitor groups. Using multipliersand adjustments, an estimate of indirect and induced jobs completes the picture.

Further more advanced survey stages also exist, where additional local data collection can becommissioned for information on local level of occupancy, visitor structure and associatedspend, and business surveys generating local calibration of the economic stage of the model.ResultsOutputs include estimates of:

• value and volume of staying trips by domestic and overseas staying visitors, withbreakdowns for purpose of visit and accommodation used

• the number of nights spent by overseas and domestic visitors• value and volume of day trips• direct visitor expenditure by different sector; eg accommodation, eating/drinking,

shopping, attractions, transport/travel• impact of associated multiplier and linkage spend• indication of the level of direct and indirect employment and induced jobs resulting from

the wages of people in direct and indirect tourism employment.

A detailed study report is provided with commentary on results and issues that wereidentified at the study’s conception.

Contact: RTBs distribute this model, which is owned by Geoff Broom Associates. Contact yourRTB for further information.



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yLincolnshire WoldsThe Cambridge Model was used in the Lincolnshire Wolds as part of a county-wide economicimpact study. The area consists of 62 parishes in the Wolds AONB and 18 parishes in theWolds landscape area inside the county boundary.

Among its findings, the study showed that total spending by staying and tourist day visitorsamounted to almost £70 million a year, of which 75% was accounted for by tourism day visitspending. Nearly half of the total spending was on food and drink. This spending supportsan estimated 1,668 full-time equivalent jobs, which equates to 2,349 actual jobs when takinginto account part-time seasonal working.

STEAM Model

Name: the Scarborough Tourism Economic Activity Monitor (STEAM).Provides: an indicative base of the local economic impact of tourism (from both staying andday visitors) for monitoring trends.Application: any area that is capable of providing the minimum four inputs shown below.Method: a spreadsheet model that uses values, relationships and equations from local inputdata. As a minimum, implementation of STEAM within an area depends on the followinginputs:

• information on occupancy percentages each month for each type of accommodation• bed stock of each type of accommodation• attendance at attractions/major events by month• TIC visitors by month.

The model is built up from this basic information and by drawing on data from published orunpublished sources, local interviews and supplementary trade enquiries. Results: the STEAM report provides commentary, annual and month-by-month numericoutputs for the years of study and the comparison with the previous study information,including:

• distribution of visitor spending• revenue generated by the main categories of visitor• annual number of visitor days spent in the area by category of visitor• total count of all visitors annually• full-time employment generated by visitor spending.

The report includes:

• economic impact• population• employment• tourist days/tourist numbers• vehicle days/vehicle numbers• bed stock• relationship of direct and indirect impacts• data available to determine employment generated.



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Contact: STEAM’s owner, Global Tourism Solutions (UK) Ltd. 2 Barleycroft, Filey Road,Scarborough, North Yorks YO11 3AR, tel: 01723 506310

Using the STEAM model, Cumbria Tourist Board and its local authority partners areundertaking a six-year economic impact research study (due for completion in 2004) of theLake District National Park and six local districts to underpin trend analysis. The findingsfrom the model have helped to raise the awareness of the importance of tourism to the localeconomy and to measure the impact of, and recovery from, foot and mouth disease. Themodel has already shown that Cumbria earns around £1 billion of tourism revenue a year.

PRIME Model

Name: PRoject IMpact Evaluation.Provides: forecast indication of the expected volume and value of tourism activity generatedby a project in its local and regional setting and measures actual performance once theproject is open.Application: designed to apply to single projects and their impact in the local district orunitary authority area.Method: PRIME has two components: a computer model that indicates expected outputsfrom the project; and a guidance pack for developers seeking to set up or extend theirproject.The computer model requires the input of forecast data about the project including:anticipated cost; turnover; employment; and visitor numbers.Results: the model provides an estimate of the likely gross and net impacts from the projectin terms of expenditure and jobs.The use of the model to pre-appraise the impacts of proposed projects should be regarded asa useful tool to aid consideration rather than generating a definitive calculation.Contact: RTBs distribute this model by arrangement with Geoff Broom Associates. Pleasecontact your RTB for further information.

Milestones - Hampshire’s Living History MuseumTo attract Konver European funding, PRIME was used by the Southern Tourist Board (STB) toassess the likely economic impact of the Milestones Museum in Basingstoke. The model gaveestimates for full-time equivalent jobs: 54.3 jobs at the construction and initial marketingstage, 44 for the museum’s operation and a further 15.4 indirect and 14.4 induced jobs awayfrom the project. The model also demonstrated the impact of 120,000 annual visitorsspending around £8.85 million a year during their trips in the STB region.

Tourism Satellite Accounting

In recent years the use of Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSA) has progressively increasedworldwide as a tool for modelling changes in the industry and forecasting on an ongoingbasis.

TSAs aim to improve the quality of information available on the tourism sector to betterinform decision making by government and by industry. This is achieved by combining



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information from existing surveys, along with some additional data, to produce anauthoritative and consistent source.

In practice TSAs are a set of detailed tables focussed on estimating flows of moneypertaining to tourism activity. The tables produce high quality outputs by virtue of havingreconciled estimates of both demand, from surveys of tourists’ expenditure, and of supply (ie goods and services), from surveys of businesses.

Possible uses of Tourism Satellite Accounts are:

• to present economic value of tourism in a credible way, to an internationally agreedstandard. This enables comparisons with the performance of other industries (and wholeeconomy), other countries and over time. A cynical view might be that this is simply foradvocacy purposes. Perhaps another way of putting this is that it is part of the sponsorshiprole to ensure that credible, timely and relevant industry statistics are available togovernments, parliaments, industry, the public and the media, both in the UK and abroad.

• to help with the evaluation of initiatives on business policy and market campaigns, whereregional/national economic impact is one of the relevant criteria of success.

• to gain insight into tourism and its socio-economic functions and impacts, especiallyemployment and the labour market; also the mix of tourism visitors.

• to understand the production functions of tourism industries and the inter-linkagesbetween the tourism industries and the rest of the economy; eg other industries, such asthose covered by transport policy; government revenues from taxes and duties.

• to monitor capital investment in tourism and how this fits (or not) with tourism supply anddemand and to help in planning decisions; eg transport infrastructure.

• to understand the tourism industry’s capital stock and capital base; eg in relation toplanned investment.

• generally to provide a framework for testing the economic implications of policy; eg tosee how these impact on tourism growth or on productivity, and to model the effects ofshocks to tourism.

• to provide a national reference against which to assess and compare regional and localtourism activities, planned attractions, etc.

A number of initiatives are currently progressing within the UK and there is also anexpectation that this trend will continue. For example, Council Resolution on the Future ofEuropean Tourism (21 May 2002) called for member states ‘to actively launch a processtowards the implementation of TSAs’.



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sWhat do you do with the results?

Using the results

Firstly, the results should satisfy the question, ‘Why do we want this information?’ The resultsneed to be interpreted and used.

• Promote to council members and officers to demonstrate the importance of tourism locallyand the importance of tourism research.

• Create a press release to highlight tourism’s importance to the local community.• Circulate the information to the local tourism industry and to encourage continued/future

participation in business surveys and to demonstrate that the data they supply is fullyutilised and valued.

• Make the data readily available to agencies, other departments and local businesses toenable wider usage; eg in planning applications.

Most models will not only provide data, but a commentary and interpretation of thefindings. This should assist the client in identifying strengths and weaknesses in its tourismoffer and highlight areas where action can be taken to reinforce a sustainable economy.

The information obtained for a local audience of local authority and tourism businessinterests will also contribute to the regional and national sustainable tourism indicators thatrecognise the value of such information.

The results of the study will contribute to a knowledge bank for access by the manydepartments in local authorities that are involved with, or affected by tourism.

To maintain a high profile for tourism, publicise good news stories about tourism’s economicimpact. Do this both within your organisation and in the local area.

Organising an event to present study findings to local politicians, council officers in otherdepartments and local tourism businesses can be a useful exercise as allows questions to beraised and wider support for tourism to be generated.

Retention of spending in the area

Economic and tourism development managers have the opportunity to create higher localimpact by encouraging the reduction of leakage of visitor spending to other areas.

This can start within the tourism department where, in some cases, photography, design andprint of the annual destination guide are not sourced within the area.

If the products and services needed to meet visitor expectations are available from localsources, the purchaser can contribute to the local economy simply by buying them locally.

The Green Audit Kit produced by the English Tourism Council and The Countryside Agency(available from RTBs) is a good starting point for tourism businesses to develop their localpurchasing systems and contribute to sustainable tourism.



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Those involved with tourism promotion and development can influence the retention ofspending in their area by encouraging tourists to buy local produce and/or from localbusinesses – and, importantly, by encouraging businesses to buy local products and employlocal people.


The success of an economic model relies on the input of reliable information and goodmodel design. The following factors may need to be considered in discussion with modelowners before starting the study.

Defining the area

Since most visitors are unaware when they cross local authority boundaries, it may be moredifficult to measure economic impact. For example, visitors to the Cotswolds may be able torecall spending money there, but may not be able to recall in which of the three Cotswoldcounties.

Do not assume that visitors’ knowledge of local geography will recall reliable information onwhere they spent their money. This is an even greater problem when using postal surveyscarried out after a visit.

Visitors can typically underestimate some types of expenditure, particularly travel where theydo not take into account fuel costs etc.

Reliability of surveys

To obtain missing or to provide up-to-date information, it may be necessary tocommission or undertake new surveys. The company offering the modelmay carry out this work as part of its contract.

Quantitative surveys may be used to determine the origin, age and status of the respondent,mode of travel, amount and type of spending, and places visited. Some qualitative answersmay also be sought to indicate the appeal of the area and likelihood of return visits.

As with any survey, to get meaningful answers, the right questions have to be asked. Try tolook at other surveys conducted by your organisation or partners and speak with yourcolleagues regarding lessons learned. Alternatively, the organisation may choose to design itsown or use one devised by the model engineer.

Most surveys rely on sampling techniques that measure a sample of people and deduce atotal from that evidence. Commercial models may use this approach and should choosetechniques that provide an acceptable level of confidence in their results.

Because surveys provide the baseline data on visitor activities which create the economicimpact in an area, it may be preferable to appoint a professional survey organisation thatcan validate its results.

Try to integrate your visitor survey work with your economic impact studies so that theeconomic impact study can fully benefit from this local dataset.



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National and regional statistics

Both the International Passenger Survey (IPS) and the United Kingdom Tourism Survey (UKTS)are dedicated tourism surveys, undertaken on a continual basis with large sample sizes of261,000 and 50,000 respectively. Estimates of trips, nights and spend are published down to acounty level on an annual basis, along with the associated confidence intervals. In 2000,there was an unavoidable change to the UKTS survey methodology, which has necessitatedthe readjustment of previous data years. However, it is widely regarded that the new UKTSmethodology represents a more dedicated and sophisticated tourism survey, and a numberof improvements have been brought about – namely the faster dissemination of results.

Most models use these two surveys to varying degrees, depending on the amount of localinformation available. Both the IPS and UKTS surveys are operated to very high standardsand regional breakdowns provide invaluable, robust data for local area tourism economicimpact studies.

Be aware of the methodology of arriving at first-stage data and ask the model operator howthis might affect the results from the model.

Multipliers that lead to employment estimates

To measure the cumulative effects of original spending, multipliers are used to assess the linkbetween direct visitor spending and its subsequent impact on turnover and wages in supply-chain businesses. The employment multiplier demonstrates the direct, indirect and inducedeffects of changes in visitor spending on local employment including self-employment.

Most multipliers used by economists are well established and come from extensive use. Whilemultipliers are essential in delivering output information, errors in input data on visitorspending will be multiplied when arriving at estimates of the indirect, induced andemployment effects of that spending.

It would be a mistake to use the results from one area and apply them to another, as supply-and demand-side data is unique to each area.

This is an important point, as there is often considerable variation between the local profile/pattern of tourism between neighbouring districts.

There is no simple or agreed format for measuring economic impact assessment and, in fact,this has been subject to some debate. However, as outlined in this component, the importantfactor is to decide why you want to measure economic impact and then choose a model orad hoc study accordingly. The measurement of economic impact and the changes of thisimpact over time are a very important measure for sustainability and help in the decision-making process for actions that will encourage sustainability.



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References

British Resorts Associationwww.britishresorts.co.uk

Carpenter H. The Economic impact of visitors: data collection and evaluation at local level –Discover Islington, Insights, Vol 11: C47-55 2000

Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Guidance on Measuring Sustainable Tourism atthe Local Level, 2002. Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2-4 Cockspur Street, London, SW1Y 5DHwww.culture.gov.uk

Middleton V. Measuring the Local Impact of Tourism, British Resorts Association, 1998.‘Measuring the Local Impact of Tourism’ - Department for Culture, Media and SportAvailable free www.culture.gov.uk/tourism/forms_documents.html – 1998 archive

Information about the Cambridge Economic Model may be obtained from your regionaltourist board.

Information about the STEAM Economic Model may be obtained by contacting Global Tourism Solutions (UK) Ltd., 2 Barleycroft, Filey Road, Scarborough, North Yorkshire,YO11 3AR.

Information about the PRIME (project impact appraisal model) may be obtained bycontacting Northumbria Tourist Board.

Measuring the local impact of tourism: a response to the BRA and the LGA paper preparedby the English Regional Tourist Boards, July 2002

Measuring the local impact of tourism: a response to the BRA/LGA Paper, ETC Insights,September 2002.



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http://www.culture.gov.uk/tourism/forms_documents.html

Section 1 Destination audit1C Surveying local community attitudes to tourism

Introduction

The importance of the resident community to tourism: Visits to Friends and Relatives

Advantages and challenges of community consultation

What is the community?

A model for surveying community attitudes


Case studies

Reference/advice



This component will explain why it is important to find out more about what your localcommunity thinks about tourism and its development in your destination/their home. It willalso give you some ideas on how to find out what they think through survey andconsultation work.


• 2B Developing tourism partnerships• 2D Tourism and the planning system: gaining value locally• 3F Identifying and developing local distinctiveness• 4 Measuring overall tourism performance.

Introduction

Tourism development is often justified by its positive economic effect on the localcommunity, such as services safeguarded, greater choice of services, jobs created andenvironmental improvements. The negative aspects of tourism, such as traffic congestion,overcrowding, litter and property price inflation, also affect the local community; yet thecommunity’s views are not always considered during the planning and management oftourism.

Consulting the community is an important part of wider stakeholder engagement, but isoften done casually or not at all because of the perceived difficulties and risks involved.

Community support, or lack of it, can have a significant effect on the success or failure oftourism management. Sea Changes, the English Tourism Council’s strategy for resortspublished in 2001, identified the lack of harmony between the community, planners and thetourism industry, and the consequent failure to develop clear strategies. This is seen as a keyreason for the difficulties being experienced by many English seaside resorts.

The importance of the resident community to tourism:Visits to Friends and Relatives

For many years the Visits to Friends and Relatives sector (VFR) has been dismissed by thetourism trade as a ‘non-market’. Visits were generally thought to be low value andaccommodation always taken at the home of the friend or relative and therefore this sectorhas largely been of no interest to accommodation providers.

However, when ETC conducted a sectoral review of tourism for the Perspectives on EnglishTourism report (published November 2000), they found VFR had, in fact, increased at a muchhigher rate than either the holidays or industry sectors over the past few years. From furtheranalysis of UKTS and from new research carried out for the VFR project in 2002, it is clearthat the VFR sector is much larger both in volume and value than has previously beenestimated.

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• Forty-two per cent of all trips taken in England in 2001, or nearly 55 million trips, wereVFR trips.

• In terms of the visitor alone, the VFR sector in England is worth over £5billion or 25% ofall overnight trips expenditure.

• It is estimated that the host spends as much, if not rather more than the visitor, adding atleast another £5 billion to the sector.

• Visitors took an average of over seven trips each and 64% said they had hosted a VFR trip.• About two-thirds of visits are to relatives and a third to friends; most of the relative visits

are immediate family with over 60% being a parent/son or daughter visit and a further22% to brothers/sisters.

Examination of consumer trends helps to explain the underlying reasons for the size andimportance of this sector:

• increased movement of the population around the country, the most mobile segment ofthe population being the young – often triggered by moving in to higher education

• a sharp rise in the number of households in Britain with an increasing number of peopleliving on their own

• increase in average holiday entitlement, the average now is approximately five weeks,giving people more time for shorter breaks.

The benefits of this sector are not just confined to the increased economic value of tourismdescribed above, as it:

• heightens awareness of what local tourism has to offer• helps to spread tourism both in terms of location and timing• can benefit local events.

Advantages and challenges of community consultation

This handbook component shows that to win community support for tourism developmentand management strategies, it is important to identify:

• the attitudes of the community towards tourism• the ways in which tourism can support the community’s economic, social and cultural

needs• the ways in which tourism’s negative effects on the community can be minimised.

The main advantages of a community-backed tourism management strategy are:

• political support• a warm welcome for visitors to the destination• ‘eyes and ears’ to identify problems and opportunities.

In contrast, a community that is disconnected from tourism management, or even opposedto it, can be a constraint and threat to sustainable tourism management.

The main cost of engaging with communities is likely to be in time – both the time spent insurveying attitudes and the extra time needed in the overall project timetable. Because of itscomplexity, the wheels of community consultation grind slowly.



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Community engagement involves accepting that:

• Gaining access to community representatives can be time-consuming in the first place.• With open communication, community consultation can raise expectations that need to be

managed.• It creates a need for continued contact and communication.• There may be some loss of control; the community must be considered, and will expect to

be treated, like any other partner.

Despite these challenges, failure to consult means risking an aborted project, which can beeven more costly.

What is the community?

A community, like all groups of individuals, can be segmented in a number of ways.Different individuals and groups will have different attitudes and needs depending onfactors such as local circumstances and previous experience.

For the purposes of community consultation, key groups include:

• elected representatives – parish, district and county councillors• community groups – such as women’s, youth and neighbourhood groups• interest groups – such as history societies, ramblers’ groups and naturalists• industry • individuals – ‘non-joiners’ who are not represented by groups, whether by choice or

circumstance.

Although the tourism industry is occasionally in conflict with the community, they are a keysegment. Businesses are important in their own right, as they have the greatest contact withvisitors, and it is through businesses that most of the benefits of tourism are channelled. Butthey are also important as intermediaries for reaching local people through their employeesand customers.



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Level

Information

Consultation

Involvement

Participation

Degree of involvement

Providing information on what is happening

Asking for views on one or more options

Members of the community work with other stakeholders toformulate options and strategies

Facilitation techniques enable the community to formulateoptions and strategies

It is helpful to understand the different degrees of contact with communities:

A model for surveying community attitudes

The techniques used will be governed by the nature of the community at a particulardestination and could be influenced by existing consultation undertaken by local authoritiesand others. However, a number of steps need to be taken:

1 Defining the community2 Making the key issues relevant and interesting to motivate response/participation3 Selecting a survey technique4 Implementing the survey5 Follow-up

1 Defining the community

At the outset, it is important to understand the community in question, so that appropriatesurvey techniques can be selected. For example, the structure of the community and theimportance of tourism issues will be considerably different between a city, a rural area and aseaside resort.



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Segment

Electedrepresentatives

Community groups

Interest groups

Industry

Individuals

Key Issues

• Opinions of constituents• Political issues, especially the impact on public spending

• Local issues, such as parking, congestion and provisionof services

• Specific issues, such as access or conservation of abuilding or site

• Maximising profit• Planning and other regulations• Workforce availability and wage costs

• Issues relating to individual circumstances, such asemployment opportunities, crowds and congestion

The importance of tourism comparedto other industry sectors

The age profile of the population

The relative visibility of visitors

City

Low

Young

Low

HistoricTown

Medium

Mixed

High

Rural

Medium

Older

Depends ondestination

Resort

High

Older

High

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yWhere tourism has a high profile, there will be wider interest throughout the communityand therefore a need to consult more widely. Some sections of the community may not bewell organised or represented, such as retired people, or disadvantaged groups, andconsulting them may call for some patience and creativity.

Interest groups are sometimes made up of at least some people who live outside thecommunity in question, but who play an influential role in it, such as ramblers orconservation volunteers who might work hard to open and maintain access in an area. They should not be overlooked.

At many destinations, visitors themselves become a significant part of the community. Somebuy second homes or static caravans and many will make repeated day or staying visits tothe same destination, developing friendships with local people and introducing theirchildren to the destination. At most destinations, VFR is a significant proportion of all visitorsand these people can have a special affinity with the place.

2 Making the key issues relevant and interesting to motivate response/participation

If sustainable tourism is difficult to explain to tourism professionals and elected members, itcan be even more difficult to explain to the public. Concentrating on one or more specificissues to capture people’s interest and stimulate their involvement can be an effectiveapproach.

At most destinations, there are issues that will concern at least a part of the community.Several issues can be included in a consultation to give something to all interest groups.

Where there are few controversial issues, or where less is known about community attitudes,it is best to run some focus groups with a representative sample of the community toidentify survey issues.

Focus groups are structured discussions on a pre-determined range of topics and typicallyinvolve 8-12 people. Market research companies often use this method to identify issues forinterview surveys. Led by a facilitator, carefully selected participants discuss a chosen topic.The discussion is recorded and then analysed to generate findings.

A study to identify people’s needs and preferences in relation to countryside recreation inthe Lake District National Park found that focus groups yielded considerably more usefulinformation than an interview survey – and at much less cost.



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y3 Selecting a survey technique

A range of techniques is available, but the underlying principle is that to get the best results,you must go out and engage with the community on its own ground. This could include:

An additional factor in selecting consultation techniques is cost. Distributing and analysingthe results of questionnaire surveys can be costly and time consuming, while running focusgroups requires specific skills. The availability of resources is often a critical factor.

Cumbria County Council’s consultation on development and management options with thecommunity and users at Talkin Tarn Country Park consisted of a week-long exhibition in thevisitor centre. In addition to a self-completion survey form/comments sheet, a person was onhand to answer questions and discuss people’s responses. The consultation was publicised inthe local press, on radio and TV and on posters.

4 Implementing the survey

The work of collecting the information is likely to involve several techniques, eachappropriate to the group concerned. A wide range of help is available and this issummarised below. Key questions to ask are:

• What are the key issues – what are you trying to achieve?• Have all segments of the community had an opportunity to contribute?• Which groups have not responded and why, and how can you encourage them to

respond?

Pilot surveys and additional follow-up consultation will often be required to make sure thatthe exercise goes to plan and that people respond to the right questions.



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Segment

Electedrepresentatives

Community Groups

Interest groups

Industry

Individuals

Key Issues

• Interviews/consultations

• Interviews/consultations with community leaders• Attending group meetings

• Interviews/consultations with representatives• Attending group meetings

• Interviews/consultations with trade organisations• Interview survey• Postal survey

• Exhibitions (and associated consultation)• Public meetings• Interview surveys• Postal surveys

Tip

It’s important to raise awareness of the survey so contact and work with local media tomaximise publicity.

5 Follow-up

Once the information has been collected and analysed, it is important to communicate theresults back to those who provided it. It is equally important to continue to communicatewhat is to be done and what is being achieved.


The likelihood of success can be increased if the following critical factors are addressed:

• Be inclusive – make sure that you contact all sections of the community.• Be prepared to act on the response – you are asking for trouble if you raise hopes and

then fail to deliver.• Be prepared for surprises – the response might not be what you were expecting and you

must be prepared to incorporate community needs into your plans.• Deal with the response honestly – always be clear about what you can and can’t do.

Unrealistic promises will lead to disillusionment and loss of community support.• Communicate the results of your survey, and continue to communicate successes over

time.



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Technique

Questionnaire survey

Focus groups

Attending the meetingsof councils, groups andorganisations

Public meetings

Exhibitions

Points to consider

• How will you obtain a representative sample?• Can you use existing distribution mechanisms?• Can you ‘piggy-back’ existing surveys?• Can you make use of students, possibly as part of their existing

coursework?

• Focus group discussions with representatives of each groupcan be more cost-effective than an extensive interview survey

• The timescale becomes driven by meeting cycles• An effective way to reach elected members and ‘movers and

shakers’

• Can be risky – easily hijacked or disrupted by forcefulindividuals

• The views of less confident people are under-represented• Can be useful to allow people to ‘let off steam’ at the

beginning of a consultation process

• Good way to convey complicated ideas• Need to choose effective venues such as shopping centres and

supermarkets

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Case studies

New ForestSince existing community organisations had only limited interest in tourism, New ForestDistrict Council decided to establish a network of community tourism groups to involve localpeople more actively in tourism. The council did not have the resources to provide ongoingsupport to the 13 groups formed, but helped by:

• providing checklists of tasks which could be met by the groups, and by giving supportwhere necessary

• arranging community surveys to benchmark satisfaction levels with local facilities andtourism issues

• organising workshops to discuss particular issues• encouraging groups to prepare local tourism plans that link to the destination plan.

Over time, groups have been more or less active and they have been driven by how effectivethey have been. For example, one group in Ringwood lost momentum after failing to obtainsignage to the town from the A31. However, exclusion from the draft National Parkboundary revitalised the group, which took an active part in the consultation process and isnow running an annual food and music festival.

Contact: Anthony Climpson, New Forest District Council, Appletree Court, Lyndhurst,Hampshire, SO43 7PA. Tel: 023 8028 5102, e-mail: [email protected]

ECOSERT, Chester – The Dee Estuary PartnershipAn Institutional Survey was carried out to enquire about people’s response to the RegionalEnvironmental Sustainable Tourism Plan (RESTP). The main group of respondents was LocalAuthorities. However, there was also a good distribution across the other categoriesincluding local communities.

There was positive support for the plan that would cover the sub-region, co-ordinating thework of several planning authorities over a 20-year period, identifying opportunities forsensitive tourism development and recognising the importance of ensuring a high qualitybuilt and natural environment. There was also very positive support for a plan that wasinclusive in its approach. It should include the tourism industry, environmental organisations,those responsible for the conservation of the areas cultural heritage and the planning ofdevelopment. The plan should encourage these organisations to work together to ensurehigh environmental standards, wide consultation and the recognition of the areas best eco-cultural assets.

The conservation of cultural heritage, quality of tourism activities and the environment werethe three most important factors identified for consideration. Identification of the mostimportant cultural assets, patterns of tourism and land use and the designation of actionareas/projects were the three most important issues for inclusion in the plan.



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yGreater Lincoln Greenways and Quiet Roads Strategy www.greenways.gov.uk/site/shared/demos/lincoln.htmIn the summer of 1999, a 12-parish community consultation exercise was carried out byGroundwork Lincolnshire and the Community Council of Lincolnshire to help inform theproject, reporting in September 1999. There was almost 100% support expressed for theGreenways initiative, and it detailed the public's preferred routes in the Greater Lincoln area.This was followed by an education and publicity campaign covering other parishes withinthe designated area to give them a chance to express their views. A newsletter was producedand a travelling display made up to tour the area. Also, several local newspaper articles andradio pieces featured the project, and invited feedback. Around 30 businesses/ employersattended an industry consultation. A similar meeting was held in March 2000 withrepresentatives of six of the main users groups representing walkers, cyclists horse-riders, andthe less abled, including The Ramblers Association, Lincolnshire Fieldpaths Association, TheOpen Spaces Society, The British Horse Society, CycleLincs and Accessibility Lincoln.

National Trust Leigh Woods – Community Involvementwww.nationaltrust.org.uk/environment/html/peo_com/_fspapers/fs_tourism01.htmLeigh Woods is a well known Somerset landmark. Nestling as it does on the west side of theAvon Gorge and so close to the city centre, it is Bristol's urban lung, providing a green havenfor thousands of local residents every year. It is important not only for its wildlife but also itshistory.

The National Trust took over management of the 64 hectares (159 acres) of the southernpart of Leigh Woods from English Nature on 1 September 1998. It is now writing a statementof significance for the site summarising what is distinctive about Leigh Woods and preparinga management plan.

As part of the exercise the National Trust has been consulting local people and groups. Anexhibition outlining the National Trust's plans for Leigh Woods was on display at four venuesin Bristol in May. Local residents and visitors were also able to attend two special guidedwalks to see the archaeology, geology and wildlife that make Leigh Woods so distinctive.Brecks Countryside Projectwww.brecks.org.uk/newsfram/resource/brecksne.pdf

St Agnes Park, Bristol – Community ConsultationDriven by the park’s development department at Bristol City Council, the St Agnes Parkproject started from the premise of saving the original Victorian park lodge from being soldto a local housing association. This was the point at which the community consultationbegan and a local organisation, Involving Residents in Solutions (IRIS), conducted a series offocus groups, leaflet drops and questionnaires. Situated in a deprived inner city area ofBristol which has been targeted for urban renewal funding, the community around St AgnesPark had particular concerns for security. Consequently, the majority of respondents to theconsultation exercise supported the lodge from being redeveloped to house a permanentpark keeper. In addition, residents were keen to see community workshops and offices andalso a café in the lodge building. (Report from Leisure Manager March 2002)



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http://www.greenways.gov.uk/site/shared/demos/lincoln.htm

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/environment/html/peo_com/_fspapers/fs_tourism01.htm

http://www.brecks.org.uk/newsfram/resource/brecksne.pdf

Reference/advice

Briggs S. Friends and family reunited: customers queuing on your doorstep, Insights, Vol 14:A13-A19 2002

Coming home to St. Agnes – Community partnerships, Leisure Manager, March 2002

Godfrey K and Clark J. The Tourism Development Handbook, Cassell, 2000

Making the Connections – A Practical Guide to Tourism Management in Historic Towns,English Historic Towns Forum, 1999

Martins C and Martins C. Birmingham Visitor and Convention Bureau: Local Tourist CampaignSelling tourism to the local community, Insights, Vol 12: A139-145 2001

Waites N. Community Planning Handbook, Earthscan Publications, 120 Pentonville Road,London, N1 1JNwww.earthscan.co.uk

Where Do We Go From Here, JIGSO, 1998 (Available from Wales Council for VoluntaryAssociations, Cardiff)



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http://www.earthscan.co.uk

Section 1 Destination audit1D Determining local carrying capacities in an area

Background

Advantages of the carrying capacity approach

Applying a tourism carrying capacity approach

Suggested indicators for quality assessments

Setting indicator standards

Regular monitoring and decision-making

Key success and failure factors

Case studies

Further references


1D Determining local carrying capacities in an area

This component will explain the concept of recreational carrying capacity and outline how togo about establishing approximate carrying capacities for sites within your destination.


• 1B Determining the local economic impact of tourism• 2E Developing visitor management plans• 3G Biodiversity action plans for tourism• 4 Measuring overall tourism performance

Background

Tourism carrying capacity is the measure that attempts to balance tourism levels withenvironmental protection. This applies in both rural and urban situations throughout England.There has been little practical application of measuring the concept to date, although therehave been increasing efforts to manage visitors in certain situations.

A broad approach to tourism carrying capacity should consider environmental factors such asthe influence of tourism and tourism-related infrastructure on air and water quality, sewagetreatment and noise pollution. Clearly, if levels of tourism activity are not accompanied byinvestment in basic power, water, sewage, street cleaning and transport infrastructure, thesituation cannot be described as sustainable.

However, this handbook component does not address these broader factors, which arelinked to general urban and rural planning and development, but concentrates on issuesconcerning visitor numbers and their environmental, social and economic impacts on thequality of the experience for the local community and visitors. This is called the ‘recreationalcarrying capacity’.

Advantages of the carrying capacity approach

As highlighted throughout this handbook, sustainable tourism is about the environment, the local community and the local economy. The carrying capacity is affected by all three. An action that affects one factor will have implications for the other two.

Economic development alone can damage an area’s cultural and environmental qualities.Similarly, blinkered preservation of the environment or of heritage resources can restrict thesocial and economic benefits that increased tourism can bring to an area and its population.The carrying capacity approach can help to resolve these conflicts.

In some instances, carrying capacity could indicate that an area or site could accept morevisitors while, in another situation, it could help to gain agreement that visitor numbersshould be limited or even reduced, at least at peak times, if not over the whole year.

1D DETERMINING LOCAL CARRYING CAPACITIES IN AN AREA


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The significant benefits of taking a carrying capacity approach include:

• encouraging stakeholders to agree a vision for the area or site• helping to reconcile potentially conflicting interests• encouraging regular data collection, which supports decision-making about the scale of

recreation and tourism development that is desirable• encouraging open debate on difficult issues• providing a consensus and preparing for the future development of tourism and its

associated infrastructure• placing emphasis on the quality of both environmental/social factors and the tourism

experience• potentially providing a strong framework for making decisions about visitor management.

The recreational carrying capacity of any tourist destination, whether it is a specific site or an area of countryside or town, is not a single figure that can be calculated and fixed. It is afunction of management objectives, measurements, judgements and evaluations and oftenrequires the involvement of a range of stakeholders.

Carrying capacity is essentially a decision-making framework, which is defined by themeasurement of agreed indicators of quality.

Central to the successful use of a recreational carrying capacity approach is the concept of‘quality assessment’. Quantifiable judgements about the quality of the environment and thevisitor experience are necessary to make any carrying capacity approach workable.

Applying a tourism carrying capacity approach

The approach advocated in this handbook requires testing in a number of situations and at anumber of scales, ranging from individual visitor attractions and buildings to more complexareas such as a historic town or a protected landscape or coastal area. It is put forward herein the spirit of a methodology requiring piloting and not as a fully refined and tested method.

There are a number of stages in this process:

Stakeholder participation

It is important that the stakeholders are involved from the start. Stakeholder involvement isvital for the success of the suggested approach. Interests representing social, economic andenvironmental/planning matters should be present. For a single-ownership site, these couldbe internal staff of the organisation and, for a wider area, they are likely to be public,private and voluntary organisations with interests in the area and its future developmentand management. The key stakeholders are likely to be the local planning authority andtourism businesses.

Defining the boundaries of the area

The boundaries of the area should be agreed. The approach could be applied at a widerange of scales, from a small site under single ownership (such as a visitor attraction) to alarge area of countryside or parts of a town. In an urban situation, it is likely that only thoseareas of the town visited by tourists and day visitors would be involved.



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Zoning

The area or site is then subdivided into agreed zones of reasonably similar character. Thesecould be zones of local distinctiveness. In an urban setting, they could be defined by thestreetscape, dividing the parts of the town that are visited by tourists. In the countryside,these could be zones defined by landscape or habitat character. The scale of these zones willdepend on the scale of the site or area being addressed.

Assessing quality

To make judgements about what is acceptable (sustainable), standards must be set. Thesewill be standards for the environmental, social and economic condition of the area beingvisited by tourists and the quality of the tourist experience. The stakeholder group mustdecide on what will be measured and what and how standards will be met. They must alsobe satisfied that the measurements will be made by an unbiased organisation or individual.

Suggested indicators for quality assessments

This is a deliberately short list of indicators, because if too many indicators are chosen thetime and costs involved in their collection will work against their regular use. Some of theseindicators could be measured through quick on-site visual surveys.

1 Quality of the visitor experience

• Length of stay at the site or area• Number of visitors• Bed nights/room occupancy• Questionnaire response to set-questions on levels of enjoyment/satisfaction• Questionnaire response to questions about perceived overcrowding

2 Economic factors

• Spend per head of visitor• Total visitor spend per year• Estimated number of jobs supported by visitor spending

Please see the handbook component on local economic impact assessment.

3 Community factors

• Number of planning applications received/granted/refused• Number of complaints received by local authority from locals and visitors

4 Environmental factors

• Air and water quality• Amounts of litter• Number of historic buildings at risk• Visual assessment of the quality of the urban scene by zone*• Visual assessment of the state of the habitat/landscape by zone*

*These indicators, in particular, require field experiments to test their practicality, butwould broadly involve an expert panel giving quality scores to zones, which would betracked over time.



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Tip

It is important that the indicators chosen are relatively easy to measure and are not tooexpensive in staff time and costs. Quick visual inspections and simple counts could suffice insome cases. Using quality-scoring scales with groups of assessors will also be useful. Hardeconomic facts and visitor numbers will also be important, as will measures of the quality ofthe environment such as water or air pollution and noise levels (likely to be collected byother agencies). It is important to talk with agencies such as The Environment Agency,Countryside Agency and English Nature to determine what information is already collected.

The quality of the tourism experience will have to be judged by observations of the timevisitors spend at attractions, by visitor numbers and, crucially, by questionnaires or focusgroup surveys at regular intervals. These may be related to the destination benchmarkingsurveys already being carried out by Southern Tourist Board on behalf of ETC.

Setting indicator standards

The process being advocated is a cyclical one and, to start the ball rolling, some assumptionson standards and targets should be made. The figures generated at the beginning cansubsequently be modified as the regular monitoring data is received.

For each of the indicators being measured, some standard or threshold should be chosen.This can be modified in the light of experience. These will be standards (or to some extenttargets) for the quality of the environment, social/planning matters and economic factors. If these standards are not met, some changes to the management of tourism or theinfrastructure should take place. In an ideal world, these possible management responsesshould be agreed at the outset.

Choose standards carefully: there is little point in measuring and setting standards if there isno practical or politically acceptable response possible, should they not be reached.

To begin the cycle and produce some initial recreational carrying capacity figures, thestakeholder group should allocate an at-one-time capacity figure to each zone. This is thenumber of visitors that the group believes is an acceptable peak-time maximum (probably afine weekend afternoon in summer).

They will be influenced in their judgements about each zone by:

• the size of car parks• transport issues • areas of public open spaces and pavements• the length of paths• the acceptable number of people in different buildings/attractions• the psychological factors that contribute to a sense of overcrowding or ‘attractive

bustling activity’• any environmental factors that would warn against larger numbers.

The ‘at-one-time recreational capacity’ figure will be the sum of the figures for each of the zones. Knowledge of visitors’ length of stay at the site or the area/town will allow acalculation of the peak day number. It is important to realise that this number is notscientifically reached and is only a starting point for the exercise. It can be subsequentlymodified when the findings from the quality assessment data are received each year.



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There is likely to be some influence from the weather, with the capacity being higher ingood weather than in poor, when people seek shelter in buildings. If poor weather is acommon problem and this is when the site or area seems to work poorly, the at-one-timecapacity figure could be calculated as applying on a peak poor-weather day.

From these at-one-time capacity and day-capacity figures, it is possible to predict an annualvisitation figure by applying a percentage of the capacity figure to different days of the year,depending on the known temporal distribution of tourism and recreational activity. Thisannual figure may have importance for economic and ‘headline’ reasons, but it is more likelythat the at-one-time and daily figure will be of more importance for decision-making andvisitor management and planning. It may be felt acceptable, or even desirable in some cases,that the calculated ‘capacity’ is exceeded on some days of the year, such as for a specialevent or festival.

The daily and at-one-time capacity figure will be important in choosing the scale ofinfrastructure required, such as car parks, open spaces or indoor attractions. Clearly, thefigure can be greatly influenced by modifications to the site or area. Ways of increasing thecapacity of a site/area could include:

• footpath and pavement treatments (widening and surface treatment)• pedestrianising streets to create more space for visitors• opening up more land or buildings for public access• holding people longer at particular attractions• creating new visitor attractions.

Where it is felt that visitor numbers are reaching unacceptable levels and that limits need tobe placed, then some of the following could be applied:

• scaling down or withdrawing promotions and marketing• higher prices• relocating car parks to lengthen the walk to the problem area• opening up new areas and buildings to take the pressure off other areas• physical barriers• closing problematical attractions/areas.

Different recreational activities, different approach

In some situations, it may be necessary to consider the impacts of specific recreationalactivities and their timing. For example, small numbers of visitors carrying out noisy activities,such as motor boating, may require special capacities to be agreed for them, which areseparate from the general visitor capacity agreements.

The timing of visits, such as spring visits to coincide with the bird spring breeding season inan important nature reserve, could also necessitate a separate capacity figure for those keyperiods. In an urban situation, it may be agreed that a local cultural event or festival willrequire visitor numbers to be restricted so that the event preserves its local ‘ownership’ andcharacter.



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The interaction of different recreational activities by tourists and day-trippers may also needto be considered, necessitating capacity figures for different user-groups such as cyclists,fishermen or boaters. The same principles described in the methodology could be applied to each of these groups.

Regular monitoring and decision-making

Once the approach has been adopted, the stakeholder group will receive the annual data on quality and will revisit the calculated capacity figures, modifying them in the light of thefindings of the quality monitoring and making decisions regarding visitor management andtourism infrastructure.

Adopting a recreational carrying capacity approach is not a one-off exercise, but requires acontinuing commitment to monitoring and decision-making.

Key success and failure factors

Research on recreational carrying capacity, largely in the context of the countryside andprotected landscapes, indicates that a number of issues must be addressed if it is to besuccessfully applied. These issues are:

1 Gaining acceptance of the need for a systematic approach

There is a clear organisational and management issue to overcome in adopting any systematicapproach. Tourism businesses and other stakeholders must be convinced that there arebenefits from spending more time and resources on capacity planning and management,and that any system for monitoring or decision-making helps rather than hinders.

2 Stakeholder participation and decision-making structures

There must be opportunities for the stakeholders to be involved. Choosing who will beinvolved, how this will happen, and how decisions will be taken is crucial to the success ofany recreation/tourism carrying capacity approach. There are clear issues of balance betweenpeople's time and the benefits of this involvement. Appropriate decision-making structuressuch as ‘expert panels’, management committees and public consultation will be importantelements of any successful approach.

3 Approaches to data collection will vary according to the measure

It is important to recognise that one measurement approach is unlikely to fit allcircumstances, and that cheaper and quicker methods will be necessary for simple situations.Complex consensus-building approaches may be necessary in complicated situations such asnational parks or historic cathedral towns.

4 Resources for regular data gathering

Any attempt at recreational carrying capacity measurement will require systematic andregular collection of data about the quality of the environment, visitor impacts and visitorsatisfaction and attitudes. This may mean spending more time and resources on meetings,site surveys and monitoring. Commitment to regular measurement should be accompaniedby the appropriate allocation of staff time and budgets, and should be largely restricted to



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ymethods that are simple and relatively quick. If they are not, they will probably not beapplied regularly and continually.

5 Methodological issues regarding the assessment of ‘quality’

Any method adopted will require some regular measurement of the quality of theenvironment and of the visitor experience. There remain fundamental methodological issuesregarding acceptable methods for measuring the quality of the urban and rural environment,and for measuring the quality of the experience of visitors. There is insufficient practicalexperience with this and the pilot experiments advocated here will be a great help in testingand developing cost-effective methodologies.

6 The importance to the process of setting clear objectives

Whatever method is adopted, clear objective setting is vital. Setting objectives will involveachieving agreement between stakeholders. Where objectives are in potential conflict,zoning and prioritising of objectives will be required. It is probable that the objectives willhave to be set in the context of an overall vision for the site or area, providing a frameworkfor how it may develop in the future.

The recreational carrying capacity approach does not try to limit visitor numbers or argue fortheir increase. Rather, it is designed to help stakeholders to agree on how many visitors anarea can absorb, without unacceptable damage to the environment or to the destination’sambience, while acknowledging tourism’s economic benefits.

Case studies

Environmental Capacity Study - ChesterIn late 1993 Chester City Council, Cheshire County Council and English Heritage appointedindependent consultants to carry out a study entitled Chester - The Future of an Historic City.The study was designed to set the framework for the local plan in recommending guidelinesfor the future development of the city. The guidelines cover a range of issues including theidentification of areas where environmental capacity has been exceeded or is being reached.

The study identified five possible city development paths. These ranged from a major changeoption that would seek to develop Chester as a regional centre to compete with Manchesterand Liverpool in business, culture and shopping, to a reduction of growth option that wouldattempt to reduce the level of activity in the city. Major growth was rejected by the study asbeing unsustainable in environmental terms whilst reduction and a third option, minimalgrowth, were rejected as likely to be harmful to the historic built environment because ofthe likely withdrawal from the city of the investment necessary to maintain buildings. Therecommended course of action was to follow a composite of the two remaining optionsboth of which suggested managed development concentrating on selected growth sectors.Although the study was never formally approved as policy by the City Council itsrecommendations have significantly informed the Local Plan. Both of the managed growth options identified tourism as a sector in which growth should be maintained.The extent to which tourism in Chester was approaching environmental capacity was one of



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yten issues that were particularly considered in the study. The consultants tested two majorconcerns:

• Tourism was causing a tension between the types of shops required by tourists and thoserequired by local people, and that the variety of shops was suffering as a consequencewith multiples replacing individual retailers.

• The activities and demands of tourists were having an adverse effect on the physical fabricof the city shown by wear and tear on the Walls, Cathedral and Rows.

They tested the first of these by examining any changes in balance between shops and smallbusinesses likely to be particularly appealing to visitors against those predominantly cateringfor local needs over the period 1985 to 1992 when there had been a considerable growth inhotel stock. They found little change. They did identify a rise in restaurant and fast foodoutlets and also noted that Chester had a larger than average proportion of large shopunits, reflecting the importance of the city as a regional shopping centre as well as theinfluence of multiples. Both of these trends would appear to have continued over the pastfive years. This is, however, more likely to reflect change in general consumer demand thanin facilities adapting to meet tourist needs.

The suggestion that tourists were having an adverse effect on Chester's historic fabric wastested by examining requests to English Heritage for grant aid for historic building repair inthe city. No recent applications were found suggesting that although there was undoubtedwear and tear, the general economic buoyancy in the city was adequate to keep the historicbuildings in good condition. Far from contributing to the accelerated decline of the builtheritage, the city's mix of residents, workers and tourists was maintaining it well.

The one concern that the consultants were not able to test was the suggestion that touristswere causing an increase in pedestrian discomfort and congestion on the streets. It provedimpossible to isolate the impact of tourists from the general congestion that the city's streetswere under at that time and to find a measure that would balance the extent to which theycontributed to congestion against the economic benefit they brought. However oneindicator is that the time that the city's streets are at their most congested, the run up toChristmas, is the time when tourists make up a far smaller proportion than usual of the totalnumber of people.

The study concluded that managed tourism growth was an important and sustainable partof Chester's future.

Are current visitors to historic properties sustainable?: A case study from Bateman’s www.nationaltrust.org.uk/environment/html/features/papers/visitor1.htm Over a spring bank holiday, the National Trust carried out a survey of visitor flow throughthe house on three consecutive days, at the same time taking measurements of vibration in abeam induced by visitors passing through the Exhibition Room. Our objectives were to assesswhether the flow rate for visitors entering the house had been correctly set, to discoverwhether vibration levels measured the previous year had consequently been reduced to anacceptable level, and to find out whether there is a correlation between visual estimation ofsafe visitor capacity and control of vibration in the building structure.



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http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/environment/html/features/papers/visitor1.htm

Further references

Boissevain J (ed.) Coping with tourists: European reactions to mass tourism, Berghahn, 1996.

Canastrelle E and Costa P. Tourist carrying capacity: a fuzzy approach, Annuals of TourismResearch, Vol. 18, 1991, p.295-311.

Lime D and McCool S. Tourism carrying capacity: tempting fantasy or useful reality, Journalof Sustainable Tourism, Vol. 9(5), 2001, p.372-388.



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Section 2 Destination planning 2A Addressing tourism within local authorities

Introduction

The role of destination manager

Local authority role in tourism

Working with councillors


2A Addressing tourism within local authorities

This component will help you identify the key relationships you need to develop within thelocal authority to further the cause of tourism. It explains the role of the destination managerin local authorities, the local authority role in tourism and how to work with councillors.


• 2D Tourism and the planning system: gaining value locally• 3C Developing sustainable visitor transport• 3G Biodiversity action plans for tourism• 3H Assisting tourism businesses with waste management• 3I Sustainability awards for industry and destinations• 4 Measuring overall tourism performance.

Introduction

This component is prepared on the basis that usually it is a local authority for whom adestination manager works, but it applies just as much if you work for a destinationpartnership funded by a local authority or another public sector body.

The role of the destination manager

One of the great strengths of destination management is its local distinctiveness. No twodestinations are the same. We all have different offers to make, rural charm, historic towns,coastal beauty, rugged countryside and urban chic. The first job of the destination manageris therefore to understand the offer, why it is important to the local community, and how itfits into the local area.

So why is your authority in the visitor business; what is the offer – what is the logic?Sometimes it’s obvious: major resorts, popular holiday areas, lively cities; sometimes it’s lessobvious: perhaps just an ambience that promotes relaxation. The authority, depending on itssize and type, will be different, will behave differently and will be managed differently bothpolitically and professionally.

Your second task is to understand the authority. Is it a big resort with a director or head ofservice for tourism, perhaps with a cabinet and a lead member or portfolio holder for VisitorManagement, or is it a small district council with the traditional committee system and achairman with responsibility for visitors amongst other things? Where does visitor ordestination management sit in the organisation structure? Nowadays destination managerstend to come from outside the council and can find themselves sitting in many differentdepartments of the council, and at many different levels in the hierarchy.

You need to understand how the council works and where the political and professionalpower is; to work out who needs to be influenced if destination management is to flourish.You will need help from your manager at whatever level you are in understanding how the

2A ADDRESSING TOURISM WITHIN LOCAL AUTHORITIES


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decision-making process really works, who has authority to make decisions and at what level.If you can get the measure of what visitors mean to your council, area and your communities,you will be well on the way to becoming a force for good. Remember too that all authorities,especially the larger ones, have a whole variety of functions which can impact on the visitorexperience. It is your job to understand those connections and opportunities and to use yourinfluence inside the system to promote joined-up thinking about the value of tourism.

Local authority role in tourism

It is crucial to understand how pivotal the role of the local authority is in the wider pictureof the local tourism product. Tourism is all about destinations and the totality of theexperience. The tourism industry in most areas is in reality thousands of small businessescompeting with one another, with relatively few big players in any one destination. Thosebusinesses look to the local authority to act as a co-ordinator, creating and marketing aproduct in a way that they are unable to as individual units. They recognise the breadth of an authority’s involvement from the services and facilities it provides, namely:

• beaches, museums, country parks, pools, information centres• car and coach parks, signposting, litter bins, toilets• waste management, street cleaning, beach cleaning• the regulation of standards in planning, catering, health and safety• the overall nurturing of the all important ‘sense of place’, the essential ambience of a

local area, be it the attractive rural settings, the well cared for historic town or theexciting seaside resort.

All of these services and facilities have a major impact on the quality of the visitor’sexperience. If we get significant elements of our job wrong, that may be the abidingmemory of our destination and the deciding factor in precluding repeat business.

Think too about the communities your council serves and understand what they need andwant. Communities can be geographical, of businesses or of interests. The job of a goodlocal authority is to balance all of those interests to achieve the best for its communities.

Working with councillors

Remember that all your councillors stand for election from time to time and it is only thelocal resident community who can vote for them. They will naturally be interested in theviews of the local community and will expect you to help them develop policies and actionswhich reflect the community’s needs and aspirations. Do not expect radical or controversialpolicies or schemes to be launched in the few months immediately before an election, unlessthey command massive support in the community. Visitors are not universally popular withresidents, who may prefer to enjoy the area’s local distinctiveness themselves without sharing itwith others. Some messages and activities will need sensitive development and delivery if theyare to succeed. Planning applications for development of any nature, especially those whichare aimed at generating large visitor numbers, are often hotly opposed by residents who liveclosest to them and will thus be most directly affected if they proceed.



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Your council will have many strategies, the most important of which will be the CommunityStrategy devised by the Local Strategic Partnership. This is usually led by the council andbrings together all the key agencies and organisations which serve the community in a givenarea. It articulates the needs of the area and shows how a partnership and the agencies willwork together to meet them.

You need to understand and promote those strategies in your work, and you have awonderful opportunity to be the interface between people in the visitor industry and bits of the council that they may not otherwise meet. If you can understand and articulate theinterests of the community and the council to each other in an informal and friendly way,you will be very valuable.

Finally, and more controversially, remember that local government boundaries often meana lot to people associated with the council, but nothing to anyone else, especially the visitor.Few places will be so big or so awash with attractions that they can attract and hold visitorsfor long on their own. Work with your colleagues in neighbouring councils and the RTB tobring people and councils together into wider partnerships, in viable sub-regional groupings,to generate maximum benefit for all.



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Section 2 Destination planning 2B Developing tourism partnerships

Introduction

Basic partnership structure and principles

Who are the stakeholders?

What are the key stages for developing a successful partnership?

Factors that can determine success or failure

Case studies

References


2B Developing tourism partnershipsThis component will explain why tourism partnerships are important and how to go aboutsetting them up in your destination.


• 1B Determining the local economic impact of tourism• 1C Surveying local community attitudes to tourism• 2C Engaging tourism micro-businesses• 2E Developing visitor management plans• 3A SME training and business support• 3B Promoting e-business• 3D Setting up a visitor payback scheme.

Introduction

The most effective way for destination managers to achieve sustainable tourismmanagement is through a genuine partnership involving all stakeholders, including theprivate and commercial sector. Effective tourism partnerships can deliver significant benefits such as:

• collective stakeholder working towards shared strategic objectives, improving thelikelihood that they will be achieved

• better working between organisations and departments, reducing the strain on resources• shared and more effective market intelligence• co-ordination of development and marketing budgets and activities• improved communication and understanding, and mutual respect between local authority

and industry• devolved responsibility locally and greater visitor, industry and community involvement.

All of these will contribute to any project in terms of ideas, resources and, above all,commitment.

Basic partnership structure and principles

There are many tourism partnerships in England. Local authority tourism departments haveestablished most of these partnerships to co-ordinate public- and private-sector marketing.While most focus on planning and promotion, some also handle issues such as quality,training, environment and joint purchasing agreements.

Existing tourism partnerships take various forms, including:

• formal or informal• ad hoc or continuing• action-based or for generating awareness and ideas.

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To plan and implement a sustainable tourism initiative, partnerships must involve allstakeholders and follow a few general principles:

• Working in partnership means listening to, and understanding, partners’ needs andaspirations.

• There will be some benefit to all partners, though not all will be looking for financialbenefit.

• They will share overall key objectives.• Engagement and feedback needs to be tailored to different audiences within the

partnership.


The stakeholders will be determined by the nature of the issues that the partnership plans toaddress, and the number of stakeholders will be determined by the size and complexity ofthe destination. Stakeholders could include:

• the local authority – often the catalyst and enablers of the process• the host community, represented by residents, businesses and interest groups• the environment; represented by organisations such as National Parks, conservation

NGOs, landowners• visitors.

Key groups and organisations from which a partnership may be formed (they are not alwaysneeded) include:



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Stakeholder

Local Authority / National Park / AONB / Landowners

Partners agencies such (local / regional / national)

Represented by

• Tourism• Leisure• Economic development• Planning (strategic planning, development control,

conservation)• Highways• Community development• Access for All• Other public services (public health, trading standards, etc)

• Regional Tourist Board• Regional Development Agency• Business Link• Education Business Link• Countryside Agency• Local economic partnerships• Joint strategic partnerships for Community Strategies• City/town centre management partnerships• Other local authorities• Voluntary sector

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Tip

What are the key stages for developing a successfulpartnership?

The work of setting up a tourism partnership will vary by destination, depending on theissues involved, the nature of the destination (rural, urban etc.) and whether there areexisting partnerships. Key stages of the process are as follows:

1 Identify participants, invite participation and agree shared overall objectives2 Devise a strategy and action plan3 Obtain resources4 Manage delivery of the action plan5 Monitor developments and feedback results6 Keep the partnership alive

It might not be necessary to establish a new partnership – consider how existing partnershipscan be given a tourism dimension to achieve your objectives and reinforce their work. Forexample, some city centre management partnerships have a strong tourism element.

The requirement for ‘tourism clusters’ under EU funding is leading to the development of anumber of tourism partnerships, often formed through collaboration between existingpartnerships and trade organisations. These could provide ready-made partnershipstructures.



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Community (local)

Industry (local)

Environment(local / regional / national)

Visitors

• Elected members• Community groups• Interest groups

• Key players• Trade associations• Representatives from existing established business forums

• Conservation NGOs (National Trust, RSPB, County Wildlife Trust)

• English Nature• English Heritage• Countryside Agency (landscape)• Environment Agency• Civic Trusts• LA21 officers and groups• National Park Authorities and AONB management groups• Countryside management initiatives

• By survey• User-group representatives• Visitor stewardship programme



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1 Identify participants, invite participation and agree shared overall objectives

The attitude of each stakeholder will depend on the experience and perceptions of theindividuals concerned and their responses to any relevant issues. They will be more likely tobecome actively involved in the partnership if they can see obvious benefits fromparticipation. It is therefore important that benefits should be identified and communicated.

Stakeholder

Local Authority / National Park / AONB etc

Partners, such as agencies

Visitors

Community

Industry

The environment – access

Incentives for participation

• Destination Management Plan• Policies in Structure Plans and Local Plans• Economic development and community strategies• The state of the local economy• Residents’ (voters’) views

• National policy, regional strategies and organisations’ actionplans

• Underlying demand for enjoyment• Increasing expectations of quality• Increasingly healthy lifestyles• Growing awareness of green issues

• Convenient, attractive, place to live• Concerns over increased disturbance, congestion, etc • Need for employment

• Profit motive• Need to develop to meet changing market conditions• Need to improve quality and marketing• Active in a competitive environment• Recognition of the importance of the local environment on

their business success• Staff involvement and motivation

• European and national legislation; eg DisabilityDiscrimination Act

• Reduction of disturbance and damage• Opportunity to harness tourism as a force for environmental

improvement

Tip

Tip

Experience shows that businesses are quite difficult to engage in partnerships. Businesses aremore likely to get involved if the initiative looks and feels more business-like, and if:

• action is geared towards a specific project – with tangible benefits• they are not being asked to do something they think the local authority should be doing

anyway• the initiative/partnership is chaired/co-chaired by the private sector and takes place in

private premises• the process and their input is well managed – and time is limited to achieve specific ends.

2 Devise a strategy and action plan

Strategies and action plans will depend largely on the purpose and objectives of thepartnership. These objectives must be agreed early on. Once the need for a strategy andaction plan has been identified, one person or organisation should take responsibility fordeveloping this work, which must then be sent to partnership members at regular andagreed intervals for their comments. This will ensure that members are involved and shouldincrease the incentive to build an effective partnership.

Think carefully about who will carry out each action. Where do the main responsibilities lieand where is the funding likely to come from?

For further advice on developing strategy and action plans for sustainable tourism at adestination, please see the Introduction and component 2E Developing visitor managementplans.

3 Obtain resources

The amount of resources needed will depend on the objectives of the partnership;however, it is highly unlikely that the partnership will be successful without the input ofsome resource.

In the first instance, it is important to be creative about potential resource solutions. Is it possible to use the resources available in a partner’s offices free of charge; for example, printers, photocopiers, meeting rooms? Some members of the partnership may also allow staff to work on the development of the partnership, thus providing man-hours.Volunteers and donations of items such as stationary may also be sought from amongst the stakeholders.

Financing may be available from a range of sources and stakeholders, but many (especiallythe private and voluntary sectors) will be reluctant to provide funds until they can see thebenefits of the process. Local authorities have an important role to play in pump-primingwork in the early stages.

4 Manage delivery of the action plan

Any action plan should have deliverables attributed to specific people or organisations with a realistic timetable and due dates. Regular progress meetings should be timetabled as part of the action plan. This is the best way to ensure that the work of the partnershipmoves forward.



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Although regular progress meetings are also needed to ensure continued momentum, thesemust be realistically planned: too many meetings can reduce attendances and effectiveness.

Committed champions must be found amongst the main stakeholders to drive the processforward.

5 Monitor developments and feed back results

There should be provision for monitoring and feedback in the action plan. Monitoring willinclude some provision for reviewing performance against the targets which are included inthe action plan. The means for doing this will depend largely on the partnership’s objectives.

A comprehensive action plan form can be invaluable. The template below, for example, hasbeen successfully used in the past and could be utilised in almost any project context.

Desired outcome Action required By when Responsibility Cost implications Outcome measure

Performance indicators are one way of monitoring the effectiveness of sustainable tourismprojects. Much of the information used for monitoring and performance indicators is collectedby the organisations likely to be involved in a sustainable tourism partnership; for example,the Countryside Agency, English Nature, or the Environment Agency. If they are representedon the partnership, their help can be sought to provide information on useful indicators.

This type of information needs to be drawn together by someone to make it specific andrelevant for the destination. This could be undertaken by a contractor or one of the partnersand is likely to be something in which the destination manager takes a lead role.

Dissemination of the results should form a key element of a wider media andcommunications strategy. This keeps stakeholders updated, those who are involved in thepartnership and those who are not. It helps in identifying any issues before they becomemajor problems. Importantly, communication encourages buy-in and commitment. Websitesare a good way of promoting this information, and it must stressed that email is certainlythe cheapest form of communication as well as being highly effective if used properly. Face-to-face meetings may sometimes be the only realistically constructive option, but theycan be costly and time consuming to engender – email is an extremely useful tool.

The gathering of feedback is also important. Stakeholders should be asked for theirfeedback on all aspects of the partnership, including the relevance of the objectives to them,how well the process and delivery mechanisms are working and what can be improved. Notonly does this provide those managing the partnership with information on how to improve,it also encourages ownership from the stakeholders. This buy-in will only be maintained if itis seen that the feedback has been taken seriously and addressed in an appropriate manner.

6 Keep the partnership alive

The partnership can be kept alive by simple measures such as:

• bringing in outside contributors and speakers to introduce new thinking• continuing to invest effort in managing or facilitating the partnership• varying the format and location of meetings and events



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• providing time for the social and networking side of the partnership• maintaining activity and avoiding becoming a talking shop• demonstrating and reporting success and showing that the partnership is making a

difference• emailing newsletters and other development updates• surveying customers for their views, to be fed back into the partnership. This can be a

useful tool in getting ‘non-joiners’ to sign up – seeing their competitors (eg other shops orattractions) enjoying the benefits of the partnership can make them want to becomeinvolved themselves.

Factors that can determine success or failure

Here are six top handbook tips to take you closer to a successful tourism partnership:

1 Involve all stakeholders (Visitors/Industry/Community/Environment) early in the process –missing one out can result in time consuming bridge-building later. With largepartnerships it may be necessary to gather smaller, like-minded groupings prior tobringing everyone together, so that each grouping feels it is relevant; eg B&Bs may meetinitially separately from (larger) hotels.

2 Be open and honest Use the partnership to identify and develop the ideas and issues ofothers, not just to ‘rubber stamp’ your own.

3 Commit to the partnership for the long term Be realistic about time resourcerequirements and don’t be over-ambitious in the number of groups set up.

4 Accept that it takes longer to reach decisions when working in a partnership – allowlonger timescales.

5 Communicate regularly and effectively both with partnership members and externally onthe work and successes of the partnership.

6 Keep the partnership alive As stated above, by investing time and effort into themanagement of the partnership, maintaining activity and demonstrating and reportingprogress and success through regular communication.

Developing a successful partnership, with varying opinions and vested interests, is often very difficult. However, co-operation is crucial in developing sustainable tourism and strong partnerships will help in the development of sustainable tourism projects now and in the future.

Case studies

Royal Borough of Windsor and MaidenheadThe Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is home to two of the UK’s top 20attractions – Windsor Castle and LEGOLAND Windsor – and has more than 30 significantother things for visitors and local residents to see and do. About 15 years ago there was alevel of animosity between the tourism industry and the council, and a general anti-touristvoice from local residents. Initiated by the council, a public/private sector forum wasestablished which, initially was a channel for airing disagreements and an opportunity forindustry players to get face-to-face contact with elected Members and council officers.



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yOver time, a level of mutual understanding developed and the council began to realise theimportance of the tourism industry and the industry began to understand the workings ofthe council and some of the constraints it faced. As a result, in 1993 the council made thedecision to bring the Windsor visitor information centre into a high profile location on theHigh Street and to employ a new post of Visitor and Marketing Manager – to focus ontourism at a strategic, regional and local level – with particular emphasis on forming localpartnerships. In 1994, the new appointment was made, the new Royal Windsor InformationCentre opened and the forum renamed the Visitor Management Forum (VMF).

The VMF now has 42 members representing all five sectors of the tourism industry as well aselected Members and officers. It is the steering group for the borough’s visitor managementstrategy and best value process, it is often the vehicle for positive press releases and it is theflower which has populated a number of seed partnerships. These seeds have now growninto strong partnerships such as the quarterly attractions meeting, bi-monthly hotelsmeeting; marketing project groups, transport operators meetings and bed and breakfastmeetings. Since 1994, cash funding from the industry has grown from around £20,000 pa to£120,000 pa and over £100,000 pa in terms of resources (eg venues, hosting journalists, piggyback marketing, reciprocal web links). The council has maintained its budget commitmentand the industry has supported the bigger programme of marketing, market research andmanagement it is now able to do. Other gains have been:

• reduced fragmentation of the industry• more and better communication between industry operators and elected Members and

officers• greater understanding and respect between all partners, with a common aim for the

destination, not just individual gain• development of mutually beneficial objectives which we achieve together• creation of a customised training course for local tourism businesses• increased informality in dealings and element of fun/social• development of new initiatives instigated by the private sector• better profile within the council for tourism and increased cross-unit working; eg

planning, legal, environmental health, transport.

Officer Contact: [email protected]

North LincolnshireNorth Lincolnshire is on the south bank of the upper Humber Estuary and is a relativenewcomer to tourism. Its main products are the steel town of Scunthorpe, Epworth(birthplace of John Wesley), the market towns of Barton and Brigg and the surroundingcountryside.

Tourism officers feel that community support is important in an area where tourism is not atraditional industry and where it is believed that tourism should benefit local communities.The council also sees community involvement in tourism as a way of bringing its servicescloser to residents.



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yLocal people have been invited to join four Community Tourism Partnerships. Membership isopen to anyone and consists of elected members, businesspeople and interested individuals.

Each partnership meets for one to two hours, once a month, and anyone can put an item onthe agenda. This means that members are a good source of ‘bottom-up’ marketing anddevelopment ideas, and can discuss proposals from the local authority. A yearly joint meetingfacilitates co-ordination of annual activity plans and co-operation between the groups.

Although one group is now chaired by the local town council, four evening meetings amonth represents a significant commitment for tourism officers. The benefits, however, areseen as more than offsetting this resource commitment. New B&B providers have come onstream as a result of participation in Community Tourism Partnerships and cross promotionhas increased length of stay, spending and employment within the district.

Contact: Christine Edwards, Tourism Officer, North Lincolnshire Council, tel: 01789 267575; e-mail: [email protected]

Hadrian’s Wall PartnershipThe sustainable management of tourism along Hadrian’s Wall needed a partnershipapproach to succeed. Hadrian’s Wall is a large and sensitive site: it is a UNESCO WorldHeritage Site that is 240 km long and extends across ten local authority areas.

The catalyst was a £1.68 million SRB grant for a £3.6 million, six-year project starting in 2001and managed by the Hadrian’s Wall Partnership. At the outset, the importance of managingthe partnership was recognised and this included as one of the six key themes of the project.The six key themes were:

• marketing, information and IT• business development• access and sustainable transport• creating employment and developing skills• marketing the wall• partnership co-ordination.

With more than 50 public, private and voluntary sector bodies having an interest in Hadrian’sWall, managing a partnership of this size and complexity calls for substantial resources. The partnership has five full-time personnel; a co-ordinator plus marketing, transport,community and education officers, and a part-time business development officer. As well as making financial contributions, partners help by taking a lead role in implementing someof the key themes.

Contact: Jane Brantom, Hadrian’s Wall Partnership, 14b Gilesgate, Hexham, Northumberland, tel: 01434 602505; email: [email protected]



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Norfolk Coast Partnership was set up in 1991 to promote sustainable use of the NorfolkCoast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and to:

• conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the area• facilitate and enhance the public enjoyment, understanding and appreciation of the area• provide sustainable forms of social and economic development that in themselves conserve

and enhance the areas natural beauty.

The partnership has also produced AONB Management Strategy in October 1998 and a Visitor Management Strategy back in 1995 and a Norfolk Coast Transport Strategy in June 1998.

Lincolnshire Tourism is a public/private sector partnership which has helped with farmtourism projects, setting up a farm attractions group and rural tourism development grants.

Kirkley Business and Tourism GroupKirkley is a district of Lowestoft that is undergoing a major regeneration programme. TheKirkley Business and Tourism Group is a partnership of local businesses and Waveney DistrictCouncil and was set up as part of an SRB/ERDF funded project to create a local developmentstrategy. The action plan includes marketing initiatives, events, training seminars andproduct development.

For further information please contact the East of England Tourist Board on 01473 822922.

Bungay Tourism Group Bungay is a small market town in the Waveney valley. The Bungay Tourism Group compriseslocal residents and businesses, the Chamber of Commerce, Waveney District Council andTown Council. The Bungay Tourism Group has organised major events drawing manythousands of visitors to the town as well as developing promotional materials and newproducts (with the help of ERDF funding) such as the Bungay Real Ale Trail, the Bigod CastleVisitor Centre (in partnership with the Castle Trust) and an annual two-week festival.

For further information please contact the East of England Tourist Board on 01473 822922.



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yTamar Valley Tourism Association The Tamar Valley Tourism Association was inaugurated in November 2001 and aims to:

• promote the Tamar Valley as a tourism area.• share good practice• promote higher standards in provision of goods and service.• promote ‘sustainable tourism’ in the area.

The Association has a wide range of members, including:

• accommodation providers• pubs• local visitor attractions• local craftsmen• local food producers.

The Association has recently established its own website, which gives details of:

• places to stay • places to eat and drink • places to visit • things to do • locally-produced food and crafts

For further information about the Tamar Valley Tourism Association, please contact:Chairman: Margaret Blake, tel 01822 933242; email [email protected] or Vice Chairman: David Gibbons, tel 01822 834072; email [email protected]

Dorset and New Forest Tourism Partnershipwww.dnftp.org.uk/intro.phtmlDorset and the New Forest Tourism Partnership was formed in 1995 to provide a singleumbrella body for the co-ordination and development of tourism in the sub region of Dorsetand the New Forest to the benefit of the visitor, local economy, community and theenvironment. It is supported by and works alongside local authorities, business and tradeorganisations and the regional tourist boards.

First Stop York Tourism Partnershipwww.york-tourism.co.uk/partnership/main.cfm The main aim of the partnership is to maximise the economic and employment advantagesof tourism in York to the benefit of businesses, employees, residents and visitors. Actionbegan in 1995. Major progress has been made in terms of:

• longer visitor stays• higher spending per capita • increased turnover levels • more employment opportunities for local residents.



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Norfolk Tourism Management Partnershipwww.shapingthefuture.norfolk.gov.uk/tourism/default.htmThe Norfolk Tourism Management Partnership has evolved from the Shaping the FutureTourism and Leisure Group which was set up to focus on tourism as one of the seven key industrial sectors in the area. It brings together around 30 commercial and public sector organisations with the aim of ensuring that Norfolk has a dynamic and sustainabletourism sector.

Morecambe Bay Partnershipwww.morecambebay.org.uk/Morecambe Bay Partnership works towards sustainable management for the coast byimproving the co-ordination and communication between local people, local authorities,agencies, industries, and voluntary bodies.

North Pennines Tourism Partnershipwww.northpennines.org.uk/partners/docs/nptp-03.htmIn March 1990 the North Pennines Tourism Partnership (NPTP) was formed ‘to promote anddevelop tourism in the North Pennines to bring economic, social and environmental benefitsto the area’. It adopted a strapline: ‘A Partnership to help strengthen the rural economy andto care for the countryside.’

South East Walks Partnershipwww.southeastwalks.com/The South East Walks Partnership is a collaborative body which promotes the exceptionalwalking in South East England. Their objectives are rooted in a philosophy that integratesgreen tourism, rural development, visitor management and care of the landscape to:

• lead on branding the South East as a walking destination• help maintain, improve and extend a quality, easy-to-follow network of inter-linking

footpaths• integrate and champion sustainable tourism principles, supporting and adding value to

rural communities and services• safeguard the countryside.



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http://www.shapingthefuture.norfolk.gov.uk/tourism/default.htm

http://www.morecambebay.org.uk/

http://www.northpennines.org.uk/partners/docs/nptp-03.htm

http://www.southeastwalks.com/

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yLancashire Tourism Partnershipwww.lancashireprofile.com/tourpf.htm#partnershipOver the last four years £6.7m has been allocated for investment in the County’s tourismindustry by the Lancashire Tourism Partnership, which is made up of 30 public, private andvoluntary organisations. The partnership has put together a seven-year (1997-2004)programme worth £37m of which £7.5m is Government Single Regeneration Budget moneyIn total 49 schemes have so far been awarded funding as part of a package aimed todevelop tourism in Lancashire. Projects have addressed the need to improve skills and careerprospects, make the county an attractive destination to tourists, capitalise on high spendingvisitor markets and increase environmental benefits.

Central London Partnershipwww.c-london.co.uk/about/abo_main.aspCentral London Partnership (CLP) is a non-profit partnership, which brings together keyprivate and public sector organisations in central London. CLP’s members include localauthorities and public sector service providers with a range of responsibilities, along withmajor businesses who have a concern for central London, as well as a direct commercialinterest in its future. They work together to identify common priorities and resolve them.

South Warwickshire Tourism PartnershipSWT is a non-profit making company representing over 430 local tourism businesses aroundKenilworth, Royal Leamington Spa, Stratford-upon- Avon and Warwick.South Warwickshire Tourism Partnership Limited, Conoco Centre, Warwick Technology Park,Gallows Hill, Warwick CV34 6DB www.shakespeare-country.co.uk



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http://www.lancashireprofile.com/tourpf.htm#partnership

http://www.c-london.co.uk/about/abo_main.asp

http://www.shakespeare-country.co.uk

References

Augustyn M and Knowles T. Performance in Tourism Partnership: A Focus on York, TourismManagement, Vol. 21(4), 2000, p.341-351.

Clark J and Kerry G. The Tourism Development Handbook: A Practical Approach to Planningand Marketing, 2000.

Curtis-Brignell D. Bicester Village: Partnerships are for life, not for a crisis, Insights, Vol 13:A119-A128, 2002.

Day G, Knight P and Morris E. Participation: Where do we go from here? An Introduction toDifferent Techniques in Community Participation, JIGSO – Wales Council for VoluntaryAction, 2nd edition, 2001.

English Historic Towns Forum. Making the Connections – A Practical Guide to TourismManagement in Historic Towns, English Historic Towns Forum, 1999.EHTF, PO Box 22, Bristol, BS16 1RZ.www.ehtf.org.uk

Fyall A and Leask A. The Hampshire & Dorset Benchmarking Project: Managing visitorattractions; a collaborative approach, Insights, Vol 13, 2002.

Waites, Nick. Community Planning Handbook.



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http://www.ehtf.org.uk

Section 2 Destination planning 2C Engaging tourism micro-businesses

Introduction

What are micro-businesses?

The policy framework for supporting tourism micro-businesses

Issues affecting micro-businesses and some solutions

Key stages in public policy development at micro level

Key success and failure indicators

References



This component will give destination managers an insight into the challenges faced by micro-business operators. It also gives tips on how best to communicate with them and assess their needs, in terms of the type of support they require and how they can best workto raise the quality of tourism provision in the destination as a whole.


• 2B Developing tourism partnerships• 3A SME training and business support• 3B Promoting e-business.

Introduction

Tourism micro-businesses are many and varied. Within England, around 75% of tourism-related businesses have a turnover of less than £250,000. Numerous other micros, such ascatering services, visitor attractions, transport operators, gift and craft retailers andrecreation providers, combine to make the tourism-related micros total much higher.

Micros therefore play a vital role in determining the overall character and quality of thetourism experience and, of course, are essential stakeholders in the development ofsustainable tourism. It has been estimated that they are directly responsible for providingservices to 90% of all domestic and international, staying and day visitors in the UK. Yetmicros can be difficult to engage and are often overlooked by business support initiatives,since these tend to be focused on more traditional engagement and performance criteria.

By drawing attention to the special characteristics of tourism micro-businesses and byhighlighting good practice, this handbook component will help policy intermediaries todevelop and deliver sustainable initiatives that are relevant, meaningful and helpful to thevital micro sector. This component is an abridged version of the ETC publication ManagingMicros: A Practical Guide for Tourism Advisors, 2002.

What are micro-businesses?

Micro-businesses can be defined as businesses with ten or fewer employees. Tourism micros are distinctive in terms of their operational and structural characteristics.Typical features include:

1 A dominance of sole operators and family businessesMost tourism micro-businesses are family owned or sole operators run by one or twoindividuals (frequently husband and wife). These businesses often have:

• few or no employees (typically fewer than five)• a high proportion of part-time, female employees• an informal decision-making structure in which the final decision rests with the owners

or family unit

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• a family home that often doubles up as the place of business and is often used ascollateral for funding

• an overlap of family and work responsibilities• a disproportionate reliance on seasonal activity• a high turnover of owners• low entrance requirements in terms of professional/vocational qualifications, capital

requirements or knowledge of the local business environment.

2 A specific set of prioritiesImportant decisions about the enterprise and its future are typically driven by a combinationof business and family (or individual) considerations.

• Priority is often given to maintaining family or personal income or to providing work forfamily members.

• Quality of life, lifestyle, personal and family considerations are powerful motivators in theway in which the business develops.

• Flexibility and independence are particularly important.• Owners do not necessarily aim to maximise their profits or staff numbers or to engage in

year-round tourism activities.

3 A reliance on the business ownerThe owners of micros usually represent the backbone and character of their enterprise. They:

• are required, sometimes with little or no specialist knowledge, to tackle a wide range ofbusiness tasks, from accounting to personnel

• often have a strong sense of independence and are not used to, or inclined to, seekexternal support

• have diverse backgrounds and can bring with them a range of experience• may have no formal business qualifications or training.

4 Restricted in-house resourcesTourism micro-businesses often have limited resources (financial, time and labour) forbusiness development. This may have implications in terms of their:

• opportunities for business networking• ability to cope with disproportionately high regulatory and compliance demands• ability to undertake any medium to long-term planning• capacity to withstand critical business or family incidents.

5 Resilient enterprisesTourism micro-businesses often display considerable resilience through:

• engagement in a number of facets of the tourism business (such as provision ofaccommodation, catering and merchandise)

• the availability of other income sources and earners in the family• the use of family, part-time, seasonal or casual labour.



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y6 A local profileWhile tourism micro-businesses may depend on outside visitors, local factors are crucial totheir success. In turn, tourism micros play an important role in local economic developmentand environmental sustainability by:

• attracting spending visitors to an area and by creating income which tends to remain inthe local economy and which may help to sustain local services

• supporting both direct and indirect employment • sourcing locally (goods, services and staff) throughout the year, although less so off-season• relying heavily on the local environment and local amenities to provide the basis for the

tourism experience• playing an important part in maintaining local culture and traditions.

The policy framework for supporting tourism micro-businesses

One of the most common problems in UK tourism today is the apparent invisibility and lackof effective engagement of so many tourism micro-businesses. The reasons for this includethe way that agencies and government departments collect statistics on businesses, and thelack of a clear understanding of micros and their individual needs.

A recent survey of small tourism and hospitality firms in England found that 40% of therespondents had contacts with one or more support agency. Of course, this also means that60% of micros are not in contact with any support agency.

Another factor contributing to micro invisibility is that the tourism arm of a business canoften be a secondary by-product of an already functioning business. The original businessactivity may be classified elsewhere, for example, a farm, which provides a couple of tentpitches, or a post office offering cream teas in summer. In addition, many micro-operatorsbelieve that they know how to run their own business and so do not need additionalsupport. They can also be deterred by what they perceive to be added ‘red tape’.

Micros, whether visible or not, are still at the forefront of providing visitors with an experienceof English tourism. It is vital that they are provided with the opportunity to develop andimprove their businesses with the aim of enhancing the total destination visitor experience.

One local tourism officer in the South West has decided to use the local tourist informationcentre (TIC) as a communications conduit for micro-operators. Having recognised theproblems with identifying and communicating with micros, he renovated part of the TICoffice and dedicated it to their support. Associated information and contact numbers ofsupport agencies is made available to operators. So, as new micros set up and use theservices of the TIC for marketing purposes, their details are recorded, and they are invited to join the local tourism association (LTA) or directed to the most appropriate source ofsupport. TIC staff are also encouraged to visit new operators.



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Using existing frameworks to reach micro-businesses

Local tourism officers provide the potentially vital links between the national/regionalframework and the local tourism industry. It is here that many micros become aware ofpolicy initiatives. The organisations below all affect sustainable tourism policy at a national,regional and local level, and should reach down to micro-businesses.

• The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is responsible for tourism policyand, through its annual summit of ministers, co-ordinates tourism-related policy fromother government departments.

• The DCMS, in turn, funds the national tourist boards, with funds also going to theregional tourist boards (RTB). The DCMS also oversees other tourism-related non-departmental public bodies such as English Heritage.

• Regional development agencies (RDA) are important because they are responsible fordeveloping tourism strategy in relation to economic development initiatives such astraining, business start-ups and competitiveness.

• Regional cultural consortiums (RCC) are also relevant. Their objectives are to champion thewhole spectrum of cultural and creative interests (including tourism) in each region and toforge links within that spectrum.

• Business Link services, driven by the Small Business Service, are responsible for determininglocal priorities and for working with individual micros to help them to identify and accessrelevant business support.

• Learning and skills councils, in collaboration with national training organisations, areresponsible for identifying and funding post-16 learning needs.

• Trade associations play an important role nationally and regionally. • Some micros will be members of their RTBs. There are 10 RTBs in England and these will

often be a good starting point when seeking to co-ordinate regional activities.• In addition, micros will potentially be in contact with a whole range of other people and

organisations including government regional offices, grading inspectors, local chambers ofcommerce, training agencies, tourist information centres and EU agencies.

Issues affecting micro-businesses and some solutions

Lack of time

Time is precious to the tourism micro-business, where owners often work long hours. Linkedto the issue of time is a lack of personnel: many of these businesses are owner-operators so,once the owner is called away, the business ceases to operate.

Understandably, micro-business operators will give priority to earning a living. It is importantthat meetings are scheduled to fit in with their needs.

It may be worth encouraging some micros to try using a call-forwarding facility so that theycan still be available off-site.

Under-capitalisation

Many micro-operators are caught in a cycle of under-capitalisation. In other words, they haveinsufficient cashflow to enable them to invest long-term in training, product development orother initiatives that do not guarantee immediate short-term financial benefits.



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Tip

• Recognise that money is a real issue for many micros. • Initiatives that are of no cost to the business, or are at least moderately priced, stand a far

better chance of success than those that involve a higher charge.• Likewise, wherever possible, meetings or training should be held as close as possible to the

operator’s place of business.

A range of motivations

There are many reasons why micro-operators set up in business. While some undoubtedlywant to expand, recent studies suggest that others are primarily looking to improve theirquality of life. Alternatively, the owners might be looking to supplement their regularincome on an ad hoc basis. Whatever the reason for starting the business, not all microswant to become bigger. Many just want reasonable profit margins.

Micro-businesses may face particular strains and challenges in balancing family and businessobjectives.

Acknowledge that different micros have different goals.

• Some may simply not be interested in moving their business forward. • Offer specialist support on themes which are relevant to the micro-business and tailor

activities to the distinctive needs and characteristics of different micro-business sectorsrather than attempting to provide generic all-round support.

• Aim to employ business advisors with experience or understanding of small tourismbusinesses and a knowledge of the local area.

• Recruit experienced individuals with strong interpersonal qualities, enthusiasm and theability to relate to the ‘nitty-gritty’ demands of micros.

Communications

Not all micro-operators have access to the latest technology. Careful consideration needs tobe given to the selection of appropriate media for training or communications.

• Use plain, non-patronising English.• Avoid an intimidating image of officialdom or big business in the support offered or in the

character or appearance of the project personnel.• Do not assume that all micro-businesses are equipped or familiar with the Internet or

computers – or equally that they are not!• Think twice about suggesting that an application form should be copied – many micros

may not have easy access to a photocopier. • Use a variety of media including group seminars, the Internet, newsletters and one-to-one

contact. Decide which is most appropriate for the businesses you are dealing with.

Consider including pre-paid response cards with any mailshots and follow up phone calls toincrease response.

• Do not underestimate the value of networking, peer pressure and the grapevine. Wherepossible, target the key players at the start since their support will often encourage others.

• Avoid the trend for self-training initiatives to be based on the use of interactive CD-ROMs.Research for this handbook suggests that the market for these products may be very small.

• Do not deluge micro-businesses with paperwork or bury important initiatives in lengthy text.



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y• Remember that the best way of communicating a new initiative is often by a one-page

letter or fax. Make the issue clear, explain its relevance and why your initiative will help.

Low uptake of training

Many studies point to the fact that few micro-businesses in the UK are professionallymanaged. In one survey, less than 10% had prepared marketing plans (Tourism ResearchGroup 1996).

Several training initiatives have been designed specifically with the needs of the micro-operator in mind but the uptake of these programmes has been slow. This can be explainedpartly by the fact that many micro-operators do not see any value in acquiring new skills.Others see the value but have not implemented or taken part in any training initiatives dueto resource and staffing implications.

The fact that the resource implications of training can be a problem for micros does notmean that they do not want to be trained or benefit more generally from support. It is,however, crucial that this support and advice is packaged appropriately and tailored to themicro-business.

• Pitch any advice or training at an appropriate level. Some micros may require only basicskills, and this should be reflected in the support offered and delivered, but do not assumesignificant prior knowledge of a course theme.

• Design courses that meet the actual needs of the operator.• As a general guide, training courses should be held off-season and in an accessible and

central location. In season, and particularly when including accommodation providers, aimto start after breakfast, and to finish in good time for the evening meal to be prepared.Try to avoid clashing with national and school holidays or with high-profile local orregional events.

• If self-training initiatives are used, provide a back-up contact. In some cases, a supportsurgery may be a good option.

• Training will be more attractive to micro-businesses, and more effective, if it is sector-specific. So, for example, don’t expect one event to work for both large hotels and smallB&Bs.

• Consider using the operators’ own premises as a venue for the training – this commitmentcan be shared on a rota basis.

• Use case studies of successful micro-businesses in promotional literature, presentations andtraining materials. Consider engaging sympathetic operators of successful micro or smallbusinesses as mentors or to give a local presentation.

• Refer to ‘business support initiatives’ rather than ‘training initiatives’.

The owner of a small caravan park in Devon arranged for her staff of eight to be trained infirst aid by the local St. John’s Ambulance Service. The training course was free and thecaravan park provided the venue and refreshments.



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Key stages in public policy development at micro level

Support initiatives for tourism micro-businesses are diverse in terms of their main objectivesand structure. Some may be geared to providing business advice, training or information,others may aim to encourage greater collaboration among businesses through jointmarketing and some may be comprehensive across all destination activities. The design anddelivery of tourism support initiatives must recognise the distinctive character and needs oftourism micro-businesses at all stages, from planning to implementation. Existing exampleshelp to highlight key areas for attention and offer a number of practical tips.

Stage 1: scope and context

There are a number of key stages in developing initiatives to support micro-businesses. Youmay wish to begin by:

• auditing your local industry in terms of its sectors, markets, employment profile, needs and opportunities

• highlighting important interdependencies with other business sectors such as retail,transport and catering

• identifying the main challenges and needs affecting those businesses• determining the appropriate scope of the initiative, the target population and the

appropriate criteria for inclusion.

Then decide whether you want to:

• invest resources exclusively in supporting businesses that have already reached specificstandards or in embracing a wider range of enterprises that are potentially in greaterneed of support but possibly less equipped to use it

• extend the initiative beyond ‘growth firms’ to include all micro-businesses• cover a range of tourism sub-sectors or to focus only on one• include larger tourism businesses – larger ventures can often be critical to an integrated

approach to local economic development, for example where a large visitor attraction isthe destination’s main tourism ‘magnet’.

Extending the scope of the initiative to a wide client base will have resource implications andmay influence the approach to support delivery. There are a number of delivery options:

• Tailored support and personal contact with a small number of firms. This can produce amore sensitive approach, offering faster results and improved competitiveness.

• Off-the-peg services to a wider client base. This may not reach the people you are tryingto attract or be sufficiently tailored to their needs.

• Group support delivery via local destination tourism associations or through workshopsand seminars. This is a useful starting point although, initially, participation rates can below until businesses grow to be more familiar and comfortable with each other.

Stage 2: planning

The involvement of tourism micro-businesses in the design and implementation of initiatives,as partners and through consultation with them, may well be an important factor in theirsuccess. A key element is providing the destination support and leadership that thebusinesses need.



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An important emphasis should be in helping micro-businesses to help themselves throughthe support of collective destination marketing projects, business associations and marketingnetworks.

Many micro-business support initiatives will depend on effective partnerships:

• Identify and approach relevant partners and contacts. These may be organisations that will provide access to resources, that play an important role in the implementation of theinitiative or help to ensure the support or involvement of local micro-businesses. If you areunsure where to start, your RTB will be able to advise.

• Try to integrate micro-business tourism initiatives into broader economic development andregeneration programmes.

• Agree common objectives including: a mission statement specifying the aims and benefitssought; identification of the main audience and an agenda for action; clear and realistictargets (avoid attempting to deliver too broad a programme with too many outputs);simple and easily maintained administrative, financial and reporting systems; effectiveinternal communication among partners and personnel; accountability; publicity andpromotion; and methods of measuring and monitoring outcomes.

• Encourage a long-term sustainable perspective on all tourism development. There are fewinstant results, and marketing initiatives in particular may take several years to have animpact.

• Consider a long-term, post-funding strategy. This should include an exit strategyincorporating goals for the continuation of the initiative (but know when to stop!).

Emphasis should be placed on creating appropriate networks:

• Aim to help develop and support local tourism associations (LTAs) and business groups.These can add credibility to the initiative, acting as a useful conduit to large numbers oftourism micro-businesses. LTAs are usually well placed to improve the quality of the tourismexperience through the application of membership quality criteria, the implementation ofgrading schemes and the dissemination of good practice.

Remember that co-operative initiatives will require gentle coaxing – it can take time forbusinesses to learn to trust each other.

• Be prepared to offer support and leadership. Some micro-businesses or groups may havelittle time, resource or inclination to take full responsibility for an initiative and itsmanagement.

• Encourage greater organisation and participation among micro-businesses through theirparticipation in local tourism associations and local business networks.

Stage 3: ‘selling’

Tourism micro-businesses are often unaware of the range of business development andsupport services available to them. This may be because they are fiercely independent orsimply because they lack the confidence, time or in-house resources to find support.Including them in the design of the initiative can be a useful way of ensuring earlyparticipation and ownership. Growth opportunities in new markets can often be anotherincentive to participate.



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pTo encourage maximum uptake of support and involvement:

• Ask micro-businesses which form of support they would find most useful. Consult themabout issues such as timing (weekday/weekend, evening/daytime), duration and locationof training seminars and events.

• Establish the right level of formality – industry groups and individual businesses oftenprefer a more informal and unstructured approach.

• Try to visit businesses on their own premises since many will be unable to leave thebusiness unattended.

These visits can be time consuming and expensive so try to provide enough staff when theproject is still at the developmental stage.

• Try to find a balance between providing a one-to-one service and delivery of support viagroup meetings, business networks and seminars.

• Think carefully about charging – where possible, support should be provided free ofcharge or at subsidised rates.

• Be prepared to invest significant effort in promoting the benefits of the supportinitiatives. Stress that better standards and effective marketing will lead to increasedbusiness for them and the destination as a whole.

• Highlight action and achievements from the earliest stage – even small achievements atthe outset can be important in encouraging enthusiasm and bringing more businesses onboard.

One LTA website offers links to the BTA, RTB, local authority, local newspaper and otherrelevant agencies. This helps its members to keep in touch with policy initiatives andinformation coming from local, regional and national bodies. See www.best.lowestoft.org.uk

Stage 4: Performance and monitoring

Effective monitoring mechanisms are essential. Adopt monitoring criteria that are realistic,appropriate and measurable, remembering that many tourism micro-businesses may not bemotivated by growth. Monitoring criteria could include:

• Business support and development– examples of market or product development– numbers of tourism businesses trained or that have received advice– numbers of training courses provided– increased awareness and uptake of business support services

• Improved quality of the tourism experience– customer feedback (including a proper complaints system)– increased affiliation of micro-businesses to quality awards/standards, codes of conduct

and good practice– progression to a higher grade (for those already in the scheme)



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http://www.best.lowestoft.org.uk

• Collaboration among participants and businesses– strengthening of micro-business organisations and networks– evidence of joint marketing– evidence of successful partnership working

• Dissemination and consultation activities– development of effective databases of tourism micro-businesses– production and distribution of market intelligence– distribution of good practice guidelines– initiative reviews, reports, newsletters and websites

• Economic indicators– bookings, repeat bookings, occupancy levels, visitor numbers, length of stays, length

of season – improved profile and image of the locality based on customer feedback– stability of the business population, more start-ups, fewer closures– increased or stable aggregate employment levels (ie jobs safeguarded)– integration of the initiative into wider economic and social policies

Key success and failure indicators

• DON’T be vague about the aims of the initiative.• DO make it clear how the micro-business will benefit.

• DON’T hide an important initiative in a sea of paperwork.• DO think about sending a one-page fax or letter to explain an initiative or, better still,

arrange a visit.

• DON’T assume that micro-business operators will be able to attend daytime meetings,especially if they are more than ten miles away.

• DO plan your strategy around the practical needs of the micro-business. Owner-operatorsare busy people so always ask them what would suit them best.

• DON’T fall into the trap of thinking that all micro-businesses want to grow bigger.• DO understand that different businesses have different goals.

Above all:

• DON’T adopt a ‘one size fits all’ approach.• DO be prepared to tailor your services to the needs of individual businesses.



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References

This component is an abridged version ofEnglish Tourism Council. Managing Micros: A Practical Guide for Tourism Advisors, 2002.

Business Linkwww.businesslink.org

Department for Trade and Industrywww.dti.gov.uk/guidance

Small Business Servicewww.sbs.gov.uk



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http://www.dti.gov.uk/guidance

http://www.sbs.gov.uk

Section 2 Destination planning 2D Tourism and the planning system: gaining value locally

Introduction

A new approach to planning for tourism

1 Planning tourism development

2 The control of tourism development

Summary

Case studies



This component will help bring Destination Managers up to speed with the latest thinking in tourism land use planning. Planning is a complex statutory system that is best workedthrough by experts, however, this component will help draw out some of the issues mostrelevant to tourism development. It will enable Destination Managers to develop a closerworking relationship with their local authority planning colleagues, by helping them toinform the development of the Local Area Plans of the needs associated with sustainabletourism development. It may also be useful when advising local industry operators who areseeking planning permission for new developments.


• 1C Surveying local community attitudes to tourism• 2A Addressing tourism within local authorities• 2B Developing tourism partnerships• 2E Developing visitor management plans• 3C Developing sustainable visitor transport• 3F Identifying and developing local distinctiveness.

Introduction

Tourism makes a major contribution to the national economy and to the prosperity of manycities, towns and rural areas. Its continuing growth generates a range of economic activityand new job opportunities. Good land-use planning has a crucial role to play in ensuringthat the economic opportunities of tourism are realised without prejudicing the aims ofsustainable development. In addition, because tourism often depends on a high qualitynatural and/or built environment to attract tourists, there is an added dimension to theimportant role of planning in tourism development.

Tourism policy has always assumed an overriding need to protect the natural and builtenvironment; the amelioration of existing problems and/or the control of inappropriate new development.

A new approach to planning for tourism

This component has been developed because at present the approach to national land-useplanning policy for tourism has, however, been somewhat partial in the past. PPG21 onTourism1, has not been effective and is now out-of-date. PPG62 and PPG133 have had aprofound effect on retail and leisure developments in town centres but there has been a lackof clarity over the application of the inherent principles of these guidance notes to tourismland-uses. Other Planning Policy Guidance notes refer, tangentially at best, to tourism.

In 2001, DETR published on the internet the results of research commissioned to inform themof the land-use requirements of the leisure and tourism industries, to ascertain how effectivelythe planning system is dealing with these and to recommend how planning guidance couldbe developed or revised. This component draws heavily upon that research4.

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The findings of the DETR research into planning for tourism, particularly the emphasis on aspatial approach, visitor management and regional planning, relate well to the new approachto planning envisaged in the Planning Green Paper5.

Development Plan Regulations require Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) to have regard forenvironmental, social and economic considerations when preparing development plans; ie:

• effective protection of the environment and the prudent use of natural resources• social progress which recognises the needs of everyone• maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth and employment.

The planning system should aim to facilitate and encourage development and improvementin tourism provision. As in other sectors, this requires a balance to be struck between thepotential costs (usually environmental) and benefits (usually economic) of any development.Such issues need to be considered rationally and comprehensively and the decisions justifiedon the basis of clearly defined objectives.

• In general, tourism makes a positive contribution to planning communities througheconomic development, environmental and social improvements. The main concern is todo with the number of (largely car-borne) tourism trips to free, open access destinationssuch as countryside honeypots, historic towns and villages.

Although most individual tourism land-use developments have a relatively benign impact,the cumulative impact of tourism and other related land-uses may need careful planning,particularly in the more sensitive designated areas.

This component, therefore, summarises relevant policy and outlines a new approach toplanning for tourism.

• Section 1 puts forward a new approach to planning for tourism.• Section 2 considers some development control issues for tourism land-uses.• There is also a collection of useful case studies.

1 Planning tourism development

The special circumstances related to planning for tourism affecting localdesign guidance

Planning for tourism needs to involve both specific tourism land-uses and tourism activity ingeneral, as tourists use a wide variety of land-uses, including shops, restaurants, leisure andsports facilities, as well as tourism attractions and accommodation. More significantly, manytourism-related activities are not subject to traditional development planning and control; eggeneral sightseeing in towns and walking in the countryside.

Local design guidance offers and agreed set of rules, either regulatory or non-regulatory,which give destination managers some influence over the protection of natural and builtenvironments. It is important that destination managers become involved in the developmentof local design guidance and, where no guidance is currently available, work proactively withlocal planners to encourage the development of guidance.



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Effective planning for tourism, ie the promotion of positive benefits and the control of anynegative impacts should not, therefore, be concerned simply with new tourism land-uses (themicro level) but must involve the management and control of all land-uses and activities (themacro level) that go to make a tourism destination. The special nature of tourism activitymeans that destination visitor management in its widest sense is the most effective way topromote beneficial tourism development, as its aim is to ameliorate the perceived impactsassociated with the development of a diverse range of activities at tourism destinations6.Land-use planning should be part of this wider planning/management process, but it is justone of a range of potential policy tools for tourism development. Good tourism strategies/visitormanagement plans, including relevant spatial planning policies for development, dispersaland control, will be more effective in dealing with the impacts of tourism development at amacro level and encouraging sustainable tourism development. Visitor management shouldalso be integrated into community strategies, which should set out a vision for the area fromthe perspective of the resident and the visitor. The Local Plan, or Local Development Framework,should then, in the words of the Green Paper ‘become the land-use and developmentdelivery mechanism for the objectives and policies set out in the Community Strategy’.

Policy needs to deal with the complex interactions between a fragmented tourism industry,other economic activities and the host community. There must be greater integrationbetween the land-use planning process and other strategic development and managementplans as emphasised in the Green Paper. A new, pro-active ‘spatial’ approach to planning fortourism in its widest sense is required.

Although the development of land and buildings subject to planning control plays only apartial role in the growth of tourism and its perceived impacts, the role of land-use planningis still crucial. It is important in controlling new tourism developments, expansion of, orchanges to, existing facilities, monitoring and enforcing conditions and planning obligations.It also has a positive role to play in terms of liaising with the industry, helping to identifyneed, allocating development areas and sites where appropriate; eg to assist dispersal and/orregeneration. Planning is an important tool within wider management plans that seek topromote and/or control tourism development.

Tourism planning: a partnership approach

Tourism is a fragmented industry. Tourism planning/management therefore requires anextensive, consistent and effective public policy framework, co-ordinated between manyparties (different departments in the local authority as well as other public, private andvoluntary sector agents) through relevant partnerships and supported by sound backgroundresearch, co-ordinated plans and monitoring at local and regional levels. Partnership andcollaborative working is already central to most good tourism management and the GreenPaper now recommends that LPAs work with the Local Strategic Partnerships set up to workwith Community Plans. More specifically, LPAs should take a pro-active role, working withRTBs to facilitate and co-ordinate the development and management of tourism.

The private and not-for-profit sectors should be encouraged to co-operate and engage moreclosely in the development of tourism strategies, visitor management plans and the planningprocess. They have particular contributions to make in terms of:

• participation in further research at national, regional and local levels• participation in plan, making tourism strategies and visitor management through local

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• raising awareness of sustainable development issues within the industry.

The response to the tourism problems in places like Cambridge has been pro-active andconstructive across all sectors. However, these mechanisms are in addition to the normalconsultation as part of the planning process. They can be complex and require significantcommitments from a wide range of interests, many of which are not directly related to land-use planning. It is clear that there are resource implications in this new approach to planning.

Information needs for tourism planning

Tourism planning policy must be based on sound information at all levels. There is an alreadyestablished need for more and better tourism data7 at a national level. However, there is aparticular need for more localised research in relation to planning impacts at a sub-regionaland local level. For planning and visitor management, it is crucial to get a betterunderstanding of:

• visitor profiles: who they are, where they are from, their mode of travel• the perceived or potential impacts on tourism destinations in economic, environmental

and community terms with regular monitoring8

• local capacities, especially in environmental and community terms.

Good background research and co-operation with different parties leads to good planning,helping to avoid inappropriate proposals and supporting and encouraging beneficial ones.

Tourism and regional planning

Given the sub-regional nature and scale of most important tourism destinations; eg thedesignated areas, rural areas such as the Cotswolds, coastal areas like the North Norfolkcoast, major cities, resorts and their rural hinterlands, and the relationship of tourism andregional transport, there is a requirement for effective regional and sub-regional planning.

PPG119, which sets out the objective of developing a comprehensive spatial strategy forregions and sub-regions if necessary, now offers the potential for the proposed statutoryRegional Spatial Strategies (RSSs), the proposed replacements for Regional Planning Guidance,to make a significant contribution to tourism planning. There is a focus on more prescriptivespatial strategies than hitherto and control based on realistic analyses of capacity and needat a sub-regional level. The Green Paper reinforces the view that RSSs must be related toother regional strategies; eg the RDA’s regional economic strategy and include an integratedtransport strategy. Clearly, the regional tourism strategy would be the fundamental referencepoint for tourism in the RSS; the regional planning authority should work closely with the RTBin drawing up regional tourism planning policy.



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The North West planning region10 encompasses the RTB areas of Cumbria and the NorthWest. Both RTBs have prepared regional tourism strategies. In strategic terms, three issuespertinent to regional planning are raised. It is argued that:

• Over-restrictive planning policy in the Lake District is based on inaccurate assumptionsabout the impact of tourism without adequate, accurate data or analysis. This is restrictingeconomic opportunities for those areas which need to restructure and which canaccommodate growth. Here, a regional spatial plan could add real value by undertakingan external, independent review of tourism sub-regions looking at current tourismimpacts, future environmental capacity and economic need for further tourismdevelopment; eg farm diversification in a land-use planning context.

• Integrated transport plans are central to regional tourism planning, ie improved combinedpublic transport options, to help ease congestion in sensitive areas, and improved roadinfrastructure to encourage development in restructuring areas. Strategic tourismdevelopment objectives such as the promotion of West Cumbria, Furness and the Fylderesorts are dependent on good access, from outside the region. All parties would like tosee improved regional public transport but, in these parts of rural Cumbria, tourismdevelopment appears dependent in large part on enhanced road access. Such decisionsneed to be taken on a regional level and the consequences of any decision made clear andexplicit; eg the scale of environmental impact on the routes through the national park orthe impact upon tourism aspirations in west and south Cumbria.

• There is a need to support and reverse the declining fortunes of the sub-regional resortbelt of the Fylde coast as a tourism resource for the region. The relative volume and valueand needs of tourism should be recognised at regional and sub-regional level, not least toprovide a clearer framework for EU and other funding initiatives. The Lancashire resorts,for example, dominate regional tourism and have significant needs yet this has not beenreflected at a regional level. Clear definition of resort areas as sub-regional developmentareas would help raise awareness of the contribution and needs of the area; eg socio-economic problems, the supply and quality of visitor accommodation, bathing water quality.

Key finding: In the North West, a regional perspective could make a clear, constructivecontribution to tourism planning. To a large extent, this will depend upon the resourcesavailable at regional level to consult, identify relevant issues, undertake appropriateresearch, analyse and monitor to resolve those issues. This will require comprehensive, new research in some cases to establish accurate base-line data.

Polycentricity and regional planning Recent research11 has emphasised the importance oflinkages within and between areas and the development of such linkages and clusters.PPG11 refers to the development of a balanced and polycentric urban pattern of developmentand a new urban-rural relationship which recognises this interdependence. The concept ofpolycentricity involves defining the relative significance of a particular place on the basis offunctions, the coincidence of functions and/or its linkages to other functions and places. Thisconcept appears eminently suitable for developing a regional spatial strategy for tourismincluding the identification of significant tourism sub-regions. Polycentricity and itsapplication to regional planning for tourism is the subject of a current pilot study by theSouth East Regional Assembly as part of their review of RPG9.



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Such an approach is particularly important in environmentally sensitive, often designatedareas where it is vital to gain an objective assessment of current cumulative pressures. RSSsshould be based on a consistent, comparative study across a region to assess current tourismimpacts, future environmental capacities and economic need for further tourism developmentwithin the region. RSSs should then define appropriate activity levels for relevant sub-regionsor tourism destinations based on these capacity studies, taking into account the availabilityof alternative locations and local economic priorities. The objective should be a sub-regionalclassification based on ‘regional diversity and specific regional needs’ (Green Paper) ratherthan generalised designations. Not all areas require the same levels of restraint or support,and not all parts of the same designation need the same degree of control. LPAs should thenapply their own means of control, management or support for tourism within that broadcontext; eg the scale and location of new accommodation development.

Sub-regional strategic planning would allow for a more comprehensive approach to betaken towards spatial issues such as regeneration and dispersal of development as well asgeneric problems of coastal development, the revitalisation of resort areas and farmdiversification.

The preparation of regional transport strategies as an integral part of an RSS addsconsiderable weight to the importance of regional planning for tourism. Tourism ispredicated on both inter-regional holiday trips and intra-regional day trips. Decisions relatedto providing alternative transport modes for visitors; eg enhanced rail and bus services needto be taken at a regional level.

The resolution of issues at a regional level will provide an appropriate context for tourism inlocal development plans. Consistency of policy and co-ordination of implementation iscrucial, as emphasised in the Government’s tourism strategy.

Tourism and local development planning

At a local level, the background research, analysis and proposals for tourism developmentplanning, management and control should be presented in the context of an adoptedtourism strategy/visitor management plan12. This document can then help inform the LPA in drawing up specific tourism development policies in the development plan.

Tourism strategiesA tourism strategy is an all-inclusive document relating to the development andmanagement of tourism in an area. Typically, it should cover:

• an audit of tourism activity in the area• existing and potential markets with the volume and value of tourism• strengths and opportunities• constraints including existing and potential impacts in the local area• strategic objectives, key actions required and relevant responsibilities• economic, environmental and social costs and benefits of the strategy• consultation with key stakeholders and mechanisms for implementation• processes for monitoring and review.



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Visitor management plansA visitor management plan should be a subsidiary document or section of the tourismstrategy which should cover, in more detail13:

• an analysis of the impacts associated with existing and potential tourism activity (positiveand negative) and identification of appropriate capacity levels or thresholds fordevelopment in conjunction with the local community

• mechanisms to manage/control the demand for tourism activity and facilities; eg licensing,permits, regulations, planning and transport policy

• mechanisms to control/manage existing tourism activity and facilities; eg:– target marketing and promotional strategies. At Windsor, the town has been marketed

to encourage visitors to consider other areas besides the castle– information, interpretation and signage. Signposting is vitally important in facilitating

access for visitors to destinations. Local (highway) authorities now have much greaterflexibility to prepare tourism signposting strategies, for vehicles and pedestrians, andshould do so as part of any visitor management plan14

– ‘green’ transport plans, including the promotion of public transport– people management; eg timed access to attractions

• implementation, monitoring and review procedures.

Visitor management plans should be as much about enhancing value from sustainabledevelopment as with controlling associated negative impacts.

Some visitor management plans have specific development policies although there is rarelyexplicit cross-reference or co-ordination with the local development plan. The Stratford-upon-Avon Tourism Strategy includes commentary on ‘Protecting the environment’ which isresonant of local plan policy, while the District Local Plan has a policy which seeks ‘toimprove visitor management’ within the district and makes specific reference to the DistrictCouncil’s Visitor Management Plan. The North Norfolk Coast Visitor Management Plan hasbeen adopted by the District Council as Supplementary Planning Guidance.

Increasingly, visitor management plans are becoming embodied in wider tourism strategies;eg the New Forest Tourism and Visitor Management Strategy, the Cambridge TourismStrategy (2001) and the emerging Canterbury District Tourism Strategy.

Local development plans or frameworksThe tourism chapter in the development plan, or Local Development Framework under theterms of the Green Paper, should, within the context of the tourism strategy, cover:

• the strategic aims of the RSS and the wider context of the tourism strategy and visitormanagement plan; eg:– local priorities in respect of economic development/diversification (reiterated from the

economic development chapter), particularly in relation to rural areas, resorts and/orother urban areas

– local demand/needs for tourism land-uses based on consultation with the local tourismsector and the findings of relevant capacity studies

• location policy which should reinforce the application of the broader principles of sustainabledevelopment inherent in PPG6 and to appropriate tourism land-uses. In particular:– more significant travel generators such as large hotels and footloose attractions that



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attract large numbers of visitors should be focused in town and other centres wellserved by public transport

– attractions with large site requirements, attracting large numbers of visitors, should bedirected to sites that will be well served by public transport

– parking standards should be expressed as maxima but set at realistic levels

• specific policies, where appropriate, relating to hotels, caravan parks and attractionsreflecting the guidance on these land-uses given below.

Norwich Replacement Local Plan The introduction to the tourism chapter refers to the localtourism strategy and states that the Council is keen to encourage additional tourism facilities.It also refers to the potential problems associated with tourism development; eg congestion,indiscriminate parking and visitor pressure. ‘Tourist-related development should be plannedon the principles of sustainability’. Policy TVA3, reflects these issues: ‘Proposals for newvisitor attractions…will be permitted where they:

• achieve the re-use of redundant buildings or of previously developed land• contribute to the conservation or regeneration of a wider area• are well-related to existing areas of tourism/visitor or leisure activity• are accessible by a choice of means of transport, particular encouragement being given

to proposals which enhance and/or promote greater use of the rivers Wensum and Yare• do not create or exacerbate environmental or traffic problems.’

The policy then identifies six specific area-based locations where new visitor attractions willbe promoted.

In terms of accommodation, the plan refers to an identified deficiency in provision and PolicyTVA4 again refers to five specific locations where hotel development will be acceptable.

There has been much concern about the inflexibility of old-style development plans. TheGreen Paper makes radical recommendations for change with a view to making local plansmuch more flexible and responsive to change.

‘Our future together’ is a tourism and visitor management strategy for the New Forest basedon a sustainable approach to tourism with the needs of visitor, the industry, the localcommunity and environment kept in equilibrium. Partnership working is crucial tomanagement, through the New Forest Tourism Association (NFTA), and that includes close co-operation between the tourism and planning departments. This broad approach is based on:

• providing information for visitors tailored to meet sustainable tourism objectives, to helpvisitors appreciate environmental issues and highlighting public transport information

• working in partnership with the industry to provide high-quality, environment-friendlyservices and facilities and market them to appropriate audiences throughout the year

• empowering the local community and creating ownership through involvement in tourism matters

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• promoting a better understanding of the environment and managing all tourismdevelopment in a way that, where possible, it has a positive effect on its surroundings.

The pro-active approach to tourism management and planning in the New Forest has beensummarised in a recent report15:

‘For years, poor communication between planners and the tourism industry resulted inpolicies that were not well accepted or understood. Great strides have now been taken tobring planners and tourism interests together to develop policies which support both theimperative of environmental protection and the reasonable needs of tourism businesses.

‘It was specially important for small and disparate enterprises to be able to put forward acollective view. Following representation from the NFTA’s B&B group, a policy for B&B wasincluded in the Local Plan. This recognised that the small-scale provision of visitoraccommodation in private accommodation had minimal environmental impact, but couldmake a contribution to the local economy.’

The New Forest District Local Plan was adopted in November 1999 and ‘despite the Forestbeing equivalent to the designated area of a National Park…the policies…enable limitedextensions to established accommodation enterprises…and although permission will not begranted for new holiday parks or touring caravan and camping sites, …policies do allow therelocation of existing touring caravan or camping sites to less sensitive locations.’

The Tourism Officer plays an important role as an intermediary between District Councilplanners and any tourism enterprise considering a development. ‘He can make sure that anyenterprise thinking about a development fully understands the development controlpolicies…This enables discussions to be constructive, rather than adversarial, and minimisesthe number of applications that go to appeal.’

Tourism area plansThe Planning Green Paper suggests that more detailed Action Plans should be producedwhere site-specific policies are needed to guide development. These could be in the form ofArea Master Plans. Such an approach has been adopted by LPAs seeking to promote ‘leisurequarters’ and to sustain tourism zones within resorts.

In Sheffield, the LPA has sought to promote a Cultural Industries Quarter within the citycentre,with excellent access by rail, bus and tram, based on the development of the media,tourism and leisure industries. There has been encouragement for bars and restaurants andcinema and night-club/music venue uses and a new tourist attraction supported byenvironmental improvements and traffic management.

Early initiatives were marketing/management-led backed by major funding programmes (SRB and Objective 1). However, it became apparent that this approach also needed to besupported by effective planning policy, to provide further confidence for developers. The CIQAction Plan prepared by the LPA with effective planning policies is a response to this issue. It is a new ‘strategy for development, transportation, environment and visitor management’.



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It seeks to provide the land-use planning context that has been seen to be missing andpromote, in planning terms, the new ethos for the area; ie as a contemporary, vibrant, 24-hour visitor destination.

The Action Plan, now adopted as SPG, envisages clusters of bars, restaurants, clubs, venuesand sets relevant objectives/guidance on diversifying the experience, the environment,including a design guide and traffic management. In particular, the LPA is seeking topromote mixed-uses. This is evolving in a number of ways:

• viewing development within the CIQ in sub-zones; eg a late-night zone is promotedaround the Leadmill club

• mixing leisure activities in the CIQ; café-bars, an independent cinema, a tourist attraction,galleries as well as pubs and clubs

• combining related uses; eg student accommodation, convenience retailing and leisure(pub) as at Truro Works. The development prospectus for key sites identifies options in theAction plan. Detailed design is crucial in avoiding amenity problems at this micro level.

The Eastbourne Borough Plan, having taken account of the Council’s Tourism Strategy, has aclear policy objective: ‘To retain a stock of serviced and unserviced tourist accommodationwhich will support Eastbourne’s role as a major resort.’ To this end, the Proposals Mapdesignates an area for tourist accommodation, where ‘the needs of tourists should prevail…’Policy TO2 states:

‘Within the tourist accommodation area identified on the Proposals Map, planningpermission will not be granted for the redevelopment or change of use of touristaccommodation to any other use. In this Policy ‘tourist accommodation’ means servicedtourist accommodation (Class C1 use) and unserviced tourist accommodation.

‘Only in exceptional circumstances will planning permission be granted for any other use.This means that the applicant must demonstrate that the continuing use of land as touristaccommodation is not viable.’ Factors to be taken into account in determining viability aredetailed.

The Borough Council feels that this policy has been effective in helping sustain a more viableaccommodation sector, certainly in comparison with many other resorts. The policy has hadto be supported with research and resources at appeal but the viability criteria has beenupheld by the High Court. It is felt that the policy has deterred many speculative applicationswhich would have unnecessarily reduced the tourist accommodation bedstock and weakenedthe resort’s offer.

Site allocationsAction Plans can also include more specific site development briefs. Although many LPAs haveincluded tourism as one of several potential uses for allocated sites in their development planor include tourism as one of the uses in sites allocated for mixed use, the precise use is oftenunspecified. The tourism sector, however, often cannot compete for town centre sites againstother commercial uses. LPAs should undertake needs/capacity assessments, where appropriate,and should allocate ‘available, suitable and viable’ sites for proposed tourism developments



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with relevant criteria. If tourism uses are to be incorporated in mixed-use sites, these usesshould be referred to explicitly in associated development briefs. LPAs should take a pro-active role, working with industry specialists, to identify suitable sitesfor tourism uses, and to assist with site assembly when necessary through the use of thenewly proposed compulsory purchase procedures.

2 The control of tourism development

At present, relatively little background research is undertaken by LPAs in respect ofapplications for tourism development and LPAs do little research into the effects of tourismuses. Few applicants submit background studies; eg market demand/needs or other relevantstudies.

Proposals for new development should be assessed against the tourism strategy and the localplan. In particular, LPAs may need to consider the relevance of PPG6 and PPG13, ie:

• assessments of need/capacity based on regional and/or local assessments, local economicpriorities

• the application of the sequential test16, if appropriate, including the impact on the vitalityand viability of town centres

• accessibility by different modes of transport• likely changes in travel patterns over the catchment area• parking provision.

In addition:

• the cumulative effects of the development, based on an appropriate capacity assessment• any other environmental impacts; eg the effect on the character and appearance of the

area and their compatibility with adjoining uses.

When tourism land-use applications do not accord with the tourism strategy anddevelopment plan, LPAs should prepare, or require, an appropriate assessment of need andimpact covering the above issues.

Tourism land-uses

There are particular issues relevant to the planning of individual tourism land-uses. Thedifferent land-uses referred to below have specific locational, development and accessrequirements that should be considered:

a Hotels and conference centresb Caravans and other unserviced accommodationc Attractions

a Hotels and conference centresHotels are important in economic terms; they attract staying visitors, create jobs, enhancethe local image and represent important industry infrastructure. There are regional andnational needs for improved visitor accommodation. Hotels have a number of specialfeatures:



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y• Most existing hotels are small and generate relatively few trips per unit (see above). Most

new hotels are budget hotels of 30-60 bedrooms with some three or four star hotels (100-200 rooms) and some larger units (400 rooms+) in the major cities. Even in the latter case,trip generation by staying guests is relatively low; problems are more likely to arise fromthe ancillary uses, notably conference/ banqueting facilities that can generate significantnumbers of (largely) day trips in addition to the staying visitor traffic.

• Accommodation is needed in rural and urban destinations to serve a variety of dispersedleisure and business uses – and those in transit. The ideal location of visitoraccommodation, is therefore largely dependent on the distribution of local attractions andbusinesses; it is not entirely footloose.

• Country house hotels are defined by their countryside location and often providesustainable uses for historic buildings.

• Small new budget hotels, that are so important to the national tourism infrastructure, cannot always justify town centre development costs.

• B&B is usually developed as a change of use or as ancillary development or farmdiversification, ie they are not always footloose.

Hotels should be located within existing settlements and at locations accessible byalternative means of transport. Where possible, LPAs should direct all new hoteldevelopments to town or local centres. Where this is not an option, the special features ofsmaller hotels (eg less than 40 rooms) and B&Bs suggest that flexibility in location may bejustified in order to meet local objectives. Locations close to existing tourism attractions orbusiness parks may be justified by the reduction in secondary trips.

Cornwall is a rural resort area with a need for better quality accommodation17. It was notuntil 1996 that the county gained its first branded budget hotel. The Penhale Travel Inn onthe A30 was a rapid success and Whitbread developed their second at Carnon Downs nearTruro a year later. The facilities comprised a 40-bedroom Travel Inn hotel, Brewer’s Fayrepub/restaurant with c200 covers, play facilities and 120-140 car parking spaces. Both sites areout-of-centre with limited public transport.

In tourism terms, the two projects have created:

• good quality, new accommodation in areas that have seen no other hotels developed inrecent years. Each hotel attracts 12-13,000 staying visitors pa;

• 55-65 jobs per site with staff taken on locally and trained in a national programme; • important local business infrastructure. 60%+ of visitors are on business; and• additional, good quality social facilities (family restaurants) for local communities.

On the other hand:

• Even with the high occupancy rates of the hotels, they only generate in the order of 32-40trips per day. The restaurant generates perhaps 85-100 trips per day on average. Staff andservices generate perhaps 40 trips per day.

• The contribution they might have made to vitality and viability if they had gone intotown, by way of footfall and ‘ambience’, is marginal in the case of a 40-bedroom hotel;the restaurant is potentially more significant.



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Research confirms that major road access is a priority for the visitor. Hotels for travellers andbusiness travellers, the main market for budget accommodation, need easy access to theirmain mode of transport in such rural areas. For the budget hotel developer, location is alsorelated to land value and the requirement to build to a fixed budget. This is often notpossible on sites in town centres. Out-of-centre locations, therefore, are often the only viableopportunity for budget hotel development. Whitbread made it clear that they would nothave considered alternative sites within Truro or Newquay; the investment would probablyhave gone elsewhere in the country.

It is the view of local tourism officers that the budget hotel concept is consistent withmeeting the wider market needs and provides a modern quality product that will encouragean overall increase in standards. They are seen as benefiting the local economy throughproviding employment opportunities and generating additional tourism business.

Key finding: There do appear to be special circumstances related to budget hoteldevelopment that warrant a more flexible approach in terms of location.

Larger hotels, particularly those with ancillary conference facilities and related higher factorsof trip generation, can certainly add variety and make a significant contribution to thevitality and viability of town centres. These should be treated as town centre uses andsubject to PPG6 and the sequential test.

Large, independent conference and exhibition centres (that are not ancillary to hotel use)should be considered in the same way, ie as footloose facilities and subject to PPG6 and thesequential test.

Hotels:

• attract visitors• represent important industry infrastructure• create jobs• should be located within existing settlements.

• Large hotels should be located in town centres, subject to the principles of PPG6.• However, not all hotels are footloose.

b Caravans and other unserviced accommodationUnserviced accommodation is a vital part of the tourism infrastructure, providing for manysocial groups and making a very significant contribution to the rural economy. Static holidaycaravan, chalet and touring caravan parks18 will remain an important part of the unservicedholiday sector. Self-catering flats, houses and cottages are also very popular.

Holiday and touring caravan parks are often seen as environmentally intrusive as most are,and need to be, located in attractive coastal or rural environments; ie they are not entirelyfootloose.

In drawing up development plans, LPAs should investigate whether there are adequatefacilities and a reasonable choice of sites for both the caravanner and those using otherforms of unserviced accommodation.



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Permanent unserviced accommodationThere are a number of perceived planning problems associated with permanent holidayhomes; eg houses, flats, log cabins, farm conversions. The most significant is considered to bethe cumulative impact of a number of small developments in the countryside, generatingadditional traffic and introducing ‘urban clutter’ into the landscape. Any cumulative impactwould best be dealt with in the context of the tourism strategy/visitor management planwith careful assessment of need and capacity at a sub-regional level.

New and extended caravan sitesAlthough there is little pressure overall, special consideration may need to be given toproposals for wholly new caravan parks, and in designated areas. Demand has concentratedtraditionally on the most popular holiday areas, particularly on the coast, although there isincreasing demand inland. The demand for new sites should be considered in the context ofa local or sub-regional capacity study. New parks should be sited, effectively screened andplanned so as not to be visually intrusive. New parks should not, as a rule, be allowedimmediately by the sea, but should be set back a short distance inland, or where they arenot visible from, or along, the coast.

Many holiday parks pre-date the planning system or are the result of poor planning in thepast when little attention was given to landscaping and park design issues. A number ofpark operators are now keen to enhance their sites with better layouts and landscaping,more open space and improved facilities to meet the needs of their visitors. In order to dothis, parks need to expand and may need additional pitches to incorporate and finance suchimprovements. LPAs should examine the scope for encouraging holiday caravan parkoperators to improve the quality of their sites as a matter of priority. LPAs should alsoconsider the opportunities for future expansion and development of parks within their localplans. Permission should only be granted if the scheme can be implemented without undueharm to the appearance or character of the surrounding countryside.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council is one LPA that has taken a positive approach towardscaravans19. The Council has a 'Prime Holiday Area' concept that seeks to not only define andmaintain prime visitor accommodation but acknowledges that such improvements oftenrequire expansion. ‘Due to changing market trends, increasing visitor expectations and thecompetitive nature of the tourism industry, it is important that the existing accommodationstock and/or the range of on-site facilities is improved. Improvements, whether for newaccommodation, landscaping or the provision of new facilities take space which is sometimesnot available within existing site boundaries. Also, in some cases, the investment required tofinance major improvements cannot be justified without increasing the site’s visitor capacity.’(Borough-wide Local Plan, 2001) This view is reflected in Policy TR14: ‘Extensions beyond theexisting boundaries of prime holiday sites as identified on the Proposals Map that wouldresult in the development of facilities on the edge of or outside existing settlements may bepermitted where:

a) they do not involve built developmentb) they are essential to justify or facilitate the provision of visitor facilities for the site as a

wholec) such facilities cannot be accommodated within the existing site boundaries



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d) they are of appropriate scalee) they do not intrude into the landscapef) there are no significant adverse environmental effectsg) the existing highway network can cope with any increased traffic movements arising

therefrom.’

By way of example, Cherry Tree Holiday Park is situated in the open countryside between thevillages of Burgh Castle and Belton, approximately three miles south west of Great Yarmouthand about three miles inland from the coast.

The site has been established and gradually developed over the last 25 years. In 1993, thesite had approximately 330 static units and a small touring area. In 1996, proposals weresubmitted to modify the leisure complex and provide an outside pool, all-weather sportsarea and 130 extra caravans in an extension to the north east of the site. The new units havebeen developed in 4-5 phases with extensive structural and internal landscaping (744 treesand 3,500 shrubs) and access modifications undertaken in advance. Each phase involvedadditional units and some of the central facilities; the phasing was subject to a Section 106Agreement. The proposals entailed an additional 12-15 full-time and 50 part-time jobs.

The overall development is considered to be a success both from the operator’s point of view(stronger demand for the site and premium prices for the new courtyard units) and the LPA(extensive landscaping/screening, more attractive layout, enhanced facilities and economicadvantages).

Key finding: It is possible for LPAs to take a positive approach towards caravan sitedevelopment.

The caravan industry perceives a resistance to holiday caravans in general and manyoperators in the caravan industry consider that LPAs are reluctant to offer the flexibility thatis currently recommended in PPG21. In particular, the advice that ‘In some cases, to facilitateimprovement or relocation, LPAs may need to consider whether some expansion of the areacovered by a (caravan) site should be allowed, so that improved layouts and betterlandscaping can be implemented.’

Relocation of parksForecasts of the results of global warming have emphasised that the problems of coastalerosion and risk from flooding are likely to be exacerbated by the rise in sea level andincreased turbulence. Along parts of the coast, caravan pitches are being lost through coastalerosion and others will become increasingly at risk from erosion or flooding. LPAs shouldincorporate within their development plans provision for replacing ‘lost’ or endangeredcaravan parks. Some authorities are already incorporating ‘roll-back’ policies where landimmediately inland of a park may be used to relocate pitches lost or at risk from flooding or erosion. In some instances, this will also enable LPAs to encourage the relocation of sitesaway from particularly sensitive areas, such as the Heritage Coast.



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yThe Isle of Wight UDP Policy G11:In exceptional circumstances where part or all of an existing development which has acontinuing operational requirement to be located on the coast is at risk of loss throughcoastal erosion, permission may be given for a replacement provision by way of a limitedextension on the landward side of the existing development or by relocation to analternative site provided the following criteria are met:

• It would not have a detrimental impact on the landscape.• It would not impact adversely on views from the sea.• Appropriate screening is provided before the replacement development takes place.• The potential loss of development would have a damaging impact on the economy.• All possible alternatives within the existing site have been explored.• It does not lead to demands for additional flood protection or sea defences.• It is not for residential purposes.

Touring and motorised caravansThe introduction of larger trailer tents and ‘folding’ caravans, the increasing use of largecaravan awnings and the combination of motorised caravans and tents, either on the sameor adjoining pitches, have blurred the traditional divisions between touring caravans,motorised caravans and tents. To continue to differentiate in planning terms createsproblems of definition with consequent difficulties for management and enforcement. LPAsshould treat towed caravans, motorised caravans and tents as ‘touring units’ and allowflexibility between the number of tents and touring caravans, subject (where appropriate) toan overall control on the total number of pitches - except where the nature of local roadsand access make it inappropriate.

The General Development Order and the exemptions from licensing in the 1960 CaravanSites and Control of Development Act allow the larger caravanning organisations tocertificate sites for use by up to five members’ holiday caravans (Certificated Locations orCLs). This is a useful means for providing small sites in sensitive rural areas where larger siteswould be unduly intrusive. In particularly sensitive areas, LPAs can make Article 4 directionsto withdraw permitted development rights. In such cases, a specific planning application willbe required.

Wardens’/owners’ residential accommodationMost large holiday parks require a full-time presence, whether by a warden or the ownerthemselves, to ensure security, health and safety and good management. That presence isnecessary throughout the year, particularly with the continuing encouragement to extendthe season, but also to provide security and in order to carry out maintenance andupgrading in the closed or off-season months. For this, suitable permanent livingaccommodation is essential, somewhat akin to the need for agricultural workers’accommodation. Residential development in the countryside should be allowed where it isshown to be essential for the needs of a rural tourism enterprise, particularly for its efficientand secure operation. Conditions should be imposed to link the ownership and occupationof the accommodation with the enterprise.



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Caravans and other unserviced accommodation:

• provide for a wide range of visitors• create jobs.

• The cumulative impact of new unserviced accommodation should be considered in thecontext of a wider visitor management plan and capacity study.

• LPAs should examine the scope for encouraging holiday caravan park operators toimprove the quality of their sites as a matter of priority.

• LPAs should incorporate within their development plans provision for replacing ‘lost’ orendangered caravan parks.

• LPAs should treat towed caravans, motorised caravans and tents as ‘touring units’.• Residential development in the countryside should be allowed where it is shown to be

essential for the needs of a rural tourism enterprise.

c AttractionsMany new attractions have been developed in recent years although the number of newdevelopments is now declining. New concepts, however, are always likely to emerge.

It is important to distinguish, for planning purposes, between footloose attractions such asnew museums and galleries and the large proportion of all attractions in the UK that are notfootloose; eg historic properties, gardens, natural features and site-specific museums andvisitor centres. The large footloose museums, galleries and other tourist attractions thatcontribute to the vitality and viability of town centres, and which are major generators oftravel, should be subject to the principles of PPG6 and directed towards town or othercentres or locations well served by public transport.

Tate St Ives was developed on a redundant gas holder site in 1993. This very popularattraction, in a stunning modern building is located in the heart of the town overlookingPorthmeor beach. It is therefore highly accessible, makes a bold visible statement in termsof the image of the town and contributes significantly to the vitality and viability of thetown centre.

Similarly, the Walsall Art Gallery has been developed on a town centre site at one end of themain shopping street. It acts as a focal point for the community and visitors and as a catalystfor further development around the canal basin.

There have been only a very small number of new projects with large, generally rural siterequirements; eg theme parks and other cases have usually been treated on their individualmerits. Unless there is a specific, identified need, it isn’t necessary to allocate sites in thedevelopment plan for such uses. Environmental assessments will be required for majordevelopments.

Many of the non-footloose attractions are in rural and/or inaccessible locations. Althoughmost individual attractions do not attract large numbers of trips, alternative means oftransport are often lacking if the attractions are in rural areas. The proportion of car usageto rural attractions is high and it is proving difficult to effect modal change. PPG13 advisesLPAs to consider the extent to which a proposal situated near existing buildings, monuments,



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physical features or landscapes and which will not be well related to public transport needsto be in, and have a meaningful link with, the particular location. If the location is justifiedon other grounds, LPAs should still seek measures to improve access to the site by sustainablemodes of transport.

Many attractions have to supplement their income by providing facilities like shops,restaurants, conference facilities and are reliant upon such trade for financial viability. LPAsneed to consider the wider implications of such ancillary development.

New non-footloose, small rural attractions would best be dealt with in the context of thetourism strategy/visitor management plan with careful assessment of need and capacity20 atthe appropriate level.

Attractions:

• Draw visitors to an area• Create jobs.

• Large footloose attractions should be subject to the principles of PPG6 and directedtowards town or other centres or locations well served by public transport

• The cumulative impact of new, small non-footloose attractions should be considered in the context of a wider visitor management plan and capacity study.

Seasonal and holiday occupancy conditions

In recent years, leisure demands have changed markedly. Many people take several holidaysthroughout the year, no longer just in the summer months. Major improvements in thequality of unserviced accommodation, including holiday caravans, chalets and touringpitches, has resulted in increasing demand for the use of these facilities for longer periods ofthe year, bringing significant additional economic benefits to the local destination. However,this accommodation may also be located in areas in which the provision of permanenthousing would be contrary to national policies on development in the countryside.

The planning system can respond to these changes in the holiday market withoutcompromising policies to safeguard the countryside. Holiday occupancy conditions canreconcile these two objectives. Indeed, conversion of redundant buildings into holidayaccommodation where conversion to residential dwellings would not be permitted mayreduce the pressure on other housing in rural areas. Accordingly, it may be reasonable forthe LPA to grant planning permission with a condition specifying its use as holidayaccommodation only. This can be justified in that less pressure is placed on local services thanwould be the case with permanent residential accommodation. For example, holidaymakerswould not expect to send their children to school locally or undergo routine hospitaltreatment.

LPAs should use seasonal occupancy conditions to prevent the permanent residential use ofaccommodation which, by the character of its own construction or design, is unsuitable forcontinuous occupation especially in the winter months. Seasonal occupancy conditions mayalso be appropriate to protect the local environment, for example where the site is near afragile habitat which requires peace and quiet to allow seasonal breeding or winter feedingto take place.



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As with all conditions, an authority contemplating imposing a holiday or seasonal occupancycondition should consider whether such a condition could be effectively enforced.

Planning conditions and obligations

LPAs should negotiate where necessary to secure the appropriate form and content of newtourism development; eg an appropriate design, layout, parking, access, mixture of uses,landscaping. The use of planning conditions and obligations, where appropriate, can restrictadverse impacts and maximise the benefits of a new development for the local community.The focus of conditions and obligations should be founded in the principles of sustainabledevelopment and the amelioration of the negative impacts of tourism development.

When planning obligations are justified, they should be realistic in scale and related toeconomic/communal or environmental issues. For example, they might include paymentstowards:

• public transport, cycling and walking infrastructure• environmental improvements which contribute not only to the development site but also,

for example, to the vitality and viability of town centres or the attraction of thedestination in general

• the implementation of broader, non-site specific objectives or projects identified in atourism strategy/visitor management plan. Planning obligations on tourism developmentsmight be related to the destination as a whole and not just the immediate developmentsite environs.

Summary

This component has focused on the importance of thorough planning in the context ofsuccessful tourism development. Local authorities are faced with a complex range ofstatutory and non-statutory guidance and regulatory advice in their quest to develop theirparticular destination/s in a way that will bring economic, environmental and social benefitsthrough tourism. The case studies used throughout this component highlight ways in whichmeasures and initiatives can be utilised to maximum advantage for a range of stakeholdersinvolved in tourism development. Further case studies relating to local design guidance arelisted below.

Case studies

Wye village design statementWye, Kent, has a village design statement that has been adopted by Ashford BoroughCouncil as supplementary planning guidance. After two years of preparation, it is aneffective tool in ensuring that development enhances the village’s environment and qualityof life. The statement does not deal with whether or not development should take place asthat is the job of the local plan, but it provides guidance on how developments should becarried out.



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The statement contains:

• a description and explanation of the distinctive character of the village and surroundinglandscape at three levels – landscape setting, shape of the village and nature of thebuildings

• an explanation of how the village has developed• a summary of local people’s and organisations’ development-related concerns• a list of design principles and guidelines for different kinds of building and other features.

Planning for tourism in TendringTourism in Tendring District, Essex, is dominated by traditional seaside holidays focused onthe resort of Clacton and surrounding caravan and chalet parks. Also in Tendring, the port ofHarwich is Britain’s second-busiest passenger port and has a strong maritime heritage. Thearea’s estuaries are internationally important for migrating birds and its rural hinterland hasattractive landscapes and villages.

Until recently, there was little contact between the tourism and planning functions.Relocating the tourism office from the planning department to economic developmentserved only to increase the gap.

Like most councils in England, Tendring is reviewing its local plan. As part of this process,planning and tourism officers decided to work together to use the local plan as a positiveinstrument for tourism development. Consultants were contracted to identify issues andopportunities, to assess existing tourism planning policies and advise on new policies to helpthe district’s tourism providers to address changing market conditions.

The process involved consultation with local businesses through three tourism planworkshops. In addition to formulating tourism policies for the review local plan, the processidentified the need for the planning department to identify and allocate land for particularkinds of tourism development and to produce guidance on developing tourism businesses incore resort areas. This helps businesses to identify opportunities and to retain the characterof the district’s seaside resorts.

Kent County Council Design Guides Kent Design 'A guide to sustainable development' is published by the Kent Association ofLocal Authorities and commended to individual Local Authorities: Kent County Council,Medway Council and the 12 District Councils for adoption as supplementary planningguidance. The Iwade Urban Village has recently been produced (June 2002) and is acollaborative effort by local authorities and organisations in Kent to embody the best indesign guidance.

The purpose of the design guides is to promote sustainability and good design in Kent. Itsaim is to encourage development which safeguards what is of value whilst enriching theenvironment for future generations.



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The guidance it contains is applicable to all types of development whether large or small,urban or rural, residential or commercial, in the public or private sector. The guides lookbeyond the design of individual buildings to their context - the space, streets, other elementsof the public realm, which together form the total environment.

The objectives of the guide are to:

• adopt a proactive and collaborative approach to development proposals to achieve theoptimum solution for a given site

• seek environmentally sustainable solutions through innovative design • ensure the public realm is maintained for its lifecycle through formal adoption or other

management arrangements• bring together residential, commercial, retail and community users in a manner which

reduces the need to travel and improves quality of life• promote the movement of people by walking, cycling and public transport to reduce car

dependency and maintain and improve air quality • embrace local distinctiveness, promote quality and protect existing features of cultural,

visual and historic importance • provide a healthy, safe and secure environment for both people and property• maximise the use of land by encouraging the development of recycled land and increasing

density• conserve natural resources and minimise pollution in the layout, construction and ongoing

use of development• conserve, create and integrate open space, landscape and natural habitats as part of

development.

Further information can be found by visiting Kent County Council's website or by contactingRoger Adley on 01622 602000.

Birmingham's Canal Waterfront The City of Birmingham has undergone a major transformation with its sustainabledevelopment of its waterfront being at the forefront of the city's reinvention as a centre ofleisure and business tourism.

Birmingham sits at the hub of the UK's historic canal network. Having developedsimultaneously in the late eighteenth century with the Industrial Revolution, the canal networkwas a major factor contributing to the city's rapid growth as an industrial centre. Competitionfrom the road and rail left the canal network practically defunct by the mid-1960s.

However, both Birmingham City Council and British Waterways saw the potential of thecanal network in terms of historic legacy of variety and richness. Through the sustainabledevelopment of the canal network's tourism/leisure potential, its rejuvenation is at the heartof a major urban regeneration initiative.

The waterfront area of Birmingham is located on the western edge of the City Centre,parallel to Broad Street and adjacent to Gas Street Basin and the Water's Edge Complex.

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The entire waterfront prior to redevelopment was separated from the city centre by an innerring road.

Redevelopment activity has concentrated on the Worcester-Birmingham, Birmingham MainLine and Birmingham and Fazeley canal corridors closest to the city centre.

The objectives of the revitalisation of the waterfront are to:

• undertake the physical redevelopment of the derelict, under-used area around the canalsas a mixed use leisure/retail/office/residential area to help diversify the local economy

• provide a focus for promoting the city as a day trip and tourist destination• extend city centre activities, particularly leisure and office usage, across the barrier formed

by the city's inner ring road• develop Birmingham as an international business centre through the creation of a major

conference and convention facility, the ICC• ensure that the historic fabric of the city's industrial and waterway heritage is retained,

while encouraging the best of new design.

As a result of the redevelopment of Birmingham's waterfront, new canal-side attractions andfacilities have been developed including: International Convention Centre; Symphony Hall;National Indoor Arena; development of two hotels; creation of a vibrant pub/restaurantculture; redevelopment of Gas Street Basin; Brindley Place (major mixed-use landmark site),National Sea Life Centre; Ikon Art Gallery; Crescent Theatre; Holliday Street Antiques andCraft Centre; Waterbus service; Increased/ improved pedestrian across to the towpath;provision of secure moorings; hire boat and boat trip availability. In addition city centreamenities such as Centenary Square, the Repertory Theatre, Birmingham Museum and ArtGallery, Broad St entertainment venues were redeveloped, resulting in an impressive criticalmass of visitor facilities in the area.

Also resulting from the redevelopment a number of environmental improvements weremade including major improvements in water quality; significant levels of pollution clean-up;restoration of environmentally degraded area; conservation of industrial heritage;enhancement of natural environment; within an urban setting; reclamation of the city fromthe dominance of the car by the creation of a pedestrian-friendly hub in the middle of theWest Midlands conurbation; and establishment of a local recreational/leisure resource,accessible by public transport, cycling, and walking.

Birmingham's waterfront represents a series of complex and inter-related developmentslargely have come about through effective public/private partnership. Birmingham CityCouncil was a huge influence on the area's development. The council was the instigator ofthe Canals Improvement Programme (1993) and through its designation of the Broad StRedevelopment Area (1984). British Waterway's commitment to promoting and developingthe tourism/leisure potential of the canals has been a major contributor in achieving theproject's objectives. Strong public sector commitment, provision of the necessaryinfrastructure and facilitation of the scheme as a whole, enabled major private sectorinvestors to come forward and help the project to achieve its objectives.



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In addition to the City Council and British Waterways, a number of organisations wereinvolved in the promotion and development of the waterfront, including BirminghamMarketing Partnership, local canals associations, Groundwork-Birmingham and HETB.Birmingham Canals Partnership (British Waterways, Birmingham City Council, Groundwork)was formed to help in the co-ordination of marketing initiatives.

Public sector funding for the development came from various sources including UrbanDevelopment Grant, City Challenge, English Partnership Programmes, Single RegenerationBudget, European Regional Development Fund, and Regional Challenge - Renaissance andthe Heritage Lottery. Since 1983, public sector investment has totalled approximately £16 million.

By 1996, £308 million of investment/construction activity had been carried out in the area,supported by £2.3 million in canal improvements.

Development activity at Brindley Place is continuing, with a number of properties currentlyunder construction. Plans are also in place for a final phase of development to complete thescheme. Additional plans for the further development of the city's canal-side environmentconcentrate on maintaining the momentum that has improved the waterfront area.

For further information contact either:

Tom Brock, Head of Special Initiatives, British Waterways, Peel's Wharf, Fazeley, Staffordshire B78 3QZ, tel: 01827 252061

Nigel Russell, Development Officer, Heart of England Tourist Board, Larkhill Road, Worcester WR5 2EZ, tel: 01905 761125

Redevelopment of Leamington Spa's Pump Rooms Leamington Spa's Royal Pump Room and Baths were originally built in 1813-14 by thearchitect CS Smith, at an approximate cost of £30,000. In 1863, a swimming pool and Turkishbath was added, followed by a larger swimming pool in 1889-90. Further refurbishments of asmaller scale took place in the 1920s, late 1940s and mid-1950s.

Owned by Warwick District Council, the Royal Pump Rooms is a Grade II Listed buildingwhich has been redeveloped to provide new public facilities operated by four partners fromthe public and private sectors including:

• Warwick District Council – Art Gallery Museum and Assembly Rooms • Warwickshire County Council – Public Library • South Warwickshire Tourism Ltd – Tourist Information Centre and Shop • Hudson Rowe Catering Services Ltd – Cafe and catering Services Ltd

The Royal Pump Rooms at Royal Leamington Spa reopened in the summer of 1999 after a £7million redevelopment. The new cultural complex comprises an art gallery, museum, Assemblyrooms, library, TIC and café. The new facilities have been an instant success with local people



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and tourists, receiving 600,000 visitors in the first year of operation. The redevelopment hasalready received two awards: a Millennium Award from the Leamington Society for thebuilding and an Interpret Britain Award from the Association for Heritage Interpretation forthe museum displays.

The key contributors to the Redevelopment Project 1997-1999 were:

• Warwick District Council – Project management • Capita Group Plc – Architects • A C Lloyds Ltd – Building contract • PLB Design Ltd – Museum design

The £7 million budget for the project was contributed by Warwick District Council(£6,480,000), Warwickshire County Council (£420,000) and Hudson Rowe Catering ServicesLtd (£170,000).

For further information contact Warwick District Council: 01926 742700

Dean Clough, Halifax Dean Clough is an example of successful re-use of a large complex of mill buildings. DeanClough is the size of a small town. The former carpet mill has been transformed into offices,galleries, studios, workshops, a fitness centre, a theatre, a restaurant and shops. Most recentedition is a Travel Lodge, opened in August 2000.

For further information please contact Linda Rosen on 01274 201696 or write to NGCS,Woolston House, 3 Tetley Street, Bradford BD1 2NP

Saltaire Village, Bradford Saltaire Village is located in West Yorkshire in the north of England, and lies within theadministrative boundary of the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council. The propertieswithin the village are predominantly listed as Buildings of Special Architectural or HistoricInterest, and the entire site is designated as the Saltaire Conservation Area.

Saltaire was built between 1851 and 1876 as a planned industrial village. The village wasconstructed from natural materials – a warm coloured local sandstone and Welsh slate,generally in the Italianate style. The mill was built before the houses, to allow time for it tobe fitted and become operational. Immediately after its official opening in 1853, work beganon the rest of the village and continued until 1876.

The village is of outstanding universal significance in three ways. First, it encapsulates thematuring of industrial society and the industrial system. Secondly, it represents an importantstage in the development of a formal land-use planning system. Thirdly, in its unifiedarchitectural style, its construction quality and its building hierarchy, it exhibits mid-Victorian



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society's pre-eminence in European imperialist and technological domination, and thepaternalistic, moral and practical philanthropy that was characteristic of that society.

In 1986, several of Saltaire's listed buildings stood empty, including the Salts Mill, the NewMill and the Coach House. The Salts Mill is now occupied, the New Mill has been convertedinto offices for the Bradford Health Trust and privately owned residential flats, and thecoach house has recently been restored.

To ensure the settings of listed buildings are enhanced many environmental schemes havebeen undertaken. These works have included the use of high quality materials in the use ofthe footpaths and highways wherever possible.

In 1996, recognition of the work being undertaken at Saltaire began to surface. Fifteenorganisations in the village, including the Salts Mill received awards from the Civic Trust,including the Boots Centre Vision Award given for the most outstanding contribution to theimprovement of a town or city centre. In 1997, the village beat 120 entrants from 20European countries to win Europe's top award for conservation and restoration - the EuropaNostra IBI medal. Saltaire was inscribed a World Heritage Site in 2001 as it is an outstandingand well preserved example of a mid-19th-century industrial town.

Further information can be found by contacting Christine Kenin, Conservation, BradfordDistrict Council, Jacob's Well, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD1 5RW, tel: 01274 752455

Tate Gallery, St Ives, Cornwall The Tate Gallery opened in 1993 and offers a unique introduction to modern art. The galleryoccupies a spectacular site overlooking Porthmeor Beach, close to the studios used by manyof the artists whose works are exhibited there. The gallery has been designed to reflect notonly the context in which it is set, the town of St Ives with its white walls, grey slate roofsand small windows but also the site it occupies, which formally housed a circular gas holder.The focus of the building is a glazed rotunda and views from the gallery extend over therooftops of the town and its harbour and out to the sea.

For more information please contact Ina Cole on 01736 796226.

North Pennines AONB: Good practice guide in the design, adaptation and maintenance ofbuildingsThe guide was produced by the North Pennines Partnership. The success of the Partnership inprotecting and enhancing the landscape and heritage of the North Pennines depends on theinput of its Partners (local authorities, organisations, local groups and individuals). The guidehas the following aims:

• to help owners of historic properties to look after them sympathetically• to guide builders and architects who are maintaining or adapting old buildings



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• to guide developers of new property to achieve a good fit within the North Pennineslandscape.

Its main purpose is to safeguard the distinctive character and natural beauty of thelandscape of the North Pennines.

For further information contact Kevin Patrick, North Pennines AONB Officer, c/o NorthPennines Partnership, Department of Environment and Technical Services, Durham CountyCouncil, tel: 0191 3833611

Stratford Town Design Statementwww.stratford-design.co.uk/‘…A pilot study to create a community-led Town Design Statement for Stratford-upon-Avonhas been launched in the town. This exciting and innovative research will look at how toimprove the design of new development in towns like Stratford-upon-Avon. It will includeissues such as efficient use of resources and the development of green links to the countryside

Ilkley Design Statementwww.ilkley.org/designstatement/‘…The chief aim of the Ilkley Design Statement Group, based on consultation with localcommunity and research, is to ensure, through Planning Guidance, that the town develops insuch a manner as to protect its heritage and maintain its attractiveness – those factors whichcommend the town to prospective residents and visitors in the first place. The Group doesnot oppose development in principle, but recognises that it is inevitable, given housingpressures and the need to avoid fossilisation

Notes

1 PPG21; Tourism, DoE, November 19922 PPG6; Town Centres and retail development, Revised June 19963 PPG13; Transport4 Planning for leisure and tourism, The Tourism Company et al, published by DETR on the

internet at: www.planning.detr.gov.uk/prp/lupr/pubsgpg/newpubs.htm5 Planning green paper; Delivering a fundamental change, DTLR, December 20016 As recommended in Tomorrow’s Tourism and The Impact of Tourism on Rural Settlements,

op cit7 Tomorrow’s Tourism, op cit8 Similar recommendations included in Tourism and the Environment, op cit9 Planning Policy Guidance Note 11: Regional planning, DETR, October 200010 Planning for leisure and tourism, op cit11 European spatial planning and urban/rural relationships: the UK dimension, DETR,

June 2000



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http://www.stratford-design.co.uk/

http://www.ilkley.org/designstatement/

http://www.planning.detr.gov.uk/prp/lupr/pubsgpg/newpubs.htm

12 The Government ‘want all local authorities to have in place a strategy for their tourismand leisure activities. Good strategies need to be built and evaluated on relevant andreliable statistics, collected cost-effectively.’ Janet Anderson MP, Foreword to Measuringthe Local Impact of Tourism, DCMS, 1998

13 Making the connections: a practical guide to tourism management in historic towns,English Tourism Council/English Historic Towns Forum/English Heritage, 2000

14 DoT Circular, Roads 3/95; Traffic Signs to Tourist Attractions is currently subject to review(consultation draft, December 2001)

15 Sustainable tourism management in the New Forest, The Countryside Agency, 200116 The sequential test applies to out-of-centre proposals and requires consideration

of whether there are alternative sites located within a town or other local centre, as appropriate.

17 Planning for leisure and tourism, op cit18 This guide is concerned only with use of land for holiday and touring caravan sites and

not with residential or travellers’ caravan sites. 19 Planning for leisure and tourism, op cit20 As recommended in Tourism and the Environment, op cit



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Section 2 Destination planning 2E Developing visitor management plans

Introduction


The visitor management planning process explained

What factors help to decide success or failure?

Case studies

References



This component explains how to develop visitor management plans and monitor theireffectiveness. Related material can also be found in the following components:

• 1A Surveying visitor satisfaction• 1D Determining local carrying capacities in an area• 2B Developing tourism partnerships• 2D Tourism and the planning system: gaining value locally• 3E Ensuring access for all• 4 Measuring overall tourism performance.

Introduction

Visitor management planning is an important tool in the management of sustainabletourism because this is a method of influencing visitor activities so that their positive impactscan be maximised and negative impacts minimised. The process has been used at natural andhistoric sites for many years to reduce or prevent damage to fragile buildings, geologicalfeatures, flora and fauna. It has become increasingly common on a larger scale, for exampleon national trails and in historic towns.

Many techniques used in site visitor management can be applied to a destination, mainlybecause the planning and management process is similar. Furthermore, visitor managementplanning at a destination level presents additional opportunities to maximise visitors’positive impacts.

Sustainable advantages of visitor management planning

• reduces damage caused by visitors to sensitive sites; eg erosion; trampling; disturbance;traffic

• prevents negative impacts on these sensitive sites in the future• addresses specific issues; eg congestion; car/coach parking; litter; user conflict• maximises the use of limited capacity – for example by booking systems of time cards for

popular, but sensitive, sites• influences the distribution of visitors to spread economic benefits more widely in time,

space or both• steers visitors towards places that are best equipped to accommodate them• makes visitors feel that they are contributing to the place they visit, rather than detracting

from it in some way• gives the destination clear objectives, targets and timescales• guides the marketing of a destination.


The stakeholders in visitor management planning are all those who will be affected by theplan, together with those who can influence the activities of visitors. The visitors themselvesare also key stakeholders.

2E DEVELOPING VISITOR MANAGEMENT PLANS


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The key stakeholders and their positions are as follows:

A destination visitor management plan must seek to balance these conflicting positions andwill almost inevitably involve compromise. Conservation site managers have little room formanoeuvre since there are often legal obligations to protect particular built or naturalfeatures, or to maintain habitats to support sensitive species.

To bring stakeholders on board, it is important to agree clear aims and objectives at thestart. Industry and the community can be particularly powerful in objecting to proposals that they oppose, and it is particularly important to involve them from the outset and to understand their needs.

The visitor management planning process explained

The local authority – often its destination manager – generally identifies the need for avisitor management plan. Alternatively, this might come from the specific needs of a sitemanager. Whatever the source, the instigator needs to think carefully about how to presentand sell the process to the other stakeholders (see the handbook components on tourismpartnerships and community consultation). This should include careful consideration of theorganisations, timetable, resources and risks involved.



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Stakeholder

Site managers (conservation)

Community

Industry

Local authority/ies

Visitors (often represented by user groups)

Position

• Want to restrict visitor numbers to within carryingcapacities

• Want to restrict visitors at sensitive locations• Want to make visitors aware of the value or importance

of their site as a future lobbying tool

• Seek to minimise problems caused by visitors (such as rising prices, litter, erosion, congestion and parking difficulties)

• Seek to minimise disturbance and disruption by visitors

• Want to maximise market share, turnover and profit• Oppose any proposals which reduce market share,

turnover and profitability

• Responsibility for much tourism infrastructure

• Seek to maximise access for their area of interest• Oppose any proposals which restrict or reduce access

1 Where are you at the moment?

The work should start with a wide-ranging audit of the destination to identify:

• relevant existing policies and strategies (in tourism operator vision and objectives,structure and local plans, the local transport plan, relevant national and regional tourismstrategies and supplementary planning guidance)

• specific designations applying in the plan area (environmental and heritage conservation)• where visitors go and what they do (their origins, seasonality and modes of transport)• who manages visitor sites and why• how many visitors there are and how much they spend• sites’ carrying capacity and which sites are close to, at or beyond their carrying capacity

(see the handbook component on carrying capacity)• the stakeholders and issues that concern them.

A position statement describing the current situation is a useful document and itspreparation can help to build stakeholders’ ownership of the process. In order to ensureownership and motivation to drive the plan forwards towards a common goal, it isimportant at this stage that the stakeholders come together to identify a vision andobjectives for the plan.

2 Where do you want to be?

The second stage involves drawing together the information from the audit to identify theissues and opportunities and the options for addressing them (SWOT analysis is a proventechnique). There are various ways to achieve this, but stakeholder workshops andannotated maps can be particularly effective.

Options for the future sustainable management of tourism can then be evaluated againstthe degree to which they meet the objectives of the process (satisfying stakeholders’ needs)and other factors such as cost, management implications and deliverability.

Again, it is crucial for the development of the plan that the stakeholders are involved as thiswill ensure that there is adequate buy in at the later stage of development andimplementation.

3 How are you going to get there?

A management plan can then be formulated, comprising a number of ‘prescriptions’ toaddress the issues. At this stage, it is vital to resource the plan and to identify keyresponsibilities for implementing parts of the plan. Deadlines for achieving these actions will help to ensure the necessary level of follow through. The following techniques could be considered:

• market segmentation• advance booking mechanisms• ticketing initiatives• interpretative walks• promoting alternative holidays• signposting• promoting quieter, easily accessible or more robust areas.



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Designating zones of varying sensitivity within the destination can be an effective means ofprioritising the issues and prescriptions and implementing policies.

The North Norfolk Coast Strategy uses six zones with varying sensitivity, from ‘areas offragile wildlife habitat under considerable visitor pressure’ to ‘more robust areas with fewvisitor pressures at present’. For each, there are distinct policies for: visitor management;promotion; car parking and traffic; interpretation; and visitor facilities.

4 Implementing the plan

The plan must be implemented through a partnership of all the organisations able to deliverits policies and actions. (For more information on partnerships, please see component 2BHow to develop tourism partnerships.)

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead has launched a new visitor managementstrategy entitled Building on our Successes (2002-2006). It follows the borough’s first ground-breaking strategy Marching into the Future, published in 1996. The document highlightsboth changes in the industry and in the council’s visitor management service, and looks athow the further development of partnership working will be the key to future achievement.

The vision for the next four years is to position the Royal Borough as a ‘must do’ short breakdestination where visitor and community needs come first. Through partnership, the aim isto persuade visitors to stay longer, spend more and come back, while the financial objectiveis to support the local economy by providing the infrastructure and marketing help neededby local businesses to increase and prosper.

The six core objectives of the Visitor Management Strategy are as follows:

1 to improve the quality of experience for residents and visitors alike by providing theinfrastructure required to support local businesses involved in tourism

2 to seek and establish commercial and community partnerships by which, through workingtogether and joint funding initiatives, we can achieve our aims

3 to target specific market sectors, to increase the length of stay, frequency of visit anddispersal of visitors, in order to maximise economic benefit to all areas of the borough all year round

4 to use technology to maximise the impact of the visitor management strategy includingwebsites, email, telephone technology and other digital formats such as television

5 to complement and support other related strategies, in particular the Cultural Strategy,the Local Plan, the Best Value Plan, Regional Economic Development Strategy andTomorrow’s Tourism to act as a guidance document for town centre management andgenerate funding to support initiatives of the borough

6 to implement and monitor progress of the visitor management strategy on a regular basis.



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The 1996-2002 Strategy filled a necessary vacuum and provided the building blocks to sustainlong-term tourism economic vitality for the Royal Borough. It acknowledges the range ofother strategies and policy documents impacting on tourism at all levels, and is bothcomplementary and responsive to the huge growth in information technology, the changingmarketplaces and the crises suffered by the industry in 2001.

See also component 2B, How to develop tourism partnerships for contact details.

5 Monitor and review

Mechanisms for monitoring progress and impacts should be built in from the start.Performance targets should be set and performance indicators agreed. Again, component 2Bon tourism partnerships gives more information on monitoring using sustainable indicators.Ideally, these would use existing recording systems, and the ETC’s sustainable tourismindicators may help.

What factors help to decide success or failure?

As with all planning processes, there is a tendency, once the plan has been completed, tobreathe a sigh of relief and sit back. However, implementation of a visitor management planis only going to succeed if time and funds are allocated to the actions and if someone takesresponsibility. Ideally, this may be through a partnership of stakeholders, a destinationmanagement partnership, which will need a committed champion itself to be successful.Critical success and failure factors include:

Be sure also to refer to the specific handbook component (2D covers tourism and theplanning system).



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Factor

Ownership of the plan

Adequate resources

A champion to pushimplementation forward

Sphere of influence

Ways to achieve

• Look at the process from the stakeholder’s point of view –how can it help them to achieve their objectives?

• Involve the stakeholders in all stages of the process• Show long-term commitment to the partnership

• Be realistic about the resources needed and source adequateresources at the planning stage. If you don’t,implementation will stall

• Varies from one situation to another. In the case of wholedestinations, it will probably be the local authority tourismmanager

• Select a champion who commands respect from thestakeholders, who can influence the stakeholders andcommit for at least three years

• Some visitor management plans fall down because theyhave omitted a key player. Ensure that all stakeholders andpotential contributors are included from the start

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yCase studies

Derwent Valley Mills Management Plan – draft 2000 (prior to World Heritage Status)The Management Plan has an overarching mission:• to conserve the unique and important cultural landscape of the Derwent Valley Mills Site• to interpret and promote its assets, and to enhance its character, appearance and

economic well-being in a sustainable manner.

The management plan is to be continuously developed and this document provides an initialframework that was utilised in consultations in March 2002. The Management Plan has sevenspecific aims:

1 to identify key issues affecting both the vulnerability of the cultural landscape andopportunities for its enhancement, and measures to protect the crucial significance of the site

2 to establish guidelines for future management of the site and the buildings and landwithin it, so that the essential character of the cultural landscape is conserved

3 to increase public awareness of and interest in the Derwent Valley Mills site, and topromote its educational and cultural value

4 to develop an integrated and sustainable approach to meeting the transportation needsof the site

5 to identify how present and possible future tourism within the Derwent Valley Mills canbe developed in an environmentally and economically sustainable way for the benefit ofthe local economy

6 to provide a common framework in which owners, occupiers, residents, public andvoluntary agencies can pursue both individual and partnership action plans

7 to establish lasting mechanisms for monitoring, co-ordination and consultation.

Southwold Visitor Receiving Area SchemeThe popularity of this small Suffolk town with visitors has led to the requirement of ascheme designed to reduce congestion in the town centre by directing visitors to the under-used pier area. This will involve upgrading facilities and attractions in the area to encouragelengthier stays and attempt to regulate the flow to the town centre.

Contact: East of England Tourist Board 01473 822922

Dartmoor National ParkDNP have developed an initiative called the Dartmoor Area Tourism Initiative with theprimary aim being sustainable visitor management. This is achieved by a series of small scaletourism developments and sensitive promotion of the area. Initiatives include village andtown interpretation projects developed with the cooperation of local communities, farmdiversification projects, public transport initiatives, promotional leaflets and promotion ofgood practice by the industry and visitors. There is also a Management Plan for 2001-2006which covers visitor management.



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yVisitor Management Strategy for the Norfolk Coast (1995), Norfolk Coast PartnershipThe Norfolk Coast AONB produced a comprehensive visitor management strategy when aproject was set up in the early 1990s. This document recognises the importance of tourismand recreational use to the local economy and seeks to identify and promote ways that theAONB can be used for recreational purposes whilst being sustainable. It is considered as animportant part of the AONB management strategy.

Contact: The Partnership Officer, Norfolk Coast Partnership 01328 711533.

Ironbridge Gorge, Derwent Valley Mills, (all World Heritage Sites and those trying to achieve the status) have to have produced a management plan which also includes visitormanagement. There are operational guidelines issued by UNESCO’s World HeritageCommittee on the important of appropriate administrative and management arrangementsfor WHSs.

Broadway Visitor Management Plan, Wychavon District Council, Pershore 1996Preparation of a visitor management plan for one of the Cotswold’s most populardestinations included surveys of visitors, local traders and local residents, combined with astudy of the visual and physical carrying capacity of the village to produce a comprehensiveplan based on the principles of sustainable tourism.

Making the Connections – a practical guide to tourism management in historic towns Making the Connections, produced by the English Historic Towns Forum, contains advice onpolicy and practice for tourism management in historic towns. It advocates an integratedapproach to tourism planning that brings together different council departments, elementsof industry, local residents and visitors. The guide refers to this approach as 'destinationmanagement' and illustrates good practice by a series of case studies.

For further information please visit the English Historic Towns Forum website.

North Pennines AONB Management Plan The management plan has the following objectives: • Identify initiatives to secure the conservation and enhancement of the North Pennines

landscape • Ensure management initiatives and associated expenditure are to the benefit of the local

community and economy. • Ensure effective co-ordination between authorities, agencies, organisations and groups

with responsibility for landscape management. • Provide a mechanism to attract additional resources to the North Pennines from existing

management partners and from central government and the European Union.



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The objectives are achieved through the initiative of authorities, agencies and individualswho are concerned with the good management of the landscape.

The plan includes examples of green tourism, interpretation strategy, and promotion ofawareness and understanding, and examples of projects.

For further information contact Kevin Patrick, North Pennines AONB Officer, c/o NorthPennines Partnership, Department of Environment and Technical Services, Durham CountyCouncil, tel: 0191 3833611

CanterburyOver the last 20 years, the city of Canterbury has wrestled with the negative impacts of toomany visitors and visitor management in the city have focussed on this. Currently, however,the challenge is to succeed in an increasingly competitive market for short breaks through‘cultural engagement of visitors. The city’s visitor management planning has evolved to meetthe changing situation.

The city’s tourism department recently went through a Best Value review and the resultshave been incorporated into the current marketing strategy and action plans.

The aim for visitor management is to ‘ease the tension between the host community,environment and visitors by controlling the physical and economic impacts of visitors duringtheir visit’. This has led to four areas of activity in the tourism strategy:

• operating three TICs across the district to deal with advanced information needs andenquiries during visits

• managing the visitor welcome, through a team of ‘Shepherds’ to give directions andinformation to arriving visitors at the coach park and to encourage them to visit off thebeaten track

• promoting a programme of festivals and events to spread visitors throughout the year• developing a range of high quality merchandise in order to increase the level of spend by

day visitors in particular.

Contact: Jane Lovell, Canterbury City Council

Yorkshire Dales Tourism ForumThe Forum consists of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, Yorkshire Tourist Board, YorkshireForward (RDA) and the local authorities. Each has a clear tourism remit, though at first sight,these might seem to be in conflict. However, a realistic approach to working together, thatof agreeing to maximise the benefits of working together where common ground could befound, identified a surprisingly long list of common attitudes and policies.

Visitor management was felt to be fundamental to a sustainable tourism industry in the Dales, and joint marketing by all of the partners has proved effective in addressing



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yproblems, such as seasonality, traffic congestion, inappropriate visitor behaviour, and inmaximising the economic impacts.

The Forum decided to take a marketing approach, adopting a shared marketing strategy. An annual action plan delivers activities which:

• support the agreed visitor management objectives• increase environmental awareness and support• promote sustainable activities• provide an improved visitor experience• benefit local businesses• develop the use of information technology.

Contact: Joanna Royle, Head of Strategic Marketing, Yorkshire Tourist Board, tel: 01904773321; email: [email protected]

The historic city of Cambridge attracts over 3 million visitors, raising a number of planningand management issues.

The Tourism Strategy focuses on non land-use policies, including visitor management. Itstresses that tourism should be managed, not promoted. The Cambridge Local Plan dealswith tourism in a specific chapter and within other topic areas. Tourism policy is formulatedin the context of the City’s adopted tourism strategy.

The general thrust of council policy on tourism and the emphasis on visitor managementseem to be widely accepted and appear successful. This effective policy co-ordinationrequires collaboration and partnership working. This is extensive in Cambridge:

• Within the City Council, the Environment Committee is responsible for tourism planning,policy and tourism management, transport, economic development, conservation,licensing and Local Agenda 21. Officers speak of a culture and commitment to corporateworking; frequent consultation ensures co-ordination of policy and management.

• The Cambridgeshire Tourism Officers’ Group comprises the tourism officers from theCounty, all Districts and EETB. There is continuing liaison on an informal basis too.Planning policy for tourism is discussed between County and Districts during the processesof policy review and plan preparation. Chief Planning Officers within the county meetevery 6 weeks to discuss current issues. Other joint Officer or Members groups deal withpolicy that affects tourism – for example, transport.

• The Cambridge Tourism Group includes hoteliers, transport, language schools, Colleges,attractions, Chamber of Commerce and the City Council. CTG is a Working Group of theEnvironment Committee to which it reports.

• The Cambridge Tourism Forum meets annually and is open to all tourism interests in thecity. The Forum is intended to review and monitor the Tourism Strategy and discuss othermatters of local tourism importance.

• There is also a City Centre Management team, a Consultative Forum and a College Bursars’Tourism Committee.



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The various groups have been effective in bringing together different stakeholders, givingthem an input to policy, increasing trust, understanding and providing a basis from which to develop solutions to shared problems; eg a resolution to the coach drop-off problems inthe city.

Key finding: Cambridge has developed a holistic approach to tourism planning based on co-ordination of policy and collaboration between interested parties.

At a sub-regional level, a tourism visitor strategy for Purbeck, Dorset was incorporated into a wider management plan for the area. This focused on a number of pressures thatwere seen to be causing long term damage and may deter visitors from returning. These included agricultural and other non-tourism issues. In tourism terms, the focus was on dispersal, identifying opportunities for developing the industry in Swanage and Warehamwhile promoting improvements and better visitor management at Corfe Castle, LulworthCove and the Studland peninsula. The strategy also incorporated proposals for an integratedtransport system.

The Greenwich Visitor Management Study (1996) involved an analysis of visitors to the towncentre and their mode of travel which includes car, boat, train, bus, coach and foot. It alsoreviewed the visitor’s experience in terms of access and arrival, attractions and features ofinterest, visitor routes and circulation, signposting and information, environmentalconditions and other visitor amenities and facilities; eg toilets and seating. The potentialimpact of current proposals was assessed and priorities for visitor management identified.These included: re-locating the coach park, a new parking strategy, promotion of alternativemeans of transport, and new pedestrian routes including a ‘Greenwich Trail’ to dispersevisitors. Further initiatives involved orientation panels, the rationalisation of signposting, re-locating the TIC, an information strategy and environmental improvements withrecommendations for traffic calming/management, paving, litter, graffiti, derelict sites and building maintenance.

Stratford was selected by ETB as the first National Pilot Project in Visitor Management in aHistoric Town. The three year Stratford-upon-Avon Visitor Management Action Programme,1992-1995, was managed by a public/private partnership and included consideration ofvisitor impact, visitor welcome and visitor movement. Action involved:

• research on visitor impacts; a visitor survey to find out about visitor activity and a residentssurvey to find out their perceptions towards tourism

• ‘Stratford Welcome’ was created as an identity for the programme. Initiatives involvedvisitor care training programme, information packs, general information and map leaflet,visitor information patrols, and town centre information map display boards.



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• co-ordinating the activities of various organisations already dealing with visitor movement;eg walking trails, traffic management, pedestrianisation, park and ride, coachmanagement and public transport initiatives, station infrastructure, services and facilities.

The Visitor Management Programme finished in November 1995. The new five-year tourismstrategy, From Strength to Strength, identifies the need for a new visitor management planand incorporates a number of visitor management initiatives including:

• research into physical carrying capacities of key visitor sites in the district and theidentification of appropriate methods of visitor flow control at peak periods

• development of a Town Centre Management Partnership• regular research/monitoring of visitor flow, profile, behaviour and perception• emphasis on off-peak activity through the promotion of events and admission pricing• a series of initiatives aimed at promoting visits by alternative means of transport; eg rail

and bus-based short break packages and cycling, walking and waterways holidays• wider dissemination and promotion of information on bus/coach excursion opportunities

across the district to staying visitors in Stratford-upon-Avon• active promotion of park and ride facilities to visitors• development and wider promotion of local walking and cycling opportunities.

Avebury Development Planwww.eng-h.gov.uk/archcom/projects/summarys/html98_9/2257aveb.htm

Forest of Bowland Action Planwww.lancsenvironment.com/strategies/bowlandactionplan/introduction.htm



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http://www.eng-h.gov.uk/archcom/projects/summarys/html98_9/2257aveb.htm

http://www.lancsenvironment.com/strategies/bowlandactionplan/introduction.htm

References

Clark J and Godfrey K. The Tourism Development Handbook, Cassell, 2000.

Countryside Management AssociationWith approximately 1,200 members, the CMS is the largest organisation of its kind involvedin the countryside and urban greenspace management throughout England and Wales.www.countrysidemanagement.org.uk

English Historic Towns ForumEHTF explores the issues impacting on historic towns, offering support and guidance onconservation area management, traffic and visitor management, urban regeneration anddesign, and other planning issues. www.ehtf.org.ukEnglish Historic Towns Forum. Making the Connections: A Practical Guide to TourismManagement in Historic Towns, EHTF, 1999.

Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural BeautyThe Norfolk Coast Partnership works closely with many organisations and individuals as itseeks to protect and enhance the landscape and its special wildlife for all those who live inand visit the area. The organisation’s visitor management strategy may be obtained atwww.norfolkcoastaonb.org.uk

World Tourism Organisation. Sustainable Tourism Development: A Guide for Local Planners,World Tourism Organisation, Madrid, 1993.

Grant M, Human B and Le Pelley B. Embracing tourism – Cambridge Tourism Strategy Review,Insights, Vol 13: C41-49 2002.



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http://www.countrysidemanagement.org.uk


http://www.norfolkcoastaonb.org.uk

Section 3 Destination developmentIntroduction: taking a quality approach

1 What does quality mean?

2 Approaches to quality management

3 Taking destination quality forward

4 Quality awards and schemes

5 Promoting uptake of awards and schemes


Section 3 Destination development Introduction: taking a quality approach

This introduction to section 3 considers the meaning and role of a quality approach todestination development and management. It highlights how the overall managementprocess itself and the specific destination activities covered in section 3 can help improveoverall quality. The use and value of quality awards and schemes is also explained.

So far this handbook has covered the first two key steps of the management cycle: first, howto assess tourism within your destination, and with this information, how to plan for itsdevelopment. The next section shows how this preparatory work can be put into practiceacross a range of development activities in order to create a better overall tourism product.

As stated within the introduction to this handbook, the fundamental objective that underliesdestination development and management is one of instilling a quality approach across allaspects of the destination, which will in turn attract visitors, benefit industry and thecommunity and protect and enhance the environment.

1 What does ‘quality’ mean?

Before going further it is important to consider briefly what quality actually means in thiscontext. Like sustainability, it is a much-analysed subject with many definitions and modelsthat could be debated ad nauseum. In essence it is the ability of the individual and collectiveaspects of the destination to consistently satisfy the needs and expectations of all of thevarious stakeholders mentioned above. It is therefore synonymous with the concept ofsustainability and the VICE approach.

This is distinct from the view that quality only exists to the extent that the product (ie thedestination) satisfies the requirements and expectations of the customer (ie the visitor).Whilst it is true to say that there would be no tourism without visitors, it will not developeffectively without recognising and balancing the needs of the other three stakeholdergroups. Gaps may separately exist between the level of quality desired and expected by eachstakeholder, the level of quality that is actually perceived by them and that which isultimately provided to them. Each gap can be specifically addressed through consideredapproaches to research, communication, marketing, monitoring and quality management.The success or failure of a destination will therefore rely on its ability to identify, understandand close these gaps: this is the aim of the quality approach.

2 Approaches to quality management

A number of quality management models have been developed and applied to tourism,including Integrated Quality Management (IQM) and the European Foundation for QualityManagement (EFQM). These can be adopted as frameworks for quality management and areconsidered in more detail within section 4 of this handbook, in conjunction with Best Valueand benchmarking as a means of assessing destination performance.

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These different approaches do however have one common principle, that of continuousimprovement, which can only be achieved by addressing each stage of the managementcycle. Thus it is the audit, monitoring and evaluation that provides the feedback on wherethe quality gaps are, the planning and development stages seek to close them and the cyclestarts again with the aim of continuously improving destination quality. This process is, ofcourse, directed by your strategic planning (vision, mission, goals; ie what you want toachieve) that will have been adopted within the overall destination management plan.

3 Taking destination quality forward

Whilst completing the management cycle is fundamental to progressively improving qualitywithin destination management, the next step is to consider the range of specific activitiesthat can be adopted to practically support this development – the aim of section 3 of thehandbook.

These quality initiatives generally divide into:

• those aimed at improving the quality of a given aspect of tourism, such as visitoraccomodation,attractions, e-business, training, transport, access and marketing. These may be nationally or regionally co-ordinated but are ultimately delivered locally

• locally-managed initiatives involving stakeholders that aim to differentiate destinationsthrough local distinctiveness.

Both of these aspects are key to creating the quality approach that is required to deliverstakeholder expectations and create successful destinations. Component 3F specificallyconsiders how local distinctiveness can be understood and developed, whilst othercomponents cover a range of important development areas. Before looking at these it isimportant to overview briefly the current range of initiatives that are specifically designed to promote quality improvement. These are the schemes and awards that can be obtained by destinations and the activities of which they comprise.

4 Quality awards and schemes

Schemes and awards are a key means of creating a structured approach to improving qualityacross a range of tourism activities and instilling sustainable principles. They also providerecognition for the effort put in and have considerable marketing benefits for bothdestinations and their tourism industry.

There are many types of awards and schemes in existence, operating at local, national andinternational levels. They are generally government, NGO or charity-led, but may be alsosponsored by the private sector. They generally fall into two categories:

1 Competitive Usually annual awards to recognise excellence in a particular aspect oractivity. Usually require participants to enter.

2 Participative These fall into two categories: inspected schemes such as national standards,and certification programmes and non-assessed initiatives. Examples of both are providedin component 3I Sustainability awards and schemes for industry and destinations.

They can also be divided further into those that deal specifically with tourism activities andthose addressing other elements of destination management, which are nevertheless veryimportant in creating an overall quality profile.



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1 Tourism-specific schemes and awardsNational quality schemes for tourism accomodation have been in existence for a number ofyears and represent an important aspect of tourism development. These fall within acommon set of harmonised standards and gradings, the National Quality AssuranceStandards (NQAS), which is now embraced by the ETC, AA and RAC. The range of schemes to cover different types of accommodation now includes:

• Hotels• Guest accommodation (guesthouses, B&Bs, inns, farmhouses)• Self-catering• Caravan Parks• Hostels• Campus• Holiday villages

A further scheme has also recently been developed by ETC to address accessibility standards,the National Accessible Scheme (NAS), covering serviced and self-catering accommodation.

Beyond accomodation, the Visitor Attractions Quality Assurance Service (VAQAS), has beendeveloped through the East of England Tourist Board as lead region, and is available to allattractions, including historic houses, castles, farm attractions, country parks, museums andtheme parks.

Comprehensive guidance on the operation of all of these schemes can be found on the ETCwebsite: www.englishtourism.org.uk

In addition to these ongoing schemes, the Excellence in England awards have also beenestablished to encourage and reward excellence in English tourism across a range ofcategories. They are awarded annually, both nationally and regionally, with gold and silverawards given to:

• Bed and Breakfast/guesthouse of the year • Caravan Holiday Park of the year • Small hotel of the year • Large hotel of the year • Self-catering holiday of the year • Tourist Information Centre of the year • Small visitor attraction of the year • Large visitor attraction of the year • Best tourism website

There are also two further awards for outstanding customer service and marketing intourism.

Detailed information is again available on the ETC website for the 2003 awards.



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2 Other awards and schemes for destination activitiesMany other quality designations may relate to different aspects of destination management.The following table illustrates a selection of those currently available to destinations andsome of their component parts:

Aspect of destination Examples of awards and schemes

Access NAS

Attractions VAQAS

Beaches ENCAMS Blue Flag and Seaside Awards

Business UK Business Excellence Award

National Business Awards

Conservation (built) Pilgrim Trust Conservation Awards

Museums Museum of the Year

Parks and open spaces Green Flag Awards

Planning RTPI Awards

Regeneration BURA awards

Restaurants and pubs AA annual awards

Shopping centres BCSC Purple Apple

Visitor accommodation National Quality Assurance Standards

Tourism Excellence in England Awards

Transport National Transport Awards

Waste and recycling National Recycling Awards

These are just a few examples to demonstrate the diversity of these awards and schemes and show the potential for participation by many destinations.

5 Promoting uptake of awards and schemes

There are obvious benefits through awards and schemes to develop and promote betterquality. Their use can also present significant marketing opportunities for destinations, andcombinations of awards gained can collectively create a strong positive image. There is anopportunity through this approach to appeal to specific market sectors, for example onaccessibility, where potentially a significant target audience can be engaged. The componentson accessibility and sustainability schemes consider how important this influence can be.

In terms of marketing potential, the status of the awards being sought obviously has abearing; eg an international designation may have more weight than a national or regionalscheme. However if real and sustained improvements are to be made by obtaining thesedesignations, whatever their level, it inevitably needs effective local engagement withindustry, community and the environment as contributors to and users of destinationservices. The need for these schemes and awards to be understood and actively promotedlocally is therefore a key element in their success. The partnership approach to stakeholdersaddressed in component 2B will provide the mechanism for seeking this engagement.Awards and schemes can become focal points in developing this relationship.



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To be successful, significant effort is likely to be required to both co-ordinate the scheme oraward, as well as that required from the individual participants themselves. The balance ofeffort required will vary depending on the levels of involvement required from thedestination; eg setting up a certification scheme from scratch will require considerably moreresource than merely communicating which awards are available. At the earliest stage it isessential to assess through liaison with local industry groups which initiatives they likely toparticipate in, whether assessed or non-assessed. The cost to participants weighed aganst thebenefits they perceive may be the deciding factor.

Where destinations do consider establishing their own local schemes or awards or toparticipate within a national or regional framework, they must plan with the longer term inmind if resource and financial commitments are to be maintained. This is often an issuewhere initial funding has been provided for a period, but the scheme eventually lapses whenthe funding runs out. If this happens, it can be perceived that the effort put in has beenwasted and can even damage relationships. It is therefore vital to address long-term viability.

It is also important to take into account that the situation will never remain static in terms ofthose involved, as there will be a turnover of both participants and administrators. Theseeffects will be mitigated by building strong partnerships, good business planning and takinga sustainable approach from the outset.

Component 3I looks specifically at sustainability and environmental awards in more detailand gives an indication of the range of managerial considerations that will need to beaddressed in setting up these schemes.



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Section 3 Destination development3A SME training and business support

Introduction

What role can destination managers play?

What can training and business support achieve?

The key support agencies

Possible actions for destination managers

Case studies



This component provides a brief summary of sources of support for training in the tourismindustry. It acts as a signposting resource for Destination Managers who are keen to engagetourism operators in training and development of staff.


• 2B Developing tourism partnerships• 2C Engaging tourism micro-businesses.

Introduction

Achieving sustainable destination management objectives relies heavily on the co-operation,participation and quality of local tourism businesses. Motivated, professional and fullyengaged businesses are necessary to ensure that visitors are welcomed and satisfied (andtherefore more likely to return) and that the maximum economic benefit is achieved for thelocal community. They are also a prerequisite for a business sector which fully embraces andcontributes to the environmental agenda.

Training and business advice can play an important role in raising theawareness/understanding of destination management objectives and enhancingskills/professionalism to enable businesses to contribute to sustainable goals.

What role can destination managers play?

There are many support agencies tasked to provide training and business advice/support,most addressing the needs of all types of business. However in general they achieverelatively modest penetration in the tourism sector. Some of the reasons for this aredescribed in component 2C and are associated with the small size of most tourismenterprises, their tendency to be totally immersed in the day to day businesses of operationto the exclusion of longer term planning, and a general apathy towards training andexternal advice.

Destination managers can play a vital role by working with support agencies to improveparticipation rates. They are well placed to achieve this because they are:

• in touch with local businesses and communities• engaged with local and sub-regional networks which can deliver local actions• able to relate directly to tourism and visitor-related businesses.

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What can training and business support achieve?

Training and business support activities can contribute to all four elements of the VICEmodel.

Welcoming, involving and satisfying visitors:

• marketing workshops to enable businesses to attract year round visitor markets• customer care courses to enhance visitor satisfaction• ambassador and visitor stewardship training, enabling operators to take pride in the local

heritage/environment and relay this to visitors.

Achieving a profitable and prosperous industry:

• one-to-one business advice tailored to, and targeted at, each tourism sector• training on aspects of recruiting and retaining quality staff who will provide a professional

service• business planning and marketing courses• IT and e-commerce related training linked to local destination management systems• training on the use of/benefits of consumer/market research and customer satisfaction

surveys, and how to undertake these.

Benefiting host communities:

• local destination benchmarking/auditing and community attitude surveys• training/workshops providing operators with the knowledge/means to develop local

supplier relationships, particularly suppliers of local food and drink• training and support which equips operators with the means to influence guests to spend

money and time in the local area thereby helping to sustain local services such as shops,pubs and public transport which benefit local people.

Protecting and enhancing the local environment:

• introducing training/business advice on the back of ‘green auditing/accreditation’ schemesfocusing on different aspects of operational practice, ie energy saving, waste disposal

• training linked to visitor payback initiatives• other training as part of Local Distinctiveness/Agenda 21 programmes.

The key support agencies

The prospect of setting up training and business support programmes can sound daunting.However, you are not alone; there are a multitude of different agencies out there lookingfor local partners to work with who have close business contacts. Funding for training coursedevelopment/delivery and business advice is also available in all parts of the country givencompliance with funding agency criteria. The key role for the destination manager is toidentify business needs, form partnerships with the key support agencies and secure theparticipation of local businesses through the establishment of local or sub-regional businessdevelopment schemes.



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Support for this type of activity may also come from other council departments; eg economicdevelopment, environmental health, planning, recreation, transport.

Key support agencies and potential partners

1 Learning and Skills Councils (LSCs)The key sub-regional agency for training support for the employed and unemployed. LSCsmanage a wide range of Government training schemes many of which are relevant to thetourism sector. All are ‘co-financers’ for European Social Fund, the main funding opportunityfor local and sub-regional sector specific training projects.

2 Business Links/Enterprise AgenciesOne-to-one business advice. In some cases tourism specific advice services but more oftengeneralists, which can limit take-up of advice by the tourism industry.

3 Regional Developments Agencies (RDAs)Overall responsible for the funding of LSCs and Business Link. Some RDAs are co-financersfor ESF in their own right, although the specific measures under which funding proposals for training can be submitted may be limited. Likely to prefer ‘regionally significant’ or sub-regional projects.

RDAs also have a range of other funding streams which may be relevant to tourismbusinesses support, in particular, the ‘Cluster Fund’.

4 Regional Tourist Boards (RTBs)All RTBs deliver training and business support to tourism businesses. One of the principleprogrammes is the Welcome to Excellence family of customer care programmes. Betweenthem, RTBs are the largest supplier of customer care courses to the industry in the country.Most RTBs employ a training manager and are prepared to tailor courses to fit into a local or sub-regional context.

Some RTBs, but not all, have been pro-active in establishing partnerships with localauthorities and support agencies to bid for ‘co-financing’ funding and this has been used to address a wide range of tourism training needs/skills gaps.

5 Sector Skills Councils (SSCs)SSCs are independent, UK-wide organisations developed by groups of influential employersin industry or business sectors of economic or strategic significance. SSCs are employer-ledand actively involve trade unions, professional bodies and other stakeholders in the sector.SSCs are licensed by the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, in consultation withMinisters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, to tackle the skills and productivity needsof their sector throughout the UK.

SSCs give responsibility to employers to provide leadership for strategic action to meet theirsector’s skills and business needs. In return they receive substantial public investment andgreater dialogue with government departments across the UK. This will enable sectoremployers to have a far greater impact on policies affecting skills and productivity, andincreased influence with education and training partners.



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Each SSC will agree sector priorities and targets with its employers and partners to addressfour key goals:

• reducing skills gaps and shortages• improving productivity, business and public service performance • increasing opportunities to boost the skills and productivity of everyone in the sector’s

workforce, including action on equal opportunities • improving learning supply, including apprenticeships, higher education and national

occupational standards

6 Springboard UKSpringboard UK (www.springboarduk.org.uk) is an organisation which promotes careers inhospitality, leisure, tourism and travel to a range of potential recruits and influencersthrough a network of centres across the UK. Its specialist careers service provides over 14,000people with free objective advice each year.

7 UK Onlineukonline.gov.uk is the easy way to access government services on the internet. It guides theuser through more than 900 government websites to get the information required quicklyand efficiently. It is a key part of the UK Online initiative.

8 Higher Education establishments

9 Education/business partnerships

Possible actions for destination managers

• Identify training and other support needs through consultation with local tourismindustry, community and environmental interests.

• Find out what initiatives/schemes/funding is available already by contacting key supportagencies listed above. Often agencies can adapt their programmes to fit localrequirements.

• Once your ideas have been firmed up, set up a meeting with the key players to explorethe opportunities for funding development and delivery of training. The funding criteriacan be complex and the administrative burden onerous. Working with other agencies withthe necessary expertise and administrative infrastructure is almost always the best option.Your ideas may readily be incorporated into wider programme bids.

• Make use of existing programmes/initiatives; eg Welcome Host or Green Advantage, whichcan serve Destination Management objectives. Work with support agencies totailor/enhance existing courses to fit local circumstances.

• Don’t refer to the term ‘training’ if it can be avoided. ‘Business development workshops’or ‘business seminars’ may be more appealing to local business operators.

• Try to establish training at times and places which are convenient for tourism businesses.Often a half-day session is preferable to a whole day away from the business for a busyproprietor/manager.



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recruitment onto courses and the course administration are clear. Venues and trainersneed to be cancelled in good time if course numbers fall below a minimum.

• Explore the opportunities for providing online back-up for training workshop sessions.

• Explore the opportunities with Business Links for tourism specific advice provision.

Case studies

Welcome to Excellence series of training programmesThe Welcome to Excellence series of training programmes is the most successful customerservice training initiative in the UK with over 200,000 people participating since the firstcourse was launched as the ‘Welcome’ courses in 1993.

Companies taking part range from small accommodation providers to larger organisationssuch as Bourne Leisure, The National Trust, De Vere Hotels, Marks and Spencer, CondorFerries, British Waterways and numerous public sector organisations.

There are now five one-day training programmes, which provide front-line staff andmanagers with the skills they need to provide high standards of service:

• Welcome Host Designed to improve standards of customer service given to visitors. • Welcome International Designed to give people working in the tourism/hospitality

industry greater confidence when meeting and greeting international visitors in anotherlanguage.

• Welcome All Designed to provide practical advice and guidance on service to customerswith disabilities and special needs. (Includes information on the Disability DiscriminationAct.)

• Welcome Management Designed to assist Managers and Supervisors who set the standardof customer care within their business and are responsible for leading a team of front-linestaff.

• Welcome Line Concentrates on improving customer service and sales through skilful useof the telephone.

In addition, there are sector specific customer care courses available which include WelcomeHost for Transport, Welcome to Health, Welcoming Walkers and Cyclists, Welcome Farmerand Welcome Host for Sport and Recreation. Other courses such as Marketing for SmallerBusinesses and Green Advantage have also been tailored for the tourism industry. To findout full details on all the courses listed, please contact the training department at your RTB.

To ensure the courses continue to meet the changing needs of both the industry and itscustomers, they are currently being redeveloped and were rebranded in 2002. In addition,Welcome E-business, a half-day course on the potential of the internet and email for tourismbusiness, is being launched in 2003. Participants who complete the courses successfully willbe awarded a badge and certificate as well as the new tailor-made support materials thataccompany each course.



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Welcome to Excellence courses are designed for new and more experienced employeesworking in:

• serviced or self-catering accommodation • holidays caravan and camping parks • visitor attractions • leisure, arts and entertainment centres • travel and transport • local authorities and Tourist Information Centre staff

Through Welcome to Excellence, people working in tourism have the opportunity to:

• achieve excellence in customer service • exceed guest needs and expectations • provide an environment where courtesy, helpfulness and a warm welcome are standard • focus and develop individual skills

The benefits of delivering quality customer service include:

• higher levels of repeat custom • vital word-of-mouth recommendations • improved staff recruitment and retention.

South Hams Green Tourism Business ClubSet up by South Hams District Council at the end of 2002. It was created following businessfeedback from the South Hams Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS) which assessesbusinesses on their environmental performance.

The main aims and benefits of the club include:

• free training events• bulk buying discounts for ‘green’ products• reciprocal marketing• the sharing of knowledge and experiences• free newsletters• free telephone/email support

Membership consists of GTBS award winners; however other interested businesses are alsoinvited to events which have so far proved to be very popular. The success of the club islinked to the fact that it is business led and the events organised are tailored around theirspecific needs.

Training events consist of a ‘green’ business case study followed by professional speakers onvarious topics including energy saving, waste minimisation and water use. There is always anopportunity for them to ‘ask the expert’ and also to participate in a discussion session.



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Links with other agencies to provide additional benefits to members such as online learningand business mentoring are all being investigated in order to broaden the range of benefitsoffered and to encourage more businesses onto the award scheme.

For more information, please contact: Sally Pritchard, Green Tourism OfficerSouth Hams District Council, Follaton House, Plymouth Road, Totnes, Devon TQ9 5NEtel: (01803) 861249; email [email protected]

Dorset and New Forest Tourism PartnershipBournemouth Borough Council is the lead body responsible for central administration forprogrammes, bidding and budget. Delivery is subcontracted to the Southern Tourist Board.



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Section 3 Destination development3B Promoting e-business

Introduction

What is e-business?

Maximising the effectiveness of your destination through ICT and e-business

Destination Management Systems

EnglandNet

Marketing your destination with the help of ICT

Effective use of ICT for websites

Getting visitors to your website

Other distribution channels

Why encourage your businesses to use e-business?

Sources of advice for tourism businesses


3B Promoting e-businessThis component will provide an overview of how information and communicationstechnology (ICT) and e-business can be employed to assist destination managementorganisations (DMOs) achieve greater sustainability. It will outline how a range oftechnology can be utilised by destinations, including destination management systems(DMSs), the internet and websites.


• 2B Developing tourism partnerships• 2C Engaging tourism micro-businesses• 3A SME training and business support• 3J Marketing.

Introduction

If tourism in your destination is to become truly sustainable it will need to attract sufficientvisitors over time, maximise repeat visitors, and manage its operations as efficiently as possible.Effective use of ICT is a key way of achieving this. Destinations should be aware of theopportunities offered by e-business. Recent research reveals that the internet and traditionalbrochures are now used in equal proportions by consumers when planning and bookingtheir holidays. The Travel Industry Association of America estimates that around 64 millionAmericans now research their travel options online (nua.com, Dec 2002). If a destination hasno presence on the internet, how will potential visitors know what it has to offer?

Effective use of ICT, however, is much more than simply having a website. Technology is atool that should be able to enhance operations across a DMO. It needn’t be complex, norexpensive, but whatever the scale, technology should be implemented with care and bebased around the objectives of an organisation.

This component cannot hope to cover all there is to know about e-business, or how to getyou online, but it will signpost you to sources of advice and guidance on the optionsavailable to you and your local operators.

What is e-business?

E-business is the way consumers and businesses interact using new technology such as theWorld Wide Web, mobile devices, and interactive television. It can include using technologythat leads to making a purchase offline, as well as purchasing goods and services online. TheWeb is the fastest growing promotion and sales mechanism available to business with accessto instant global markets 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The good news for destinationsis that travel and tourism is the fastest growing online business sector. ‘The most popularonline purchases in the UK in descending order are flights and holiday accommodation,event tickets, books/magazines and music.’ (nua.com Dec 17 2002).

3B PROMOTING E-BUSINESS


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Maximising the effectiveness of your destination thoughICT and e-business

The most important point to remember when looking at implementing anything new intoan organisation is how it can improve your business. New technology can be an incredibleindustry resource and e-business has the potential to permeate virtually every area of workof DMOs.

Destination Management Systems

Many destinations have an ICT-based DMS in place. DMSs come in a variety of shapes andsizes, but essentially they provide the infrastructure and foundation for the collection,storage, manipulation and distribution of information in all its forms, and for the transactionof reservations and other commercial activities. Typical uses of a DMS include:

• providing systems for use in a TIC, including accommodation booking, searching for andproviding information, ticket sales, retail sales support (including EPOS) and stock control

• supporting call centre activities• supporting the destination’s website• supporting an industry extranet (a website aimed specifically at tourism businesses in your

destination)• supporting kiosks or through-the-glass devices• providing a basis for database marketing/customer relationship management• providing content for distribution to regional and national tourism organisations• enabling the sale of tourism products, through online channels, generating revenue for

tourism businesses and the destination• providing content for hard copy brochures.

Specifying, procuring and installing a DMS will require a substantial amount of time, carefulplanning and project management. The DMO must have in place a strategy outliningprecisely what it wishes to achieve as an organisation.

When specifying the needs for a DMS, DMOs should seek guidance and advice. There are anumber of sources available:

• Tourist boards DMOs in England should contact their RTB, who will be able to provideinformation on the region’s ICT/e-business strategy in relation to EnglandNet (see below).In some instances, the RTB itself may be able to provide DMS services. In Wales andScotland the national VisitWales and VisitScotland initiatives are in place, and the WalesTourist Board and the Scottish Area Tourist Boards can give guidance to DMOs on these.

• Other DMOs Invaluable information can be gained from destinations which have alreadyimplemented a DMS.

• Impact Through IT A comprehensive set of guidelines on specifying, procuring andimplementing a DMS were produced by the English Tourist Board/England’s TourismTechnology Working Group in May 1999. An updated summary of the key principles wasput together in 2002 and is available from the RTBs.

• Tourism consultants Many destinations use the services of consultants to plan theirorganisation’s strategy for implementing ICT and e-business.

• DMS suppliers There are a number of companies who can supply DMSs. While they willnaturally favour their own products and services, they will have experience of workingwith DMOs and helping them meet their organisation’s needs.



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It should be noted that in some instances it may not be financially viable to implement a full-scale DMS. It may be that a bespoke database can handle your needs efficiently without youhaving to procure a full DMS. Nevertheless, the principles behind running a DMS can beapplied to any destination. Although there are many benefits to installing an all-encompassingDMS, this is not the only option. Sector-specific software packages are available, (for exampleconference software) and in some instances these may be more appropriate for a destinationinstead of or in addition to a DMS.

DMSs have been successfully implemented in individual cities and towns, cross-countypartnerships, counties and regions. If it makes sense from an operational or marketingperspective, there may be benefits to procuring a DMS jointly with one or more neighbouringdestinations. This option can have very strong benefits for some destinations, as the cost ofimplementing and maintaining the system can be shared between partners.

EnglandNet

EnglandNet is an initiative set up jointly between England’s RTBs and the national touristboard for England. It is not a DMS in itself, but will provide the infrastructure and services towork with existing and new systems in destinations and regions in order to provide a rangeof services to both tourism consumers and the tourism industry. EnglandNet’s services can bebroadly defined into three main categories:

• Community services Designed to facilitate the exchange of information betweenconsumers and industry groups, the first example of this is ENTICE (England’s NationalTourist Information Centre Extranet). ENTICE provides the mechanisms for enhancedcommunication between RTBs, destinations and TICs through online forums and diaries. It also allows TICs to access and update online information such as the TIC directory, usefulcontacts and TIC suppliers.

• Content management EnglandNet will facilitate the collection, aggregation anddistribution of tourism product and customer data from a variety of sources. For example,it has created open data standards for the exchange of product information betweenDMSs and regional data repositories, allowing data that is collected at a destination levelto be distributed through regional and national channels (for example VisitBritain).

• E-commerce services EnglandNet will create e-commerce mechanisms that will allow the online purchasing of a range of tourism products. This service will be available todestinations and regions to incorporate this into existing services (for example websites)and in addition to providing savings in the cost of developing such a service, will offercompetitive rates for commission and bank merchant costs.

EnglandNet is not a consumer brand, and will not provide any consumer services itself.EnglandNet’s services will be delivered through England’s regional and national tourismorganisations. For further information, destinations in England should contact their RTBwhere an appointed EnglandNet project manager is available to answer any of yourquestions. Destinations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should contact their Area Tourist Board, Wales Tourist Board and Northern Ireland Tourist Board respectively with regard to the national initiatives taking place in their countries.



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Marketing your destination with the help of ICT

As with all forms of marketing, a sound marketing strategy should be in place before anyfurther details are considered. Electronic marketing can take a number of forms includingnot only websites, but also kiosks, digital TV and mobile devices. These can all use contentfrom a DMS as its core (this is often preferable, but not necessarily essential).

The internet, the World Wide Web … what’s the difference?

The web is made up of hundreds of millions of pages stored on millions of computersscattered around the world, all joined together by links and viewed through a web browser.A web browser is the programme installed on your computer that allows you to view webpages. The internet is a collection of computer networks linked together to form onemassive computer network. An Internet Service Provider (ISP) gives you access to thisinfrastructure, on which are contained the web pages.

Every destination is different, and therefore what works for one may not necessarily workfor another. A solution that fits a city with a strong well-established brand may be verydifferent from that of a smaller rural destination that may not be so well known.

Virtually all destinations currently have some form of presence on the web. Some DMOs havea dedicated tourism website (or more than one), many have a tourism section on the localauthority site, and some have a joint site with other destinations in their area.

As stated above, a website is simply a marketing channel, and must therefore follow yourorganisation’s marketing strategy. Therefore, if your destination differentiates betweenspecific products and markets in its strategy, it should consider how these are differentiatedonline too. This might mean, for example, a separate site for conferences to your leisuremarket, or alternatively, distinct sections within one site.

Developing a website with another destination may be an attractive option if it is operationally,financially and strategically viable. This is especially the case where this would better reflecta brand that is well recognised by the consumer.

Effective use of ICT for websites

It is important that website content is kept up to date and the key is to have a mechanismthat can allow easy and regular updating to be done, either by the DMO or the organisationresponsible for that element of content, and to have an operational structure in place toensure this is carried out.

There are a number of different types of content that typically make up a destinationwebsite. These would include:

• product content (eg accommodation establishments, attractions, events,restaurants/cafés/bars, conference venues; and services such as doctors or garages) This information is often (but not always) collected and maintained by the DMO.

• editorial/motivational content (eg images and general descriptions of the destination) It is recommended that this is undertaken by the DMO itself.



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• third party sourced content (eg weather information from the Met Office, maps fromStreetmap) product content may also be sourced from third parties, such as tourist boards.

These different types of content will be maintained in different ways. For example, the mostefficient way of maintaining the product content of a website is for it to be driven from theproduct database of the destination’s DMS. It should then be the case that any changes thatare made in the DMS are instantly seen on the website. Editorial/motivational content islikely to be maintained through a ‘content management’ application provided by the websitedeveloper, or the software that it was built on. With regard to third party sourced content,the most important criteria is that it is from a reliable source, and that you can trust thequality of the data.

It is important to consider what services your website will have. Listed below are just someservices that are incorporated into tourism websites.

• Database-driven content An efficient method of getting information about tourism product onto a website is to get a feed from a database. As mentioned above, if you have a DMS in place, thentypically this content would come from there. There are all-round benefits of databasedriven content, in addition to the benefits of efficiency already referred to, it will alsoallow the content to be sorted by various criteria, either imposed by the destination, ormore commonly, by the user of the website based on their preferences; eg search by priceor by rating.

• Customer contact facilityMost websites have the facility to allow users to make contact with specificquestions/comments. In terms of tourism websites, the questions are likely to refer topotential visitors and their plans, and therefore can be a very useful facility. You should be aware of two points: firstly, that visitors will also use this method of communication forany complaints they have; and secondly, that whatever their reason for contact, will expecta quick response (an acknowledgement within 24 hours would be reasonable).

• Online purchasingThe demand to purchase products online continues to grow, with travel and tourismproducts being a key area. Flights, car rental, rooms at large corporate hotels are examplesof products that can be widely purchased online. However, at present, the ability topurchase a room in a B&B or a ticket to a local event is still the exception rather than thenorm. Destinations can procure e-commerce systems either as part of, or to interface withtheir DMS, but these can be costly and will require the support of your tourism businesses.There are a number of decisions that must be made by destinations who want to enterthis arena, two of the key ones being:

– The ‘scale’ of online purchasing – ‘real time’ online purchasing with credit cardauthorisation and payment being the most complex, and will require allocations ofrooms, tickets, etc. from product providers. Many destinations have adopted a systemwhereby product providers give an indication of the availability of product, which isconfirmed by a telephone call (often automated) to the provider at the point of purchase.

– Whether to go it alone, or to work with others – going it alone means you can specifyexactly what you want and have maximum control, but can be very costly and ultimatelyout of reach of most destinations. EnglandNet, VisitWales and VisitScotland will be able



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to offer this facility to destinations at a substantially reduced rate, and is therecommended route for destinations wanting to take this step.

Getting visitors to your website

It cannot be assumed that by simply having a website, people will automatically look at it.There are many ways to promote your website, and thus increase the chances of potentialtourists visiting it.

• Ensure your site is linked to from other sites Regional/area tourist board and nationaltourism sites, such as VisitBritain, provide links to destination websites, often at no cost. Ifyour site isn’t linked from these, you should contact the relevant organisation. The BritishResorts Association and Tourism Management Institute offer space on their websites too.

• Have a name and web address (URL) that is easy to remember Many destinations haveadopted the ‘Visit’ protocol; eg VisitBrighton.com; VisitBristol.co.uk. Anyone who doesn’twork in a local authority (ie most tourists) are unlikely to think of putting ‘.gov.uk’ at theend of the name of the destination they plan to visit. However, it is important to have aprominent link from your local authority website, even if your destination is not localauthority owned, in case people go there by accident.

• Optimise your performance on search engines/directories It is important to come high up in the list of results of the popular search engines, such as Google and directories suchas Yahoo! in order that potential tourists find your website, and hence your information,above that of other websites. This can be done ‘in house’, by whoever is responsible forthe hosting of your website, or by a third party.

• Ensure you use the name/address of your website in all your other publicity Include thewebsite address in advertising, brochures and on all on corporate stationery. It is also worthasking other organisations to display your web address in their publicity when telling peoplewhere to go for further information, for example local hotels and transport services.

• Develop an integrated marketing strategy Combine new media marketing with ‘drive tothe web’ campaigns using traditional methods.

Other distribution channels

Digital TVDigital TV, in this context, is essentially another means for consumers to research andpurchase products, including tourism. Over 30% of the UK population has digital TV, and theservices of Sky, NTL and Telewest all have interactive functionality, which allows viewers tobrowse information and make purchases. It is possible for destinations to have a dedicatedlocal TV channel which carries tourism content from their DMS and is accessible to visitorsstaying in the destination’s hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs.

KiosksElectronic kiosks positioned in prominent areas within your destination can provide a fastand efficient means to get information to visitors 24 hours a day. As with websites, it is vitalthat the information displayed is up to date all of this time. Therefore a mechanism toensure this needs to be in place. Feeding content from your DMS is a recommended route.The physical position of a kiosk is also a key – it needs to be secure and in a place which



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attracts a sufficient flow of visitors. You should consider practical issues too: will the kiosk beaccessible to a user in a wheelchair? Will the sun shine directly onto the screen making it unreadable? Will it be checked and cleaned regularly?

Mobile devicesMobile phones have become an integral part of everyday life, with new and better functionsbeing developed all the time. Text message advertising, for example, has already beenadopted by companies in order to communicate with existing and potential customers.Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs, hand held devices; eg palm Pilots) and forthcoming mobilephones may be a viable distribution channel for tourism content, which again, can be drivenby content from your DMS.

Why encourage your businesses to use e-business?

Many of your local operators may not be aware of the benefits of e-business. Encouragingyour local businesses to adopt appropriate e-business principles would not only benefitthem, but also support the work that you are doing as a DM. The regional and nationaltourism organisations are actively promoting the benefits of e-business to the tourismproviders in their region and there is already a wealth of information available to them tohighlight how they can benefit from it and use it to improve their own business performance.It may be to the benefit of destinations, regional and national tourism organisations to worktogether on e-business promotion within your destination through a set of initiatives.

Questions local operators may ask include ‘Why should I put my business on the internet?’and ‘How will new technology improve my profits?’ There are several reasons why you maywish to encourage them to invest in e-business:

• It’s another promotional tool and the more market exposure your business has, the morebusiness you are likely to generate.

• Many tourism businesses have already adopted e-business and any provider who has notinvestigated it may be losing out on potential custom.

• Use of the internet is continuing to grow and not only are travellers using it more andmore to research and book their trips, businesses are using it increasingly to conduct theiraffairs, such as ordering and purchasing of supplies.

• Websites are very cost-effective way of promoting a wealth of up-to-date informationabout your business, for example by running special promotions out of season.

• Email is an extremely efficient means of communicating as you are able to contactmultiple customers instantly with any form of information you feel is appropriate.

• As e-business is adopted by tourism organisations such as NTOs, RTBs and destinations,local operators will need to have the ways and means to benefit from the servicesprovided.

• Being online will allow access to a wealth of cost-effective local, regional and nationalsales and marketing channels.

What are the options?

As with implementing ICT in your organisation, the same considerations need to be made by the tourism businesses within. The following options are not a comprehensive list, butoutline some benefits that your local providers can get from effective use of ICT.



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• Email Encouraging your local operators to set themselves up with email will allow themto communicate with yourself, other tourism organisations and contacts using thisplatform. They can also collect the email addresses of their existing customers in order tosend them out the latest information about special offers, new products or promotionalpackages (in accordance with the Data Protection Act.)

• Promotion on other websites There are many websites available to tourism businesses,which offer another means of promotion including whatever you are able to offer. Byencouraging them to have a presence on as many reputable sites as possible (for examplethe RTB and VisitBritain), they are maximising their exposure on the web and in turn thatof your destination.

• Developing their own website The advantages of this are the same as they are for yourdestination. Although the site content is likely to be very different, depending on the sizeand type of operator, the same considerations have to be made in terms of content, andkeeping that content up to date. It needn’t be costly for them either, and the next sectionoffers advice on where to go to get started.

• Using the internet There is a wealth of information on the internet available for yourlocal tourism businesses to use and take advantage of. The potential is huge, but they areable to seek advice from tourism organisations and trade bodies, participate in onlinecommunities where they can discuss topics with like minded business owners and potentialcustomers, and investigate what similar tourism businesses are doing.

Sources of advice for tourism businesses

• Go for IT The net benefits for tourism, produced by UK Online for business in associationwith the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and the English Tourism Council,published July 2002. This resource is aimed at small and micro businesses in the tourismindustry introducing them to tourism e-business. It is written for those who have little orno knowledge of the subject in an easy to follow step by step guide. A video and CD-ROMcontaining case studies of tourism businesses that have benefited from investing intechnology complements the printed pack. For further information, or to order a freecopy, call 0845 715 2000 or visit www.ukonlineforbusiness.gov.uk/tourism

• UK online for business A network of business advisers who work throughout the UK inpartnership with Business Links in England and the equivalent in Scotland, Wales andNorthern Ireland, their job is to give small businesses independent expert advice onmaking the most of e-business. They also produce a range of free publications in hardcopy or downloadable formats. The topics covered include:

– Top Tips for selling from your website– Doing business electronically– Supplying electronically– How trading online can work for you

For further information please visit www.ukonlineforbusiness.gov.uk, or call the helpline on 0845 715 2000.



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http://www.ukonlineforbusiness.gov.uk/tourism

http://www.ukonlineforbusiness.gov.uk

• Tourist Boards Businesses in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can seek advicefrom RTBs, ATBs, Wales Tourist Board and Northern Ireland Tourist Board respectively.

• Welcome E-business The overall objective of this new course, to be launched in Spring2003, is to give business owners/employees an understanding of the key aspects of e-business. The course will be delivered via the RTBs in England.

• Learndirect Learndirect offers a variety of online courses and factsheets covering a rangeof topics applicable to small businesses. Through the national network of local learndirectcentres, there are experts on hand to provide learning to help businesses be moreefficient. www.learndirect-business.co.uk, 08000 150 750.

• Trade Associations Trade associations, such as the British Hospitality Association (BHA),the British Holiday Homes and Parks Association (BHHPA), and the British Association ofLeisure Parks, Piers and Attractions (BALPPA) are another source of advice and guidance to their members.

• Colleges Local further and higher education colleges often run evening classes anddaytime courses, some specifically for tourism businesses.



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http://www.learndirect-business.co.uk

Section 3 Destination development3C Developing sustainable visitor transport

Introduction

Transport solutions as an alternative to the car

The tourism travel market

Developing tourism transport plans

First impressions

Visitor management at the destination

The role of buses and coaches

Adding value through transport to the tourism experience

Walking and cycling

Incorporating solutions

Promotion of transport objectives

Key determinants of success and failure

Case studies

Further reference



This component outlines the transport issues that need to be taken into account whenplanning for tourism at the destination level. It will assist destination managers draw uptourism transport plans, which in addition to local and regional transport plans can helpinform visitor management plans.


• 2A Addressing tourism within local authorities• 2D Tourism and the planning system: gaining value locally• 2E Developing visitor management plans.

Introduction

Tourism depends on transport. A holiday, short break or day trip should be not onlyenjoyable in itself but enhanced by the travelling involved in getting there and back.Tourism represents a significant percentage of all journeys undertaken, and the need for a safe and efficient transport system and infrastructure to facilitate this is paramount.

Roads reach all areas of England and offer flexibility but they also carry by far the greatestnumber of users. Road congestion occurs in cities, national parks, resorts, market towns,strategic corridors and elsewhere. It is usually worse during morning and evening peaks,when more vehicles compete for limited road space.

The car continues to account for an increasing proportion of all journeys, tourist orotherwise, but current levels of growth in car use are simply not sustainable – alternativesneed to be made more readily available that are attractive, reliable, affordable, integrated,user-friendly and safe.

Transport solutions as an alternative to the car

This handbook component demonstrates to destination managers alternative transportsolutions that, if made available, can offer alternatives to reduce dependence on the car. By seeing the benefits of these, visitors can factor such alternatives into their transportaspirations and be encouraged to make greater use of public transport. This should beincorporated into local transport plans, as well as being demonstrably sustainable.

The benefits of car-free leisure can include:

• protecting the peace, tranquillity and natural beauty of the countryside• protecting the historic character of towns and villages• greater usage of public transport networks for visitors and the community• greater usage of walking and cycling routes for visitors and the community• creating a marketing edge by promoting the destination as a place that can be readily

explored without a car• creating economic benefits by appealing to new tourist markets through all of the above.

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The challenge is considerable however, and requires co-ordinated and sustained effort by a range of stakeholders to make public transport more attractive. Issues needing to beaddressed include:

• a perceived lack of reliable services• a perceived high cost in comparison to the car• a pricing structure that is often confusing, with one-way fares appearing to be an

expensive anomaly in the plethora of alternative return fares• limited opportunities for through-ticketing outside London and major centres• provision for holiday luggage is often inadequate, difficult or awkward for older or

disabled people to use• data on the internet is not an adequate replacement for other sources of information.

Currently, tourists away from home have limited access to Internet information andbooking services

• improved integration between rail and bus services is also desirable.

The key lies in reducing the number of car trips – to and within destinations – byencouraging existing visitors to use alternative modes of transport and by attracting newkinds of visitors. To tackle this issue, visitors’ transport needs should be incorporated intolocal transport plans. These can also be used to make the case for obtaining adequatefunding, as well as highlighting their cross-sectoral nature in terms of requiring co-ordinatedmanagement. Other improvements could include enabling a wider range of agents to selltickets at rail and bus stations, TICs and other outlets away from the stations themselves toencourage greater use.

The tourism travel market

Certain groups of visitor can be persuaded more easily to make leisure journeys (particularlyday trips) without a car than other types of journey. Some types of visitors are also morelikely to use public transport than others, or are more likely to be responsive to the conceptof car-free travel. These include:

• Non-car owners – 28% of households do not have a car, including half of lower incomehouseholds

• Overseas visitors – seven out of ten overseas visitors arrive without a car• Persuadable car drivers – up to a third of people say that they would like to travel

less by car• Day trippers – local markets are more cost-effective and local day trips are important for

those on lower incomes• Short-break visitors – short breaks offer significant opportunities for car-free packages.

Luggage can be less of an issue in such circumstances.

Developing tourism transport plans

It is important to consider the position of the visitor – understanding his/her perceptions and feelings when arriving for the first time at, or travelling around, the destination. Considerations include:

• first impressions• visitor management at the destination



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• the role of buses and coaches• adding value through transport to the tourism experience• and walking and cycling.

First impressions

Arriving at a destination for the first time can be difficult. The benefits of arriving by public transport include not having to navigate or find a place to park. However, arriving by public transport is not necessarily problem-free, and visitors’ first impressions and theirperceptions of car-free travel will depend on the ease with which they can make the finallink of their journey.

Issues to consider include:

• Luggage – public transport is often not well equipped to cater for passengers with largeamounts of luggage, particularly at interchanges or in terms of storage facilities.

• Cycle carriage – conditions for carrying cycles on many trains and buses leaves much to bedesired, and could become an even bigger irritant with the growth in interest in cycling.

• Accessibility for all – public transport services should be accessible for all members of thecommunity. Disabled access can also benefit other user groups such as parents with youngchildren. It is in the interests (not least because it is a legal requirement) of operators andpassengers to ensure that transport services are accessible to all potential passengers,regardless of their disability.

• Meet and greet – wherever possible, staff assistance should be available to provideinformation and guidance as well as porterage. The presence of staff is also morereassuring for passengers concerned about safety. Free telephone information lines, clear signage and timetable displays can also be valuable.

• Making the last link – public transport rarely provides a door-to-door service. If this is the case, it is important to provide and promote local public transport links, local taxi andcollection services (which can be booked in advance), and cycling and walking routes.

Visitor management at the destination

While the ability to reach the destination is obviously crucial, travelling around thedestination area can also give rise to a range of issues and opportunities.

Tourism-related transport, notably car and coach traffic, can have a considerable impact onthe local environment. Consideration needs to be given to all the options in developingplanning and management approaches to minimise adverse effects.

A range of initiatives can be considered to manage local road network capacity and toencourage alternatives to using the car in enjoying local areas. These include:

• encouragement to use existing rail and bus services in the area. Ideas to help this can befound in the following pages

• provision of leisure bus services providing access to walking or other activities• adding value to public transport routes by developing activities or facilities of interest

to the visitor along the route• park and ride schemes• development of cycling and walking trails, allowing off-road exploration and enjoyment

of the countryside• provision of cycle hire facilities.



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The role of buses and coaches

Bus and coach travel accounts for almost 10% of tourism trips. The coach and bus networkreaches into areas that have long since lost their rail connections, providing access to thoseareas for people without cars. It offers good value compared with competing travel costs,with fares typically one-third less than their rail equivalents.

Coaches and buses are also energy efficient. Well-maintained express models were identifiedby the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution as the ‘most energy efficient mode oflong-distance transport’. In terms of the passenger equivalent, one coach can carry 12 timesthe number of people compared to the car, and thus makes a significant contribution toreducing overall pollution and demand for road space.

However, coach and bus sectors have suffered from image problems. Misconceptions can beameliorated by:

• Better communications between coach/bus operators and tourism officers – in localdestination areas this should lead to better information and liaison.

• Keeping it simple – try to build on established routes because too many timetablecomplexities will deter use.

• Strategic routes – concentrating on a small number of key routes linking accommodationwith attractions can have more immediate impact than promoting whole networks.

• Visible buses – if visitors don’t see buses and bus stops, they are less likely to be aware ofavailable bus services. Encourage route branding.

• Easy-to-use maps – in urban areas, where services are frequent, schematic colour routemaps can be effective.

• Accessibility – make services available to as many people as possible, using symbols andlarge, high contrast, print. Work with disabled access groups to solve their transportdifficulties.

• Value for money – rover tickets for one or more days, joint transport and admissiontickets, discounts at attractions and ‘hail and ride’ services in rural areas can increase theattractiveness of car-free travel.

• Good connections – changing is often inevitable. Make sure that changes occur at placeswhere there are cafés, information centres and other attractions to turn them into anenjoyable part of the trip.

The Transport Act 2000 makes provision for ‘Quality Bus Partnerships’ which can be madestatutory. Under these agreements, local authorities, bus operators and other partners investtogether in improved services.

Adding value through transport to the tourism experience

Leisure visitors are actively looking for enjoyment. Making the journey enjoyable is aneffective way of persuading visitors to travel without their cars. Separating people from theircars is not easy, but there are opportunities, particularly if the alternative provision addsvalue to the tourism experience. Key characteristics of such schemes should include:

• Easier or only option to use in reaching the intended destination – for example, where public transport provision is linked to road closure or restricted parking provision at the destination.



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• Interesting or unusual forms of transport – ranging from steam trains and trams to oldbuses and horse-drawn vehicles.

• Additional experience – whereby the journey by public transport offers an extra, such asentertainment or an interpretative commentary.

The degree to which people can be persuaded to use such services will also depend onperceived awareness of the opportunity, the quality and availability of the service and howfar the service is attuned to the needs of the visitor. In the best examples, the journey itself is an attraction, such as a ride on a steam railway, water-driven lift or classic bus or tram.

Walking and cycling

In 2001, 24% of holidays by UK residents to England involved walking for at least two miles.Walking was also the main activity on 15% of day trips. There are fewer cycling trips,although the Government has made a commitment to boost cycling by 2010.

Walking and cycling are excellent ways to explore urban and rural destinations and offervisitors benefits such as:

• a more relaxing pace• greater enjoyment of their surroundings and a chance to see things more closely• the flexibility to detour or stop easily• ability to avoid difficulties with parking.

WalkingHalf of British adults regularly take recreational walks, most of them spontaneously andwithout using a map or guidebook. Despite extensive rights of way, the walking productoften falls below people’s expectations due to factors such as poor signposting andinformation, a lack of route maintenance, traffic on road links and a lack of routes in theright places. As a result, this huge opportunity remains relatively untapped.

Actions for increasing the number of walking trips include:

• Accessing the walking network – with user assistance, auditing can help to identify gaps in the network. The London Walking Forum has developed a national routeevaluation and classification system (see www.londonwalking.com or phone 020 7582 4071for details)

Consider surfacing key routes for those with pushchairs and the disabled, puttingdestinations and distances on signposts and grading paths.

• Tackling traffic – greenways, quiet roads and speed restrictions (see below) can make roadsbetween footpaths safer and more attractive to walkers

• Walkers welcome – schemes can encourage businesses to provide for walkers’ specialneeds, increase business and encourage walkers to be sensitive to other users

• Walkable cities – attractive pedestrian environments encourage visitors to stay longer.Consider clear signage, self-guided trails, wide walkways, attractive seating, etc.

CyclingExperience from the UK and overseas suggests that there is considerable latent demand andthat providing a good cycling infrastructure stimulates use. Strongest growth is predicted in



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http://www.londonwalking.com

leisure day cycling trips (from home or while on holiday) by infrequent or occasional cyclists,and in cycling short breaks based in one centre. Aspects to consider in developing cycletourism are:

• Improving the cycling network – traffic is the major deterrent so look to develop andpromote networks of traffic-free cycleways, quiet roads for casual cyclists, networks ofbridleways and special mountain-bike routes.

• Maps and leaflets – route maps should be easy to use and provide information on facilitiesen route.

• Cycle carriage – poor facilities for carrying cycles on trains and buses deters cycle tourism.Consider buses adapted to carry cycles and making special arrangements with trainoperating companies.

• Hire repair and rescue – hire facilities are important to attract new people to try cycling.Repair and rescue can give a feeling of security, especially to the inexperienced.

• Cyclists welcome – schemes can encourage businesses to provide for cyclists’ special needs,increase business and encourage cyclists to be sensitive to other users.

• Cycle parking and storage – secure cycle parking can be provided cheaply at pubs, cafés,attractions, etc. Consider luggage lockers or left-luggage facilities for people travellingwithout cars.

• Conflict with walkers – an increase in cycle use on bridleways can cause dissatisfactionamong walkers who don’t recognise or understand cyclists’ rights of access. Considereducation, signage and some segregated routes.

Recent fund allocations for local transport have included substantial increases in investmentfor cycling. As a result, most local authorities must set ambitious targets to increase cycle use.

In February 2000, the Cyclists’ Touring Club (CTC) launched a new initiative to usebenchmarking to support UK local authorities in the implementation of their cycling policies.This entails assessing policy and practice to determine what encourages cycling, andanalysing best-practice operations. It considers all aspects of cycling policy, from promotionto engineering design, and from training to cycle path maintenance.

The overall objectives of the CTC project are to:

• develop and manage a network of local authorities• agree a set of measurable performance indicators• identify best practice in cycling policy through peer review• develop and monitor the implementation of action plans• disseminate and publicise the results.

Contact details for CTC can be found at the end of this component.

Incorporating solutions

If travel demand is to be met, more effort will be needed to encourage tourists to usealternatives to the car. This requires:

• investment in public transport infrastructure, vehicles and service, often through public-private partnership. Greater investment should also facilitate the take-up of quality standards



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• improved travel information, potentially linked to associated information onaccommodation and attractions

• user-friendly public transport, including better interchanges, improved accessibility, well-trained staff, convenient connections, joint ticketing and combined travel-attractionpackages

• greater strategic and operational co-operation between public and private organisationsin the transport and tourism sectors. Tourists’ travel requirements must be clearly takeninto account in transport policies, plans and operations.

Investment schemes, market developments, technological improvements, policies andinitiatives are successfully increasing transport efficiency and containing or reducing adverseenvironmental impact. These include:

• new park and ride operations• through ticketing• real-time train and bus information• Internet and phone-based timetable information• electronic signs and other traffic management measures• new cycling and walking trails.

Promotion of transport objectives

It is absolutely paramount that, in developing and implementing recommendations putforward in this section, the benefits of sustainable tourism transport are promoted to theuser (visitor). Clear promotion and marketing is needed to raise awareness of alternativetransport options and incentives, including:

• price incentives – discounts for those arriving by public transport or combined reduced-price tickets

• targeted promotions aimed at holiday accommodation and people living close to publictransport routes that serve the attraction

• packages for day and staying visitors and discounts for tour and coach operators.

Ensure that public transport is included in marketing materials and actively promote contactdetails for public transport services.

Key determinants of success and failure

These are principal handbook tips for tourism transport initiative success:

• Integrate tourism transport planning into local transport plans.• Involve all of the key players including transport planners, tourism organisations,

conservation organisations, development agencies, public transport operators, cycling andwalking organisations, local communities and disabled access groups.

• Agree a project area and shared objectives to develop a detailed strategy for creatingcoherent networks, reducing the impact of traffic and promoting green tourism.

• Investigate and seek to secure sources of adequate funding. These may include:



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– Highways Authority as part of its local transport plan funding– Rural Bus Grant, Rural Bus Challenge Fund and the Rural Transport Partnership Fund– Rail Passenger Partnership for innovative schemes that attract passengers from the car

and integrate rail with other forms of transport– Single Regeneration Budget and European structural funds in which schemes are linked

to economic development through sustainable tourism.

Funding information can be found at www.fundinginformation.org.

Continue to consult with stakeholders, the community and visitors to manage reactions todevelopments. Tourism and transport is not a fixed medium – the issues are constantlyevolving. It is vital to keep abreast of developments via ongoing dialogue and to constantlysee where improvements can be made.

Case studies

Moorsbus provides services within and to the North York Moors National Park from nearbyTeesside, Darlington, York and Hull. Now in its 16th year, Moorsbus carries 27,000 passengersa year, saving over 350,000 car miles and providing park access to 17,000 people who don’thave access to a car.

Moorsbus aims to rival the car in comfort, reliability and cost by:

• providing frequent services, a hail-and-ride service and 30-minute stops at maininterchanges so that passengers can look around

• providing co-ordinators at key interchanges, who are equipped with mobile phones tohelp passengers find the right bus, to reassure and troubleshoot

• using a schematic route map and the easily recognisable Moorsbus logo on all buses and bus stops

• operating an easy-to-use timetable• offering competitive fares (all day travel for £2.50 or £5 for longer distances), discounts at

shops, restaurants and attractions, and £1 off for motorists using national park car parks• running publicity campaigns including suggestions for days out.

The Bittern Line Community Partnership is promoted by Norfolk County Council to increaseuse of the Norwich to Sheringham railway line by local residents, businesses and visitors. Thepartnership includes Anglia Railways, Railtrack, East of England Development Agency, theNational Trust and county, district, town and parish councils.

With a budget of £25,000-£30,000 a year and 15% of an officer’s time, the partnership’sinnovative package of measures to attract leisure users includes:

• competitively priced rover tickets (£5 adult, £4 OAP, £3 child)• 20p add-on fare for buses in Norwich• free use of the Coast Hopper summer bus service



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• through-tickets connecting to the Bure Valley and North Norfolk steam railways• a joint ticket for the Bittern Line, steam railways and admission to National Trust

properties (Blickling and Fellbrigg Halls)• a specially modified carriage with bookable cycle spaces at £1 each• the connecting North Walsham ‘Flexibus’ service (offering advance booking, guaranteed

connections and door-to-door service)• other connecting bus services• ‘Off the Bittern Track’ walks pack (retails for £2 but free with a Bittern Line ticket)• ‘Around the Bittern Track’ cycle routes guide (retails for £1 but free with a cycle booking)• cycle hire at stations and cyclists’ repair and rescue service for Bittern Line ticket holders.

The Lake District Transport Strategy was agreed in 1996 after widespread publicconsultation. This is underpinned by a vision of: “a sustainable regeneration of the entiretransport system, integrating social, environmental and economic needs in equal measure.”A detailed transport study on the south-east approaches to the Lake District was published inlate 1999. This described the extent of traffic impacts and considered the perception of localsand visitors to travel in the area. A ‘gateway’ proposal is part of a wider package of strategicmeasures recommended to regenerate the transport network. This is a facility that offersdrivers the choice of parking their car and completing their trip to the Lake District by othermeans of transport; regular shuttle bus, cycling or walking. Parking for 250-500 cars wouldbe provided to attract approximately 10% of visitors arriving by car at a weekend. Otherinitiatives include:

• enhancement of train services• integration between train, bus, cycle, walking and lake transport with promotion

and ticketing initiatives• tourism signing that encourages visitors to use the most appropriate roads and

transport gateways• changes to car parking management.

Cambridge Park and Ride Scheme The Cambridge Park and Ride Scheme is a partnership between Cambridgeshire CountyCouncil, Cambridge County Council and Stagecoach Cambus offering four park and ride sites in the city with a capacity to accommodate 2500 cars. It aims to ‘provide a quick,cheap alternative way of getting into Cambridge city for commuters who enjoy stress-freetravel and beat the queues, while visitors and shoppers take the direct route to the heart of the city’.

The facility provides free all day parking, and fares can be paid on the bus. Various fares areoffered including Day Returns, Day Riders and 7-Day Mega Riders. Both the Day Rider and 7-Day Mega Rider tickets offer unlimited travel on the Park and Ride services and otherStagecoach Cambus routes across the city. A financial incentive is also offered to those withchildren as up to two children can travel free with any fare-paying adult.



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There are many benefits for the partners involved and the visitors who use the CambridgePark and Ride scheme.

• The visitors are provided with cheap and easy parking and reduced congestion in theCambridge means a more attractive destination.

• Although not a solution in itself, the park and ride scheme provides a cost-effective andenvironmentally friendly way of alleviating the congestion problems.

For further information contact Cambridgeshire County Council on 01223 717111.

Purbeck Heritage CommitteeNorden Park and Ride opened in 1995 as part of an overall transport strategy to reduce caruse in the Purbeck area of Dorset. In 1998 approximately 25,000 cars used the car park, themajority of whom were taking a trip on the Swanage steam railway, thereby reducing thenumber of cars using the busy A351 through Corfe Castle to Swanage.

The site, a former clay spoil heap, has been specifically designed to be as sustainable and asenvironmentally friendly as possible. The building was made using local materials – naturalPurbeck stone and cob walling, the car parking area has a grass surface and the toilets usean anaerobic digestion system to minimise the amount of waste produced.

Visit the Northumberland Coast by Bus Campaign A leaflet was produced with the aim of encouraging visitors to help the environment bytravelling along the coast by bus rather than travelling by car. The leaflet was produced inpartnership with Arriva bus company and the Countryside Agency, for display at bus stations,linked to posters internal and external on the buses. The leaflet contains a 50p discount on alocal Explorer ticket.

For further information contact Tom Cadwallender, Northumberland County Council, CountyHall, Morpeth, Northumberland, NE61 3TZ

East Lancashire Railway The East Lancashire Railway has adopted sustainable tourism principles such as clearingcontaminated land and developing it as new stations and gardens. It has also played a keyrole in attracting tourism to revitalise local towns along the railway. It is an example ofsuccessful public and private ownership operating with a volunteer workforce. The EastLancashire Railway won the Sustainable Tourism Award at the ETC’s England for ExcellenceAwards 2000.

For further information write to 4 Grange Lane, Newton, Preston, PR4 3RS



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yStockport Council is helping businesses in two areas of the borough to draw up ‘green’travel plans. March 2002. Ian Goodwin, the Council’s new Green Travel Plan Co-ordinator, islooking at the transport needs of small and medium-sized businesses in the Brinnington andSouth Reddish areas, to encourage more businesses to use sustainable modes of transportsuch as walking, cycling and public transport.

As road traffic is predicted to grow nationally by a third in the next 20 years, Ian is alsoupdating local businesses on the latest government legislation and the related tax issues. Tohelp businesses in Brinnington and South Reddish, Ian has produced a ‘green’ advice andinformation pack - called the Stockport Sustainable Travel Initiative - for employees andemployers. Sections cover public transport, cycling, walking, alternative fuels and greenermotoring, lift sharing, IT development and training, plus useful local and national contacts.

Some of the many schemes which would help local businesses to become ‘greener’ include:

• converting vehicles to cleaner fuels • using ‘pool’ cars • using ‘pool’ cycles • better fleet management - this involves driver training, route mapping, and more

economic driving • promoting public transport and identifying where services need improvement • walking infrastructure improvements.

A spokesman for Stockport Council said: ‘The aim of this initiative is to reduce congestionand improve the local environment. This excellent information pack contains practical ideasto promote more sustainable travel choices, whilst helping local businesses to reduce costs.The many benefits include an increase in job recruitment and retention, the potential togenerate increased income through accessing new markets, reduced absenteeism from afitter workforce, less congestion on and off site, and more flexible working practices.’Companies who adopt green travel plans will receive discounts on bus travel, and from localcycling and walking outlets, as well as fitness clubs.

Any businesses interested in developing green travel plans, or who would like furtherinformation, are asked to contact Ian Goodwin, Green Travel Plan Co-ordinator, Environmentand Economic Development Division, Stockport Council, on 0161 474 4593.

When Prior Park was opened by the National Trust, a visitor travel plan had to be developedthat involves no on-site parking, use of local buses and a new dedicated bus link to Bathstation on Sundays and Bank Holidays. 40% of visitors arrive by bus, 30% on foot.

The Yorkshire Sculpture Park developed a ‘sustainable travel plan’ in conjunction withproposed new developments at the site. This involved improvements to public transport andan annual review of car parking charges, ticket incentives, cycle and footpath links etc.



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Durham ‘Toll Road’www.durham.gov.uk/durhamcc/pressrel.nsf/Web+Releases/822B70C34F24AF5280256C400055290B?OpenDocumentThe access charging scheme, the first of its kind to be introduced in the UK, is aimed atreducing the flow of traffic through the town’s narrow streets by more than half andminimising the conflict between vehicles and pedestrians. Around 3,000 vehicles a daycurrently use the sole public access road onto the City centre Peninsula on which there is theWorld Heritage Site of Durham Cathedral and Castle, together with businesses, a school,parts of Durham University and a small number of private homes.

Car Free Tourism in Winchesterwww.winchester.gov.uk/press_archive/august2002/info.htm‘Winchester Tourism has worked hard over the years to increase car-free tourism, producinga series of themed walking trails such as the popular Winchester Walk and the Keats Walk;promoting use of long stay and park and ride car parks in its literature; and working withcolleagues in the Engineers section to improve pedestrian signage.

Derbyshire Peak Bus Networkwww.derbyshire.gov.uk/news/99/july/990714cf.htmA network of special summer Sunday bus services means day trippers will be able to takeadvantage of direct links from across Derbyshire, Sheffield, Greater Manchester and beyond.Derbyshire County Council has teamed up with the Peak District National Park Authority toprovide the service, known as The Peak Bus Network. The summer timetables have alwaysbeen geared to the requirements of walkers and tourists, but this network also provides agood service for local residents.

Another new initiative is the Family Freedom Ticket, which provides unlimited travel for theday on all buses in the Peak District as far as Ashbourne, Matlock Bath, Buxton, Leek,Macclesfield, Hayfield, Glossop, the Derwent dams and Baslow.

‘We don’t want to discourage people from visiting this beautiful part of the country, but wedo want to encourage existing and potential visitors to the area to use public transport.’

‘Not only does this reduce the stress of sitting in traffic jams, but it helps to protect thelandscape and ensure its survival for future generations.’

Chester Park & Ride Schemewww.chestercc.gov.uk/parking/parkride.htmlThe Park & Ride is an economic and environmentally friendly solution to travelling into theCity for recreation or work. There are four Park & Ride sites around the Chester area,providing a total of 3170 parking spaces, which include designated disabled parking areasand additional parking for high sided vehicles/caravans/motor caravans’



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http://www.winchester.gov.uk/press_archive/august2002/info.htm

http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/news/99/july/990714cf.htm

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Eden Project – discount on admission tickets for cyclistswww.edenproject.com/3558_5279.htm‘…We want to encourage more people to visit Eden by bike and are working on improvingour facilities for cyclists. Coming by bike has a number advantages: It is obviously better forthe environment, admission is cheaper - we offer a £3 discount for those visiting Eden bybike (or on foot.....& no we don’t mean walking from your car !!), it keeps you fit and lastbut not least allows you to bypass the traffic and any queues for parking spaces at Eden.’

New Forest Cycle Planwww.hants.gov.uk/environment/ltp/section6/newforest/12h.htmlThe New Forest Cycle Plan is a five-year programme which details a network of cycle routesand facilities to achieve higher levels of cycling. The network will link communities andprovide cycle access for visitors to forest attractions. Schemes in the plan include theLyndhurst village network, the Ashurst to Lyndhurst cycle route and parts of the NationalCycle Network Route. The plan also sets out schemes for facilitating cycling in Brockenhurst,a route from Lyndhurst to Brockenhurst, ‘Round the Forest’ leisure route and off-road trails.

Greenways – South East Dorset Greenlinkwww.greenways.gov.uk/site/shared/demos/sedorset.htmGreenlink, a partnership of the six local authorities in South East Dorset, is committed tofinding ways to reduce the need of countryside visitors to rely on their cars and to providingnew, safe and sustainable opportunities for countryside recreation. The Greenways Networkwill help to deliver this objective in addition to improving travel choice in urban areas.Throughout the Greenways project this partnership has grown in strength, incorporatingofficers from the fields planning, transport, tourism, countryside and leisure.

Dart Pleasure Craft – Round Robin tripwww.riverlink.co.uk/rlrobin.htmlDart Pleasure Craft, who are the first transport operator award winners on the South HamsGreen Tourism Business Scheme have successfully created their own unique integratedtransport system. The routes incorporate travel on the steam train, ferry, river cruise and busand aims to encourage visitors to ‘give the car a day off’.

Round Robin tickets include all transportation costs and visitors can stop off at any pointalong the way to explore the area before travelling onto the next stage of the route.

Visitors can check details on line and if they know their date of travel then an itinerary canbe created for them.



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http://www.hants.gov.uk/environment/ltp/section6/newforest/12h.html

http://www.greenways.gov.uk/site/shared/demos/sedorset.htm

http://www.riverlink.co.uk/rlrobin.html

Further reference

Cyclists’ Touring Club is the leading organisation in the UK which campaigns for cyclists’rights. CTC played a key part in the production of the National Cycling Strategy, accessible at www.nationalcyclingstrategy.org.uk, and continue to lobby central government, localauthorities and other agencies to promote, invest in and facilitate cycling. CTC alsoencourages employers to provide facilities for cyclists, campaigns for better access for cyclists to public transport and has a network of 350 Right to Ride representativescampaigning for all cyclists.Cyclists’ Touring Club, Cotterell House, 69 Medrow, Godalming, Surrey, GU7 3HS.www.ctc.org.uk

Department for Transport. Quality Bus Partnerships: Good Practice Guide, TAS Partnership,May 2001. This publication contains information on a wide range of issues to assist busoperators and local authorities set up, develop and monitor Quality Bus Partnerships.Appendices provide an overview of outcomes from case studies, useful contacts, frequentlyasked questions and sample documentation.www.local-transport.dft.gov.uk/qbus

Downward P and Lumsdon L. Cycle and see: developing a cycling package for visitors (TheStaffordshire Moorlands), Insights, Vol Insights Vol 10: C1-9 (1998).

English Tourist Board. English Walking Holidays Handbook, ETB, 1999.

Local authorities – A wide range of local information about cycle routes in your area and the implementation of plans for improved cycle routes may be obtained from your localcycling officer.

Information about the Local Transport Plan (LTP) Process and related initiatives, includingguidance and best practice may be found at www.local-transport.dft.gov.uk

London Cycling Campaign exists to increase cycling in Greater London for the benefit ofindividuals, local communities and the wider environment by promoting cycling, improvingconditions for cycling, and raising the profile of cycling. The LCC works with a wide range of organisations, including other cycling, sustainable transport and environmental groups as well as major employers.London Cycling Campaign, Unit 228, 30 Great Guildford Street, London, SE1 0HS.www.lcc.org.uk

SUSTRANS, the sustainable transport charity, works on practical projects to encouragepeople to walk, cycle or use public transport to reduce motor traffic and its adverse effects.The charity is responsible for co-ordinating the creation of the National Cycle Network withlocal authorities, businesses and landowners. By 2005, the NCN will have been extended to10,000 miles across the UK and amounts to an investment of £400 million.SUSTRANS, 35 King Street, Bristol, BS1 4DZ.www.sustrans.org.uk



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http://www.nationalcyclingstrategy.org.uk

http://www.ctc.org.uk

http://www.local-transport.dft.gov.uk/qbus

http://www.local-transport.dft.gov.uk

http://www.lcc.org.uk

http://www.sustrans.org.uk

Transport 2000 is the independent national body concerned with sustainable transport. Itlooks for answers to transport problems and aims to reduce the environmental and socialimpact of transport by encouraging less use of cars and more use of public transport,walking and cycling. Information about the ‘Tourism without Traffic’ Campaign may befound on www.transport2000.org.ukTransport 2000. Tourism without Traffic: A Good Practice Guide, Transport 2000, 2000.Transport 2000. Easy Arrivals: A Visitor Travel Plan for Harewood House, Transport 2000,2000.Transport 2000. Gateways to the Downs: An Action Plan for Sustainable Travel and Tourismin the East Sussex Downs, Transport 2000, 2001.



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Section 3 Destination development3D Setting up a visitor payback scheme

Introduction

What is visitor payback?

Why run a visitor payback scheme?

Where can visitor payback work?

Who can run visitor payback schemes?

Is it necessary to set up a trust?

Don’t bite off more than you can chew!

How to set up a visitor payback scheme

Is it worth all the effort?

Case studies

Further reference



This component outlines the value of visitor payback schemes and explains how to set oneup. Related material also appears in the following components:

• 2B Developing tourism partnerships• 3G Biodiversity action plans for tourism• 3I Sustainability schemes and awards for industry and destinations

Introduction

Many destinations are under increasing pressure from tourism and it has been suggestedthat the most popular visitor areas such as national parks and other ‘honeypot’ sites are indanger of being ‘loved to death’. This problem is compounded by the fact that little of themoney brought in by tourism goes back into conserving that countryside.

One way of redressing this imbalance is the adoption of visitor payback schemes (VPS). These encourage tourists to make a voluntary contribution towards local environmentalimprovements.

For areas considering setting up a VPS, this handbook component explains the necessaryfactors and infrastructure required. Based on the experiences of established schemes, itprovides an insight into the opportunities offered by VPS and the long-term commitmentand investment required to establish and maintain a successful scheme.

What is visitor payback?

Visitor payback is designed to give tourists the opportunity to ‘put something back’ into the environment of the place they are visiting. VPS can come in many shapes and sizes, from an optional supplement added to the cost of accommodation and services to a requestfor donations made through collection boxes. What sets VPS apart from tourist taxes leviedelsewhere in the world is that they are a request for money, or even help in kind, not ademand.

Compared with taxes, VPS is regarded as a softer, more appealing approach to the problemof directing more of the tourists’ money into protecting the landscapes and places they cometo enjoy. An effective VPS has the potential to make both the tourist and the participatingbusinesses feel good because they are involved of their own free will, while at the same timeproducing real, visible, improvements on the ground.

VPS is not a new idea. We are all accustomed to seeing honesty boxes in churches or rural carparks or to paying an entry fee to prime heritage sites. VPS is simply an imaginative extensionof this idea that involves finding new ways of appealing to visitors to put something backinto the environment of the place they are visiting.

3D SETTING UP A VISITOR PAYBACK SCHEME


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yWhy run a visitor payback scheme?

Financial benefits

Visitor payback schemes have great potential to tap a previously untapped source offunding. In particularly popular tourist areas, the sheer number of visitors can have high costimplications for the local authority or land managers to maintain the necessary infrastructureof roads, car parking, paths and facilities. VPS can help to alleviate this by directly raisingfunds for specific local infrastructure projects such as footpath improvements or new picnicareas. However, it should not be seen as an easy, quick-fix solution: schemes need to becarefully planned with the visitor and local tourism businesses in mind if they are to bewidely adopted and supported. For instance, visitors are unlikely to feel compelled tosupport a fund for resurfacing a car park but may be happy to contribute to a fund for anew footbridge or waymarked trail.

Inevitably, new initiatives cost money to establish in the first place, for example in terms of setting up the systems to collect and audit the money raised, the cost of producingpromotional material, as well as the staff time needed to promote the VPS to local industry.These costs should not be underestimated. More detail on these issues can be found later inthis component under ‘Is it worth all the effort?’

Despite the effort required, successful schemes are capable of bringing in large sums ofmoney, which would not be available otherwise.

The Lake District Tourism and Conservation Partnership has been running its visitor paybackscheme, Invest in the Lakes, since 1993. The partnership employs two full-time staff tomanage the scheme and recruit new supporting businesses. Over 100 businesses are nowinvolved, raising funds for a number of access improvement and conservation projects. Theamount raised has increased every year as the scheme has gained momentum, with £73,000raised in 2000, £62,000 raised in 2001 despite the problems caused by Foot and MouthDisease. Overall, £250,000 has been raised since 1995.

PR benefits

Today’s tourists have a growing environmental awareness, as demonstrated by the EnglishTourism Council’s survey Visitor Attitudes to Sustainable Tourism. Successful businesses areincreasingly aware of the need to present an image of caring and responsible tourism.Adopting a VPS can have positive spin-offs for all those parties involved:

• Businesses can show that they value their local environment and are aware of the need toprotect it. This can help to generate a loyal customer base, especially where visitors areinformed of how their contribution is helping local projects.

• For tourist boards, destination management groups or tourism partnerships, having a VPSshows that the area has something so special that many partners are working together tolook after it.

• In contrast to an enforced tourist tax, the visitors themselves can be made to feel involvedand to welcome the opportunity to play a part in protecting the place they are visiting.

• In popular tourist areas, local people may perceive tourism as a negative influence whenfaced with the congestion, disturbance and damage that it can cause. If local people are



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involved in defining and planning the beneficiary projects to be funded by a VPS, and givenregular updates on progress, they can start to see the benefits that tourism can bring.

Local political benefits

Traditionally, there has been some suspicion and occasional conflict between the tourismsector and environmental conservationists. There are numerous examples of tourismdevelopments being opposed on environmental grounds and also of valued landscapes beingdegraded by overuse by tourists. At the same time, ecotourism is often perceived as a greatpanacea to the ills of mass tourism but in reality, this is sometimes little more than a goodmarketing ploy. While VPS cannot pretend to solve all of these problems, it can be a usefultool in bringing tourism and conservation closer together and encouraging them to workwith each other with a common aim.

Many existing schemes are run by a partnership of businesses and conservationists. Thesepartnerships are often so successful that complementary initiatives develop as a result, suchas green advisory services and training for local businesses, or staff from the businessesthemselves getting involved in hands-on conservation work.

The Lake District Tourism and Conservation partnership was founded in 1993 by The LakeDistrict National Park Authority, The National Trust, Cumbria Tourist Board, the RuralDevelopment Commission and Cumbria Training & Enterprise Council. The partnership nowhas several tourism businesses on its board of directors including hotel companies, activitytour operators and self-catering agencies, all working together to demonstrate how theeconomic benefits of tourism can maintain and enhance the Lake District.

Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) established theirvisitor payback scheme, ‘Connect’, in summer 2001. This aims to help visitors to have agreater connection with the place they are visiting. As well as fundraising initiatives, thescheme has its own website promoting a ‘keep it special’ code for visitors.

To summarise, an effective VPS should have the following broad aims:

• to encourage the tourism industry, other related businesses and visitors to work withconservation groups to protect, maintain and enhance the area’s landscape and heritage

• to raise funds and secure sponsorship to enable conservation work to be carried out• to demonstrate that tourism and conservation can be mutually supportive• to raise awareness among visitors of the special quality and fragility of the landscape

and the need to protect it• to publicly demonstrate the commitment of local people towards their environment.



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How does visitor payback work?

There are many tried and tested ways of raising money through schemes. These can bedivided into seven main categories:

• supplements• percentage of fees• collections• corporate sponsorship• participation• membership• fundraising events.

Within these, there is plenty of scope for new ideas.

1 Supplements

This involves adding a small, optional, supplement to the cost of accommodation or services.To be effective, the scheme needs to be designed to make it easy for tourists to make adonation and easy for businesses to administer.

• Opt-out voluntary levy: For example, when the booking is made, the customer is told thatthe price of their holiday includes a £1 donation towards a local environment fund. Theyare then asked if they are happy to pay this, or whether they would prefer it to bededucted. This can also be built into the billing system at the end of the stay, if that ismore appropriate. Evidence shows that this is by far the most cost-effective way of raisingmoney because it requires little outlay, and most tourists agree to pay it since it is alreadyincluded in their bill and therefore easy to do.

• Opt-in voluntary levy: As before, this involves asking for a donation at the time ofbooking or settling the bill. With ‘opt-in’ schemes, however, the donation is not alreadyincluded in the price. In other words, the visitor is asked if they would be prepared to addan extra £1 to the cost of their holiday. This method tends to be less successful, as peoplesee it as an extra cost rather than a cost that is already built in, but it can still raisesignificant sums.

Supplements can be effective in raising money but it is sometimes difficult to persuadebusinesses to adopt this approach. This is often the case among small businesses and thosecompeting primarily on price. Those that have tried it are happy with the results and thefeedback they get from their customers, but many businesses are afraid that it will maketheir prices seem higher than their competitors’ prices. Some businesses are concerned thattheir customers might feel ‘cornered’ into giving a donation. Experience shows that this isnot the case and, generally, virtually all customers are happy to pay a voluntary supplement.

Organisers of schemes can help to allay these fears by putting businesses in touch with otherbusinesses already operating voluntary levy schemes. They can also provide literature fortheir customers to help explain the purpose of the scheme and to encourage them to make a donation.



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VAT is often a concern for businesses when considering voluntary levy. As long as thedonation is itemised as a donation on the bill, then it will not be eligible for VAT becausethe business is merely acting as a handling agent.

The Isle of Wight‘s largest ferry operator, Wightlink, is supporting the island’s visitor paybackscheme, Gift to Nature, through its holiday booking company, Wightlink Holidays. Customerscalling the hotline to make a booking are told that the cost of their holiday includes a £1donation towards Gift to Nature and are asked if they are happy to pay this. A full-page articleabout Gift to Nature in the Wightlink Holidays brochure helps to inform customers about thescheme. Those customers who agree to pay the supplement are sent a ‘thank you’ present ofa Gift to Nature bookmark with their holiday information, which explains where their moneywill go and what they can do and see when they are on the island to find out more.

In the Lake District, self-catering agencies operating voluntary levy schemes such as Heart ofthe Lakes, Cottage Life and Lakelovers, offer to match every £1 donation with their own 50pence contribution. This helps to attract visitor donations and around £8,000 a year is raisedtowards the employment of a National Trust footpath repair worker, ‘Our Man at the Top’.Due to customer demand, the company has had to make arrangements for people who wishto give more than the standard amount requested to be able to do so.

2 Percentage of fees

This is a similar idea to supplements but it does not involve asking the visitor whether theywould like to donate or not. Instead, it relies on the business donating a percentage of thefees collected for a service or for certain merchandise. This can be a simple approach such asbusinesses selling T-shirts or postcards, where a percentage of the cost goes to the VPS fund,or companies leading guided walks could inform their guests that a fixed sum from the costof every walk is given to the fund.

A hotel in Exmoor National Park added a supplement of 15p on the cost of every meal andhad a paragraph on the menu explaining that the money was to be spent on local footpathimprovements. This raised around £1,500 a year.

For a limited period, Booths supermarkets donated a percentage of the profits from sales ofKendal Mint Cake to Invest in the Lakes. To do this without passing on the cost to theconsumer, the supermarket accepted a reduced profit margin for this period, as did themanufacturer.

This method can be effective in raising the profile of the scheme. However, experience hasshown that the motivation for people buying merchandise is that it is attractive and goodvalue – not that it is helping a good cause, though this is an added bonus. Organisers ofschemes should therefore plan carefully before investing in the production of specialmerchandise.



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3 Collections

Simple fundraising systems can be set up to collect donations from visitors during their stay.Possibilities include collection boxes, collection envelopes or donation leaflets in hotels,B&Bs, car parks, attractions, shops, buses or ferries. Unless standard collection boxes arebought ‘off the shelf’, they can be costly to produce in the first instance and are notoriouslypoor at raising significant amounts of money. However, they can be an attractive way ofinvolving smaller businesses that have reservations about trying a supplement system. To besuccessful, collection boxes must be placed prominently in a busy area and promoted by allthe staff of the business concerned.

There is great scope for innovation in developing collection boxes. To attract visitors’attention, it is important that the boxes or envelopes themselves are visually striking. Whenaccompanied by environmental information and displays, they can be an effective way ofraising the profile of the VPS. They are important for reinforcing the sustainable tourismmessage and, once in place, they can keep collecting for years.

Most businesses are happy to regularly count up the amount collected and send a chequeand collection slip to the scheme organisers, as it can be impractical to travel aroundemptying boxes. A simple certificate to show the amount raised can double up as a receipt.

Exmoor Paths Partnership commissioned wooden collection boxes, hand-made by localcraftsmen. The box at Tarr Farm Restaurant had a carved dipper standing over the moneyslot and carried some leaflets. It was placed near the bar and, because it attracted people’sattention, it collected around £150 a year.

The Island 2000 Trust, which runs Gift to Nature on the Isle of Wight, is experimenting withdifferent types of collection boxes in various situations. Local and national artists have beencommissioned to design and produce individual boxes. This includes a hand-crafted, polished,concrete outdoor seat with a wall lizard motif that incorporates a collection box, an automata(automatic machine) for a seaside pub which features a mermaid who pops up when thecoins are inserted, and an automata at the Botanic Gardens Visitor Centre, illustrating thepast use of the gardens’ site as a hospital. The boxes have all been carefully designed andsited to attract people’s attention and to project a fun and enjoyable experience. Productionof the boxes was funded by a one-off grant from The Countryside Agency.

4 Corporate sponsorship

There is great potential for larger companies, which obviously benefit from the quality ofthe local environment, to contribute to local conservation causes. These could be tourismbusinesses or other companies with strong links to the area. For instance, companies maysponsor the cleaning up of their local beach or the restoration of public open spaces. Thiskind of sponsorship can bring in considerable sums of money for the conservation funds andsignificant public relations spin-offs for the company.



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One caravan site owner in Lancashire gave The Bowland Tourism and Environment Fund ahead start when he held a fundraising barbecue for his guests, raising £500 in one event.

Exmoor Paths Partnership was established to encourage visitors to contribute to theenhancement of local footpaths and bridleways. Not only was the in-house team of footpathworkers kitted out with outdoor clothing courtesy of Regatta, but they were also loaned avehicle by Ford.

Every business participating in Invest in the Lakes supports the core cost of the scheme bypaying an annual membership fee. This is an effective way of bringing in core funding fromprivate businesses. The scheme’s success is due to its positive profile in the local tourismindustry, and businesses are prepared to ‘buy into’ this positive image.

5 Participation

Rather than offering a monetary donation, some visitors may prefer to participate inconservation activities while on holiday. There is a growing market for activity holidays, andhands-on conservation work can provide visitors with a real sense of involvement with theplace they are visiting. Organisers of schemes can link up with local conservation groups orspecialist activity tour operators to develop this approach. Similarly, employees of tourismbusinesses, and in particular employees of businesses supporting schemes, may enjoy spendinga day carrying out conservation tasks. This can also increase their understanding of why theirbusiness is supporting the VPS.

Staff from English Lakes Hotels, a Lake District-based hotel group operating an opt-out levyon their hotel bills through Invest in the Lakes, spent time clearing invasive bracken at GhyllHead, Bowness. Staff from all levels, led by the managing director, took to the hills for theday and were equipped and supervised by members of the British Trust for ConservationVolunteers (BTCV).

6 Membership

Many visitors feel such a sense of loyalty or connection to a place that they are willing to payan annual ‘membership’ fee to support a conservation cause. Although this can benefit anarea by providing a long-term source of funding, the scheme’s organisers must be able tofulfil members’ expectations of regular updates and newsletters, which can be costly andtime-consuming.

The Yosemite Association supports interpretation, education, research, and scientific andenvironmental programmes in Yosemite National Park in the US. Members of the public canjoin the Yosemite Association in a variety of membership packages, ranging from individualmembership at $30 to benefactor membership at $1,000. During the 1990s, the YosemiteAssociation gave a total of over $3.25 million to the Yosemite National Park Service.



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7 Fundraising events

One-off or regular events can take a lot of effort to organise but they are highly effective inraising a scheme’s profile.

The Peak District Tourism and Environment Trust held a ‘Pound for the Peak’ day in whichvolunteers collected donations at major tourist spots in the National Park. The day was sopopular that it became an annual event and was extended to a week. The trust alsoorganised other events such as a hill run. These events were an effective way of raising fundsand awareness of the project and supported other methods of visitor payback such assupplements.

While the examples mentioned above show that VPS can come in many shapes and forms,they are all:

• designed to be simple for the participating business to administer• made to be appealing and straightforward to the visitor• clearly presented so that the beneficiary project is introduced, explained and achievable.

Where can visitor payback work?

To date, the largest schemes in the UK are operating in the national parks such as the LakeDistrict and Exmoor. Internationally, there are successful examples in Yosemite National Parkand other US national parks. Protected areas such as national parks have a natural advantagewhen developing schemes, as visitors perceive them as unique, nationally important, placesthat are worthy of special protection.

However, VPS should not be, and is not, limited only to national parks. Other areas withestablished schemes in England include the Forest of Bowland and the Isle of Wight, neitherof which are national parks. What these do have in common though is a strong sense ofidentity.

Ideally, for an area-wide VPS to be meaningful and appealing to visitors, it should be linkedto conserving the special qualities of that area. If the area has a strong identity or character,then this is an advantage. If not, this is something that can be developed through partnershipworking involving the tourism sector, local authorities and regional tourist boards.

In Devon, a decision was made in the early 1990s by local partners to market the area as‘Tarka Country’. This ‘branding of the area’ has proved effective and Tarka Country is nowthe home of various sustainable tourism initiatives. The Tarka Country Trust experimentedwith various methods of visitor payback in its first few years and now operates a scheme for‘supporters’.

A method of visitor payback can be developed to suit virtually every type of business, largeor small. There are examples of schemes working in mass tourism destinations.



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y At Walt Disney’s Florida theme park ‘Animal Kingdom’ people are invited to add $1 to thecost of merchandise bought in the park, which goes towards the Disney Wildlife ConservationFund. This fund has spent a total of over $3 million on 161 projects in 24 countries since1995. Much of the funding has gone to support projects in Florida itself.

The key to success is to look at each business and find the method that will work best forthem, and is as easy as possible for them to administer.

It is important to understand the type of visitors using an area. In an area that attracts lotsof day visitors, a different approach will be needed than in an area where most visitors stayovernight. Overseas visitors may have different expectations of spending compared withdomestic tourists. Local tourism offices and businesses can help to build an accurate visitorprofile.

Visitors will be generally reluctant to give a donation if they feel they are already beingovercharged. As in most markets and situations, people want and expect reasonable valuefor money.

Visitor payback schemes can operate at a relatively small scale. Individual tour operators oraccommodation providers can collect donations for specific local projects such as treeplanting or restoring habitats. These schemes enable people to see the target project but, atthe same time, their small scale may limit the amount of money raised. They also rely heavilyon the commitment of the participating businesses to succeed.

There is no reason why VPS cannot work in urban areas. However, as the success of donationschemes depends on generating an emotive response from the visitor, the potential forurban VPS may be limited to the most attractive historic towns and cities. As always, thetarget project would have to be carefully chosen so that it would appeal to tourists andbusinesses and could be achievable. Town trails, interpretation features or enhanced seatingareas or parks are all possible projects, along with more traditional causes such as therestoration of historic buildings.

Above all, the key to developing a successful VPS in any area is to develop a good workingrelationship with local tourism businesses. Existing schemes have only succeeded because ofgood links with local tourism providers and because considerable staff time has been spentnurturing and strengthening these relationships. This may not be as headline-grabbing asthe thousands of pounds a year raised by a scheme, but effective partnership working isneeded for initial success and is a real indicator of the ongoing value of VPS.

Who can run visitor payback schemes?

Essentially, anyone involved in tourism can collect donations from tourists and give theproceeds to a local conservation charity. VPS is most effective though when it involves a co-ordinated effort between the tourist industry, the local community and the environmentalsector. Only when all of these sectors are working together will VPS be most appealing to



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ythe host businesses and the tourists themselves. Local communities and conservation groupsneed to be involved to select realistic and appropriate target projects so that, once themoney is raised, real results can be quickly shown as proof of success.

Is it necessary to set up a trust?

Tourists are unlikely to give donations for projects that they see as a statutory role of thelocal authority, such as footpath maintenance, so target projects must be carefully chosenfrom the start. Essentially, people giving a donation want to know where their money isgoing and to be sure that it is going there and nowhere else. Local authorities or statutorybodies can manage schemes but they must give a clear promise about the types of projectsthe money will go towards.

Some of the well-established schemes are run by partnership organisations or trusts. Theirappeal is that they are seen to be independent and have not-for-profit status. Organisationsdo not have to be a registered charity to operate schemes or to collect money from thepublic. However, charitable status is reassuring to some potential donors and, for theorganisation itself, it opens up opportunities for outside funding through various trusts andgrant-giving bodies.

While trusts or partnerships have their advantages, any new organisation can be costly to setup and administer. Generally, schemes can only be sustainable in the long term if overheadsand running costs are minimised. Help-in-kind from partnership organisations, such as use ofoffice space or use of existing staff time, is vital in ensuring that schemes can survive in thelong term.

The Peak Tourism Partnership was a Government-backed pilot project to develop sustainabletourism initiatives. Before it closed, it had set up the Peak Tourism and Environment Fund.Staff, premises and equipment transferred to the fund, creating substantial running costs.With European grants covering these costs, the fund hoped to achieve self-sufficiency withinthree years through fundraising, sponsorship and visitor payback schemes.

The Peak District Tourism and Environment Fund developed a high profile and was one ofthe early pioneers of visitor payback, with initiatives such as donation machines at car parksand accommodation businesses selling metal pin badges. Over its three years, the schemefunded 15 projects by passing on funds to existing conservation organisations.

However, without any future core funding to sustain the staff and overheads, the trust hadto wind down its operations once the three-year period was over. If the trust had been ableto secure some long-term funding or help-in-kind from partner organisations, the schemecould have continued, even if this was on a smaller scale.

Don’t bite off more than you can chew!

Overall, the most important factor influencing the growth and success of schemes is theamount of staff time that can be dedicated to promoting the scheme, building up positiverelationships with tourism businesses and developing a high profile for the scheme.



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sSchemes can be set up as low-key projects using existing staff – this is often the only waythat they can be funded and sustained long term – but they are unlikely to bring in largesums of money or to achieve a high profile. However, starting small and growing slowly will demonstrate to those businesses involved that the scheme is ‘here to stay’ and not ashort-term publicity gimmick, as long as it can point to tangible benefits early on.

Visitor payback schemes are not necessarily expensive to establish. Organisations may needsome sort of start-up funding to produce leaflets, boxes or posters but these can be donerelatively cheaply if necessary. The main constraint is staff time.

The Lake District’s visitor payback scheme, Invest in the Lakes, is managed by the LakeDistrict Tourism and Conservation Partnership, with a broad public- and private-sectormembership and a board made up of representatives from the regional tourist board, thelocal authority, environmental organisations and individual businesses. The partnershipemploys two project co-ordinators to manage primarily the visitor payback project.

The Bowland Tourism and Environment Fund was established by a partnership of localauthorities and has no dedicated staff. The scheme is ‘fronted’ by the Lancashire WildlifeTrust, as this is perceived to be more appealing to visitors. The scheme operates on arelatively small scale with around 30 businesses using collection boxes. Funds raised aredistributed as grants for environmental projects, and participating tourism businesses aresoon to be involved in assessing applications for grants.

How to set up a visitor payback scheme

Do your homework

It is tempting, on hearing success stories from existing VPSs, to rush in and seize theopportunity to launch a scheme locally. However, a number of schemes set up in recent yearshave raised much less money than anticipated or have not been able to sustain themselvesdue to lack of core funding. Before committing resources to a new scheme, it is essential todo some research on:

• the willingness of local businesses to participate• the types of visitors using the area and their willingness to donate• the most appealing target projects• the potential support available for core funding.

Establishing a working group of tourism officers, businesses and local communityrepresentatives is a good way of starting.

The East of England Tourist Board carried out detailed surveys of businesses and visitors toassess methods of collection, the likelihood of participation and potential size of donations.The research showed how attitudes vary among different types of visitors, and also varygreatly between different locations and donation methods. Suffolk Coast & Heaths AONBhas used this research to help them with initial planning and development of their visitorpayback scheme.



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yEstablish a brand

Establishing a VPS is essentially a marketing exercise. A successful scheme must appeal notonly to visitors and encourage them to make a donation, but also to businesses, withoutwhose support a VPS cannot exist. A VPS has to have an appealing and professional-lookingimage or brand, which will be used consistently and become recognised locally.

Individual schemes do not need to include the words ‘visitor payback’; local areas maychoose to develop their own brands. Examples already in use are Gift to Nature, TarkaConservation Fund, Connect, On the Right Tracks and Invest in the Lakes.

Start small

It may be best to pilot a VPS approach in a small sub-area before launching a new schemearea-wide. ‘Success breeds success’, and being able to quote local examples of how thescheme has worked and who is involved, is invaluable when persuading new businesses tosupport the scheme.

Have a target project in mind

It is strongly recommended that the first target project is agreed before the scheme’s launchso that this can be included in any literature such as leaflets or on collection boxes.

Generally, visitors will be more inclined to make a donation if they know that it is for aspecific local project rather than a general conservation fund. Target projects should beappropriate and have a real connection to the place in which the money is being raised. Tobe appealing, they should be for new enhancement projects rather than general maintenancework. The most important projects from a nature conservation or environmental point of viewmay not be the most appealing to the public so it is worth consulting various local wildlifeexperts and countryside managers before deciding. Work on the ground can be carried outby organisations such as the National Trust, local wildlife trust, local authority countrysidestaff, BTCV or local community groups.

It is quite feasible to have a variety of target projects, particularly if individual businesseswant to raise money for a specific project near to them. Another option is to operate a smallgrants scheme using the money raised so that landowners and community groups can gaindirect benefits for their own projects. This creates extra work in administering the grants butit is an opportunity to involve many sectors of the community. However, at least one of theseprojects must be readily achievable or the scheme may risk losing momentum if results arenot visible.

Work together

It is important, when establishing a visitor payback scheme, to have the full commitment ofthe local or regional tourism promotion body. The best way to raise awareness is throughcoverage in existing publications and promotional literature. Some tailor-made leaflets mightalso be necessary for placing in participating businesses. Most tourist offices will see that, bypromoting VPS in their literature, they are giving out a positive message about the beauty ofthe area and how it is treasured.



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Secure support for running costs

Running costs for existing VPSs are largely for staff time but overheads such as phone calls,postage and production of literature should not be underestimated. Ideally, in-kind helpfrom partnership organisations can meet some of these costs.

Existing schemes have gained short-term funding from various sources including RTBs, TheCountryside Agency, RDAs and European funding sources. This can be helpful, particularlyearly on, but it is also vital to secure long-term funding to ensure that schemes can besustained. In some cases, RTBs, agencies and local authorities may be able to support long-term costs by either providing core funding or by absorbing the running of the scheme intothe work of existing staff.

The Lake District Tourism and Conservation Partnership was pump-primed for its first threeyears by core funding from key organisations to cover the costs of a project officer andpromotional expenses. Many of these organisations are now on the board of directors andall board members contribute financially to the project to some degree. Even in periods inwhich there have been no paid staff due to personnel changes, board members havededicated their own time to sustain the momentum of the scheme. This commitment andprovision of an element of core funding has created a safety-net for the scheme and ensuredits long-term sustainability and success.

Well-established schemes have the potential to secure direct support from local businesses orto deduct some of the donations as a management fee to cover core costs.

Businesses participating in Invest in the Lakes pay an annual membership fee ranging from£20 to £100, depending on the size of the business. This allows the smaller businesses toparticipate. For larger organisations there is a corporate membership scheme with a £1,000minimum contribution for a three-year period. The money goes direct to the Lake DistrictTourism and Conservation Partnership to cover core costs. They also deduct 15% of allproject income. This approach was only established after the scheme had been running for afew years and had built up a momentum and high profile. Participating businesses havebeen happy to pay the fees – in fact, the suggestion to charge fees came from the businessesthemselves as they can see the benefits from being a part of the scheme.

Keep spreading the message

The key to developing an effective VPS is to build up its profile so that businesses and visitorscannot fail to see the benefits and want to be involved. Participating businesses are idealambassadors to promote the benefits of VPS to other businesses and to tourists themselves.There are numerous opportunities for good publicity, which should be grasped with everyachievement – such as recruiting new businesses, carrying out on-the-ground enhancementsor reaching fundraising targets.



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Tip Rather than waiting for the big successes to promote your scheme, try to think of a new

publicity angle to celebrate every small achievement. After all, visitor payback itself onlysucceeds from the culmination of many small commitments from many people.

Is it worth all the effort?

Setting up and managing a successful visitor payback scheme takes considerable staff timeand resources. Some schemes have been highly successful at raising large sums of money tobring about real on-the-ground environmental improvements. Other schemes are just gettingstarted. For areas considering establishing a VPS, it is important to realise that VPS is not aget-rich-quick scheme offering an easy chance to tap into a rich vein of visitor generosity.

Of course, there are some convincing success stories. The Lake District Tourism andConservation Partnership, for example, has gained such a momentum that it expects to raisearound £70,000 a year, largely through 100 businesses that are operating voluntary levyschemes. Similarly, Exmoor Paths Partnership raised over £20,000 in its first three years.

Despite these successes, if the amount of money raised is the only measure of success, theneven the well-established schemes might not look so impressive when the costs of staff timeand core funding are taken into account. In other words, if you just look at the money thatcan be raised by visitor payback, you are missing the point.

Visitor payback is successful because it involves the tourism industry itself at the very heart ofthe scheme and it generates awareness and support from this sector. Visitor payback showshow tourism businesses and environmental organisations can work together in partnership.Many tourism providers are increasingly aware of how important their local environment isto the success of their business and visitor payback gives them a practical way ofdemonstrating their commitment to that environment.

Visitor payback schemes can benefit the host community in a resort or tourist destination.The visitor payback scheme and its on-the-ground projects can seem much more tangible andrelevant to the local community than official figures of tourist spend and how this benefitsthe local economy. Local people can understand how tourism directly benefits them andtheir area.

Every area is different though, having businesses and visitors with their own attitudes andbehaviour. Tourism managers considering establishing visitor payback should take the timeto canvass local opinion, consider any potential pitfalls and assess the long-term commitmentof resources required to operate a scheme. Only by adopting this approach will they starttheir scheme with realistic expectations and ensure its long-term sustainability.



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Gift To Nature: A visitor payback scheme for the Isle of Wight

Progress to date – February 2003Milestones• 110 Island tourism businesses involved so far• Two on-the-ground conservation projects completed to date• Funding from European sources, Countryside Agency, Heritage Lottery Fund and Rural

Development Programme

BackgroundGift to Nature is a visitor payback scheme which aims to show how tourism and conservationcan help each other. The basic idea behind visitor payback is that most tourists come to theIsland because of it’s beautiful countryside – yet very little of the money brought in fromtourism goes back into the conservation of that countryside. Gift to Nature aims to changethis by asking local tourism businesses to invite tourists to make a voluntary donationtowards local conservation projects. There are various ways of raising money from simplecollection boxes or envelopes placed in hotels to voluntary optional supplements beingadded to accommodation bills.

Early daysThe early months of 2000 were spent developing a logo and identity for Gift to Nature andproducing promotional material. This promotional material is to serve a dual purpose; torecruit tourism businesses to participate in the scheme and also to inform tourists about Giftto Nature and invite them to give a voluntary donation.

The official launch of Gift to Nature was held in March 2000. The evening proved verysuccessful and fourteen businesses signed up there and then to support Gift to Nature. Todate, there are now 110 businesses committed to supporting the scheme.

FundersThe Island 2000 Trust was a partner in a European-funded Interreg project for the year 2000,which has allowed the idea to be trialled in Ventnor prior to its Island-wide development.

The Countryside Agency have also supported the further development of Gift to Nature as an island-wide project by funding new literature, the website and the development ofprototype collection boxes. Forthcoming Heritage Lottery Funding for Island 2000 will alsohelp to cover the costs of future promotion and publicity over the next two years.

Conservation projectsThe money raised to date has been used to support two projects – habitat creation for walllizards and a red squirrel viewing hide.

• Wall lizards ‘These rare creatures are only able to thrive in Ventnor because of its warmand sunny aspect, so they are an ideal mascot for tourism in Ventnor. As well as a leafletregarding wall lizards, which has been produced in partnership with Wight Wildlife and



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delivered to all local households, we have created new habitats for wall lizards by buildinga new dry stone wall in Ventnor Botanic Gardens. This was built in November 2000 byIsland Conservation Volunteers.’

• Red squirrels ‘The Isle of Wight is one of the last remaining strongholds of the rare,native red squirrel since the more competitive grey squirrels have not managed toestablish themselves on the Island. Gift to Nature money enabled us to bring in extrafunding from the Local Heritage Initiative to create a new red squirrel safari trail, a logcabin style viewing hide with interpretative panels and chainsaw timber sculptures. Thehide and trail was officially opened in October 2002 by Professor David Bellamy.’

Making giving funIsland 2000 Trust is working with various artists to develop interesting and amusingcollection boxes which encourage people to give a donation by being eye-catching and fun.Two one-off, specially designed automata boxes have been designed, one for a pub and onefor the visitors centre at the Botanic Gardens. These are made so that when a coin isinserted, things happen and people are encouraged to keep giving.

• ‘One of our most successful boxes is a handmade, polished concrete seat on Ventnor cliffs.The seat was hand made by artist Lucy Casson and features a wall lizard motif along witha coin collection box, which is emptied regularly. The seat has raised £1,000 in two years.’

• ‘In Autumn 2001, we delivered a large, lenticular sign to Blackgang Chine Fantasy Park.Designed by London design company Allotment 51, the sign shows an image of coins butwhen viewed from another angle, has a large image of a red squirrel. The sign has a coinslot and has collected £160 in donations from visitors at this popular tourist spot.’

The new Gift to Nature collection boxes are handcrafted fibreglass sandcastle boxes withspecial flags, based on a design by Teresa Grimaldi and made by Guido Oakley, both Islandartists. These boxes are eye-catching and fun and the flags are ‘sold’ in return for adonation.

Support from businessesAt present, there are 110 businesses supporting Gift to Nature, ranging from small shops andcafes, to farm B&Bs and prestige hotels. The Forestry Commission and the IW Council'sCountryside Section also support Gift to Nature by encouraging mainland school parties toadd a donation onto the cost of ranger-led events.

• Wightlink Ferries Ltd have agreed to support Gift to Nature by operating an ‘opt-outvoluntary levy’ scheme on all Wightlink Holidays. Everyone booking a Wightlink Holidaypays the £1 supplement, included in the price of their holiday, unless they request not topay it. The Wightlink Holidays brochure and website both include a page devoted to Giftto Nature.

• Red Funnel Holidays are operating an opt-in voluntary levy of £1 for all online bookingsfor Red Funnel Holidays starting in 2002. Red Funnel Ferries were actually convinced of thevalue of doing this by the owners of holiday parks who were supporting Gift to Naturethemselves, who encouraged them to adopt Gift to Nature.

• The Isle of Wight Walking Festival which takes place each year is also raising money forGift to Nature via several walk leaders who collect donations.



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• Chessell Pottery have donated 10% of the profits from sales of their red squirrelornaments, raising over £130 in 2002. Brading Waxworks have donated the contents oftheir wishing well to Gift to Nature.

RecognitionGift to Nature is featured in the English Tourism Council's sustainable tourism strategy Timefor Action, launched in April 2001, as an example of good practice.

The Island Tourist Industry Association is now contributing £1 for every member towards therunning costs of Gift to Nature. This is getting on for £1,000 per year and is a significant stepin ensuring the future sustainability of Gift to Nature. To date, all the running costs of Giftto Nature, other than costs of publicity materials/boxes/leaflets, has been provided by Island2000 Trust. Island 2000 Trust is a small charity working for the landscapes, people andeconomy of the Isle of Wight.

Gift to Nature is online at www.gifttonature.co.uk. The website aims to promote Gift toNature, to publicise our achievements and to encourage people to support the scheme. Allparticipating businesses are being encouraged to set up two-way links from their ownwebsites to and from the Gift to Nature site.

On the Right Tracks: South Hams, DevonOn the Right Tracks is a voluntary payback scheme in the South Hams which forms part ofthe South Hams Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS).

Local businesses wanted to be involved in fundraising which involved the community andvisitors to the area in order to provide local benefits. A resource they felt strongly about wasthe unique network of 191 green lanes in the district all of which are in need of some formof management and conservation.

This led to the creation of On the Right Tracks, which raises funds in order to enhance theselanes. Once cleared and repaired they will become the finest and most accessible network oftheir kind in Britain. Not only are they a unique habitat for wildlife; they are also animportant leisure resource for both local people and visitors alike.

As well as raising valuable funds, the scheme also engages local people and increasesawareness.

There are currently about 30 different businesses involved in the scheme and methods varyfor example:

• The Venus Company, who run a number of beach cafes, donate 5p for every cup of teaand every flake sold

• Dart Pleasure Craft donate 10p for every ‘Round Robin’ postcard sold• The Dart Marina Hotel donate £1 for every Dartmouth Pie (made from local produce) sold

in the restaurant



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It is important that the collection method is relevant to the business and most of all is simplefor both the business to implement and for the visitor to make a contribution.

The project aim is to raise over £40,000 over three and a half years. The current total ataround £15,000 is being used for match funding in order to make the funds go even further.

A book called Exploring Green Lanes in The South Hams, containing 25 circular walks, is tobe published in Spring 2003. A percentage of the profits will be circulated back intoimprovement works.

For more information, please contact: Sally Pritchard, Green Tourism OfficerSouth Hams District Council, Follaton House, Plymouth Road, Totnes, Devon TQ9 5NEtel: 01803 861249; email [email protected]

Further reference

Ashcroft P and Denman P. Visitor Payback: Encouraging tourists to give money voluntarily toconserve the places they visit, The Tourism Company, 1997.

Countryside Recreation Network. Visitor Payback: Looking at the Realities behind the SuccessStories, Countryside Recreation, ed. Emma Barratt, Vol. 9(2), Summer 2001, p.4-7.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Tomorrow's Tourism: A Growth Industry for theNext Millennium, July 1999.

Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund: www.disney.com

English Tourism Council. Time for Action: A Strategy For Sustainable Tourism in England,April 2001.


Friends of Yosemite (2001). Help Your Park. www.yosemite.org

Morgan H. A Taxing Time, In Focus, 2000.

Suffolk Coast and Heaths Project: this AONB initiative has developed a number of visitorpayback schemes.Dork Lane, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 1PEwww.suffolkcoastandheaths.org

Sustainable Travel & Tourism (2001). Spain’s Balearics Approve Tourist Eco-Tax.www.sustravel.com

Tarka Project (1997). Visitor Payback Project. www.tarka-country.co.uk



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http://www.disney.com


http://www.yosemite.org

http://www.suffolkcoastandheaths.org


http://www.tarka-country.co.uk


Further contacts

East of England Tourist BoardToppesfield HallHadleighSuffolk IP7 5DNTel: 01473 822922

Exmoor National Park AuthorityExmoor HouseDulvertonSomerset TA22 9HLTel: 01398 23665

Island 2000 TrustThe GatehouseForest RoadNewportIsle of Wight PO30 5YSTel: 01983 822118email: [email protected]

Lake District Tourism and Conservation PartnershipFisherbeck MillOld Lake RoadAmblesideCumbria LA22 0DHTel: 015394 34630email: [email protected]

Northumberland National Park AuthorityEastburnSouth ParkHexhamNorthumberland NE46 1BSTel: 01434 611507email: [email protected]

Ribble Valley Borough CouncilTourism SectionCouncil OfficesChurch WalkClitheroeLancashire BB7 2RATel: 01200 425111email: [email protected]



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Section 3 Destination development3E Ensuring access for all

Introduction

Why is it necessary to address access and social inclusion?

The role of the local authority in making tourism more accessible and inclusive

Who is involved in making tourism more accessible and inclusive?

1 Visitors: understanding them and their needs

2 Industry: understanding what service providers can do to make their services moreaccessible/inclusive

3 Community: how the community can both contribute and benefit from improvedinclusivity/access

4 Environment

Preparing an action plan: how can access and inclusion be developed?

Monitoring and review of the action plan

Promoting your work

References


3E Ensuring access for allThis handbook component explains the issues associated with access and social inclusion andwill help you develop an access action plan for your destination.


• 1A Surveying visitor satisfaction• 2E Developing visitor management plans• 4 Measuring overall tourism performance.

Introduction

‘Everyone has the right to rest and recreation, including a reasonable restriction of workinghours, and periodic holidays with pay’ Article 24 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948

Access and social inclusion are issues that are becoming increasingly important. The need for the tourism industry to address them is a result of Government policies, legislation and a general shift in accepting the right of everyone to be able to have access to rest andrecreation. While recognising that local authorities have different environments to workwith, and are at different stages of policy development, this component sets out to helpdestinations understand what access and social inclusion mean and their importance todestinations. It explores some creative and practical ways towards building a tourism productwhich is, as is the government’s objective, ‘the most welcoming in Europe’ and should assistin the preparation of an action plan to take access forward and make it a mainstream partof all your tourism activities.

This component uses the VICE model to consider this issue:

• Visitors: how to welcome, involve and satisfy them• Industry: ways to achieve a profitable and prosperous Industry• Communities: how to engage with and gain benefits for the host communities • Environment: how the local environment can be protected and enhanced.

Why is it necessary to address access and social inclusion?

It is the stated aim of the government to overcome the barriers to holiday-taking among thesections of the population who are at present unable to enjoy the ease of access to leisureand tourism which the majority take for granted. While access is commonly perceived as theovercoming of physical barriers for those with disabilities, this is only part of a wider agendaif a fully inclusive tourism is the goal. Fully accessible and inclusive tourism is not only anessential form of ensuring equal opportunities, which is a key social responsibility of localauthorities. It also makes good business sense, as it offers opportunities to widen marketsand to enhance the quality of the product. Finally, with the implementation of the 1995Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), it is now a legal requirement with regard to the disabled.

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Government Policy

1 Tomorrow’s TourismTomorrow’s Tourism states:

‘The government is determined to help people – the elderly, people with disabilities, singleparent families, families with young children, carers, and people with low incomes – whofind difficulty in taking holidays or leisure breaks. The priorities are to:

• Highlight growing market opportunities• Make English tourism the most accessible and welcoming in Europe• Widen access to tourism opportunities• Improve access to employment in tourism• Widen access to our culture, heritage and countryside.’

2 Other government access-related policies with implications for tourismIn setting out this agenda, the potential for tourism to play a role in addressing other keygovernment strategies is implied. These policies include:

• The eradication of social exclusion as a strategy for addressing social problems, from poorhealth to youth crime. The long-term aim is to reduce public expenditure by addressing‘root causes’. Addressing disadvantage has been described by the Chancellor as a ‘litmustest’ of a civilised society. Lack of access to leisure and holidays is itself one of the causes of ‘social exclusion’ when defined as participation within mainstream culture.

• The ending of child poverty in ten years. There are obligations under the Children’s Act1989 (Schedule 2, 8(e)) for local authorities to make provision for holidays for ‘children inneed’ and their families.

• The care of the elderly and disabled – local authorities have a responsibility for thewelfare of their elderly or disabled residents, including holiday provision. With theimplementation of the Disability Discrimination Act all service providers and employers will be required to make reasonable adjustments so as not to treat disabled people lessfavourably.

• Community regeneration – Involvement of the community in innovative schemes forleisure, sport or culture has a direct relationship with tourism and can create a ‘virtuouscircle’ – the new facility, event, festival or sporting activity can create an influx of visitors,providing funds to upgrade older facilities to be fully inclusive and accessible, in turnattracting a wider stream of visitors.

• The Diversity Review and Rural White Paper (2000) commits Government to addressingthe issue of equity in relation to access to the countryside, forming part of the statutoryrole of the Countryside Agency which will be developing a plan of action for DEFRA. Theapplication of the principal of equality of opportunity to the range of publicly - andprivately - funded goods and services has become commonplace in multicultural Britain. It is not, though, commonplace when it comes to accessing what the countryside has tooffer. The Rural White Paper (2000) states (p.138):



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‘By 2005, we will carry out a full diversity review of how we can encourage more peoplewith disabilities, more people from ethnic minorities, more people from the inner cities,and more young people to visit the countryside and participate in country activities.Initially, we will do this by seeking their views on what they need to enjoy the countryside.Then we will draw up a plan of action.' As well as aiming to increase access and recreationalopportunities, the review will consider whether 'a change of scenery' has the potential toreduce people's experience of social exclusion.

3 The Disability Discrimination Act and local authoritiesAlmost anyone who provides a service, including all local authorities, has duties under theDisability Discrimination Act (DDA). Some of these duties are already in place and otherscome in October 2004. It’s essential that local authorities, at all levels and in all departments,are aware of the current duties and are already planning for the changes in October 2004.

These changes are a challenge and an opportunity for local authorities to open up theirservices for disabled people. No-one is saying this is going to be easy for local authorities,but by planning strategically and taking a holistic approach the changes will be easier toachieve. Local authorities also have a role in advising and supporting businesses in their areaincluding those in the tourist industry.

What should local authorities be doing already?

A wide range of services are covered by the DDA, everything from swimming pools toinformation offices. Whenever the local authority is providing a service to the public ormembers of the public then this is likely to be covered by Part III of the DDA. Some servicessuch as education are primarily covered by another part of the DDA, Part IV. In some areas,such as highways, some services will be covered and others may not; eg provision of crossingsmay not be covered but signage would be. In these complicated situations it’s easiest toassume that services are covered by the DDA unless they clearly are not.

Various duties came into force in 1999 and local authorities should already be meeting these.These are straightforward duties that those following best practice would probably havealready been meeting.

These involve making ‘reasonable adjustments’ for disabled people, such as providing extrahelp or making changes to the way services are delivered. Examples would be offeringinformation in accessible formats or ensuring that guide or assistance dogs were welcome onlocal authority premises. In order to ensure that these duties are being met, local authoritiesshould look at their policies and practices to see if any adjustments are necessary. Alsoconsider what auxiliary services you are already providing or could provide for disabledpeople to help them access services. Training for staff could play an important role inmeeting these duties.

October 2004

From October 2004 local authorities will have to make adjustments to the physical featuresof premises to overcome barriers to access for disabled people. This means reasonablechanges to local authority buildings and other areas such as leisure facilities to make theservices accessible for disabled people. These are major changes and need planning well inadvance, which is why they aren’t coming into effect until 2004.



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Many local authorities have already started planning for these changes, and if your localauthority hasn’t then it’s crucial this process begins immediately. Changes to physical featurestake time and need to be planned in a strategic way. The DDA requires reasonable adjustment,and this is likely to involve making the most important facilities accessible first and prioritisationof improvements work and action planning. Although every building and facility doesn’tsuddenly have to be made completely accessible, local authorities, along with other serviceproviders, can’t just wait until a disabled person wants to use the service. From October 2004these changes are required whether or not disabled people regularly use the service.

The key is ensuring that the local authority is planning across a range of services. Accessaudits play a crucial role in this. Equally important is taking this planned approach: sometimesthere may be a management solution to improving access to a service; sometimes it may bemore useful to make wide ranging changes to a small number of buildings rather thanpiecemeal changes to all buildings. These are decisions which local authorities should betaking now and producing an action plan for improving access to services. This will not onlymeet legal duties but will open up services to the one in four members of the communitywith a disability.

Local authorities and the tourist industry

As well as having duties as service providers, local authorities are also sources of informationand advice for local businesses including those in the tourist industry. Larger tourist attractionsand hotels may be well-informed about access for disabled people and the DDA, but others,such as small accommodation providers, may be less so. Local authorities can help to provideinformation and give confidence to small service providers about the achievability andbenefits of improving access.

The role of the local authority in making tourism moreaccessible and inclusive

‘The issue is not just “tourism” or “disability” but the whole economic, social and culturalagenda: quality of life and the well-being agenda, which are now key local authorityconcerns.’Sid Platt, Director West Midlands LGA

Local authorities, often working in partnerships with others at the local regional andnational level such as RTBs and RDAs, play a key role in many different areas which influencethe product; eg planning, transport, the provision of information and marketing. They are in a unique position to influence the tourism product and to create a climate of change.

The role of local authorities

‘… the strength of local authorities (is) their ability to take a holistic view of thesituation…’ councils (have) a statutory duty to ‘promote the social, economic andenvironmental wellbeing of an area…’ The community plans, which from July 2000 mustbe produced by every council, will have equal opportunities as their bedrock. Further,central Government has realised that past initiatives to address social exclusion have failedbecause too much emphasis has been placed on physical improvements – bricks andmortar – and not enough on people.



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Many councils have already developed social inclusion strategies which contain these three aims:

1 Environmental improvements2 Economic development3 Healthy living

Tourism and holiday-taking are keys to each one.’Councillor John Price, Chester City Council and Chair of LGA Tourism for All Action Group

The issue of access and inclusion is best served by thinking more inclusively. These issuesshould not be thought of as optional additions to local policies or strategies, but should beembedded in all its policies and strategies from the beginning. By addressing access in thisway the local authority can take the lead in opening up the tourism product to new markets,enhancing its quality to benefit visitors, businesses and the local community alike.

Who is involved in making tourism more accessible and inclusive?

The whole local community needs to be involved in making tourism more accessible andinclusive. With regard to industry, this includes accommodation providers, attractions, andtransport as well as less obvious retail and service outlets. Local residents can also help tomake all visitors feel welcome.

1 Visitors: understanding them and their needs

Customer satisfaction must be the first principle in gauging the success of any new product.In seeking to create new opportunities and markets for tourism and leisure among groupswho have previously faced barriers, it is vital to gain an understanding of their perspective as a potential visitor. You need to identify the group you are addressing, and view yourdestination as far as possible through their eyes. You also need to have a clear idea of whyyou are doing this, to identify the benefits and create a positive framework that engages all stakeholders.

Disability, divorce, or care of an elderly relative can fall to any member of the public, regardlessof income or social status. Whilst being careful not to stereotype or assume that individualswho fall into certain groups can only afford low price holidays, there are opportunities tocreate attractive low cost tourism opportunities in out-of-season periods for those on limitedbudgets, and so address policy objectives such as those in the Working for the Countrysiderural tourism strategy.

This section will look at the various groups of those who are often excluded as a result ofstereotyping, lack of imagination, or physical barriers from these activities. It will examinethe ‘who’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions for each group, and give tips for further action anduseful contacts.

An overall tip often neglected is simply ‘ASK’.



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The ageing population

By 2009, there will be over a million more people over the age of 60 than there are today.The 55-64 age category (the ‘baby boomers’) is showing the fastest rise. It is expected to beup by 20% in the ten years to 2005, and will thereafter speed up the increase in the numberof people over 65. The over-55s are expected to rise overall by 3.5m in the next 15 years, to30% of the population. As these groups have more disposable income than in the past, andlive more healthily and longer, so a considerable untapped market begins to open up for UKtourism. However, higher proportions within these age groups with some form of disability,almost 30% in the age group 55-59 as against around 10% at age 40, will also meanincreasing demand for facilities with disabled access.

Disabled people

There are over 8.4 million adults in the UK with disabilities. They have increasing disposableincome, with a current annual purchasing power of £40 billion. In Europe, there are 37million adults with disabilities. This potential market will certainly grow. Most of us, as weget older and live longer will experience mobility problems, hearing difficulties and sightloss, even with medical advances. Recent research in the UK indicates that 48% of disabledpeople experience difficulty in traveling or taking a holiday. Yet two-thirds express the desireto do so. It is important to remember that creating ease of access will benefit other groups,such as parents with pushchairs, and the local community, not just visitors.

Only six per cent of disabled people are wheelchair users.

Carers

There are also some 6 million people in the UK who are carers. Evidence shows that three in five of the population will at some stage take on a caring role, many of us several timesthroughout life. A recent report on carers in London shows that there are an estimated730,000 carers in London alone, of whom around half are also in work. In consultations,carers have frequently expressed wishes to be able to take more holidays either as respite,alone or with their family or with the one they look after.

The government has recognized the importance of doing more to support carers andannounced the National Strategy for Carers, which includes a Carers Special Grant, with afund of £140 million which is ring-fenced within local authorities, designed to help carers get respite breaks. Local authorities are also encouraged to develop voucher schemes forcarers to buy respite breaks under this scheme. For more information about carers, look upwww.carers.org (Princess Royal Trust for Carers) or Carers Online, or www.carers.gov.uk forgovernment information. Finance can often be an issue with all the extra costs associatedwith caring, so the development of low cost options are likely to be helpful, as with othergroups in this section.

The changing nature of families

Another aspect of social demographics is the changing nature of the family. The spectacularrise in divorce, which peaked in 1993, and the steady rise in cohabitation and decline inmarriage in the population in general, has created an unprecedented rise in single parentfamilies, with almost half the UK’s children expected to spend some time in a one-parentfamily, while at any one time there are around 1.7 million one-parent families – almost aquarter of all families. It is a myth that lone parents are mostly teenagers. In fact, only three



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yper cent are, and number has fallen from 86,000 in 1966 to 45,800 in 2000. The average ageof lone parents is 35 (slightly older for lone fathers).

Of the 40% of the population who have not taken a holiday of more than three days inthree years, lone parents form a significant group of those who would like to. As many ofthem find themselves in straitened circumstances, and unable to work because of childcareproblems or choices to be full-time parents, the largest deterrent is cost; but other problems,including the lack of facilities and support on holidays, transport difficulties and the lack of a welcome, are also cited. Thoughtful preparation and attention to these needs would alsobenefit families with children in general.

An initiative sponsored through the North West Tourist Board and the local developmentagency has resulted in an enterprising scheme involving local small hotels and B&Bs meetingthe needs of single parents on holiday. For full details, see their attractive new site,www.justmeandthekids.com or contact Maggie Bond at NWTB (tel: 01942 764129).

The high concentration of families with children at the lower end of the income scale withinthe population is also reflected in the figures of those who may not be experiencing holidays.Nevertheless, research into the benefits of holidays shows that the opportunity to take a breakcan result in a range of positive outcomes, from improved health to improved relationships.The Family Holiday Association is a national charity which helps fund such holidays, and theirevidence gives typical examples of these either between couples or between parents andchild/children, or between children. Children can spend time with their parents in less stressedcircumstances, and in consequence their own behaviour improves. Several families holidayingtogether can contribute to the growth of mutual support and understanding. For moreinformation contact Family Holiday Association, 16 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JL; tel:.020 7436 3304; fax: 020 7436 3302; email: [email protected] or see www.fhaonline.org.uk

Veritas Projects, funded by a Lottery grant through the Family Holiday Association,developed the idea of running holidays for stressed parents which foster a sense ofcommunity and offer therapeutic tools and experiences which can be taken back intoeveryday life. These holidays can be adapted to suit different needs of disadvantaged groups– whether more educational in content, or for parenting support, or for health needs.Margate City Council hosted one such holiday, with a group of mothers and children fromSouth London benefiting from a week by the seaside with a programme of visits, workshopsand group activities. This was covered in The Guardian, Wednesday, 8 November 2000.Families who have taken part in a programme of such ‘holistic holidays’ have described theexperience as life-changing: ‘the holiday brought me and my daughter closer together…showed us how life could be…relaxed, not worrying about daily routines…’; ‘now I feel Idon’t need anti-depressants. I’ll try my hardest to put me and the kids first…’ Social workershave reported that families who had previously been resistant to all intervention were nowco-operating with ideas, and some mothers resolved that they could now cope and did notneed to put their children into care.

For further information contact Vera Waters, Veritas Projects, Bexin House, 2-3 St Andrew’sPlace, Southover Road, Lewes BN7 1UP tel: 01273 897523



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Young people and children

Due to the changes outlined above, along with the establishment in certain areas of long-term unemployment affecting about 2 million people, and the division between ‘work-rich’and ‘work-poor’, according to research, there are about 4 million children, or 34% of thechild population who are ‘going without at least one essential item, such as adequateclothing, a healthy diet, items for education, a week’s holiday, or social activity’ (JosephRowntree Foundation report 11 September 2000). Yet evidence of the benefits of travel andholiday-taking to children’s development, to their ability to become the travellers of thefuture, and in their passage to maturity continues to grow, and is taken for granted by more affluent young people, among whom ‘gap year’ travel has become a well-establishedpractice.

The ‘Time2Care’ millennium project run by the Family Holiday Association gave holidaysdonated or discounted by the travel industry, both in the UK and overseas, to 2,000 youngpeople in local authority care, many of whom miss out on holidays. In an evaluation of theproject by the National Children’s Bureau, over two-thirds of their carers reported that theholiday had attributed lasting benefits to the young people. Many felt better about going to school after the holiday, and 74% of them said that they had new ideas about what to do when they leave school as a result. The evaluation concluded that ‘Resources must beallocated to meet the leisure and recreation needs of young people in public care to thestandards available to other young people…Recreation and leisure should be viewed asrights rather than luxuries for young people living in public care’.

Research into the use of countryside shows a low level of participation by young people. Yetmany projects have successfully used challenging outdoor education activities to encouragedisaffected young people to become volunteers, or participate in self-development programmeswhich enable them to move towards greater responsibility, self-reliance and independence.One such project, Fairbridge Edinburgh, has been described as ‘the single most effectivecharity working with and training demotivated and disadvantaged young people…’ Two-thirdsof its clients return to training, employment or join another organisation, and a ProbationService study showed re-offending rates to have halved.

Successful schemes for young people include Columba 1400 in Skye, sponsored byLearndirect Scotland, who specialise in community and leadership training for adults andyoung people, (see www.columba1400.com) and the ‘Police And Youth EncouragmentScheme’ run by Bootle police. This was set up with the idea of encouraging young peoplewho had not offended but were in situations where they could also be lead into doing so.Sixty new 12-13 year olds are chosen for the 3-year programme each year.(www.atschool.eduweb.co.uk/medproj/payesoff.html)

Figures from the World Tourism Organisation confirm that one in five, that is 20% of worldtravel, is undertaken by people aged less than 30, and that this is set to rise to one in everyfour travellers, or 25% of all travel and tourism in the current decade. Young people are thediscoverers not only of new destinations, but also new activities. While young travellers maynot spend a great deal per day, they stay in locally owned and managed facilities, and theyoften stay longer. ‘Today’s young budget travellers are tomorrow’s higher spending customers’.



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Advice from the Federation of International Youth Travel Organisations (FIYTO):

• Adopt a welcoming attitude towards young travellers. Reach out to them in your tourism marketing campaigns. Ask your own young tourism professionals to identify the attractivefeatures, places and activities for the target group. Remember the three key words:affordable, flexible and exciting. And remember that young travellers want to meet theircounterparts in your community. Use ‘youngspeak’ when you write promotional materialsfor the 18-35 age group. Develop a modern, exciting website to communicate yourmessage.

• Include ‘youth travel’ as a priority segment in your multi-year strategic plan for tourismdevelopment. Initiate a dialogue with the travel and tourism professionals in yourcommunity. Close co-operation with the operators is essential if you wish to successfullydevelop, price and sell your destination to the international visitor.

• Join FIYTO and attend the World Youth and Student Travel Conference: we can help youwith strategic information, product development, and most importantly, we can help yousell your products on the international market. Because we ARE the marketplace.Peter de Jong, Director General. Information: www.fiyto.org

Ethnic minorities

At the 1991 census, just over 3 million of the 55 million people of Britain, around 5.5% ofthe UK population, do not classify themselves as ‘white’. Creating social cohesion in ourcommunities is a prime objective of local authorities. Tourism and leisure can play a role. As part of the commitment to equal opportunities, and in reaching out to disadvantagedcommunities, organisations need to consider the needs of ethnic minorities and how tomaximise their involvement.

Talking to representative groups is the first step. Consider the production of appropriatelanguage materials. Celebrating local cultural diversity can be an important part of tourismstrategy – the Notting Hill Carnival, for example, is now a massive tourist attraction. Aspointed out above, the youth market from China and South Asia is predicted to show bigincreases, and the youth market in general is attracted by cultural activities.

Efforts to open up the countryside to ethnic minorities are being made by national bodiessuch as the Countryside Agency, the National Trust and the Ramblers Association. Studies onbehalf of these groups have sought successful examples. These have encountered culturaldifficulties, in which the cultures and attitudes of ethnic minorities are not percieved to havea welcome away from areas where minorities have formed their own communities.



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yThe Gateway Project was set up to provide access to the historic parks and gardens of Walesduring the Millennium. The Black Environment Network was one of many partners in thisinitiative, and was allotted 300-400 places on trips to the countryside. Allowing beneficiariesto drive the project and take decisions about trips was important. Barriers to accessidentified included ‘a fear of going (alone), lack of information, preference for genderseparation on outings, inadequate transport, and, for some, cost.’ The excitement of thechildren and pleasure in seeing them ‘splashing each other – really having fun’ was one ofthe main satisfactions (initially the children thought ‘it would be boring’). ‘It was nice to getthe different cultures and groups to actually work together… three or four different culturesall sleeping under one roof…cooking together…eating together… Iraqis sitting next toIranians…’ Others likened it to ‘a spiritual experience’ ‘to see what beauty has been given tomankind’. Contact the Black Environment Network at www.ben-network.org.uk.

Bridging the sectarian divide was a major driver in the Northern Ireland initiative, ARCHES –Assisting Randalstown Community (towards) Harmony and Economic Success. See theCommunity section below.

2 Industry: understanding what service providers can do to make their services more accessible/inclusive

Why make your tourism product more accessible?

Increasing opportunities of access and social inclusion should be recognised by the localauthority and industry as a positive driving force. They can help improve your destination’scompetitiveness and marketing strategies, not merely because of the legal obligations placedon you, but because it also makes business sense. Adjustments to services and the builtenvironment offer opportunities to improve the quality of the product and the tourismexperience for a much wider audience. The growing numbers of older people with disposableincome and are used to travelling, people with temporary impairments, such as a brokenlimb, and families with young children, are all groups which will benefit in some way fromchanges which make it easier to ensure their needs are met. It is therefore important toconvey the diverse needs of visitors to the service providers, operators and relevantbusinesses in your destination.

There are many challenges in making sure that England’s 128,000 tourism businesses areaware of the implications of the DDA and committed to the spirit behind it. It is importantto make them aware of:

• The business potential ETC research shows that there are approximately 2.7 million potential holiday-makers with disabilities in the UK who regularly travel, and millions more abroad. Disabled people also very often travel with friends or family, they are more likely to book holidays of at least a week, they tend to book early, and are a valuable source of repeat business.

• Legal Responsibilities Service providers and all of those involved in delivering tourism products at destination level have no option but to make their service more accessible to those with disabilities. The DDA 1995 gives legal rights to people with disabilities and this legislation will be enforced by the Disability Rights Commission (DRC). The DDA requires that ‘reasonable adjustments’ be made in order to avoid treating disabled people less



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favourably for a reason relating to their disability. This includes changing policies, procedures and practises; providing auxiliary aids and services; and overcoming a physical feature. More information can be found at www.drc.org.uk.

• Social Responsibility It is also important to point out that increasingly conference organisers will not book venues unless they are accessible, and to be aware that as new generations come along, who are more comfortable with issues such as race and disability,they may withdraw business from service providers who do not share their sense of social responsibility.

In a survey by the DRC, the primary reason given by businesses for making adjustments wastheir moral awareness that they carry social responsibility towards the community. It isimportant to acknowledge and encourage that attitude, and to ensure that they gain somepublic relations benefit for their efforts, even when this i not a primary motivation. Thesame survey also revealed that the majority of such businesses at least earned back theamount they expended, if not exceeded it.

Partnerships

If access is to become an automatic part of the local tourism agenda, partnerships are criticalto its success. These partnerships should share a common aim and objective to address accessand ensure it gradually becomes a mainstream part of tourism development at the locallevel. Therefore internal partnerships, such as working with the LA’s access officer and otherdepartments to ensure tourism is developed in an inclusive way and that access is embeddedin all policies and strategies are vital. External partnerships will involve working with localaccess groups, businesses and the community to develop and agree a strategy and actionplan which embraces partners at the regional level such as the RTBs, RDAs and regionaloffices of national government departments and agencies.

How to unlock potential benefits

The following section looks at various elements of the tourism product and how you canunlock the potential of your destination making it more accessible as well as improving thequality of the product:

Accommodation Quality is crucial to the success of tourism. Many local authorities are moving increasinglytowards an ‘inspected first’ policy in respect of local accommodation as part of their strategyto raise the quality of the product.

The new National Accessible Scheme (NAS), for hotels, B&Bs and self-catering accommodationcan also contribute to this pursuit of quality. The standards have been designed to allowpeople with disabilities to make an informed choice about where they can go on holiday inthe UK.

The national tourist boards for England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland have developed thenew NAS following extensive research, consultation and piloting with both consumers andthe tourism industry. The new standards were developed so that, as far as possible, theyreflect the enormous range of personal and individual needs of disabled holidaymakers.The NAS cannot guarantee compliance with the DDA. However, achieving a rating under the



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ynew NAS will demonstrate that the spirit of the DDA has been embraced. It will also serve to demonstrate a recognition of, and commitment to, the urgency of the access issue.

Caravan, Holiday Homes and Parks Caravan parks do not come under the new standards but are judged against establishedCategory 1, 2, and 3 mobility standards.

For more information about the NAS, contact your RTB.

Visitor AttractionsThe ETC Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Service (VAQAS) has recognised the need forthe inclusion of accessible guidance and advice within the Visitor Attraction Best PracticeGuide, and as an integral part of assessment debriefs.

The NAS has not yet been extended to attractions, but the PAVA guide (Providing AccessibleVisitor Attractions) is being issued free to all VAQAS participants from 2003. The diversity ofvisitor attractions means that a standard will be difficult, but certainly not impossible todraw up.

The importance of attitude change and recognition of the differing accessibility needscannot be overstated. This aspect will be worked into assessment debriefs from 2003enhancing the educative and consultative role of the assessors. While the initial function willbe mainly signposting, it will be an important proactive step in guiding operators towardsformulating accessible action plans.

For instance, a Grade One built heritage attraction may have some in-built physicaldifficulties but this does not prevent planning for large print guides, enhanced audio guides.Further work needs to be completed on an accessible standard but initial advice on planningis being made available through VAQAS.

Contact details for VAQAS are: tel 01473 825633 (helpline) or email [email protected]

Museums, archives and librariesResource – The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries has developed a Disability ActionPlan, based on the findings of a national survey on the provision of access for disabledpeople to museums, archives and libraries carried out in 2001. The survey, based on a sampleof 340 organisations throughout the UK, identified a growing body of good practice inmuseums, archives and libraries and a range of barriers remaining to be overcome before alldisabled people can expect the same high standards of service wherever they live. It providesclear evidence that high performance in access for disabled people is the direct result of aplanned approach. For example, high performers are twice as likely to have a formal accessplan for disabled people and nine out of ten high performers have carried out an accessaudit. In addition to the Disability Action Plan and the survey findings, Resource's websiteprovides a wealth of practical advice to assist museums, archives and libraries developservices for disabled people. (www.resource.gov.uk/action/learnacc/00access.asp#3)



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Guidance includes the ‘Disability Directory for Museums and Galleries’ and ‘Library Servicesfor Visually Impaired Users: a Manual of Best Practice’. It also includes a self-assessmenttoolkit to help museums, archives and libraries make an initial assessment of their currentlevels of accessibility and identify areas for improvements. This easy-to-use toolkit of 100questions covers all-important areas to consider from information and services to buildingsand management.

During 2003, which is European Year of People with a Disability, Resource will be updatingits website with the publication of twelve new guides aimed at managers (April, July andOctober) and a link to regional databases of disability trainers and auditors, which are being developed in partnership with the new Regional Museums, Archives and LibrariesCouncils (October).

Contact: Resource, Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, 16 Queen Anne's Gate,London SW1H 9AA; tel: 020 7273 1408

TransportThe ability to get easily to a destination, and once there move around it, is vital for visitors.Transport must therefore be taken into account in any action plan, considering not only theissue of how easy it is to access, but also how easy it is to use. The following offer some linksfor further information.

• The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC)The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee's (DPTAC) is a useful source ofinformation. Their website provides comprehensive information on its role in advising theGovernment on the transport needs of disabled people and provides an overview of what DPTAC does and the activities of its working groups. It focuses primarily on differenttransport modes, including air travel, buses, ferries, motoring, rail, taxis and walking andincludes a new section on the built environment, where DPTAC also advises theGovernment. (http://212.20.228.135/index.htm)

• Strategic Rail Authority The Strategic Rail Authority has produced a Code of Practice in respect of train and stationservices for disabled passengers. This can be viewed and downloaded from their website atwww.sra.gov.uk/sra/publications/general_default.tt2

EmploymentThe Employers' Forum on Disability is a major organisation focused on disability as it affectsbusiness. They recognise that ‘organisations that employ disabled people are better able toanticipate and respond to the needs of disabled customers. They have in their disabledemployees an inbuilt source of information and advice about their potential customers onwhich they can draw in developing their marketing strategies’. (www.employers-forum.co.uk)

See also ‘employment’ in the Community section below.

TrainingIt is vital that everyone working in the tourism industry has the skills and knowledge toprovide facilities and services that meet the needs and expectations of visitors. Training istherefore an important tool to help those who are part of the tourism industry. Welcome All



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is a one-day disability awareness training programme. It is designed to help participantsworking in the tourism industry meet the needs and expectations of people with disabilities.Further details can be obtained from your RTB or www.welcometoexcellence.co.uk. Othertraining programmes are also available from a variety of organisations, such as the RoyalNational Institute for the Blind.

Developing and taking forward the access/inclusion agenda

Listed below are some key points which all of those working within the tourism industrywho are looking to develop and take forward the access/inclusion agenda should consider:

1 Do use local access/social groups for their practical advice. Involve them in the development of any products/marketing campaigns

Examples• Grosvenor Museum, Chester: recent access improvements were completed after consultation

with local disabled people – resulting in a dramatic increase of visitors with disabilities(Contact: 01244 402012)

• Cheshire for All Website: Cheshire’s nationally recognised Access Guide has recently beendeveloped into an exemplary accessible website in conjunction with the CheshireDisabilities Federation (Contact: Jo Wainwright 01244 603180 or Jenny Murphy)

2 Do collect, store and present accurate up-to-date information. Encourage participation inNational Accessible Scheme for reliable standards

Examples• NWTB Accessible Marketing Kit (contact: Maggie Bond; tel 01942 764129) • RNID ‘See it Right’ Pack

3 Do ‘ASK’ every customer what can you do to make their visit more enjoyable. Use the ‘no barriers’ approach encourage businesses in your area to do this.

4 Do be prepared to make changes to your product in order to reach new markets.Research the potential market thoroughly.

5 Don’t stereotype – ASK! Social groups/target markets will have many requirements incommon, but they are still individuals with their own likes/dislikes/needs.

3 Community: how the community can both contribute and benefit from improved inclusivity/access

Gaining community support for tourism initiatives is essential to their long-term success.Enabling the local community to enjoy holiday-taking and leisure pursuits themselves is animportant key to such support. Moreover, improvements to access, the application of theprinciples of Universal Design applied to the whole environment (see Environment below),and a Welcome All attitude from all suppliers of goods and services will also benefit thewhole community in their daily lives. In such a positive atmosphere, new ideas will befostered, and a can-do approach replace stagnation in the public sphere.



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yThe Community Action Network (CAN) fosters the growing ranks of ‘social entrepreneurs’.These are people from all walks of life who have the vision and energy to bring aboutpositive change in their environments. CAN sets out the defining characteristics of successfulprojects as ‘the unexpected, surprise, wow factor – attention to detail; uplifting, inspiring,welcoming, open, respectful, inclusive, lively, fun – demonstrating how we value those whouse our physical spaces; energy, enthusiasm and drive by staff and users; accentuating thepositive’. (www.can-online.org.uk)

This section will cover the ‘why’ and give some suggestions for the ‘how’ to supplementthose already given under visitors and industry above, under the following headings:

• Social inclusion• Community pride and regeneration• Creating and accessing employment• Healthy living• Wider benefits

Lastly, some examples of projects at a local level are shown, with ideas for futuredevelopment at national level.

Social inclusion

Social inclusion can be defined as the perception of being a part of mainstream society. Itsopposite, social exclusion, is often used as a short hand term for poverty, but has beendescribed by different agencies as encompassing a number of more common descriptionsincluding poverty, isolation, discrimination, segregation, powerlessness, and stigma.

In the Countryside Agency’s study on social exclusion, key findings relating to what creates‘success’ in combining social inclusion and countryside recreation were:

• being community driven• having empowerment as an objective• having social cohesion as an objective• promoting partnerships• having ‘outreach’ as opposed to just ‘countryside’ staff• being assessed by both ‘quantitative’ and ‘qualitative’ indicators• effective marketing.

Community pride and regeneration

Many examples of successful community regeneration have either centred on or includedtourism as a prime driver. An influx of visitors to a new attraction, festival, sporting event or marketing initiative can help generate new funds which can subsequently be used inimproving community facilities to be inclusive, forward-looking and attractive. Appropriateinvolvement with and support to local businesses needs to be a part of this process. Thepositive self-image of a community thus bolstered then projects outwards into attracting yetmore interest, creating a ‘virtuous circle’.



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yThe magazine New Start, which specialises in community regeneration, has numerousexamples of initiatives, from tiny to huge scale, and suggestions for accessing funds to backsuch schemes. (www.newstartmag.co.uk)

Creating and accessing employment

Tourism development also helps create employment. Tourism is the fifth largest industry byemployment and accounts for 7.6% of employment in England. Schemes which engage thelocal community and include low-season low-cost options can avoid seasonality, and thuscreate more attractive employment opportunities. Moreover, where new businesses and jobsare created with a fully inclusive approach, with local people from previously disadvantagedgroups being provided with the right tools and training to succeed, there is a double benefitin combating social exclusion.

The London Borough of Hillingdon has created a partnership with Uxbridge College and aconsortium of Heathrow/Hillingdon hotels to run a foundation course for young people andthe unemployed with training within the major hotel groups, leading to permanentemployment.

Many of the projects which have run schemes to assist access to tourism and the countrysideeither have increased self-confidence as an expressed aim, or have reported this as a result oftheir work. The ability to visit new places, undertake adventures, to plan, organise and takepart in a physical event such as a trip or outing creates empowerment. It also expands theconcept of what is possible for an individual, family or community, which has positive spin-offs in other areas of life.

Again, projects like one currently being developed by Veritas Projects, designed to provide‘soft skills’ in terms of giving people the confidence and self-esteem to go into training andemployment, link socially beneficial tourism with creating employment.

Disability Employment Action: An initiative to encourage the employment of more disabledpeople in Hospitality, Leisure, Travel and Tourism.

Utilising a pipeline approach of awareness-building on the part of employers and employeesalike, then taster experiences followed by actual recruitment and retention – Springboardhas joined forces with disability experts and organisations, JobCentre Plus and committedemployers to implement practical initiatives that will make a real difference. It is achallenging task and one that will grow over the long term through individual buildingblocks that demonstrate employer ‘best practice’ and motivate an ever-increasing number of employers to come on board.

For further information contact Rhona Mennie [email protected]



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Employing people from disadvantaged groups itself helps remove barriers to accessingholidays and leisure while the employment of disabled people is seen as a vitally importantaspect of access. Employing people from ethnic minorities means that visitors will not feelthat they are the only ‘non-white face’ in a destination or attraction. Increased childcarefacilities which enable lone parents to work could extend the childcare facilities for visitingfamilies or parents attending conferences. The Countryside Agency stresses the importanceof employing ‘Outreach’ staff in developing access initiatives.

Healthy living

This is again a key priority of local authorities. At a time when the health service is underhuge pressure, preventative health becomes increasingly important.

In Just What the Doctor Ordered – The Health Benefits of Taking Holidays (English TourismCouncil 2001) a survey of GPs found:

• 89% of GPs believe that a holiday can help alleviate such symptoms as depression, stress-related illness, alcohol and drug dependencies and insomnia

• 82% believe that a holiday can benefit a family in alleviating these adults’ symptoms orchildhood ones such as behavioural disorders and asthma and allergies.

Also, on average:

• almost half of all patients were expected to benefit from a holiday in increasedemotional/mental or physical well-being

• one in five would have a reduced need for medication • a quarter would take fewer visits to a health professional• a third would be less likely to take time off work for health reasons.

Moreover, psychologists are increasingly establishing that fun is the essential ingredient inwell-being. Fun is about being glad to be alive. It boosts our immune system, bonds us to ourfellow beings, and to our environment. Being in touch with nature has been found to boostour immune system. Fun-filled moments create happy memories, which see us through thehard times and inspire us to a hopeful future.

Increased self confidence, is another aspect of holidays. In a survey of holidaymakerscommissioned by holiday company Thomsons, a third of respondents resolved to return towork with a more assertive and positive manner. A quarter feel their holiday will make themmore decisive in their working role.

Ideas for future development: The Local Government Association’s (LGA) action group for social inclusion in tourismsupported ideas both by individual local authorities and some cross-authority or nationalschemes which it felt have potential.



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The following have been drawn from the LGA Tourism For All Action Group as examples ofthe use of tourism as a tool for social inclusion and of good practice in accessible tourism.

Adhoc Publishing LtdCity guides offering information, on living in and visiting major UK cities, with a mainstreamand comprehensive access angle.

Birmingham City CouncilBirmingham City Council works with local partners to support a wide range of ethnicfestivals and events, which meet local needs and attract tourists.

Cheshire Tourism for all ForumA Welcome Guide on a website, developed with and suitable for use by people with a widerange of disabilities.

Chester City CouncilA wide range of initiatives promoting accessible tourism with the local industry, includingthe Deaf Tourism Project aimed at promoting Chester as an accessible tourist venue for deafand hard of hearing people.

Conwy County Borough CouncilA 12 month training scheme to take up to eight people off the long-term unemploymentregister by training them as self-employed heritage guides.

Disability 2001A joint project with Springboard UK and TFAC to encourage people with disabilities to enterthe tourism industry and to promote career opportunities beyond entry-level jobs.

EastbourneA wide range of initiatives with particular emphasis on the needs of older visitors.Eastbourne’s Quality Edge training programme, delivered in partnership between theCouncil, the local college and hotel association, includes a module on meeting therequirements of the Disability Discrimination Act.

Essex County CouncilWork with the Essex Coalition of Disabled People to change industry attitudes and promoteholiday and employment opportunities within the area.

Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council‘Portcullis’ is an advanced vocational training scheme designed to meet skill shortages in thelocal labour market, particularly the tourism sector. The project aims to provide unemployedpeople with the skills in new technologies in order to find employment in tourism asinformation managers, administrators and retail assistants.

One idea for development is that of exchange schemes. This could be between localauthorities by mutual arrangement, or by the establishment of a clearing house for suchschemes.



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yAn example is the French scheme, ‘Bourse Solidarite Vacances’, which enables low costholidays to be offered to disadvantaged French families, and are looking for similar offers to be extended and exchanged with other European partners.

‘Bourse Solidarite Vacances’ is a public interest group established in 1999 by the Frenchministry of tourism to promote the right to holidays for all and fight exclusion. The projectwas motivated by the regular assessment that 40% of French people do not take holidays,mostly for financial reasons. At the same time, it was recognised that many holidays ortourism related products remained unsold by providers.

The ministry therefore brought together tourism businesses and charities to try and bridgethe gap between offers and demands and meet the recognised need of families for somerest and for an alternative environment, as well as helping stimulate the tourism industry.The Fund mostly targets families in order to contribute to a one-week reunion of all familymembers. After three years, 40,000 people have enjoyed this programme. Some lessons canbe drawn from the whole scheme as to its effectiveness in terms of social inclusion.

A survey was conducted by a Paris University on the scheme to assess the effects of a holidayon underprivileged families. The study focused on a sample of 92 social structures andcharities which used the Fund in 2001 for 2000 people.

Family composition: Family average income per month:35% are couples 22% over 1000 euros40% single-parent (mother) family 40% between 650 and 1000 euros3% single-parent (father) family 30% between 400 and 650 euros22% are singles 8% below 400 euros

Family situations: Average age : 63% unemployed 38 for adults and 9 for children19 % hold temporary jobs18% had a regular job

Holiday situation: 42% had never been on holiday or had not been for the past ten years.44% of those participating went on holiday for the first time.

Three months after their holidays:22% indicated they had found a job, a course or a training course. 42% took onresponsibilities in the association. 45% said they had noticed important advances of their children in terms of sociability andachievement in schoolwork.24% said holidays were an opportunity to reunite the family.27% of families indicated that when holidays engendered school progress, parent’s authorityimproved and for 18%, their image as parents had improved.60% of those looking for a flat had found one.73% of people in need of medical care had access to it and continue their treatment on aregular basis.

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This scheme is linked with the idea of a clearing house for offers of donated or discountedholiday product in the UK. A joint project proposal has been drawn up between theCountryside Agency, the LGA and the Youth Hostels Association to develop a websitedatabase of offers which can be accessed by groups working with carers, the disabled anddisadvantaged families and children. While at present this lacks funding, expressions ofinterest in this idea can be sent to Jenny Stephenson, the consultant on this project, [email protected]

Likewise, new initiatives and ideas should be sent to and exchanged with the Tourism for AllConsortium, who link all those interested, whether local authority, voluntary organisation,access group, commercial enterprise or industry body, in taking forward access and socialinclusion in tourism (www.tourismforall.org.uk).

4 Environment

When considering the environment it is helpful to recognise two significant models ofdisability. The first, in very simple terms, is the medical model which equates a person'simpairment with their disability, without placing it in any broader context. The secondapproach is the social model which places a person's impairment in the context of the socialand environmental factors which create disabling barriers to their participation in society. Forexample, employing the social model of disability would mean that a wheelchair user cannotget into a building because of the planning and design of the building or the attitudes ofthe owner, rather than being unable to climb steps.

The environment and attitudes have therefore a significant impact on the accessibility of thetourism product.

In order to stop the physical environment creating barriers for people it is necessary to beginto consider universal design, that is creating an environment that is usable by everyone.Universal design will not only help visitors but also the local community. When implementedproperly it can remove many of the problems associated with planning regulations and theDisability Discrimination Act.

The Centre for Accessible Environments can offer advice on the accessibility of new buildingsand in identifying workable, cost-effective and aesthetically appropriate solutions to theaccess problems of older buildings. (www.cae.org.uk)

Further information on the principles of universal design can be found atwww.ap.buffalo.edu/idea/publications/publications.html This is a publication produced by the city of New York on this issue.

Below is a checklist of policy areas which local authorities seeking to create and accessibledestination need to look at:

• The social environment Generating community pride, regeneration, forward lookingquality approach – as the Community Action Network describes

• Service culture Welcoming to all; overcoming prejudice/stereo-typing; training in disabilityawareness; looking at communications and information-giving



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inclusiveness for visitors, local residents, business, and employees; legalframework/requirements; economic measurement; monitoring benefits.

Preparing an action plan: how can access and inclusion be developed?

As stated already, the local authority plays a key role in setting the local agenda andinfluencing the development of the tourism product. The production of an action plan canhelp create and manage ideas for expanding the links between social inclusion and tourism,including the role of businesses and others involved in the delivery of tourism.

There are many good examples of local authorities having strategies to take forward thisissue and these could provide the focus and content of an action plan.

Chester City Council has developed a strategy that includes leading by example anddemonstrating good practice, setting the tone for business and encouraging them toemulate their achievements. This includes:

• development of a new Cheshire Welcome website featuring comprehensive accessinformation

• production of a new Chester Access Guide• awareness-raising of social inclusion and the needs of people with disabilities via Equal

Opportunities/Welcome All training courses (subsidised by NWDA and City Council-sponsored to encourage participation). Chester was the most successful local authority inthe North West in 2002 to encourage participation in Welcome Host courses generally

• development of guided tours by Chester-based British Heritage, that meet the needs ofpartially sighted people

• provision of information at places and in formats accessible by everyone (including foreignlanguage print/guides in Braille and large-print formats)

• promotion of the National Accessible Scheme as part of the harmonised grading scheme • working with private sector representative bodies and individual businesses to encourage

provision of facilities to meet the needs of people with disabilities, including awareness offunding schemes; eg Rural Recovery, and making presentations emphasising the economicbenefits of making provision for this potential market and the social justice imperative.

• taking the lead on improving access to tourism attractions within local authority control as a means to demonstrate good practice to other businesses, providing leadership in thecommunity and inspiring emulation; eg City Council's Grosvenor Museum, securing accessimprovements of over £500,000 mainly through heritage lottery

• emphasising policies and approach within tourism strategies and local plans• incorporating information about access for all in new and existing print• developing training for City Guides to enable them to devise routes around heritage areas

that meet the needs of all.



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Monitoring and review of the action plan

The action plan which you prepare should be relevant to local circumstances, and the needsof all the stakeholders involved. It should have specific actions and timescales that areagreed by all involved. It should be monitored and reviewed regularly and adjusted asnecessary when circumstances change.

Promoting your work

It is vital that the work you undertake to improve access and inclusion in your area isrecognised and acknowledged. The government’s tourism strategy recommends membershipof the umbrella organisation Tourism for All as a means of giving ‘indication of intent andcommitment’ which can help with recognition of your work and can be taken into accountin demonstrating compliance with the DDA. For more information, contactwww.tourismforall.org.uk or email [email protected]

References

The following list of contact details and websites is not definitive.

AccessibletourismCreated by the English Tourism Councilwww.accessibletourism.org.uk

Centre for Accessible EnvironmentsNutmeg House60 Gainsford StreetLondon SE1 2NYTel: 020 7357 8182Fax: 020 357 8183www.cae.org.uk/

Countryside AgencyJohn Dower houseCrescent PlaceCheltenham Gloucestershire GL50 3RATel: 01242 521381Fax: 01242 584270www.countryside.gov.uk

Department For Transport Disability Policy Branch DfT Mobility and Inclusion UnitZone 1/18Great Minster House76 Marsham StreetLondon SW1P 4DRTel: 020 7944 8021Fax 020 7944 6102www.mobility-unit.dft.gov.uk/index.htm



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http://www.cae.org.uk


http://www.mobility-unit.dft.gov.uk/index.htm

Department for Work and PensionsDisability UnitDepartment for Work and PensionsLevel 6, Adelphi1-11 John Adam StreetLondonWC2N 6HTemail: [email protected] or http://194.202.202.185/

Disability Rights Commission (DRC)Second Floor, Arndale HouseThe Arndale CentreManchester M4 3AQTel: 08457 622 633Fax: 08457 622 611email: [email protected]

Employer’s Forum on DisabilityNutmeg House, 60 Gainsford StreetLondon SE1 2NYTel: 020 7414 1494Fax 020 7414 1495www.employers-forum.co.uk/www/index.htm

Heart of England Tourist BoardAccess Agenda 21 ProjectHeart of England Tourist Board Larkhill Road WorcesterWR5 2EZTel: 01905 761100email: [email protected]/

Holiday CareHoliday Care Information Unit7th Floor Sunley HouseBedford ParkCroydonSurrey CR0 2APTel: 0845 124 9971Fax: 0845 124 9972Minicom: 0845 124 9976email: [email protected]



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http://www.dwp.gov.uk

http://194.202.202.185/

http://www.drc-gb.org.uk

http://www.employers-forum.co.uk/www/index.htm

http://www.hetb.co.uk/


IndividuALLChris GraceManagerIndividuALLWooden Spoon House5 Dugard WayLondon SE11 4THTel: 020 7414 1494Fax: 020 7414 1495email: individuall@disabilitypartnership.co.ukwww.disabilitypartnership.co.uk/Individuall/bh.htm

Mencap123 Golden LaneLondon EC1Y 0RTTel: 020 7454 0454 Fax: 020 7696 5540 email: [email protected] www.mencap.org.uk/index.htm

National Register of Access Consultants C/o Nutmeg House60 Gainsford RoadLondon SE1 2NYTel: 020 7234 0434Fax: 020 7357 8183www.nrac.org.uk/

North West Tourist BoardMaggie BondTel: 01942 764129email: [email protected]

Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation (RADAR)12 City Forum, 250 City RoadLondon EC1V 8AFTel: 020 7250 3222Fax: 020 7250 0212email: [email protected]

Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB)105 Judd StreetLondonWC1H 9NETel: 020 7388 1266Fax: 020 73882034email: [email protected]



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http://www.disabilitypartnership.co.uk/Individuall/bh.htm

http://www.mencap.org.uk/index.htm

http://www.nrac.org.uk

http://www.nwtourism.net

http://www.radar.org.uk

http://www.rnib.org.uk

Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID)19-23 Featherstone StreetLondon EC1Y 8SLTel: 0207 296 8000Fax: 0207 296 8199Minicom: 0207 296 8001email: [email protected]

Springboard UK Limitedwww.springboarduk.org.uk

Social Exclusion UnitOffice of the Deputy Prime Minister7th Floor, Eland HouseBressenden PlaceLondon, SW1E 5DU Tel: 020 7944 3548Fax: 020 7944 5550email: [email protected]

Tourism For All ConsortiumJenny Stephenson, Director3 Broomfield HallEnmoreSomerset TA5 2DZTel: 01278 671863email: [email protected]/



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http://www.rnid.org.uk

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Section 3 Destination development3F Identifying and developing local distinctiveness

Introduction

What is local distinctiveness?

How do you integrate aspects of local distinctiveness into your destination’s marketingactivities?

Encouraging visitors to make the most of local distinctiveness

Product development

What can influence success or failure?

Case studies

Further reference



This component will help destination managers to audit the qualities that contribute to theirdestination’s local distinctiveness. It also suggests ways in which aspects of the area’sdistinctive character can be incorporated into key marketing activities and brand creation.Finally it examines ways in which partnerships can be set up between local suppliers andtourism operators to facilitate increased retention of visitor expenditure within thedestination thus ensuring that communities can capitalise and visitors benefit from localdistinctiveness.


• 1A Surveying visitor satisfaction• 1B Determining the local economic impact of tourism• 1C Surveying local community attitudes to tourism• 2B Developing tourism partnerships• 2D Tourism and the planning system: gaining value locally• 3I Sustainability schemes and awards for industry and destinations• 3J Marketing.

Introduction

Local distinctiveness is a combination of all the things that give a place its unique character.It is one of the most important ways of giving your destination a competitive edge; itdifferentiates your destination from the competition. This component explains how localdistinctiveness can be identified and used to differentiate a location and provide a strongfoundation for effective marketing.

What is local distinctiveness?

Local distinctiveness can draw on any of the following:

• Natural features the landscape, characteristic habitats, vegetation and indigenous species• Man-made features urban landscape, architectural styles, building materials, field

boundaries, visitor attractions and historical sites• Heritage, culture and traditions its history, famous people, cultural mix, events, festivals,

dialects and arts• Produce and ‘industries’ food and drink, crafts, shops, and means of production such as

farming, fishing, mining, textile manufacture

It is a powerful tourism marketing tool as it can help to:

• differentiate a destination from others and form the basis of a brand strategy• provide product development opportunities• protect and enhance cultural diversity and biodiversity• provide the basis of themes for products and promotion.

3F IDENTIFYING AND DEVELOPING LOCAL DISTINCTIVENESS


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There are a number of ways that destinations can derive benefits from local distinctiveness,including:

• creating employment by stimulating demand for local produce from visitors and tourismbusinesses

• attracting new/more visitors and spreading the benefits of tourism more widely bydeveloping new products and marketing themes

• preventing damage to sensitive habitats and species and enhancing the naturalenvironment through interpretation, raising awareness of conservation issues andencouraging visitors to make contributions to environmental conservation

• enhancing the built environment through raising awareness, interpretation and visitorpayback schemes

• supporting local producers by setting up distribution systems for tourism businesses.

How do you integrate aspects of local distinctiveness intoyour destination’s marketing activities?

In order to gain maximum benefit from aspects of local distinctiveness you will need toincorporate elements into your marketing activities. One of the most effective ways of doingthis is to design your brand identity around key characteristics of your area. ‘A brand is thetotal response of the customer – past, present and future – to the symbol or name that stateswho you are or what you offer and that differentiates you from your competitors.’

Successful destination brands are associated with high product differentiation as well ashighly distinctive quality and value. Local distinctiveness can play a big part in successfultourism destination branding.

In order develop a brand based on your destination’s unique characteristics you will need to:

• establish what local people value about the area• identify the rational and emotional benefits of your destination’s product offering• produce a positioning statement.

Establish what local people value about the area

If you are going to build a truly successful destination brand, you need to get the buy-in ofthe local community, and their views as to what they believe the areas unique characteristicsto be. It is also good interpretation practice to let people decide how they and their localitycould be promoted to the outside world and visitors. By hosting open meetings for thecommunity and discussions with industry operators and other key stakeholders, you will beable to build up a picture of what local people think makes the area distinctive. Thesepartnerships can be built on overtime, which in turn will mean that the final destinationbrand will benefit from maximum usage as increasing numbers of people and localbusinesses become familiar with its message.



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Identify the rational and emotional benefits of your product offering

Rational benefits are the tangible benefits of the destination. Those that you choose topromote to the identified target markets should accentuate your destination’s localdistinctiveness, ensure that your destination is unique and give your destination that all-important competitive edge.

One of the best ways to identify your destination’s rational benefits is to carry out an auditin the form of a SWOT analysis. By identifying your destinations strengths, weaknesses,opportunities and threats, you will equip yourself with material to help form the basis ofyour brand, while at the same time focus your thoughts on your potential markets.

Emotional benefits are those which will determine how your potential market will ‘feel’about your destination; for example, relaxed, stimulated or revitalised.

Once you have identified the rational and emotional benefits you will then be able todevelop the personality of your destination. The best way to think about this is to imagineyou are describing your destination as a person; you may use words like: exotic, warm,friendly, exciting, welcoming, caring.

Produce a positioning statement

The next step is to audit your competition and establish that your offering is sufficientlydifferent to make it stand out. One way of doing this is to develop a positioning statementwhich sums up all of the above. Often the positioning statement itself never appears in copybut is used to brief all the promotional activities for the destination.

The reason for producing a positioning statement is to ensure that all stakeholders are clearabout the main marketing and promotional messages. It will also help to ensure that there isconsistency across all marketing activities.

Finally, you will need to test the positioning statement through research with representativesfrom your target markets. Through this research you will be looking to see if your brand iscredible, that the destination appears sufficiently different from the rest of the competitionand that it positively informs and influences your potential market. If you also wish toproduce a marque this is a good opportunity to test a range of concepts. A marketingmarque is sometimes referred to as a logo and is used to promote the destination onpublicity material, signage etc. It is the graphic symbolism of the brand concept.

Destination positioning statements that have been developed:

Rye, a captivating well-preserved medieval hilltop town in the South East of England, closeto the continent, offering enriching and intriguing experiences.

Cumbria, an inspiring area of natural beauty, with spectacular lakes and mountains at itsheart, offering relaxing and rejuvenating experiences.



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yEncouraging visitors to make the most of local distinctiveness

Once visitors have arrived at a destination their understanding of the brand can often affecttheir behaviour during their stay. For example, if a beach resort promotes itself as a youthful,trendy, fun-filled destination you will find the clientele will behave accordingly. If on theother hand a destination promotes its breathtaking landscapes and opportunities forrelaxation and recuperation, you will find that visitors will go there to rest and enjoy thescenery. Similarly, if a destination becomes famed for its cultural events or fine local foodand wines people will be inclined to investigate the local offerings, hopefully stay for a whileand purchase.

Your marketing messages need to be carefully designed, as the way in which you promoteyour destination can affect the type of visitors you attract and the way they behave duringtheir stay.

A leaflet distributed to visitors in Constable Country encourages visits to local food, drinkand craft producers in the Dedham Vale of East Anglia. An unexpected side-effect has beenimproved understanding and co-operation between public and private sector players in the area.

Information on the types of local products and special attractions of the area should beaccessible both prior to a visitor landing in the destination and further afield through travelagents and other intermediaries so that it can be used it to influence their decision to visit.

Product development

Once you have produced the positioning statement for your destination you may decide that you need to develop products to make your destination more distinctive. However, justbecause an event, festival or product exist it does not necessarily mean that it is locallydistinctive. Many events are replicated through out the country; if they are easily copied they probably don’t have local roots.

Development of products should be planned to conserve aspects of local distinctiveness.

The following are examples of tourism products that are based on aspects of localdistinctiveness, which you may consider developing:

Making events and festivals work

• Events and festivals can be based on a wide range of topics: local natural features;habitats or species; local produce or crafts; a historical event, person or people; anhistorical period where there is a strong local connection; sports or activities.

• Be clear about the purpose of the event and ensure that all partners agree.

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• Define your target audience and develop the event and promotional material for thisgroup.

• Do not underestimate the time or resources needed to plan, organise and hold events and festivals.

• Help in organising events and festivals can be found from local groups, such as the Rotaryor Chambers of Trade, who also benefit from fundraising or increased trade.

• Involve partners who are experienced at holding events; the National Trust for examplehas an event organisers manual and the Nidderdale AONB has recently produced a manualand run associated training courses.

• Ensuring you have the right licences, health and safety and fundraising are areas whereyou may need to get specialist help.

• Make sure you have a site plan, a safety plan an emergency plan and a trafficmanagement plan and that organisers and stewards know exactly what to do in allcircumstances.

Making tours and packages work

• Try to find local operators who can develop tours and packages for you; complying with legislation (the EU package Directive) and the VAT accounting requirements (TourOperators Margin Scheme) can be costly and time consuming.

• Minibus tours require high occupancy levels to turn a profit – try to include exclusiveelements, such as short talks by a farmer, warden or local historian.

• Packages can be either escorted or independent. Try to use public transport forindependent packages.

Making interpretation work

• Never underestimate the value of good quality clear interpretation. • Signage, leaflets and maps for visitors as self guided walking, public transport, driving or

cycling tours are extremely popular. Based on a theme of one variety or another thesetypes of tours can really open up areas that were previously off the beaten visitor track.

• Effective interpretation can create a whole new product, but it is a specialist area.• Most museums services and countryside services have interpretation experience.

Setting up local producer groups

If one of the key characteristics of your destination is its high quality local produce, one of the ways to maximise its benefits for the local economy may be to set up local producergroups. Local producer groups are an effective way of:

• promoting local produce to visitors• encouraging the tourism industry to buy local produce• increasing revenue and jobs with local producers.

Small local producers often view similar businesses as competition. By using examples ofsuccessful groups, you can help to reduce these concerns and encourage participation.



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yKey stages in setting up a group are:

• Agree criteria for inclusion in projects A peer group should define local distinctiveness. • Audit Compile a definitive list of producers in the area (lists are usually available

from economic development departments, trade associations, tourist boards, tourist information centres).

• Survey Contact producers to gain an understanding of their development and marketingneeds and their views on joining such a group.

• Develop the proposal Use the information to propose how the group might be set up andwhat its main activities should be. These might include:- developing a strong brand identity for the group- producing and distributing a leaflet aimed at visitors- providing advice and assistance for the development of facilities for visitors to workplaces- developing a website- holding producer fairs- promoting producers to local tourism businesses and setting up a distribution system- training in skills that will help to sustain local distinctiveness, such as merchandising and

customer care.• Resources The group’s capabilities will depend on the resources available. In addition to

pump priming finance, an individual’s time will be required to co-ordinate action,although this will reduce as the producers themselves become active.

• Consult producers To test the proposal and encourage participation, develop a strategyand action plan.

• Establish the group Implement the action plan.

The HETB Food and Drink ProjectThe Heart of England Tourist Board have been working for several years on a food and drinkproject designed to raise the profile of local food and drink amongst tourism operators. Thereason for this is that research into visitor satisfaction revealed that the quality of food anddrink are important factors in the overall visitor experience and present a great opportunityto emphasise the area’s local distinctiveness.

The project’s main aim was to develop and celebrate what makes the region special, whileretaining and maximising the benefits of visitor spend to the region’s economy and localcommunity.

By working in partnership with the farming, speciality food, food processing and tourismindustries they aim to:

• strengthen the links between tourism and food and drink sectors• encourage tourism businesses to source food locally and use seasonal produce• develop locally distinctive cuisine • celebrate excellence through awards schemes• create added value for visitors and increase visitor spend

Initially, it was clear from research into tourism operators’ attitudes towards and use of localproduce that there were serious misunderstandings about consistency of supply and qualityof locally-produced goods. To address this, HETB has been involved with setting up suppliernetworks to ensure reliability of supply and consistently high quality standards for operators.



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There also appeared to be a skill and knowledge gap among operators in terms of how toprepare and serve locally-produced foodstuffs. This led to the development of a trainingprogramme aimed at increasing skills in these areas. Initiatives have now been set up withBirmingham College of Food, Tourism and Creative Studies as well as with Derby Universitywhere students are trained in how to prepare and serve local produce-based menus.

In order to raise the profile of local produce with visitors and tourism operators, HETB haveconducted research into consumer branding. Out of this the locally-sourced produce brandmarque was developed, and is now being piloted in Lincolnshire as part of the ‘Tastes ofLincolnshire’ SRB Project. In addition, to increase interest among tourism operators the Boardcreated the food and drink excellence awards, which celebrate the use of local produce inmenus by tourism operators.

The project is well on its way to achieving its aims.

What can influence success or failure?

• Experiences must be genuine They need to have local traditional roots, although they donot specifically need to be historic.

• Ensure sufficient resources for planning and delivery Financial planning is important forsustainability when pump-priming money runs out.

• Develop projects that benefit all stakeholders to ensure active participation.• Meet producer groups’ key needs Made up of small businesses, most producer groups

need continued support for co-ordination and administration.• Involve producers and tourism businesses in the project’s planning and evaluation This

ensures that it meets their needs and encourages ownership and participation.

Case studies

Hampshire Walking and Local Food FestivalThe first Hampshire Walking and Local Food Festival held in 2002 linked 35 guided walks andevents over nine days to a variety of local produce. Most of the walks include lunch stopswhere local food and drink is on offer and some focus around local produce, such as ‘OysterCatcher to Oyster Tasting’, a 5-mile coastal walk with oyster tasting at the end and‘Something Fishy’, an 8-mile walk which visits producers of smoked fish, local cheese andHampshire sherry.

Registration cost £11.75 and participants could book on any number of walks or events.There was free transport between the festival office in Winchester and the start and end ofeach walk, and most walks were accessible by public transport. Promotion included awebsite, flyer, advertising and press work, as well as mailing to previous festival-goers togenerate enquiries for a festival brochure. Including a sponsored walk promoted by Mencapwas an effective way of raising awareness of the festival.

A website was created showing the routes for all of the walks, To encourage further access,it will remain online and visitors can download O/S maps of the walks to do themselves.



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Most walks and events were fully booked. A significant proportion of participants came fromoutside of the county and stayed for several nights.

Contact: Andrew Bateman, Hampshire County Council, The Castle, Winchester, HampshireSO23 8UJ, tel: 01962 845478; email: [email protected]

Hadrian’s Wall Local MarketAny produce made within ten miles of Hadrian’s Wall and produce with a Roman orHadrianic theme, while any produce from within 50 miles of the Wall can use the new‘Hadrian’s Wall Locally Produced’ branding, developed by the Hadrian’s Wall TourismPartnership to increase awareness and sales of local produce amongst visitors to the Wall.

A strong brand identity has been developed and applied to tags and stickers which can beapplied to products. A display unit has been distributed to a variety of outlets along theWall to give a higher presence to locally-produced items.

Contact Tamsin Beavor, Hadrian’s Wall Tourism Partnership, 14b Gilesgate, Hexham,Norhumberland, tel: 01434 602505

Worcestershire County Council is seeking to encourage communities to explore their localityand to promote elements of ‘local distinctiveness’. It is hoped that this will enhance localpride and a greater awareness of the natural and historic environment. The countyarchaeological service plays a key role in defining local distinctiveness.

Contact the Local Distinctiveness Officer on 01905 766727

North Petherwin Holy Well Projectwww.sbbc.co.uk/resources/pp/pp_83.htmIn north Cornwall, a large, sparsely-populated rural area with a rich tradition of religiousmonuments comparable to any other similar-sized area in England, a series of small scaleprojects have contributed to conserving and sustaining local distinctiveness. This projectprofile looks at just one of these small projects and how, by participating in the restorationof their holy well, the community has gained a greater understanding of their localenvironment and benefited from sharing common visions and values.



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Church tourism on the Romney MarshShepway District Council in Kent has developed a rural tourism product around their uniqueparish churches. The churches have a long-standing focus at the heart of a community andpossess religious, architectural and historical appeal to tourists. A leaflet highlights eachchurch's history, vernacular interest, folklore or smuggling associations with the RomneyMarsh communities. Churches are accessible by footpaths and on bicycle, providingopportunities to enjoy the expansive landscape of the Marsh and attracting people awayfrom popular nearby coastal towns. Pubs of architectural interest are promoted in a sisterpublication, to encourage spend in the local economy. The leaflets provide a focus for visitorsto explore the countryside and stay in the area.

South Hams Food and Drink AssociationThe South Hams Food and Drink Association was formed in 1992, to market and promote the variety and excellence of food and drink produced and served in the South Hams. Theassociation not only encourages a membership of high quality farming and speciality foodand drink producers, but, also enjoys the patronage of many restaurants, hotels, publichouses, and speciality food retailers whose respective reputations for excellence continue to attract a discerning clientele.

The South Hams Food and Drink Association has two types of membership: Producermembers, many of whom are now award winners, and tourism operators.

Membership benefits include:

• group membership of Taste of the West which provides access to training, grant fundingand marketing opportunities

• networking opportunities between tourism providers & primary and speciality producers• newsletters• press and media coverage• production of an annual food and drink directory with effective distribution, ‘an essential

guide to the best in eating and drinking’• promotional events such as shows, festivals and cooking competitions.

South Hams Executive and head chefs are working with colleges and businesses to encourageand develop trainee programmes that raise the profile of cooking as a profession. A websiteis also under construction to create a forum for chefs.

The association, often used as a benchmarking tool, works in partnership with South HamsDistrict Council who help provide administration and co-ordination.

Contact: Carol Trant, South Hams District Council, Follaton House, Plymouth Road, Totnes,South Devon TQ9 5NE, tel: 01803 861267; email: [email protected]



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Further reference

Bateman A and Horsey N. To be a pilgrim – Hampshire Millenium’s pilgrims’ trail, Locum Destination Review, Summer 2002

Briggs S. Brick Lane, East London & Leicester Promotions: Destinations with a difference:attracting visitors to areas with cultural diversity, Insights, Vol 12: C1-8 2000

Countryside Commission. Sustainable tourism rural: opportunities for local action, 1995.

Food from Britain is the UK’s leading strategic international food and drink export marketingagency. It has a mission to foster the development of British speciality food and drink sector,helping manufacturers grow their sales in the UK. Food from Britain, 123 Buckingham Palace Road, London, SW1 9FA.www.foodfrombritain.com

Grant M and Le Pelley B. Destinations and local distinctiveness – Devon Case Study, Insights,Vol 14: A21-A27

Hawkins R and Middleton V. Sustainable tourism: a geographical perspective, Butterworths,1998.

Information about the Heart of England Tourist Board’s Food and Drink Project is availableat www.hetb.co.uk or by contacting Jo Jury, Project Manager on tel: 01905 761124 or email: [email protected] Tourism, PO Box 44, Leominster, Herefordshire, HR6 8ZDwww.flavoursofherefordshire.org.uk

Middleton V. More Sustainable Tourism: A Marketing Perspective, Insights, Vol. 10, 1999,A165-172.

Soil Association, The Soil Association campaigns for organic food and farming, andsustainable forestry.Bristol House, 40-56 Victoria Street, Bristol, BS1 6BYwww.soilassociation.org

World Tourism Organisation. Guidelines for the Development of National Parks andProtected Areas for Tourism, Madrid, 1992.

Other examples include:

Whitstable Oyster Festivalwww.whitstableoysterfestival.co.uk/

Blossom Trail – Worcester + Blossom Trail Cycle Routewww.evesham.uk.com/blossom.html

A Taste of the Westwww.tasteofthewest.co.uk/index.htm

High Weald Landscape Trialwww.highweald.org/landscap2.htm



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http://www.foodfrombritain.com

http://www.hetb.co.uk

http://www.flavoursofherefordshire.org.uk

http://www.soilassociation.org

http://www.whitstableoysterfestival.co.uk

http://www.evesham.uk.com/blossom.html

http://www.tasteofthewest.co.uk/index.htm

http://www.highweald.org/landscap2.htm


Section 3 Destination development3G Biodiversity Action Plans for tourism

Introduction: biodiversity and sustainable tourism

English Nature’s Tourism Biodiversity Action Plan

The long-term objectives of the Tourism BAP

Case studies


3G Biodiversity Action Plans for tourism

This component will help destination managers draw up biodiversity action plans for theirdestination and equip them with information to assist local businesses that are interested indeveloping their own plan.


• 1D Determining local carrying capacities in an area• 2A Addressing tourism in local authorities• 2D Tourism and the planning system: gaining value locally• 3D Setting up a visitor payback scheme• 3I Sustainability schemes and awards for industry and destinations.

Introduction: biodiversity and sustainable tourism

It is now widely accepted that the local environment and distinctiveness of a region is themain driver and core product for the tourism industry. After all, it is the natural and culturalheritage of an area and the living culture of the local people that attracts tourists. Manyorganisations are increasingly recognising that an integrated approach between the tourismand environmental sectors is the only way forward. This sustainable approach will ensurethat the needs and interests of the visitor and the host community are met withoutcompromising the environment, now and in the future. Visitor activities, such as wildlifewatching and walking, should be encouraged but at the same time must be sensitive to therequirements of our natural biodiversity. By linking environmental needs and action witheconomic and social impacts, it is anticipated that local authorities and tourism businesseswill become more sustainable and play an equally responsible role in conserving England’sbiodiversity and landscape.

The quest for sustainability was the theme of the Earth Summit in Rio, 1992, and biodiversitywas seen as one of the key indicators of success. The Convention on Biological Diversity, aproduct of the Rio conference, committed signatories to develop national strategies for theprotection and sustainable use of biodiversity, or to adapt existing programmes to that end.The British Government published its own strategy in 1994, Biodiversity: The UK Action Plan(DoE, 1994). The idea of developing a Tourism Biodiversity Action Plan has evolved from thepurpose and features of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP).

The primary aim of the UK BAP is the opportunity for linking biodiversity action nationallyand locally, on habitats and species. The UK BAP provides for the creation of localBiodiversity Action Plans to ensure that the national strategy is translated into effective localaction. A Tourism BAP is intended to generate commitment and resources to achievingpositive wildlife gain through the tourism sector, and in the long term to promote pride,appreciation and enjoyment of England’s high quality natural environment.

Tourism BAPs will assist local authorities, tourism businesses and other influential bodies inidentifying impacts that they have on the UK’s priority species and habitats and identifyopportunities for improved management or interpretation.

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English Nature’s Tourism Biodiversity Action Plan

English Nature has been developing a national initiative called the Wildlife and Geo-tourismInitiative from the Area Team in Cornwall. The initiative has addressed the needs of thevisitor, local communities and the environment by proposing three A’s of sustainable tourism.To make tourism more sustainable this there is a need to:

• improve Access to wildlife and to information about it• promote Accreditation of sustainable providers• facilitate Action for the enhancement of the wildlife resource.

A pilot project within the initiative has looked at developing and implementing a TourismBAP. Initially, the pilot highlighted all the species and habitats action plans from the UK BAPthat occur in Cornwall. The document identifies impacts that the tourism sector has on theUK’s priority species and habitats and identifies mitigation measures and targets to reducethese impacts. New action plans have been produced for each species and habitat, focussingon specific impacts from the tourism sector, action targets and possible mitigation measures.The pilot has generated considerable support and interest from leading agencies andbusinesses within the environmental and tourism sectors. It is anticipated that eventually theTourism BAP will be rolled out nationally, covering all regions in the UK.

The types of tourism related impacts identified in the Tourism BAP are as follows:

• Visitor Activity trampling, diving, rock climbing, noise pollution, vandalism and causingdamage to features, loss of natural materials by collecting fossils and picking wild flowers

• Visitor Pressure transport, increased energy consumption, pollution• Development marina/harbour developments, land development (housing) changes in

drainage, pollution, interruption of migration routes, introduction of alien species

The long-term objectives of the Tourism BAP are to ensure:

1 Clear, collaborative thinking and actions between conservation organisations and allaspects of the tourism sector

2 Strengthened recognition of the economic value and importance of the local landscapefeatures and their distinctiveness

3 Raised awareness of the links and opportunities between the tourism sector to protect the landscape and biodiversity upon which most tourist businesses and destinations will be reliant

4 Positive involvement by a range of tourism businesses in protecting and enhancing the richlandscape and biodiversity upon which their businesses rely

5 Increased commitment to delivering SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant,trackable) BAP targets through a wider audience

6 A base for informative and appropriate interpretation on priority species and habitats andhow specific tourism impacts on them can be reduced or eliminated



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7 The effective use of incentive schemes such as Visitor Payback, Green Accreditation, andthe uptake of the Green Audit Kit and Green Advantage Courses in the delivery of BAPtargets

8 An efficient method for measuring environmental performance in relation to naturalassets and their contribution to sustainable tourism by the uptake of a new nationalsustainable tourism indicator, ‘Number of Biodiversity Action Plans signed up to by tourismbusinesses’

9 Opportunities for use of management and vision statements for tourism business thathave existing or proposed interest or role in environmental management

Biodiversity and geodiversity together make our landscape and wildlife special. They are akey part of our culture and heritage, and it is these elements of the natural environmentthat attract tourists to particular destinations and regions. The overall aim of the documentis to ensure the conservation and enhancement of England’s landscape and wildlife whilstdeveloping a thriving, sustainable tourism industry.

Case studies

The Norfolk Biodiversity Action Plan was officially launched in January 1999 and is one ofmany LBAPs across the UK that are helping to meet national biodiversity targets. The planwas produced by the Norfolk Biodiversity Partnership and currently contains Action Plans for29 species and nine habitats.

For further information please contact the East of England Tourist Board on 01473 822922

Geodiversity Action PlansEnglish Nature has been selected by DEFRA to award grants totalling around £9 million overtwo years through the new Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund. In response to this, EnglishNature is inviting applications for projects that aim to conserve and enhance the geologicaland geomorphological features in areas affected by aggregate extraction. The new grantsscheme will support the management, conservation and interpretation of geological featuresassociated with aggregate extraction and improved access for the purposes of scientificresearch, education, recreation and tourism. Over the next two years English Nature islooking to support projects across a wide spectrum of geological conservation but isparticularly interested in areas encompassing:

• direct work • strategic work including Geodiversity Action Plans. Such plans provide a strategic

framework for conservation, access and interpretation of earth science and landscape heritage

• access including intellectual access; ie interpretation• specimen rescue and recovery



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yThe Partnership for the North Pennines AONB is currently in the process of applying forGeoParc status, a new European designation that recognises the international geologicalimportance of an area and its tourism potential. The partnership has also made a bid forfunding from the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund to produce a Geodiversity Action Plan for the North Pennines AONB through the British Geological Survey (BGS).

Further reference

For further information on Tourism Biodiversity Action Plans or the UK/Regional and localBiodiversity Action plans please contact:Enquiry Service, English Nature, Northminster House, Peterborough, PE1 1UA,Tel: 01733 455100 www.english-nature.org.uk

Further examples of biodiversity plans can be found on the following websites:

Center Parcswww.thetimes100.co.uk/document.asp?HeaderID=16&SectionID=82

Cornwall Biodiversity Initiativewww.wildlifetrust.org.uk/cornwall/wow/audit2/wowaudit.htmwww.wildlifetrust.org.uk/cornwall/wow/

Lincolnshire Bio-diversity action planwww.lincsbap.org.uk/index.htm

Dart Biodiversity Projectwww.dartmoor-npa.gov.uk/dnp/factfile/dartbiosum.html

Cambridge Biodiversity action planswww.camcnty.gov.uk/sub/cntryside/biodiv/plans/plans.html

Norfolk Biodiversity Action Planswww.norfolkbiodiversity.org/Action%20Plans/actionplans.htm

Exmoor National Park’s Biodiversity Action Planwww.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/About_Exmoor/ExmoorBiodiversity.htm

http://www.english-nature.org.uk

http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/document.asp?HeaderID=16&SectionID=82

http://www.wildlifetrust.org.uk/cornwall/wow/audit2/wowaudit.htm

http://www.wildlifetrust.org.uk/cornwall/wow/

http://www.lincsbap.org.uk/index.htm

http://www.dartmoor-npa.gov.uk/dnp/factfile/dartbiosum.html

http://www.camcnty.gov.uk/sub/cntryside/biodiv/plans/plans.html

http://www.norfolkbiodiversity.org/Action%20Plans/actionplans.htm

http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/About_Exmoor/ExmoorBiodiversity.htm

Section 3 Destination development3H Assisting tourism businesses with waste management

Introduction: the problem with waste

The Government’s approach to waste management

Waste and tourism

What can local authorities do?

What can businesses do?

Case studies

Further reference

Appendix How to calculate waste volumes from a hotel business



This component provides guidance for both destinations and tourism businesses on how todevelop more sustainable waste management practices, recognising the need for a joined-upapproach to this issue. The information included here aims to help:

• businesses to reduce purchasing and waste disposal costs• local authorities to reduce pressure on landfill sites• local authorities to meet government recycling targets for the proportion of hospitality

waste that enters the domestic waste stream• waste management companies to meet government recycling targets.

This component is related to:

• 2A Addressing tourism within local authorities• 2C Engaging tourism micro-businesses• 3I Sustainability schemes and awards for industry and destinations.

Introduction: the problem with waste

Managing the waste we generate is recognised as a significant and increasing nationalproblem, with implications for local communities, businesses and the environment. A numberof factors have determined the current scale of this problem:

• The amount of waste being generated in the UK has continued to increase steadily and is currently rising at around 3% per year.

• The cost of waste disposal also continues to rise rapidly in response to increasinglystringent regulatory controls.

However the main underlying cause of the problem has been the UK’s historic reliance uponlandfill as a relatively cheap and convenient means of disposal. Around 400 million tonnes ofwaste is currently generated per year in the UK and, of this, approximately 83% of domesticand 66% of commercial waste is sent to landfill sites.

The use of landfill as a viable waste disposal option has become increasing difficult to justifyin sustainability terms. As well as the local impact of landfill, this option has furtherenvironmental consequences through the permanent loss of limited resources whendiscarding materials without further use. The desire to address these concerns has resulted inincreasingly tighter regulatory controls and as a consequence the number of landfillsavailable to accept the types of waste being generated is declining. This, plus a gradual shiftin policy towards promotion of more favourable options, as outlined below, has significantimplications for both industry and the public.

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The Government’s approach to waste management

The growing waste problem has been recognised for some time and more effective solutionsare being sought with increasing urgency. The Government’s latest thinking on wastemanagement has been outlined by their Strategy Unit in the November 2002 Report Wastenot, Want not – A strategy for tackling the waste problem in England. This can be found atwww.cabinet-office.gov.uk. It identifies a variety of potential actions in the future, focussingon each level of a suggested hierarchy of waste management options, which in preferredorder are:

• Reduce• Re-use• Recycle• Mixture of pre-treatment and disposal options.

The fourth option recognises the need to identify the Best Practicable Environmental Option(BPEO) at local level for waste disposal where this is absolutely necessary; this may thusinclude options such as landfill and incineration.

In terms of current controls to try and reduce landfill volumes and promote more favourableoptions, the Government has initiated two key mechanisms:

• imposing recycling targets on local authorities for domestic waste• charging commercial waste disposal companies a landfill tax.

1 Recycling targets for local authorities

The Government’s intention to set performance standards for household waste recycling andcomposting, for 2003, 2005 and 2010, is contained in Waste Strategy 2000. These standardsare to be introduced for 2003/04, in effect requiring all authorities to double their recyclingrate, subject to a ‘floor’ of 10% and a ‘ceiling’ of 33%. The Government proposes to adoptthe following standards:

• authorities with 1998/99 household waste recycling and composting rates of under 5% toachieve at least 10%

• authorities with 1998/99 household waste recycling and composting rates of 5%-15% to at least double their recycling and composting rate

• remaining authorities to recycle or compost at least one-third of household waste.

Those authorities with low recycling rates will need to make more effort to catch up withthe better performers. With this in mind, the Government requires authorities to treble their1998/99 recycling rate by 2005/06, subject to a ‘floor’ of 18% and a ‘ceiling’ of 36%, with thebest performers expected to reach at least 40%. The proposed standards are:

• authorities with 1998/99 household waste recycling and composting rates of under 6% toachieve at least 18%

• authorities with 1998/99 household waste recycling and composting rates of 6%-12% to atleast treble their recycling and composting rate

• authorities with 1998/99 household waste recycling and composting rates of 12%-18% toreach at least 36%

• remaining authorities to recycle or compost at least 40% of household waste.



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http://www.cabinet-office.gov.uk

2 Landfill tax

Landfill tax is a separate surcharge for disposing of waste, levied upon the waste disposalcontractors. From 1 April 2002, the surcharge is £13 per tonne of waste, rising by £1 pertonne each year to £15 in April 2004. As an economic instrument, this additional tax has aninflationary effect on waste removal costs for both local authorities, industry and ultimatelythe public, as the increased disposal costs are inevitably passed on to them. This should leadto waste reduction and selection of other options for disposal.

The proceeds from landfill tax are distributed through the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme (LTCS)to encourage and enable landfill operators to support a wide range of environmentalprojects by giving them a 90% tax credit against their contributions to environmental bodies(see ‘What can local authorities do?’ (5) below). This can be a valuable source of funding forlocal community projects, although recently the Government has decided to allocate two-thirds of the money generated to public spending to encourage sustainable wastemanagement, leaving only one-third (£47million) for independent initiatives.

Waste and tourism

Implications of Government Policy

The amount of waste being produced by tourism businesses is not accurately known,although it has been estimated that the UK hospitality sector generates some 3.5 milliontonnes per year alone. Recent studies have also shown that accommodation establishmentsproduce an average of 1.3 kilograms of solid waste per guest per night (Waste Counts, 2002).Given this, it is evident that increasing disposal costs through the above measures will have a significant knock-on effect for tourism businesses.

As an illustration, for larger businesses paying a commercial waste disposal company todispose of their waste, a medium-sized (85-room), mid-range, hotel with a moderate glassrecycling programme is likely to produce around 60 tonnes of waste a year, with standardwaste disposal costs of £70-£110/tonne.

For smaller tourism businesses that use domestic waste collection, the changes mentionedabove may mean that the local authority already provides a recycling box that is collected on aregular basis. Some local authorities have also limited the number of dustbins collected to oneper household or reduced general rubbish collections from once a week to once a fortnight toencourage recycling. Therefore, businesses which dispose of their waste through the domesticwaste stream may have fewer regular collections and must reduce their waste accordingly.

Barriers to effective waste management

Although there are plenty of opportunities for addressing the issue, a number of obstaclesexist generally or for tourism specifically, namely that:

• Whilst there are many schemes for recycling and composting, there are few unifiednationwide schemes and most depend on the initiative of individual local authorities.Consequently the availability of recycling facilities varies greatly and, where long distancesare involved, transportation costs may negate the value of recycling.



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• The market for recycled materials has been unreliable. Recent growth in the number ofrecycling organisations has brought a glut of recycled material to the market, reducingmaterial prices and putting some organisations out of business. This has discouragedentrepreneurs from entering the recycled goods market. In response, the Government hasfunded the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to stabilise these markets andincrease the demand for recycled materials.

• Disposal companies tend to concentrate on large collections and may have minimumamounts they will collect. For example, one company sets its minimum collection ofcardboard at 500kg. Lack of storage space for recyclable goods can be a problem in thetourism industry, especially in hotels.

• Material that can be spoiled by foodstuffs and outside exposure may be rejected asunsuitable for recycling, an issue for the catering trade in respect of cardboard and paper.Labour-intensive hand sorting also raises the issue of economic viability.

• The foot and mouth epidemic of 2001 has resulted in new legislation that specifies thewaste streams that can and cannot be composted, and places limits on the locations usedfor composting. Community composting schemes and separate collection of compostablewaste by local authorities is currently inhibited by the confusion surrounding theserestrictions.

The benefits of effective waste management

Despite the current challenges, taking a proactive approach to managing waste efficientlywill have a number of benefits in addition to reducing waste removal and disposal costs:

• reduced purchasing costs through the careful management of products used and selectionof products with minimal packaging

• less waste going to landfill• recognition from customers, who are becoming more aware of environmental issues,

and are increasingly taking their custom to environmentally aware and environmentallypro-active businesses.

When implementing waste minimisation programmes, many hotels report amazing results:some have reduced waste disposal volumes (and associated costs) by as much as 25%.Businesses should therefore not look at waste minimisation as a burden, but as anopportunity. By reducing their waste output, they can reduce their operating costs andpublicise a sustainable waste management policy (perhaps with other green initiatives) tohelp to attract more trade.

What can local authorities do?

Local authorities can play a vital role in creating effective waste management by addressingthe infrastructure barriers, promoting good practice to industry and by doing so achievingtheir recycling targets. Key activities to achieve this are:

1 Encourage recycling

Many local authorities operate recycling boxes for domestic properties, with newspaper,glass, and steel and aluminium cans being the most commonly recycled materials. Some



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smaller tourism businesses, particularly bed and breakfast establishments, will be part ofthese schemes.

Small businesses that use domestic refuse collection must be made far more aware of theneed to recycle all possible products. Many do not participate in such schemes and thereforedo little to help with recycling targets. Councils may also wish to expand domestic schemesto include commercial tourism enterprises with similar or similarly-sized waste streams todomestic homes.

2 Encourage composting

In a similar vein, there are councils that provide free or subsidised compost bins and aerobicdigesters. Subject to regulations, and bearing in mind that aerobic digesters will accept allfood waste, small tourism businesses such as pubs could be encouraged to use these whereappropriate.

The general rule of thumb is that no cooked food waste or animal by-products should becomposted, and that composting should not take place on or near land used by livestock.New regulations are also likely to mean that composting of all but garden waste can onlytake place on the premises that generated the waste.

3 Establish local collection of recyclables

When establishing recycling schemes, it is important to remember that there is a distinctionbetween commercial and domestic waste, and that current regulations require that the twowaste streams are kept separate. There are, of course, some cases in which the distinctioncan appear vague and very small enterprises will often dispose of their waste through thedomestic waste stream.

Economies of scale also make recycling difficult for smaller enterprises that do not produceenough recyclable waste to be collected economically but, at the same time, are excludedfrom domestic collections. This is where local authorities have a significant role to play. Aninitiative setting up a local collection point for recyclables or, better still, a frequentcollection service, would facilitate recycling.

4 Encourage reduction in packaging

Businesses can also bring about improvements. Packaging is a major area in which tourismbusinesses, especially catering businesses, can reduce their waste, and local authorities shouldactively encourage them to do this.

Packaging is necessary for protecting products in transit, and maintaining safety and hygienestandards. Hospitality outlets can request that suppliers take back packaging. The ECPackaging Waste Directive (94/62/EC) was introduced in the UK by the Government as theProducer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Waste) Regulations 1997 to increase theamount of used packaging that is recycled, composted or used in energy recovery. If acompany has an annual turnover exceeding £2 million and handles more than 50 tonnes ofpackaging a year, it must recover 56% of the packaging and recycle at least 18% of it.Although this is aimed mainly at larger companies, it is likely that some suppliers to tourismbusinesses fall under this obligation to recover packaging and should therefore take it back.



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y5 Obtain funding for waste-related projects

External funding is often required to facilitate the development of any awareness-raisingactivities or publications. The West Oxfordshire project described below, for example, costaround £50,000 to complete. Waste minimisation projects can often be funded through thelandfill trusts – charitable funds financed by the money generated from landfill tax.

To qualify for landfill trust funding, you must first be registered as an environmental bodywith EnTrust. To understand how EnTrust and each of the landfill trusts work, visitwww.entrust.org.uk and for further information on the Landfill Trust Credit Scheme visitwww.ltcs.org.uk.

Other potential sources of funding include:

• EU structural funds• The Environment Agency• environmental charities such as WWF• organisations such as the Waste and Resources Action Programme.

6 Other options for reducing hospitality waste

By building proactive partnerships with environmental organisations, tourism businesses andother waste management companies, local authorities can play a significant role in reducingthe waste generated through tourism. These partnerships can include:

• The development/distribution of a waste minimisation directory among tourism businesses.Such a directory includes reference to waste minimisation and management practices anda directory of local businesses that are prepared to recycle products in small volumes ortake back their packaging.

The Waste Counts project has already developed one such directory and you can obtain acopy by e-mailing [email protected]

• Working to establish central collection sites which smaller businesses can use to recycletheir products.

• Working with local charities, schools and others to identify a network of organisationsthat will collect and use products from the tourism industry, such as old newspapers orfresh food that has not been consumed by guests.

• Raising awareness of local businesses about the volume of waste they generate and thecost of this to their business. A waste audit can help to quantify the weight, volume andcomponents of waste produced by tourism establishments and can play a significant rolein stimulating businesses to implement waste-reduction initiatives.

Waste Counts: Hospitality Waste in West Oxfordshire This project aimed to identify the amount and nature of waste produced by a representativesample of accommodation providers in West Oxfordshire. The data has been used to identifythe types and volumes of waste that could be reduced or re-directed from landfill. Researchwas undertaken by the Centre for Environmental Studies in the Hospitality Industry (CESHI)



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http://www.entrust.org.uk

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at Oxford Brookes University and funded by Biffaward, a multi-million pound environmentalfund that uses landfill tax credits donated by Biffa Waste Services.

The research revealed that accommodation establishments in West Oxfordshire producearound 1.3 kg of waste per guest per night. In total, accommodation providers account for2.5% of the region’s waste. The research also showed that, in principle: around 8% of thiscould be eliminated through a change in purchasing led by the larger hotels; 2% could bere-used; 38% could be recycled; and 20% could be composted. This means that around 68%of total waste by weight could be diverted from landfill.

Hotels in urban areas tend to be larger and can often benefit from the economies of scaleassociated with urban recycling schemes. They are likely to have even greater opportunitiesfor waste diversion and we propose that these are explored by a further study.

Overall, some 60% of waste could be removed from the waste stream in West Oxfordshire –providing a saving of £1.7 million a year for the local collection and disposal authorities andpotential savings of up to £2,600 a year for larger accommodation providers. Each optionrequires a significant investment in education and infrastructure and requires an ongoingpartnership to deliver results.

What can businesses do?

A recent study in West Oxfordshire, Waste Counts, has shown that up to 68% of waste fromaccommodation establishments can be diverted away from landfill. Businesses have much tobe gained, therefore, through the relatively small investment in time and effort needed toestablish more efficient waste management.

1 Taking the right approach

Better waste management should focus on the options that are at the top of the wastehierarchy indicated above, referred to as ‘the three R’s’:

• REDUCE waste by removing unnecessary potential waste You could, for example:

– reduce the range of products you buy Many tourism businesses, and especially thosethat have adopted decentralised purchasing practices, buy a wider range of productsthan required for their business. A review of purchases often reveals unnecessarystationery supplies, cleaning fluids that are no longer used and much else. Use the tablein step 2 below to help review your purchasing.

– reduce waste volumes by eliminating packaging Hospitality businesses can, forexample, reduce waste volumes by up to 35% by selecting products with minimalpackaging, or by asking suppliers to take packaging away with them.

– reduce waste volumes (and disposal costs and risks of prosecution) by replacinghazardous materials such as caustic soda with more benign alternatives.

• RE-USE everything possible In recent years, individual servings of milk, sugar, etc havebecome commonplace, along with disposable tablecloths and consumer goods such asdetergent bottles. Switching to re-usable options (such as refillable detergent bottles orceramic crockery) wherever possible can reduce waste weights by 2%.



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• RECYCLE or compost anything that remains. Up to 60% of hospitality waste can berecycled or composted. Recycling is sometimes a difficult option for medium and smallbusinesses to pursue because facilities for commercial businesses are limited by geographyand the market value of product. Small businesses can recycle using the domestic wastestream (if they use this as their normal waste disposal route) through the localsupermarket or local authority waste disposal site, although there may be a charge forcommercial waste at these sites. Bottles, for example, can make up 10% to 30% ofhospitality waste by weight. Simply recycling bottles will help to reduce waste weight andwaste disposal costs.

The full Waste Counts report provides a directory to help hospitality businesses contact, forexample, recycling contractors that will help companies to implement a ‘3R strategy’. For acopy of this, please contact the Centre for Environmental Studies in the Hospitality Industryon tel: 01865 483894, or email: [email protected]

2 Ten steps for businesses to reduce waste

Tourism businesses can help themselves and the environment by taking some or all of these steps:

Step 1 Train staff As in all other aspects of your business, the success of your waste minimisation programmewill ultimately depend on the enthusiasm and commitment of your staff. If you areestablishing a recycling programme, you will rely on staff to separate wastes and, if you arecomposting, you will require the commitment of kitchen staff to ensure that only uncookedvegetable matter reaches your compost bin. Your staff will need to know why your businessis establishing a waste minimisation programme, of the benefits to the business and of anyexpectations that will be placed on them as a result of the programme.

Staff training materials have been prepared by a number of organisations. You can downloadsome from www.wastewatch.org.uk although this is not specific to the hospitality industry.

Step 2 Undertake a purchasing reviewPhotocopy the review and action plan template below and, working through eachdepartment in the business, list all products that are currently routinely purchased. For eachproduct, identify how much is purchased and the potential to reduce the waste burden ofthat product. List the potential for improvement and the person responsible for making thatimprovement. Remember that you will need to host a review meeting every month to ensurethat actions are being completed. Phase your activities carefully: it is far better to undertaketo carry out ten actions well, delivering significant benefits, than to devise a list of 30 actionpoints which no-one has time to take forward.

It’s always best to start by reducing purchases of heavily packaged and once-only goodsbecause this will produce the most immediate cost savings.



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Step 3 Replace once-only products with re-usables wherever practicalThe use of refillable containers where possible will also reduce the volume of goods broughtin and hence the amount of waste thrown out. Examples include refillable soap dispensersand cleaning materials. The use of more concentrated cleaning fluids will also cut downpackaging waste, as long as housekeepers are trained to use correct amounts. Other ways ofreducing waste include: using re-chargeable batteries; using low-energy long-life light bulbs;using coffee mugs instead of disposable cups; using email instead of printing notices andmemoranda to staff; and using a central notice board instead of individual notices. Single servings of jam, sugar, milk and coffee in individual sachets and jiggers, as well asplastic disposable tea and coffee stirring sticks are convenient, but increase waste by as muchas 2%. By switching from single portions of milk to using jugs topped up from containers,the Trusthouse Forte Group saved £400,000 in a year and removed 29 million plastic jiggersfrom the waste stream.

Step 4 Tell your waste disposal contractor about your waste reduction programmeAsk them to re-evaluate waste disposal costs and, if necessary, the number of times they visityour site in the light of your anticipated waste reduction. The appendix on page 19 of thiscomponent demonstrates how to calculate waste volumes and weights.

Waste disposal costs – a cautionary taleIf your waste is collected by a commercial contractor, any reduction in waste weights andvolumes should reduce the amount you pay for your waste disposal. Some contractors,however, charge per lift (the number of times a skip is removed) rather than by weight. Ifyour skip is collected regularly (for example, three times a week), you will only benefit fromreductions in waste disposal costs if the skip is collected less frequently.

If you are successfully reducing the amount of waste you are producing, you will need to:

• either renegotiate your contract so you are charged by the weight of waste (manycontractors do not have the appropriate weighing facilities to do this)

• or ask for your skips to be collected less often or only when full. Some waste disposalcontractors can now fit modems to their skips that indicate the fill-level at head office.Once the modem shows that the skip is at a specific fill-level, the collection is arranged.

Step 5 Tell your suppliers about your waste reduction programmeLarger businesses can ask suppliers to reduce packaging on the products they buy. This canoften reduce costs and the amount of waste.

Working with suppliers to reduce packaging and purchasing costsBy examining the amount of packaging that singly wrapped servings of sugar were deliveredin, Trusthouse Forte discovered that outer boxes contained 12 further boxes each holding144 single portions. These inner 12 boxes were deemed unnecessary, and the companynegotiated a price reduction, resulting in significant savings on the price of the sugar. Thesame principle was applied to single portions of jam. These savings are on the purchaseprice, and it must be remembered that there are additional savings on the cost of wasteremoval as the volume is reduced.

Tip



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Hospitality outlets can also request that suppliers take back packaging. The EC PackagingWaste Directive (94/62/EC) was introduced in the UK in 1997 by the Government as theProducer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Waste) Regulations 1997 to increase theamount of used packaging that is recycled, composted or used in energy recovery. If acompany has an annual turnover exceeding £2 million and handles more than 50 tonnes ofpackaging a year, it must recover 56% of the packaging and recycle at least 18% of it. Thisregulation is only relevant to some large suppliers, but if your company uses thesebusinesses, they can be asked to take their packaging back. Further information can beobtained from The Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment: www.incpen.org,email: [email protected]

In most hospitality establishments, especially where catering is provided, cardboard packagingpresents problems. There are few schemes for the recycling of cardboard and those inexistence are usually on a large scale. The ideal option, therefore, is to request that supplierstake back the cardboard, hopefully for re-use, or switch to reusable crates. Some suppliers usethird-party couriers for deliveries, which decreases the possibility of returning packaging suchas cardboard (although you can still ask them to reduce packaging), but where the supplieruses their own transport, it would seem logical to return packaging from the previous deliveryfor re-use. The use of local suppliers increases the possibility that packaging can be returnedand re-used, minimises transport costs and may allow fresher supplies.

Step 6 Find out about recycling in your areaThe most common items suitable for recycling in the hospitality industry are glass and paper.Barriers hindering the recycling of goods include the non-availability of schemes andfacilities that take recyclable waste, plus the unpredictability of markets for recycled goods.Hospitality managers can play their part here by buying recycled goods, helping to create amarket for recyclable products.

Glass makes up around 16% of hospitality waste by weight, and is relatively easy to separate.Funded as part of the EU packaging directive, Valpak has launched a nationwide scheme tocollect glass from hospitality establishments. The glass does not need to be separated bycolour, and collection is free. Details can be found at www.valpak.co.uk.

Remember that it is more sustainable to return bottles for re-use wherever possible, ratherthan to recycle.

Step 7 Make contact with local charities for other items that have reached the end of theirfunctional lifeEverything reaches the end of its life at some point and, with the need to maintain quality,the tourism industry will replace items before they are worn out. However, discardedfurniture, bedding and electronic equipment including computers could be passed on tolocal communities or charities (see www.computersforcharities.org.uk, the Salvation Armyand housing charities). This reduces waste disposal costs, builds relationships with localcommunities and prevents items from ending up in landfill.

While on routine schedules, company vehicles could drop off some of these items at therelevant locations or at recycling centres. Alternatively, many charities will pick up bulkyitems themselves. Old sheets can also be converted to laundry bags, or used as rags forcleaning. There are also regional waste clubs and waste exchanges for one-off or ongoing

http://www.incpen.org

http://www.valpak.co.uk

http://www.computersforcharities.org.uk


exchanges or donation of unwanted goods that would otherwise be dumped. WasteExchange UK (www.wasteexchangeuk.com) offers a service for businesses wanting to disposeof materials.

Step 8 Start composting The Foot and Mouth epidemic in 2001 has led to new regulations on the composting of foodand kitchen waste, therefore limiting the possibilities for composting schemes. However, thisshould not prevent hospitality establishments creating composting facilities in their owngrounds. Ideally the materials used for compost should be restricted to fruit and vegetablepeelings, old fruit and vegetables, coffee grinds and tea leaves. Poorly-managed compostheaps, which also contain meat and cooked food waste, can emit odours and attract vermin.The compost can be used as a bulking and soil-enriching agent and, depending on the scaleof the composting done by the establishment, there is the potential to use the compost for avegetable or herb garden. The herbs or vegetables can be used to supplement theestablishment’s menu. Further investigation and detail can be found through organisationssuch as the Compost Association (www.compost.org.uk) and the Community CompostingNetwork (CCN) (www.othas.org.uk/ccn).

An alternative method for smaller establishments is the use of an aerobic digester that canhandle all food waste, including cooked food, meat, fish and bones. These digesters workbest in warm and sunny locations and need to be sited where liquid can drain away. Theycost a similar amount to a small compost bin and are intended primarily for domestic use,but may be suitable for small bed and breakfast units with gardens. The cone needs to beemptied periodically of waste residue, but aerobic digesters have the advantage of avoidingthe need for separation.

Larger establishments in urban environments with little or no grounds for composting couldconsider investing in a large container composter (an in-vessel system). However, with newregulations pending on the sale of compost from hospitality establishments, it may be moreprofitable and feasible to reduce vegetable wastage in the short term.

Step 9 Tell guests, the local community and other businesses about your programmeAdditional benefit from improved and more sustainable waste management can come fromthe communication of these practices to guests and the general public. This move towardsmore environmentally beneficial and green practice could be used as a marketing tool, asmore people are using this as one of the criteria when selecting accommodation. Accordingto a MORI survey on behalf of ABTA (2001), 70% of UK holidaymakers questionedconsidered the reputation of a holiday company on environmental issues as very or fairlyimportant in holiday choice. In the ETC survey Visitor Attitudes to Sustainable Tourism, two-thirds of consumers claimed that they would be willing to pay higher prices to sustainabletourism businesses. Notices in guest packs explaining why, for example, the bin has differentcompartments will encourage them to participate and help to separate discarded items atthe front-end. Depending on legislation covering the distinction between domestic andcommercial waste in the area, it may be possible to open up recycling facilities on thehospitality unit’s premises to the public to make them more viable.

Step 10 Monitor and review progress and then re-assess prioritiesRemember to review the revised waste management practices that have been implemented.Use the review and action plan template, and compare waste weights, volumes and disposalcosts with previous results. The improvements should be apparent, illustrating the benefits ofa more efficient waste management programme.



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http://www.wasteexchangeuk.com

http://www.compost.org.uk

http://www.othas.org.uk/ccn

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yCase studies

1 Destination case studies

Waste, Energy and Water targeted in the South Hams Green Tourism Business Scheme The South Hams Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS) rewards businesses for theircommitment to the environment. As part of this green grading scheme, businesses areencouraged to use, and are credited for implementing measures relating to their waste,energy and water reduction.

The scheme incorporates 140 measures from which businesses can choose those that aremost appropriate to their type and size of business. 64 out of the 140 measures for thescheme concentrate on energy, waste and water. Businesses are encouraged to be innovativeand particularly creative ideas can gain extra credit in the bonus section.

Waste, energy and water are just three of the nine sections in which businesses can gaincredit on the scheme.

Waste minimisation includes looking at the re-use and recycling of materials and advisingbusinesses of the most appropriate facilities/recycling networks for them. Businesses areencouraged to talk to their suppliers in order to receive goods in washable and re-usablecontainers to reduce wastage.

The energy section includes looking at and advising upon appliances used, the most energyefficient forms of lighting as well as heating and hot water systems. For example one SouthHams hotel actively involves staff in an energy ‘switch-off’ campaign which has colour-codedlighting back of house.

Water use includes issues such as low flow taps and showers, washroom controllers andsensors, mechanisms to reduce the flush in toilets and the re-use of grey water. A number ofbusinesses in the scheme use self-closing taps, water butts and hose release mechanisms allof which help to reduce water consumption.

The scheme aims to reduce business environmental impacts and provide financial savings, aswell as providing varied marketing and promotional benefits. The production of the SouthHams Green Holiday Guide in Spring 2003 will create extra promotional opportunities foraward winners as well as help South Hams reach its goal of becoming the ‘UK’s leading andacknowledged green destination by 2005.’

For more information, please contact: Sally Pritchard, Green Tourism Officer, South HamsDistrict Council, Follaton House, Plymouth Road, Totnes, Devon TQ9 5NE, tel: 01803 861249;email: [email protected]



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continued

Cas

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yThe Supply Chain Environmental Management Programme is a multi-partner projectoperating in the North West of England and designed to improve business competitivenessthrough better environmental performance. This is achieved by recognising the need tobuild partnerships within supply chains and beyond. Small- to medium-sized companies canget help with adopting cleaner technologies, good environmental practice and with thedevelopment of products related to customer strategies for sustainability. Larger companiescan benefit from the shared expertise and networking opportunities available from theEnvironmental Supply Chain Forum.

This was established in 1992 by chief executives of the world’s leading hotel groups with theoverarching aim to bring about continuous improvement in the environmental performanceof the global hotel industry. The following website link, www.benchmarkhotel.com/ wasmore recently launched and is a result of the IHEI partnership with WWF-UK and supportfrom Biffaward. This tool has been designed specifically to help hotels improveenvironmental performance and make cost savings. It will help improve performance in theareas of energy management, fresh water consumption, waste minimization, waste waterquality, purchasing programs and community relations and biodiversity.

Best Value Waste Network www.bestvaluewastenetwork.org Aims of the network:

• to develop effective partnerships between local authorities and the private and voluntarysectors to help achieve best value waste management targets and comprehensiveintegrated waste management

• services • to learn the lessons of such joint working for central government • to share examples of good practice including those achieved as a result of the Best Value

review process and the Beacon Council Scheme • to develop mechanisms which would aid the delivery of the National Waste Strategy

targets

Greening your tourism business workshop Huntingdonshire District Council, in partnership with the Huntingdonshire Association ofTourism (HAT), hosted a Greening Your Tourism Business Workshop in conjunction with theEast of England Tourist Board (EETB) at Hinchingbrooke Country Park Visitor Centre in June2002. Local accommodation providers and attractions have been invited to attend thisevent, which reflects the commitment of the council and HAT to promoting the sustainabledevelopment of tourism within the District and encouraging local tourism providers to adoptenvironmental management systems and practices. The half-day workshop which wasorganised by the East of England Tourist Board included information about:

• the benefits of going green• ideas for energy efficiency and waste reduction• how to support the local area whilst adding to your customers' satisfaction.



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http://www.benchmarkhotel.com

http://www.bestvaluewastenetwork.org

continued

Cas

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continued

Project Integra is the name given to the integrated waste management strategy inHampshire. Project Integra was formed on the basis of the following seven-point action plan.

1 Action on waste minimisation2 Action on composting3 Action on recycling4 Support for anaerobic digestion5 Use of recovery technologies, including incineration6 Three to five waste processing facilities (not exceeding 200,000 tonnes per annum)7 Residual waste to landfill

To date Project Integra has achieved a collective recycling rate of over 25% (2000/2001), withover 90% of Hampshire's households having access to a kerbside collection of recyclables.

2 Business case studies

Waste Neutral: a sustainable approach to waste and resource management for the EdenProjectThe Eden Project aims to become Waste Neutral by:

1 reducing waste wherever possible by liaison with suppliers to ensure that items such aspackaging are reduced

2 reusing items wherever possible 3 ensuring that when items cannot be dealt with by either reduction or re-use, the materials

used in the production of the remaining items are, wherever possible, recyclable4 adopting a policy of buying in items that are made from the recycled materials either for

use within the site or for sale in the retail outlet. In the long term Eden aim to use asmany of its own recyclates as possible. With some waste streams this will not be possiblebut they aim to compensate and balance their waste production by providing a market forwaste produced by other organisations/communities.

The ultimate target is that, within different waste streams, the volume of recyclates leavingthe site is equal to or less than the volume of products made from recyclates bought in. Thiswould then make Eden Waste Neutral. This is an exciting and positive next step to thenormal view of the waste hierarchy (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) that stops short of buying inproducts made from recyclates, the vital step to having a sustainable approach to waste andresources.

Their primary environmental impacts come from bringing many people together into onesmall place. The volume and nature of the wastes that this generates mean that they areunlikely to be able to re-use them all on site – zero waste does not seem an option in theshort term. This concept is innovatory and important because it stimulates waste recyclingmarkets. Weaknesses in the market are one of the biggest challenges to successful wastemanagement, as the recycling companies that are needed are often missing or long distances



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continued

apart. By encouraging recycling markets they not only reduce waste, but also help to growsmall businesses and the local economy.

As the concept grows Eden plan to explore the possibility of developing a system of ‘wastecredit trading’ in the same vein as carbon trading. It is a concept that they feel could haveregional or even national application.

Six Continents Hotels - Glass collections www.sixcontinents.com/environment/2002/pages/success_stories.htm www.sixcontinents.com/environment/2002/pages/success_stories.htm# A new scheme in collaboration with waste management company, Valpak, is enabling over 900 of Six Continents Retail's pubs, bars and restaurants to enjoy a weekly collection of their used bottles. The scheme has been specifically designed to make the recycling ofwaste glass simpler for licensed premises operators.

Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel, Birmingham, UKwww.ihei.org/HOTELIER/hotelier.nsf/content/b1c2g3e4.html#8www.ihei.org/HOTELIER/hotelier.nsf/content/b1c2g3e4.html#8 Since installing a waste processor and compactor, the 802-room Hilton BirminghamMetropole Hotel has dramatically cut its waste removal costs as well as increasing theamount of waste it recycles. Like many large hotels, the Metropole was using a compactorwhich had been on site for several years. One of its inefficiencies was that waste being sentfor landfill contained large quantities of liquid and the only material being separated forrecyling was glass.

Madame Tussaud's – Waste Compactionwww.tonyteam.co.uk/cstudy.htmlwww.tonyteam.co.uk/cstudy.html Mr Sean Sayers, Technical Service Manager at Madame Tussauds states: 'This new compactoris a considerable improvement over the previous machine. We have now created muchbetter conditions for both our staff using the area. We have also had an excellent servicefrom the Tony Team company. I would certainly be prepared to recommend the machine toanyone looking for improved waste handling.’

Chez Gerard Restaurantswww.ihei.org/HOTELIER/hotelier.nsf/content/b1c2g3e4.html#8www.ihei.org/HOTELIER/hotelier.nsf/content/b1c2g3e4.html#8 In 1999 the Chez Gerard Group, which operates 22 restaurants across London's West End,commissioned a waste consultancy to recommend efficiencies in the way waste from the barand kitchens was handled.

The Gibbin Bridge Hotel has adopted several recycling practices: bottles are recycled, kitchencooking oil is taken away by a specialist company for recycling, and the owner is discussingopportunities for recycling paper with the local school.



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http://www.sixcontinents.com/environment/2002/pages/success_stories.htm

http://www.sixcontinents.com/environment/2002/pages/success_stories.htm#

http://www.ihei.org/HOTELIER/hotelier.nsf/content/b1c2g3e4.html#8


http://www.tonyteam.co.uk/cstudy.html

http://www.tonyteam.co.uk/cstudy.html



continued

Fax paper at Strattons Hotel, Swaffham is reused four times: originally as fax paper; then the telephone log is printed faintly on the reverse side; then the paper is cut up into scrap to form restaurant pads; and finally it is composted before being used on the garden.

South Hams For All Seasons Awards for 2002: Winning Environmentally Responsible Business The Royal Castle Hotel has won the above award as most Environmentally ResponsibleBusiness for their dedication to environmental practices for the environment and theoperation of their business

Almara Bed and Breakfast - Scotlandwww.green-business.co.uk/CaseStudyDetail.asp?id=7>www.green-business.co.uk/CaseStudyDetail.asp?id=7

Stratton's Hotelwww.wishyouwerehere.com/cgi-bin/view_factfile.pl?resort_id=2025>www.wishyouwerehere.com/cgi-bin/view_factfile.pl?resort_id=2025

Further reference

Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation provides information on the recycling ofaluminium cans and food packaging. Information about collection sites in your locality maybe found at www.alupro.org.uk

Centre for Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism at Oxford Brookes University cover a widerange of subject areas including event management, recreation and sports science. Centre for Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane,Headington, Oxford, OX3 0BP www.hlst.ltsn.ac.uk

Community Composting Network is a fast growing network comprising over 125 membersacross the United Kingdom involved in community composting. Members include communitycomposting projects, local authorities and other supporting organisations.Community Composting Network, 67 Alexandra Road, Sheffield, S2 3EE www.othas.org.uk/ccn

Composting Association is the UK’s membership organisation that researches and providesbest practice in composting and the use of composts. It provides a central resource forcomposting, researching, collecting and disseminating information.Composting Association, Avon House, Tithe Barn Road, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, NN8-1DH www.compost.org.uk

Computers for Charity, established in 1993, is a voluntary, non-profit making organisationimproving access to Information Technology for community groups. If offers an easy way torecycle redundant computer equipment in a reliable, efficient and secure way that will helpto protect the environment and assist communuity organisations.Computers for Charity, PO Box 48, Bude, Cornwall, EX23 8BL www.computersforcharity.org.uk



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http://www.green-business.co.uk/CaseStudyDetail.asp?id=7>

http://www.green-business.co.uk/CaseStudyDetail.asp?id=7

http://www.wishyouwerehere.com/cgi-bin/view_factfile.pl?resort_id=2025>

http://www.wishyouwerehere.com/cgi-bin/view_factfile.pl?resort_id=2025

http://www.alupro.org.uk

http://www.hlst.ltsn.ac.uk



http://www.computersforcharity.org.uk

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairswww.defra.gov.uk

English Tourism Council. Visitor Attitudes to Sustainable Tourism, English Tourism Council, 2001.

Environment Agencywww.environment-agency.gov.uk

Green Cone Limited is an environmental company providing local authorities, private sectorand individuals around the world with a system solution to the growing need to encourageorganic recycling in the home. The Green Cone System includes the Green Cone, a kitchencaddy for easier removal of food waste and specially formulated accelerator powder thatpromotes the natural break down of organic food. With food waste on average accountingfor some 25% of all household waste, this system dramatically reduces the amount ofhousehold waste which needs to be collected by local authorities and private sectorcontractors. Green Cone, Sales Head Office, PO Box 6788, Nottingham, NG2 4JEwww.greencone.com

The Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment is a UK non-profit makingorganisation, established in 1974. It researches the environmental and social effects ofpackaging in order to show a better understanding of the issues involved. INCPEN, Suite 108, Sussex House, 6 The Forbury, Reading, RG1 3EJwww.incpen.org

Mercury Recycling is the first UK’s fluorescent tube recycling plant for all types of lightingand a range of other mercury containing products.Mercury Recycling, Unit G, Canalside North, John Gilbert Way, Trafford Park, Manchester,M17 1DPwww.mercuryrecycling.co.uk

RECOUP promotes and facilities post-consumer plastic container recycling in the UK.RECOUP, 9 Metro Centre, Welbeck Way, Woodston, Peterborough, PE2 7WHwww.recoup.org

Recycle-more is an initiative established by Valpak, the UK’s largest compliance scheme forpackaging waste legislation. It aims to increase total glass recycling levels by 1 million tonnesover 5 years to 2006 making the UK comparable with mainland Europe.Recycle-more, Valpak Limited, Vantage House, Stratford-upon-Avon Business and TechnologyPark, Banbury Road, Stratford Upon Avon, Warwickshire, CV37 7GWwww.recycle-more.co.uk

SCRIB (Steel Can Recycling Information Bureau), Port Talbot, South Wales, SA13 1NG.www.scrib.org

Waste Connect is the UK public recycling database providing comprehensive informationabout all recycling points throughout the country. The site has been re-designed to makesearching for your nearest recycling point even easier. You can search by entering the nameof your town.www.wastepoint.co.uk



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http://www.defra.gov.uk

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk

http://www.greencone.com


http://www.mercuryrecycling.co.uk

http://www.recoup.org

http://www.recycle-more.co.uk

http://www.scrib.org

http://www.wastepoint.co.uk

Waste Watch is the leading national organisation promoting and encouraging actions onwaste reduction, reuse and recycling. The organisation works with community organisations,central government, local authorities and the public to raise awareness and effect change onwaste. Established as a national charity in 1987, Waste Watch is supported by DEFRA, LandfillTax Credits Scheme, National Lottery and private members.Waste Watch, 96 Tooley Street, London, SE1 2TH.www.wastewatch.org.uk

Appendix How to calculate waste volumes from a hotel business

If a hotel currently disposes of waste via a contractor and you wish to work out wastedisposal costs, use the following table to help you. Fill in the data only for waste that is sentto landfill, not for those products that are recycled, donated to a charity or composted. Evenif waste is disposed of through the domestic refuse collection, the table will help you workto out how much waste is generated:

1 If a contractor disposes of the waste, ask them to calculate the weight of waste disposedof and the total cost. Some contractors may not be able to provide this information.

2 If the contractor cannot tell how much waste is generated, identify the number of eachtype of skip/dustbins used and note the average weight of waste for each container.

For each waste container, complete the information below:



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Volumeof skip(litres)




Number ofskips withthis capacity




Number oftimesremovedeach year




Wastevolume

Wastevolume

Wastevolume

Wastevolume

(A x B x C)CBA

x x =

x x =

x x =

x x =

Total volume of waste (add up the results to estimate waste volume):


To assess the likely weight of waste, multiply the volume estimate by the factor that bestrelates to the hotel type:

To assess the weight of waste you generate per guest per night, simply divide the total wasteweight by the number of guests you accommodated over the last year.

For example, a hotel with a restaurant, with two 1,280-litre continental steel containers and one 240-litre domestic waste bin, each removed twice weekly, will complete the tables as follows:

A ‘rule of thumb’ assessment of the total weight of waste is calculated as follows:

Bed & Breakfast

Hotel

Hotel with restaurant

Pub

Total volume ofwaste (fromabove)

Weight ofwaste

=

=

=

=

Average weightof waste per100 litres

7.9

5.0

6.4

10.0



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x

x

x

x

Bed & Breakfast

Hotel

Hotel with restaurant

Pub

Total volume ofwaste (fromabove)

2,912

Weight ofwaste

18,637

=

=

=

=

Average weightof waste per100 litres

7.9

5.0

6.4

10.0

x

x

x

x

Volume ofskip (litres)

Volume ofskip (litres)

1280

240

104

104

266,240

24,960

x

x

x

x

=

=

2

1



Number oftimes removedeach year

Number oftimes removedeach year

Wastevolume

Wastevolume

Total volume of waste (add up the results to estimate waste volume): 291,200

The case-study hotel is in an area in which paper, cardboard and glass-recycling are widelyavailable. An estimate of the hotel’s potential savings from using these facilities is made as follows:



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Recycling:

Replacing once-onlyitems with re-usables

Composting

Newspaper

Magazines

Directories etc

Cardboard packaging

Glass

Metal cans

Plastic jiggers, jamportions etc

Serviettes

Kitchen waste

Garden waste

0.053

0.031

0.05

0.087

0.166

0.025

0.007

0.016

0.169

0.019

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

=

=

=

=

=

=

=

=

=

=

Total weight of waste removed from the waste stream:

Enter yourtotal wasteweight

Reductionfactor

Reducedwaste weight

Section 3 Destination development3I Sustainability schemes and awards for businesses and

destinations

Introduction

1 The value of sustainability schemes to the tourism industry

2 Principles for sustainability schemes in tourism

3 Examples of sustainable/environmental awards

Further information


3I Sustainability schemes and awards for industry and destinations

This component specifically looks at sustainable and environmentally focussed initiatives,demonstrating:

• how they can be used to develop and instil more sustainable practices within tourism• why they are becoming an increasingly important factor for influencing visitor choice.

This component should be read in conjunction with the introduction to section 3, whichprovides an overview on quality and the use of schemes and awards.

Introduction

Schemes and awards are a valuable way of creating a structured approach to improvingquality across a range of tourism activities and instilling sustainable principles. Encouragingtheir use will create a better experience for both visitors and local communities. Throughtheir involvement, participating industries will also gain recognition, prestige and marketingadvantages, while the environment will benefit where sustainable principles are beingchampioned. All this adds up to a strong argument why a destination should seriouslyconsider their involvement with these initiatives and this component considers the volume of research that supports this view.

Currently there is a diverse range of awards in operation to promote responsible tourismpractices. These may cover destinations as a whole or particular aspects of the services beingprovided, and are usually branded as either:

• sustainable aiming to cover environmental, economic and community issues• environmental ‘green’ awards, with primarily environmental objectives, although they

may also cover some economic and community issues.

Given this, it is important to understand the distinction between the various awards in termsof their scope, value and achievability. A first logical step is to consider the range of awardsand schemes currently that are available to the destination or service in question.

Part 3 of this component gives some examples of current awards and schemes. A furthersource of information on the wider range of awards that are available isEnvironmentAwards.net, www.environmentawards.net

At the time of writing there is also much development in progress at both European andnational levels to specifically recognise sustainable tourism management:

• the developing European Ecolabel on tourist accommodation• the proposed establishment of a national quality scheme for Sustainable Tourism

Certification, lead by ETC in partnership with the Countryside Agency.

This development is founded upon principles summarised in part 2 of this component,identifying valuable points to consider for any initiative of this type. The more detailed

3I SUSTAINABILITY SCHEMES AND AWARDS FOR INDUSTRY AND DESTINATIONS


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http://www.environmentawards.net

research and analysis underpinning the proposed development of the national scheme is also a good source of information and should be read in conjunction with this component.This work can be found on the ETC website, along with a wealth of other information onsustainable tourism: www.englishtourism.org.uk

Whether branded as sustainable or environmental, in most cases the range of subject areascovered by these initiatives is broad, hence the need for considerable supporting advice andguidance. There are many relevant connections between this and other components withinthis handbook. This in itself demonstrates that destinations can play a key role in thedevelopment, delivery and promotion of many of the activities covered under these awards.

To take this further in the future, it is intended that the guidance within the handbook willdevelop, to interact closely with further developments on sustainability schemes, thusproviding the means for destinations to directly support businesses aiming to achieve thesestandards. It is also hoped that the current Green Audit Kit, which provides a guide totourism businesses on sustainability, will also evolve within this consistent framework, so thatthe three systems (the Kit, the handbook and the certification scheme) co-ordinate together.

1 The value of sustainability schemes to the tourism industry

According to MORI (1999), one of the most fundamental changes in consumer attitudes overthe past few decades has been the importance that consumers now place on what can bebroadly described as environmental or ethical issues. In 1999, more than nine millionconsumers in Great Britain said they avoided using the services or products of a companythey considered to have a poor environmental record.

There is also a growing body of research to illustrate that some consumers would prefer toselect holiday/business travel choices that are, broadly speaking, sustainable (environmentallyresponsible and which support the communities in which they are based). That is not to saythat travellers would select an accommodation establishment or attraction purely on itsenvironmental credentials, given the complex issue of motivation to travel. The researchwould, however, indicate that (given the choice between two holiday options with the samefacilities, at the same price in the desired destination) an increasing number of consumerswould select the environmental choice if those credentials are clearly promoted. A sample ofthe key conclusions from research that has been produced to illustrate this trend is shownbelow:

ABTA research conducted with UK residents proposing to take an overseas holiday in thenext year:

• 70% of tourists considered the reputation of their holiday company on sustainable issuesto be very or fairly important to their holiday choice.

• 78% of all respondents considered the provision of social/environmental information bytheir holiday company as important.



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Visit Scotland research conducted with visitors to Scotland:

• 18% of travellers to Scotland would not return to a hotel that did not care about theenvironment.

• 39% of respondents selected one product over another because of environmentallyfriendly packaging, formulation or advertising.

Plymouth University research conducted with visitors to Cornwall:

• 60% of all visitors rate peace and quiet as the feature they most like on holiday.• 47.3% of companies interviewed agreed that customers were interested in environmental

issues.• 8.9% of companies believe that customers are willing to pay extra for environmental

quality.

ETC research on visitor attitudes to sustainable tourism (2002):

• 84% of consumers said they would choose an attraction or accommodation provider thatwas part of a green accreditation scheme over one that was not, if such a scheme existed.

• 68% would do the above even if the prices of the green accredited business were slightlyhigher.

• 76% of consumers stated they believed it was important that their holidays in Englandshould benefit the local people where they are staying.

• 65% of consumers said they would be willing to pay extra to stay with an accommodationprovider that was committed to good environmental practices.

• 58% state that a commitment to being environmentally-friendly is important whenselecting accommodation.

This range of research illustrates the opportunity that exists for destinations and businessesthrough schemes and awards to influence customer behaviour and choice.

Industry benefits

As well as the marketing advantages, there are further strong arguments that can be used to promote industry participation. A key selling point will be the financial benefits that arerealised through energy, water and waste savings, often required elements of schemes andawards. There can be a number of barriers to making this aspect work as a genuine incentiveto businesses:

• the initial investment required for some measures and the rate of pay-back• the provision of adequate support and advice to assist businesses to make these changes.

Perhaps the most convincing argument will be to demonstrate how businesses haveapproached implementing the measures and to quantify the actual savings they have made.The need for this information should be taken into account when setting up a scheme, aswell as making sure that the support structure is effective; eg the assessments and advice,training, workshops and communication. These issues are considered further in the nextsection.



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2 Principles for sustainability schemes in tourism

A range of assessed schemes currently operate in England, some addressing specific types oftourism business and a number primarily focussing on environmental management.Although the choice of scheme will probably be restricted by local availability, it isworthwhile addressing the key aspects to be considered, especially in the context of settingup a national scheme. A number of these aspects that are highlighted below specificallyrelate to formally accredited schemes, in which participants are audited and performancedetermines membership. However, non-accreditation schemes should not be ignored as ameans of engaging with industry and can be an excellent vehicle for instilling sustainableprinciples (see examples in section 4).

In terms of basic principles, the UN Commission on Sustainable Development identifiedcharacteristics that sustainable tourism certification programmes must have to be credible toboth businesses and the travelling public. They must:

• require companies to comply with national and regional regulations as a minimum• have the potential to surpass regulatory requirements in a way that is cost effective• be developed with multi-stakeholder participation• include monitoring, assessment and verification systems to generate confidence and

support from all parties• include reference to the need for education, focussing on travellers, investors, workers and

host communities.

In real terms, the success of certification programmes relies upon their ability to enablebusinesses to:

• make considerable financial savings• improve the quality of service offered to customers• improve market image• ensure that they are complying with the increased range of environmental regulations• support other local businesses• benefit from the grants and loans that are available to encourage businesses to operate

more sustainably• support the local area and environment that attracts visitors.

The proposed national scheme

ETC’s recent analysis of how to establish a national certification scheme, undertaken inconsultation with government, industry and existing schemes, has highlighted manyimportant considerations. This work and the structure of the preferred approach iscomprehensively addressed within a framework document, scheme template and draftbusiness plan. These can be found on the ETC website, www.englishtourism.org.uk

In summary, the key conclusions are that:

• A national scheme should be established to embrace the whole tourism sector as soon aspossible. This scheme should address environmental, economic and social aspects oftourism development.



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• To be effective, implementation of the scheme must be addressed at local level andsupported by a regional agency such as the RTB/RDA.

• The national scheme must therefore build on the broad-based support established by therange of regional and sector-specific initiatives that are already operating in England.These include, among others, the David Bellamy Conservation Award, the New Forest LittleAcorns LA21 Kit, Green LANtern (Lancashire), the South Hams and East of England GreenTourism Business Scheme and the Cumbria Tourist Board Responsible Tourism Initiative(implemented by the Lake District Tourism and Conservation Partnership).

• A three-stage award should be developed where the lowest level is achievable by about70% of all businesses, the mid-level of award achievable by a smaller number of businessesand the highest level achievable only by a small number of businesses that are operatingat best practice standard (say 5%).

• The programme should include a combination of process and performance criteria andinclude a core, compulsory set of management, monitoring and training criteria. Inaddition it should use a menu-driven approach to ensure applicability to the widestpossible range of businesses. The highest level of award should allow some flexibility,allowing businesses to complete actions on say 75% as opposed to 100% of all items onthe menu.

• The scheme must be compatible with national quality and accessibility standards, althoughmigration to a single standard that integrates all of the three elements should bereviewed at a later stage. Membership of an appropriate national quality scheme shouldbe a compulsory requirement to entering the sustainability scheme (where there is arelevant quality standard available). Very small businesses should be able to accessintegrated quality and environmental audits should they so wish.

• The programme will initially apply to individual tourism sites and not to corporate entities.This means that each individual unit must apply for membership and be audited.

• In establishing a National Sustainable Tourism Certification Programme, an accreditationbody and certification scheme need to be created. The accreditation body, or standardsorganisation is a multi-stakeholder organisation that both seeks to stimulate theproduction of sustainable tourism ‘services’ and ensures that certification is beingconducted in an objective and transparent manner throughout England. The accreditationbody may accredit a number of existing certification schemes based on the high quality ofthe principles and standards they embrace.

• To avoid a conflict of interests, the advisory role specified for auditors within thecertification mechanism should be removed/clarified. This conflicts with internationalguidance on auditing and produces a conflict of interest when an auditor is required toassess the performance of a property to which s/he has offered advice.

The major challenge for the national sustainable tourism certification programme, therefore,is to ensure that those businesses which join the initiative:

1 have the opportunity to benefit from a unified source of information that enables them to maximise the economic benefits of sustainable tourism, while

2 promoting and pursuing the consumer perception of sustainable tourism in marketing andpromotional materials.

At the time of writing, a decision is awaited on whether the project will continue, given thecurrent national review of Quality schemes and the reorganisation of the ETC and BTA in 2003.



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3 Examples of sustainable/environmental awards

Some good examples from the range of current awards and schemes are listed below:

South Hams Green Tourism Business SchemeAs part of the South Hams Green Tourism Pilot Project the Green Tourism Business Schemerewards businesses for their commitment to the environment. As part of this green gradingscheme, businesses are encouraged and gain points for implementing measures relating totheir waste, energy and water reduction. Water conservation with 'Hippos' – plastic bags intoilet cisterns to reduce water consumption – is just one part of the innovative new schemein which local action can help towards protecting the environment.

Energy, waste and water are just three of the ten sections in which businesses can gain crediton the scheme which includes looking into appliances, lighting, space heating, draughtsealing,special showerheads and washers as well as the re-use and recycling of paper, cardboard, and glass products for instance. For example, one South Hams hotel actively involves staff inan energy 'switch-off' campaign which has colour-coded lighting back of house. Businessesare also encouraged to talk to their suppliers in order to receive goods in washable and re-usable containers to reduce wastage as well as encourage back-of-house use of usedenvelopes as notepads.

A bullet-point analysis of the critical success factors for the project:

• The green grading scheme incorporates over 140 measures from which businesses canchoose those that are most appropriate to their type and size of business.

• Sixty-four out of the 140 measures for the scheme concentrate on energy, waste andwater.

• Businesses are encouraged to be as innovative and creative as possible when looking atimplementing environmental measures on the scheme and may actually gain extra creditfor those extra special ideas in a bonus section.

Contact details for further information Sally Pritchard, Green Tourism Project Officer, South Hams District Council(01803) 861249, email: [email protected]

The Green Tourism Business (GTBS) is also an accredited VisitScotland Quality Assurancescheme and is also provided by East of England Tourist Board www.green-business.co.ukwww.eastofenglandtouristboard.com/gogreen

The New Forest Little AcornNew Forest District Council, in partnership with New Forest Tourism Association launched the Little Acorn in 1999 to recognise those businesses who are pursuing wise social andenvironmental practices.



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Accommodation providers who have a Little Acorn symbol in their advertisement areparticipating in the New Forest Little Acorns LA21 Tourism Kit Programme, which aims tohelp tourism and visitor businesses:

• set aside at least 10% of their grounds for wildlife• improve waste management and recycling• improve water and energy efficiency• increase the use of local foods, suppliers and services• establish walking, cycling and other car-free activities from site• promote the New Forest visitor transport initiative to all guests• provide smoke-free areas for eating and drinking (BREATHE INN)• promote healthy activities and eating options• promote the New Forest visitor stewardship scheme to all guests• provide access for all• participate in the local community tourism group• participate in the New Forest Hospitality training programme• contribute environmental data for destination research• use key environmental and cultural messsages in all marketing.

The scheme is voluntary and non-accredited/audited, but participants provide performancedata on a bi-annual basis. By 2003, 87 businesses have signed up to the scheme, which isdesinged to also act as a stepping stone into the National Certification scheme whenoperational.

Contact Anthony Climpson, Leisure Services, New Forest District Council, Appletree Court,Lyndhurst, SO43 7PA, or email [email protected]

David Bellamy AwardsThe David Bellamy Conservation Awards are awarded in conjunction with the British Holidayand Home Parks Association. The aim is to let the awards guide people to parks whoseowners are creating an environmental oasis to increase the vitality of the natural habitat.

The scheme has three levels of award: gold, silver and bronze. Park owners who showresponsibility for careful environmental management and development are eligible to applyand the criteria include areas such as park landscaping, habitat creation, recycling and wastemanagement.

The judging is based on examination of questionnaires in addition to an independentinspection of the park by a local conservation group. The assessment of each park is carriedout independently by David Bellamy himself in conjunction with the ConservationFoundation.

British Holiday and Home Parks AssociationChichester House, 6 Pullman Court, Great Western Road, Gloucester GL1 3ND, tel: 01452 526 911; email: [email protected]



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Green Flag Award SchemeThe Green Flag Award Scheme represents the national standard for parks and green spacesacross England and Wales. It was originally planned to encourage good environmentalpractice and to promote ways of managing public places without the use of pesticides.However, it was soon realised that good environmental practices in themselves did not makefor a good park, but that the park itself needed to be well used and held in high regard. Acomprehensive period of consultation ensued out of which the eight green flag awardcriteria were developed. These criteria are key to the operation of the award scheme andcontinue to be relevant over six years after they were first developed.

It is an independent award that aspires to give voice to public expectations about what parkscan and should offer. It aims to set standards for management and to promote the value ofparks and green spaces as social places as well as places for walking, play, informal sportsand for contact with the natural world. Although the award was set up for public parks, itwas recognised that a wider range of green spaces needed to be included if the quality ofpublic green spaces across the United Kingdom was to be improved.

The Green Flag Award has now become the benchmark against which the quality of publicparks and green spaces can be measured. It also recognises the diversity and value of greenspace to the local community and includes:

• town parks • country parks • formal gardens • nature reserves • local nature reserves • cemetery and crematoria • water parks • open space • millennium greens • doorstep greens • community-run greenspace.

A new development this year is the Green Pennant Award scheme. This is the first of a seriesof specialist awards under the Green Flag umbrella and it is designed to recognisecommunity managed green spaces.

The Green Flag Award scheme is not yet available in Scotland and Northern Ireland thoughthere are plans to extend it to these areas in the future.

The Blue Flag and Seaside AwardsThe Blue Flag and the Seaside Awards aim to improve the quality of beaches. Both areadministered in the UK by ENCAMS. ENCAMS (Environmental Campaigns) is anenvironmental charity which aims to achieve litter-free and sustainable environments byworking with community groups, local authorities, businesses and other partners.



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sThe Seaside Awards recognise clean, well-managed resort and rural beaches. These need tohave achieved at least the minimum legal standard of water quality and fulfil 28 land-basedcriteria, in the case of a resort, and 12 in the case of a rural beach. They are reviewedannually and co-ordinated by ENCAMS. A distinctive flag or plaque is on display at eachbeach along with useful information. A guide is also available free of charge from ENCAMSor any TIC.

The Blue Flag compares beaches throughout Europe and South Africa that meet highstandards of cleanliness and management, promote coastal environmental care and haveattained the higher guideline standard of water quality. It refers only to the busier 'resort'beaches. It is reviewed annually and administered by ENCAMS on behalf of FEE (Foundationfor Environmental Education). A distinctive blue flag is on display at each beach along withuseful information. Blue Flags are also given to Marinas which meet high standards ofmanagement and cleanliness. A guide is also available free of charge from ENCAMS or anyTourist Information Centre. www.seasideawards.co.uk

For further information, please contact:Jose Stanton, Seaside Award Office, ENCAMS, 5 Chalk Hill House, 19 Rosary Road, NorwichNR1 1SZ, email: [email protected]

Other awards:

Association of Heritage Interpretation: Interpret Britain Awards Annual competition to recognise and publicise outstanding interpretive practice in Britainand Ireland. Information is available from: Awards Organiser, 25 Park Road, Richmond-upon-Thames TW10 6NS, tel: 020-8940 7741 www.heritageinterpretation.org.uk

Biffaward: investing in the environmentBiffaward aims to support schemes and projects that will be of lasting environmental benefitby improving community facilities in areas where Biffa is opperational and by acceleratingsustainable waste management.

Biffaward was created in 1997 when Biffa Waste Services agreed to donate landfill taxcredits to the Royal Society for Nature Conservation (RSNC) to administer under the fundname Biffaward.

The guiding principle behind Biffaward`s Strategy for Giving is sustainability and moreinformation on how to apply and eligibility is found on the website.

Brecon Beacons National Park AwardBrecon Beacons National Park Authority presents the National Park Award every two yearsfor the most outstanding contribution to the National Park's aims.

The aims of the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority are:

• conserving or enhancing the park’s landscape



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• promoting the public enjoyment or understanding of the park in a way that does notconflict with its conservation.

• promoting the cultural conservation or socio-economic well-being of the local community.

The award is open to any individual or organisation but projects nominated for the awardmust be within the Brecon Beacons National Park.

British Airways: Tourism for TomorrowAnnual international award for sustainable tourism. Categories include:

• Protected Areas and National Parks (includes Sites of Scientific Interest and heritage sites) • Accommodation (including camps, hotels, cruise ships and resorts) • Tourism organisations (including profit or not-for-profit, non-governmental, voluntary,

tour operators and wholesalers) • Built Environment (including old and new buildings refurbished with advanced

technology; renovations of old; and siting and style of new buildings) • Environmental Experience (including attractions, integrated accommodation with wildlife

experience, environmental innovation and use of technology) • Large-scale tourism (over 200,000 visitors per annum).

Information from: Sustainable Business Unit – Community & Environment, British Airways plc,Waterside (HBBG), PO Box 365, Harmondsworth, Middlesex UB7 0GBtel: +44 (0)20 8 738 5816; fax: +44 (0)20 8 738 9850 www.britishairways.com/tourism/index.shtml

BURA AwardThe BURA Best Practice Award Scheme is concerned with strategic regeneration schemes,projects and programmes. The award scheme involves assessing applications against thecomprehensive criteria which allows overall judgement to be made of environmental, socialand economic performance. Particular emphasis is placed on the extent to which a scheme,project or programme has acted as a catalyst for further regeneration.

Business Environment AwardsAnnual independent award scheme encompassing all business in the UK

Information from: Christine Henshaw, BCE Administrator, Groundwork Environment Centre,Shaw Road, Higginshaw, Oldham OL1 4AW

CERT Kitemark and Environmental AwardThe Centre for Environmentally Responsible Tourism (CERT) was established in 1994 as anindependent organisation, to demonstrate how responsible tourism can protect theenvironment, wildlife and cultural aspects of holiday destinations.

Conde Naste Traveler: Ecotourism AwardAnnual award through the international travel magazine. Categories are hotel/resort, touroperator and destination

Information from: Brook Wilkinson, Assistant Editor, Conde Nast Traveler, 4 Times Square,New York, NY 10036, email: [email protected]



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Conservation International: World Legacy AwardInternational award for companies and individuals. Applicants are judged on environmentalcommitment, sensitivity to environmental issues, cultural sensitivity and cultural benefits andleadership and innovation.Information from: www.ecotour.org

Excellence Through People AwardSponsored by the British Hospitality AssociationExcellence through people is a nation-wide programe which aims to encourage hotel andcatering employers to introduce best practice to their establishment and then to measure itagainst the best in industry generally. Establishments agree to adopt a ten-point code ofgood employment practice and are independently assessed against it.

The award scheme is in three categories, according to the number of employees and isdesigned to highlight an innovative low-cost employment idea which can be replicated byother employers throughout the country.

The ultimate aim of the scheme is to encourage best employment practice throughout thehospitality industry so people want to work and make a satisfying career in it.

For further information including a directory of employees with Excellence through Peoplecertificates visit the British Hospitality Association website.

Green Globe: Green Globe 21 PathInternational membership scheme providing information and support for companies anddestinations working towards sustainable tourism

Information from: 7 St Stephens Court, St Stephens Road, Bournemouth BH2 6LA, tel: +44 (0)1202 312001; fax: +44 (0)1202 312002; email: [email protected]

IH&RA (International Hotel and Restaurant Association): Green Hotelier of the YearInternational competition for hotels and restaurants which can demonstrate how they arepromoting sustainable development while safeguarding local culture and protecting theenvironment.

Information from: IH&RA, 251, rue du Faubourg St-Martin, 75010 Paris, France, tel: +33 (0) 1 44 89 94 00; fax: +33 (0) 1 40 36 73 30www.ih-ra.com/awards/

Queen’s Awards for EnterpriseThe Queen's Awards are the UK's top awards for business performance and are awarded inthree categories: international trade, innovation and sustainable development.

All organisations, large, medium or small, which operate regularly as a 'business unit' of theUnited Kingdom economy, and which can meet the criteria, are eligible to apply. www.queensawards.org.uk



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Further information

Sustainable Tourism Stewardship CouncilThe Sustainable Tourism Stewardship Council is a proposed global accreditation body forsustainable tourism and ecotourism certifiers. If this body is found feasible, it will setinternational standards for certification of tourism industry organisations that want to claimbeing sustainable or practising ecotourism. A wide range of stakeholders are being consultedabout the proposal.www.rainforest-alliance.org/programs/sv/stsc.html

EnvironmentAwardsEnvironmentAwards.net provides a focal point for sponsors, organisers and entrants ofawards as well as those seeking details of the most up to date best practice in theenvironment and sustainable development field.www.environmentawards.net

European Ecolabel for tourist accommodationIn March 1999 the European Commission re-launched the ‘Eco-labelling initiative in tourism’started by the Greek and the French Competent Body as early as 1994, when legislativerestraints hindered a follow-up. The new feasibility study (FEMATOUR) started in January2000 and the study was carried out by a Dutch and Spanish consultancy firm and involvedseveral tasks, as follows:

• analysing the nature of the European tourism market• characterising the different main types of services, grouping them and analysing options

for product groups• assessing best environmental practices and environmental impacts• identifying barriers and success factors• commenting on options for flexibility• investigating synergies and links to the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS)• setting up an indicative priority list for feasibility and action at European level.

At the time of writing this report, the proposed criteria for the ecolabel for touristaccommodation are due for discussion by the European Eco-labelling Board, with a vote tobe taken in December 2002.See: europa.eu.int/comm/environment/ecolabel/producers/pg_tourism.htm for moreinformation.

VISIT (Voluntary Initiatives for Sustainability in Tourism) is the joint European initiative forthe promotion of ecolabels and sustainable tourism. In Europe there are about 40 regional,national and international ecolabels for tourism. In 2001 VISIT started to co-operate with tenleading ecolabels in Europe, including the Green Tourism Business Scheme and Green Globe21, and to develop common basic standards for their criteria and verification procedures. It is hoped that the common basic standards will be agreed by the autumn of 2002.

In 2003 VISIT aims to promote certified accommodation enterprises in Europe to consumersand tour operators and in 2004, VISIT shall be established as European accreditation body forEcolabels for Tourism.www.yourvisit.info



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Section 3 Destination development3J Marketing

Introduction

How to capitalise on sustainable tourism management

How to develop a marketing plan

Summary


3J MarketingThis component will help you capitalise on your sustainable approach to tourismmanagement. It therefore takes you through the issues you need to consider and sets outhow to develop a basic marketing plan. Much has already produced on destinationmarketing, and consequently, this component is only a brief summary containing the basicsteps for consideration.

This component is related to all the other components in the handbook.

Introduction

It is often said that tourism marketing is about selling dreams, but in reality it is much more.Tourism marketing is a complex process by which the product, ie the tourism destination, ispromoted to the potential visitor only after careful research, development and design hasgone on behind the scenes. The aim of a good destination manager is to ensure that all thehard work in researching visitor needs and satisfaction, developing appropriate products,ensuring high quality standards, and capitalising on the area’s local distinctiveness pays offthrough well-targeted and designed products and promotions. That is why marketing is somuch more than advertising: it’s an integral driver in the management process of allsuccessful destinations.

How to capitalise on sustainable tourism management

Throughout the handbook we examine ways in which you can develop and manage tourismin your destination in the most sustainable ways possible. It’s a complex task, which meansthat as a destination manager you have to be thinking laterally most of the time in order tosee the opportunities and connections that are needed to develop tourism sustainably. Whatyou need to do now is capitalise on the hard work and promote your achievements to themarket place.

Recent research by the ETC into visitor attitudes to sustainable tourism managementrevealed that:

• The vast majority of consumers are interested in, and concerned with, sustainable tourismissues and that there is very strong support from consumers for tourism organisations andoperators to do more to protect the environment and help sustain local communities.

• In addition to this desire for tourism organisations and operators to invest in sustainabletourism practices, consumers consistently claimed they would be willing to pay higherprices in order to provide the necessary investment that would be needed. The majority ofconsumers claimed they would be willing to pay higher prices to accommodation providersthat were committed to sustainable tourism practices that also benefited the localcommunity. Two-thirds of those interviewed said they would be willing to make adonation while on holiday to help pay for the upkeep of the local environment.

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• When asked about what motivated them to select one destination over another, 63% ofconsumers stated that a well-managed environment was an important feature in choosingthe destination of their last holiday or short break in England. Interestingly, 79% ofconsumers agreed that it was important to set limits on tourism development.

These results show that there is potential marketing advantage if tourism managersimplement and advertise their sustainable approach to tourism management.

By looking at what you’ve achieved in your destination, or what you are planning to achieve,you will be able to develop a clear picture of the type of destination you are dealing with.Once you have that image in your mind you can start to develop communications thatpromote that image to your potential visitors. You may want to consider the following:

Information needs• What do you know about your customers and your product mix?• What do you know about your non-visitors?• Can you match visitor and non-visitor needs with your offer?• Having identified target visitor segments, how can you best communicate with them?

Destination planningYou then consider what can be done to improve your destination to meet your targetedvisitors’ expectations. You may think that the destination could benefit from greater synergybetween the four key stakeholder groups. By developing better working relationships withthese players, you will be able to focus their collective energies on improving ways in whichtourism needs can be integrated into the key planning objectives of the area. Subsequently,you will set your destination on the way to becoming one that is welcoming to visitors, aprofitable location for tourism operations and an attractive home for the local community.

Destination developmentYou may have discovered during your information search that there were some aspects ofthe destination that needed more attention or work to raise standards. These may havebeen local businesses needing more support, or your own destination management systemswere in need of updating. Alternatively, you may have found that: visitors were havingdifficulty getting to and from, or indeed around your destination; or that you were lacking a key hook to attract tourists; or that visitors were put off by poor environmentalmanagement such as the standard of cleanliness of the beach. These are things that you canwork on and once they’ve been rectified you can in turn use them to your advantage.

This is where you begin to see the advantages in taking a marketing and productdevelopment approach to the way in which you go about managing your destination. The following is a basic approach to developing a marketing plan. It may help you identifywhat you need to do in order to capitalise on your sustainable approach to destinationmanagement.

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How to develop a marketing plan

This section will show you how to put together a basic marketing plan. You should bear in mind that, as with most things, there is always more than one way to set out a marketing plan; this is only a suggested framework but it covers most of the issues you will need to consider.

1 Corporate strategy

It’s always helpful to consider the corporate plan and objectives of the organisation youwork for early on in the planning process, to establish where tourism sits and what it needs to do to help achieve the overall corporate objectives. This is useful to you for tworeasons: first, it helps you position tourism as a key activity in the organisation particularly in view of its non-statutory status and second, it helps to raise tourism’s profile within thelocal authority.

2 Opportunities analysis

You also need to consider the opportunities available to you to develop tourism locally. This analysis should be informed by your research into facts about the market and theresources that are available to you. You may like to draw on some of the ideas put forwardin the destination audit section of the handbook to help you conduct research into visitorand non-visitor attitudes. The results will give you an idea of the needs of your currentmarket and the possibilities for developing your market further.

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3 SWOT analysis

Vitally, you need to audit your own destination’s product offering in terms of its ownstrengths and weaknesses and the possible threats and opportunities that are likely toimpact from changes in the political, economic, sociological and technological arenas. Onceyou have the results of this analysis you will be able to pinpoint your destination’s strengthsand where the areas for improvement lie. This will then help inform your productdevelopment decisions. At this point you may need to consider aspects of your destination’slocal distinctiveness or other aspects of product development such as the cleanliness andsafety of the beach or the quality of accommodation and attractions in the area.

4 Competitor analysis

Your marketing plan should also be informed by your understanding of the competition.Without a firm grasp of what other destinations are up to you might not be able todifferentiate your own product offering sufficiently. Similarly, you will have problems interms of considering how best to utilise branding, promotion and other marketing tools.Hence a thorough investigation of the competition will help you benchmark your owndestination’s product offering.

5 Gap analysis

Through thorough interrogation of the information you have assimilated so far you will beable to develop a picture of where your destination is at currently. You should then be ableto formulate a clear idea of where you would like your destination to be in the future. Bycomparing your current position with your intended one, you should be able to identifywhat you need to do to get there. This is what a gap analysis is all about, namely identifyingthe gap between the reality and the desired. This is where ideas generated by thedestination development section of the handbook may come in useful.

6 Market opportunities

Interrogation of your market research, ie visitor satisfaction surveys and other aspects of the destination audit, will enable you to develop a feel for the opportunities that areavailable in terms of product development and new target markets. This will help informyour destination development plans, your overall use of promotion tools and assist in setting your marketing objectives.

7 SMART marketing objectives

This is where you should set down what you hope to achieve in terms of specific,measurable, achievable, resourced and time specific objectives.

8 Marketing Mix

Identification of your marketing mix is your opportunity to put together your promotionalplans, how you intend to promote your destination, the types of messages you want toimpart and how you want to communicate them. It will also be helpful to identify whichpromotional tools you intend to use, for example: traditional visitor information leaflets,brochures, TICs, websites, direct mail and advertising, amongst others.

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9 Tactics

When setting out your tactics you may like to consider how you intend to brand andposition your destination. For helpful tips on branding your destination refer to component3F, Identifying and developing local distinctiveness. You may also want to set out yourpromotional schedule in the form of a Gantt chart.

10 Budget

This is the crucial bit. You now need to match your budget to your plans.

11 Implementation

By stating how and when you will implement your plans and what resources you arededicating to the job you will be able to track progress and monitor effectiveness.

12 Monitoring

You should of course be monitoring your activities the whole way through. Effectivemonitoring will enable you to react to changing circumstances and keep your marketing ontrack. By monitoring issues you will be able to reassess the feasibility of your plans, tweakthe objectives if necessary and revisit your budgets and tactics accordingly. Remember you donot work in a static bubble. The world of tourism is particularly susceptible to change, henceflexibility in approach is crucial if you are to achieve the goal of sustainable tourismmanagement and marketing.

Summary

By applying a marketing approach to the management of your destination, you will be onestep closer to managing your destination sustainably. If you implement the ideas put forwardin this handbook you will automatically improve your product offering and give yourdestination a distinct marketing advantage.

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Section 4 Monitoring performanceIntroduction

Key components of monitoring performance

Benchmarking

Key points

References

Appendix 1 Visitor survey

Appendix 2 Tourist Information Centre satisfaction survey

Appendix 3A Operator satisfaction survey

Appendix 3B Accommodation providers’ satisfaction survey

Appendix 4 Brochure survey



4 Monitoring performanceThis component explains how to go about monitor overall tourism development indestinations and how this relates to Best Value, benchmarking programmes and indicators ofsustainable tourism development.

This component relates to all the other components.

Introduction

Not that many years ago little attempt was made to evaluate any aspects of performancewithin tourism destinations. As long as the visitors kept on coming then there wasn’t aproblem. This complacency, particularly in resorts, meant that underlying trends weren’tpicked up and there was a failure to respond to changing markets and customerexpectations. The decline of the traditional seaside resort is well documented and shouldserve as a salutary reminder of what can go wrong if little or no account is taken ofdestination performance and positioning.

A detailed understanding of all facets of a destination is of paramount importance. Thisneeds to be followed by a comprehensive plan, strategy or action plan that recognises issues,problems and needs and sets out, with community support, a structured way of dealing withthem. Unless the information on which the planning is based is accurate, timely andregularly reviewed and the effect of any actions is regularly evaluated, the managementprocess will be flawed.

Regular monitoring of performance against plans and the assembly of up to dateinformation should be a fundamental component of the destination managementhandbook. At the very simplest level it should be a checklist of actions completed but to beeffective it needs to encompass a broader range of activities and interrogate performance.The process needs to be seen as an integral part of an effective management system. Itshould be formulated to suit the needs, aspirations and resources of the individualdestination but most importantly it should be simple, effective, easy to administer and beseen as a continuous process.

Key components of monitoring performance

Performance against strategies

Action plans should:

• include target dates for delivery and regular monitoring (at least monthly)• review progress towards the completion of these actions• set out the responsibilities for delivery and any remedial action or plan change required to

meet changing or emerging situations or opportunities.

Volume and value of tourism data

An assessment of the number of visitors to a destination and the value to the economy ofthese visits is the most basic but significant piece of information required for an area. It is an

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essential part of the understanding process and has been more fully covered in section 1.Once collected the information needs to be regularly updated so that basic trends can beestablished. Unfortunately none of the models available at present, to evaluate volume andvalue, fully meet the manager’s needs for current, regularly comparable data.

There is a cost in using either of the main models currently available, but as the dataprovided is essential for understanding, planning and development purposes, it is well worththe investment. For the purpose of identifying trends it is important to continue to use thesame model and to obtain the data on a regular basis, preferably annually.

Tourism satellite accounts are emerging as a potential process for gathering more reliablevolume and value data but it is likely to be some time before these can be made directlyapplicable to individual destinations. Regional and sub-regional trend data is useful, butthere is an urgent need for robust and reliable data at the destination level. The Foot andMouth crisis of 2001 highlighted the gross inadequacy of locally based tourism data. In viewof their role and function, the RDAs should to be encouraged to help develop and fundmore accurate data collection systems that work well at the destination level and can becompared nationally. There is little point in the RDAs developing or using systems that arenot directly comparable across the regions.

Overall visitor satisfaction

Visitor surveys are essential to evaluate customer perceptions of a destination and to identifyneeds. Again, it is imperative that surveys are carried out on a regular basis and that thedata collected is consistent to allow for comparison to enable the monitoring of trends, toevaluate the impact of new developments and to assess changing needs.

In-depth surveys should be carried out at least every five years and it is possible, by selectingcore questions, to carry out interim check surveys using a smaller sample and/orstudents/volunteers to administer the surveys to reduce costs.

A suggested basic visitor survey questionnaire is given in appendix 1. This contains the corequestions that have been found to provide the range of information needed. The questionscan be tailored to suit the needs or circumstances of a particular destination while use of thebasic format will allow for comparison across destinations (benchmarking).

TIC satisfaction

A suggested survey form for use in assessing customer satisfaction with TIC/s is given inappendix 2. This can be handed out to a percentage of TIC visitors to provide some feedbackon satisfaction levels. Incentives can be offered to encourage completion and return andattempts should be made to secure the views of a full cross section of visitors.

Industry satisfaction

Regular surveys of the local tourism service providers are essential to ensure that theresources devoted to tourism are being used to best effect and satisfying the needs of localbusinesses. A suggested questionnaire for evaluating local business satisfaction is given asappendices 3A and 3B. The form should be sent to all tourism businesses, preferably on anannual basis.



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Evaluating the effect of marketing

It is important that some method is used to evaluate the success and impact of marketingexercises, particularly brochures. A simple response form included in the brochure (seeappendix 4) with an incentive will help to provide important feedback on the brochure’simpact. Survey forms can also be sent out subsequently to those requesting a brochure andquestionnaires can be made available in local accommodation to help assess what influencedsomeone to visit.

Quality issues

A regular review of the tourism businesses operating in an area and an awareness of qualitystandards is a fundamental part of basic intelligence and monitoring. Information aboutchanges and the opening of new establishments should be gained from fellow localauthority staff; eg environmental health officers, building control officers, planning officersand rating staff by creating an integrated collaborative framework for regular intelligence-sharing.

Organisational capacity

A number of authorities are now using business planning techniques to understand andimprove the individual components of their management processes. Integrated qualitymanagement, the EFQM Business Excellence Model and LSO 9000 are the main techniquesbeing used. The processes include an evaluation of the key components of management:planning, leadership, understanding, resources and most important of all, monitoring.

Three documents produced by the European Commission relating to the development andapplication of integrated quality management in rural, urban and coastal destinations givevery clear advice for the establishment of a structured approach towards destinationmanagement and the monitoring processes that need to be applied.

Environmental considerations

These should be an integral part of the service planning and delivery process. Monitoringsystems need to be put in place to ensure that sustainability issues are adequately addressed.At the simplest level, the impact of each new development needs to be assessed in broadenvironmental terms. An evaluation of the effectiveness of environmental managementprocesses instituted; eg energy management systems, local produce sourcing, recyclingprogrammes or carrying capacity, needs to be a key part of the monitoring process.

Performance/comparative indicators

Recognising that monitoring is an important process is one thing but organising andmanaging it is another. It can be tempting to try to quantify and measure everything thathappens, but in essence all that is needed is the identification of a few key performancemeasures that you know can be easily collected, that are reliable and that can be comparedyear on year; hence the emergence of performance indicators.

At a basic level indicators can be a simple numerical record of activity. More complex onescan be used to evaluate the outcomes of particular activities. Whatever process is used, theyare, as the name implies, simply a relative indication of activity to assess trends and evaluate



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relative positioning. To be of any benefit to the monitoring process indicators orperformance measures are needed that relate to key areas of activity.

These can be identified as:

• strategic objectives• cost/efficiency• service delivery outcomes• satisfaction and quality• access• sustainability.

The quality of performance indicators is often debated; it seems very difficult to devise onesthat appear to have any intellectual rigour yet can still be easily collected on a regular basis.Perhaps intellectual rigour isn’t that important, but what is essential is that there aresufficient checks in place to provide the destination manager with the knowledge requiredto inform decision-making and planning, evaluate overall performance and allow for easycomparison.

For each of the key components, the following is a list of suggested core and supportingindicators.

1 Strategic objectives

• Do you have an up-to-date tourism strategy?• Does the local authority have a cultural strategy provided in accordance with BV114?• Is the tourism strategy comprehensive?• Was the tourism strategy prepared in consultation with key stakeholders, the community

and elected members?• Does the tourism strategy include an action plan and implementation schedule?• Are action plan monitoring arrangements in place?• Does the tourism strategy include actions in relation to sustainability (Agenda 21)?• Does the authority have an up-to-date business plan for the T/VIC?

2 Cost efficiency

• Overall council net spend on tourism versus overall value of tourism (ie how much doesevery £1 spent generate in tourism revenue?)

• Overall council net spend per visitor• Overall council net spend on tourism per head of population• Cost per T/VIC user• Annual sales income per TIC• Proportion of overall spend met by income• Value of conference bookings• What proportion of income is raised through commission?


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3 Service delivery outcomes

• Average spend per visitor in your destination• Number of FTE jobs supported by tourism• Percentage of local tourism businesses involved in local tourism partnership association

arrangements• Number of visitors to tourist attractions operated by the authority• Percentage of local industry participating in tourism publications• Conversion rate for marketing companies• Survival rates for local businesses/new tourism formation.

4 Satisfaction and quality

• Percentage of inspected accommodation• Percentage of local tourism industry who consider the tourism service to be excellent/good• Percentage of visitors/users who consider the range of services of the TIC to be

excellent/good• Percentage of visitors who overall rate the destination excellent/good (destination

benchmarking)• Percentage of attractions inspected• Percentage of accommodation/attractions participating in Welcome to Excellence courses• Satisfaction levels with individual aspects of service, eg website conference bureau, call

centre• Percentage of industry engaged in training activities.

5 Access

• Percentage of local accommodation/service providers participating in welcome all or otherrelevant disability awareness courses

• Is specific information provided for people with disabilities or whose first language is notEnglish?

• Is information available in alternative formats?

6 Sustainability

• Does the authority have a Local Agenda 21 strategy or community plan? • Does the strategy or plan refer specifically to tourism issues?• Percentage of tourism businesses that use environmental management systems or

participate in activities such as green audit• Percentage of local businesses who source more than 25% of their supplies locally.

It must be emphasised that the above are suggestions and should not be viewed asprescriptive or definitive.



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Apart from using the information to check your own performance against objectives andtargets and to determine trends, is the information collected of any wider use? If otherauthorities collect data on a similar basis then it will be possible to compare your data withothers. This comparative analysis or benchmarking is one of the most useful facets ofperformance indicators/management and is dealt with below.

In addition to indicators collected at the local level, the ETC has set up a suite of NationalSustainable Indicators to identify progress towards sustainable tourism in England. Whilstlooking mainly at issues on a national basis, some of the data presented is aggregated fromlocal information; eg the percentage of local authorities with Tourism Action Plans, thepercentage of destinations with a LA21 plan that includes sustainable tourism and thepercentage of local authorities with a cultural/tourism strategy.

Benchmarking

The collection of key or core performance data in a standardised format agreed with otherdestinations enables a direct comparison to be made of overall performance within a specificsection or grouping. Benchmarking clubs have been in existence for a number of years buttheir distribution is patchy and they have highlighted the lack of accurate, simple and timelylocally based comparative data. The emergence of individual benchmarking clubs has alsohighlighted the need for more universal recognition of the role and value of corecomparable information to support more effective performance management indestinations.

In England the establishment of the National Tourism Best Value Group was, at its simplest,an attempt to standardise baseline data collection processes for all local authorities.

Benchmarking also has a much broader application. Across Europe destination groupings andnetworks have been seeking the ‘holy grail’ of the perfect set of sustainable performanceindicators to be used for Europe-wide benchmarking. Without co-ordination a plethora ofdifferent processes have been emerging. In addition the apparent need to be exhaustive andvisibly rigorous has led to the creation of endless sets of potential indicators that do not passthe acid tests of simplicity, collectability, comparability and reliance. There is much to belearnt from fellow practitioners across Europe and there are benefits to be gained from theability to share information with a much broader range of destinations.

Recognising the need for improved co-ordination and consistency, the European Commissionis now funding a study to identify ‘Measurement tools and methods needed for monitoringthe availability of tourist destinations and services indicators and benchmarking’. The study isexpected to formulate and test a framework for the establishment of a Europeanbenchmarking system that will allow core information to be entered and analysed online,with additional sections tailored to meet the data and performance management needs ofspecific types of destination.

Destination benchmarking

In addition to self assessment benchmarking processes, RTBs offer specific processes that canbe bought in to provide destination and TIC benchmarking.



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Destination benchmarking consists of administering and analysing a standardised set ofvisitor survey information for comparison directly with the scores from other destinations.They are very useful for providing a definitive baseline or starting point and regular reviewsare essential. If the full benchmarking process is carried out every five years then, asidentified earlier in relation to visitor surveys, interim data can be collected as a check usingless expensive techniques. The cost of carrying out a full benchmarking survey can be around£4,000-£5,000. The survey questionnaire given in appendix 1 covers the majority of the areasdealt with in destination benchmarking.

ITC benchmarking

To provide a definitive baseline, a professionally carried out TIC benchmarking survey is anextremely useful exercise. If the surveys are carried out say every five years, interim data canbe obtained by using the TIC customer satisfaction survey referred to in appendix 2.

Best Value

Since the mid 1980s central government has been striving to make local government moreaccountable for its actions and expenditure. An evaluation of the effectiveness of individualauthorities in delivering their services was seen as an essential prerequisite in being able toassess value for money. The Best Value initiative was created to translate governmentrhetoric into action making it a statutory requirement for all authorities to measureperformance and review all of their services. The starting point is an authority-wide BestValue Performance Plan that has to be drawn up each year. This must include current andexpected performance against a series of statutory indicators set by the Audit Commissiontogether with a range of local indicators that an authority considers best demonstrates theireffectiveness at service delivery.

Currently there are no National indicators for tourism laid down by the Audit Commissionand very few authorities seem to have included specific reference to tourism, as localindicators within their own Best Value Performance Plans. However, the Audit Commissionhas identified the areas of performance that it will focus on and for which they will expectsome performance measurement to be in place for tourism services.

These include:

• whether or not an up to date tourism strategy exists which has been prepared on apartnership basis

• whether or not an up to date business plan exists for the TIC and any other facilityoperated by the tourism department

• level of customer satisfaction with the tourist service – minimum 75% satisfaction(customers include visitors, local community, the tourism industry, environmental groups

• cost per use of TIC/s• cost conversion rate of the main brochure (whilst there is still some debate about the ways

in which this can actually be measured the main objective is to be able to demonstratevalue for money ie that you know how much is being spent and what its impact is).



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The National Tourism Best Value Group is working with the Audit Commission to continuallyrefine and define performance measures and to provide guidance to authorities to ensurethat they get the best from their services.

In overall terms because leisure and tourism services have to be more aware of their impact,have to be able to recognise competition and know their market, the Best Value regime hasbeen more readily assimilated. It is after all only good management practice to be able toassess, with a degree of accuracy, relative performance and progress. If you are organised,know what you are spending and its impact, and the customers are engaged in the processand supportive then the Best Value review process should not be a cause for concern.

There is a view that the emerging Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) process willeliminate the need for Best Value reviews. Whilst it might lessen the need for individual in-depth service reviews, CPA relies heavily on the assumption that good practice is beingpursued and can be adequately evidenced and demonstrated. Annual Best ValuePerformance plans are still an integral part of the process, as is a clear demonstration thatservice delivery is set within a robust and comprehensive strategic framework, thatperformance and customer satisfaction are regularly monitored and that actions arereviewed. The use of comparative data and evidence of iterative benchmarking is an integralpart of that process. Authorities need to be able to demonstrate clearly that they can settheir performance in the context of other similar destinations making comparativebenchmarking an essential part of the management process.

National Tourism Best Value Group

Created by the amalgamation of individual benchmarking clubs and following a pilot testphase the National Tourism Best Value Group (NTBVG) launched its Baseline Data collectingsystem in April 2001.

The NTBVG was set up some four years ago with the object of establishing a self-help forumfor tourism officers preparing for Best Value. From those small beginnings almost half of the local authorities in England and Wales now subscribe to the processes and benefit from support in their comparative benchmarking activities. The NTBVG is run by amanagement team comprising representatives from the ETC, the RTBs, LGA, the Institute of Leisure and Amenity Management, British Resorts Association, the TMI and the TourismSociety, together with the 14 category group heads from the county, city, rural, coastal andLondon sub-groups.

For a modest subscription the 170-plus destination managers who belong to the NTBVG also belong to a category sub-group chosen as being closest in nature to their individualdestinations,ie coastal, rural, London, city or country. It is here that the greatest benefitsaccrue. These regular meetings are much valued as a source of new ideas, best practice,increased knowledge, networking and general support. Shared activity in the category groupshas produced a wealth of best practice information on diverse topics relevant to tourism; egmeasuring accommodation stock, event management, TIC performance, measurement ofcustomer satisfaction, conference destination marketing, and techniques for improving TICincome generation. The work of the category groups is continually establishing new standardsof tourism professionalism across the country.



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Underpinning the work of the category groups is the annual benchmarking survey ‘TheBaseline Statement’. This questionnaire, which started as a simple comparison of coretourism data, has now reached an advanced level of refinement. The information providedin answering this questionnaire generates the data required for an effective Best Valueassessment. The confidential data is analysed and reports are generated within and for thecategory groups. This enables members to compare their own performance year on year andto benchmark themselves against comparable destinations on a continuous basis.

The NTBVG is in regular consultation with the Audit Commission to ensure that allinformation is current. They also work closely with ‘Tourism-Site’, a pan European destinationmanagement initiative aimed at sharing information and best practice electronically.

Key points

• Monitoring needs to be seen as an integral point of the management process and shouldbe carried out continuously.

• Choose a range of performance indicators for your destination that provide theinformation you need to manage your performance, only collect the information thoughthat is of use.

• This should be at two levels: level 1 should be core data that can readily be compared withothers; level 2 should be more service or activity specific to ensure that sufficientmanagement information is available to make realistic service delivery decisions.

• Volume and value data, using the best available comparable model, needs to be collectedon an annual basis.

• Visitor surveys need to be carried out on a comprehensive basis at least every five years.Interim surveys on a smaller scale should be used to provide monitoring checks.

• Satisfaction surveys need to be carried out for TIC customers and tourism businesses on anannual basis.

• All surveys should be based on a set of standardised core questions to enable comparisonand benchmarking with other destinations.

• Joining a benchmarking club such as the National Tourist Best Value group is a costeffective way of information and experience sharing.

• Using core performance indicators establish a set of performance measures for your owndestination.

• Investigate the opportunities for detailed sustainable tourism benchmarking at theEuropean level through organisations such as Tourism-Site.

• Give careful consideration to the use of performance management techniques; eg EFQMto assist you in refining and improving your management processes.



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References

Tourism and Resort Action Plan Guidelines (available from Redcar & Cleveland BoroughCouncil)

Best Value Baseline Questionnaire and Guidance (National Tourism Best Value Group)

Tourism Towards Sustainability. DCMS 1998

National Sustainable Tourism Initiatives. ETC

Towards Quality Urban Tourism; Towards Quality Rural Tourism; Towards Quality CoastalTourism. European Commission 2000 (available online)

Tourism-Sitewww.tourism-site.org

Tender specification for measurement methods and tools necessary for monitoring thequality of tourist destinations and services – indicators and benchmarking. EuropeanCommission Directorate, General Enterprize

Sustainable Urban Tourism Project www.sut.itas.fzk.de



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http://www.tourism-site.org

http://www.sut.itas.fzk.de

1 Purpose of trip

Question 1 What is the main purpose of your visit to this area?

� Holiday/recreation etc � Attending a conference � Other business � Visiting friends or relatives � Normal shopping or normal workplace � Other (specify):

Question 2 If on holiday or short break, is this your:

� Main holiday this year? � Second holiday this year? � Third or more holiday?

Question 3 Which of the following groups would you place yourself in?

� Local resident of this area � Day visit from home outside this area � Day visit whilst staying outside this area � Independent visit >1 day � Inclusive package holiday � Other (specify):

2 Details of visit

Question 4 If staying overnight, what is the main type of accommodation used?

� Hotel/motel/inn � Guesthouse � Bed and Breakfast/farm accommodation � Rented self-catering � Caravan � Static owned � Static not owned � Camping � Timeshare � Youth Hostel � Homes of friends or relatives � Second home � Other If applicable, what is the name of the place they are staying



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Appendix 1 Visitor survey

Core questions

The survey includes questions that relate to beach/resort issues, these can be amended to suitthe attributes of a particular destination

Question 5 What do you think of your accommodation ?

� Excellent � Good � Average � Poor � Very poor

Question 6 How many nights are you staying?

In this area? Away from home in total?

Question 7 What is the country and postcode of your normal home/place of residence?

Country Region Postcode

Question 8 What was the main method of transport used to travel to this area?

� Train � Regular bus/coach � Organised coach tour � Car (own, friends, fi rms) � Car (hired) � Motorcycle � Bicycle � Aircraft � Lorry/truck/van � Walk/hiked � Boat � Other

Question 9 Have you stayed overnight in this area on holiday before?

� Yes � No (go to question10)

If yes,

a) When did you last holiday here?

� Within last month � Within last year � Within last 2 years � Within last 5 years � Within last 10 years � Longer

b) How many times have you holidayed here?

� Once � 2-5 times � More than fi ve times



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Question 10 Have you been on a day visit to this area before?

� Yes � No (go to question 11)

If yes, when did you last visit?

� Within last month � Within last year � Previous year � More than two years ago

Question 11 How did you fi nd out about this area?

� A previous visit � Friends/relatives � Tourist Information Centre � Newspaper/magazine article � Newspaper/magazine advertisement � Tourist brochure/leafl et Which one/s?

Question 12 What were the main characteristics of the area that made you want to come here? (tick one or more)

� Beach facilities � Accessibility � Historic interest � Peace and quite � Sporting facilities � Entertainment and recreation facilities � Quality of accommodation � Scenery and countryside � Particular activities � Friendliness and hospitality of locals � Other (specify):



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Question 13 Please rate the following destination features on a scale of 1 (Very poor) to 5 (Excellent) and circle the appropriate number

Resort feature Excl Good Avge Poor V Poor

Poor/wet weather facilities 5 4 3 2 1

Places for families to visit 5 4 3 2 1

Places for adults to visit 5 4 3 2 1

Shopping 5 4 3 2 1

Evening entertainment 5 4 3 2 1

Tourist accommodation 5 4 3 2 1

Signposting 5 4 3 2 1

Ease of being able to walk around 5 4 3 2 1

Surrounding countryside 5 4 3 2 1

Restaurant/eating facilities 5 4 3 2 1

Public transport 5 4 3 2 1

Parking facilities 5 4 3 2 1

Overall appearance 5 4 3 2 1

General cleanliness 5 4 3 2 1

Value for money 5 4 3 2 1

Cleanliness of beach 5 4 3 2 1

Quality of seawater 5 4 3 2 1

Beach facilities 5 4 3 2 1

Access to beach 5 4 3 2 1

Sporting facilities 5 4 3 2 1

Question 14 Is car parking a problem?

� Yes � No (go to question 15) If yes, why ? � Too far from town � Too expensive � Insuffi cient spaces � Badly signposted � Insuffi cient disabled provision � Other (specify):



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Question 15 Are there suffi cient beach facilities available?

� Yes � No (go to question 16) If not, what would you like to see? � More for children � Beach sports � Deckchairs � Refreshments � Others (specify):

Question 16 How important to you are the following features with respect to a seaside resort?

Feature Very important Not important

Availability of activities away from beach eg golf, mountain biking, walking

1 2 3 4 5

Easy access to/availability of attractive natural environments

1 2 3 4 5

Easy access to/availability of historic urban environments

1 2 3 4 5

Easy access to/availability of urban area with wide range of facilities

1 2 3 4 5

Events 1 2 3 4 5

Things to do in poor weather 1 2 3 4 5

Question 17 Please tell me roughly how much you will have spent or will spend on yourself or on the behalf of others in your group TODAY on the following:

� Accommodation � Entrance Fees � Snacks/meals/drink � Gifts/postcards/souvenirs � Travel � Car Parking � Amusements � Other non domestic shopping � Unlikely to spend anything

Question 18 Please indicate your agegroup

A 15 – 24 B 25 – 34 C 35 – 44 D 45 – 54 E 55 – 64 F 65 +

Question 19 Please indicate your marital status

A Single B Married C Widowed D Divorced/separated



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Question 20 Which category best describes you?

A In full-time employment (30+ hours per week) B In part-time employment (<30 hours per week) C Student D Unemployed E Retired/Pensioner F Housewife/husband

If employed full- or part-time:

Which industry/company Job title

Are you the main wage-earner?

� Yes � No (go to question 21)

If the main wage-earner is employed full- or part-time:

Which industry/company Job title

Question 21 Who is with you? (insert number where appropriate)

� Nobody � Husband/wife/partner � Other adults (15+) from own household � Any children under 15 from own household � Adults 15+ from another household � Children under 15 from another household



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Appendix 2 Tourist Information Centre satisfaction survey

At (insert TIC name) Tourist Information Centre we are continuously monitoring our services to bring you the highest standards and we would value your comments. Please would you spend a few minutes completing this questionnaire to help us? (Optional free prize draw)

1 About you

� A local resident in (destination)� A resident in the (county or region)� A day visitor from outside (destination, county or region)Please state where you have travelled from today

� Are you here on holiday� Or short breakIf so, in which town or village are you staying?

How long are you staying? (nights)

Are you here for a� Conference � Festival� Group visit

� Business� Special event

Are you visiting� Friends� Relatives

Are you� Work in (destination)� Studying in (destination)

2 Please rate the following aspects of your visit to the TIC: (Please tick the most appropriate box for each)

Excellent Good Satisfactory Poor V. Poor

Speed of service � � � � �

Quality of customer service � � � � �

Range of information � � � � �

Range of service available � � � � �

Range of goods available � � � � �

Quality of goods available � � � � �

Ease of entry � � � � �

Circulation in the TIC � � � � �

Easy to fi nd TIC � � � � �

Layout of the TIC � � � � �

Overall impression � � � � �

Did you receive the information or service you required?� Yes � No

If no, have you been referred to someone else who might be able to help with your enquiry?� Yes � No



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3 Did you make use of the services provided or purchase any goods from the TIC? (Please tick all that apply)

� Accommodation enquiry � Accommodation booking � UK holiday information

� Transport information � Coach tickets/tours � Maps/guidebooks

� Information on leisure pursuits (walking, cycling, etc) � Cycle packs

� Guided walks� Local directional information

� Local services information

� Local attraction information

� Local attraction tickets � Local events information

� Local events tickets � Theatre tickets � General information

� Purchase of souvenirs or gifts

� Postcards and stamps � Books and magazines

� Other services (please state)

What suggestions do you have for the improvement in the selection or quality of our souvenirs/sales goods?

4 Following your visit today, do you have any comments or suggestions for improvements to this TIC or its services?

5 How often do you use the TIC?

� Daily � Weekly � Once a month � 2 – 3 times a year � Rarely

6 What is your agegroup?

� Under 16 � 16 – 24 � 25 – 44 � 45 – 64 � 65+

7 Are you:

� Male � Female

8 Please describe your ethnic origin:

� Black Caribbean � Pakistan � White European � Chinese � Indian

� White UK � Black African � Other (please specify)

9 Do you have a disability?

� Yes � No

10 Date of visit to TIC 20



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Thank you very much for taking the time to complete this questionnaire. Please place it in the box provided. Alternatively, you may wish to return it by post or complete the questionnaire on our website:

(web address or postal address.)

Name: Address:

Postcode:

Date:

Staff name:

Data Protection Act

The above information will be kept on computer and be accessible only to Offi cers of the Council to help improve the services we are providing you. You may be contacted subsequently to take part in a quarterly TIC customer survey.

� If you do not wish to be contacted in the future please tick this box



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Appendix 3 Operator and accommodation provider satisfaction surveys

Appendix 3A Operator satisfaction survey 2003

1 In general, how was business in 2003 compared with 2002?

� Better � The same � Worse

2 What is your main guest market? (select one only)

� Leisure (tourism) � Business/conference � Overseas � Other

3 Which, if any, of these market areas has grown in 2003?

� None � Leisure (tourism) � Business/conference � Other

4 What is the overall average length of guest stay?

� 1 night � 2 nights � 3 nights � 4 nights � more than 4 nights

5 Do you have guests from overseas? � Frequently � Infrequently � Very rarely

6 From which countries do visitors come from?

� USA � Canada � New Zealand � Australia � Holland � Belgium � Germany � France � Italy � Scandinavia � China � Japan Other

7 Have you seen any recent growth in these overseas markets?

� Yes � No � Don’t know

8 Have you seen the emergence of any new overseas markets?

� Yes � No � Don’t know (if no/don’t know, go to question 10)

9 If yes, which countries? (state)

10 Do local events provide benefi t to your local business? � Yes � No � Don’t know

11 Did you know the council provides Tourist Information Centres?


12 Do you use the services of the local Tourist Information Centre?

� Yes (go to question 14) � No � Don’t know

13 If no, why not? (state)

14 If yes, how do you rate the range and quality of services they provide?




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15 How do you rate the quality of the visitors’ guide? (please see enclosed)


16 Did you advertise in above guide? � Yes � No � Don’t know

17 How do you rate the quality of the events guide and attractions guide? � Excellent � Good � Average � Poor � Very poor

18 How would you rate the overall marketing and promotion of ? � Excellent � Good � Average � Poor � Very poor

19 How would you rate the website? ( ) � Excellent � Good � Average � Poor � Very poor

20 How would you rate the partnership? ( ) � Excellent � Good � Average � Poor � Very poor

21 How do you rate the contact, information and feedback from the local authority tourism service? � Excellent � Good � Average � Very poor � Poor

22 Do you have an internet site for your business? � Yes � No � Planning to

23 Do you have any comments or suggestions which may help improve our services to both you and our visitors?

Thank you for completing the above survey. This will enable to us to improve our service to yourselves and incoming visitors.



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Appendix 3B Accommodation provider satisfaction survey 2003

1 In general, how was business in 2003 compared with 2002?

� Better � The same � Worse

2 What is your main guest market (select just one)?

� Leisure (tourism) � Business/conference � Overseas � Other

3 Which, if any, of these market areas has grown in 2002?

� None � Leisure (tourism) � Business/conference � Other

4 What is the overall average length of guest stay?

� 1 night � 2 nights � 3 nights � 4 nights � more than 4 nights

5 Do you have guests from overseas? � Frequently � Infrequently � Very rarely

6 From which countries do they come from?

� USA � Canada � New Zealand � Australia � Holland � Belgium � Germany � France � Italy � Scandinavia � China � Japan � Other

7 Have you seen any recent growth in these overseas markets?


8 Have you seen the emergence of any new overseas markets?

� Yes � No � Don’t know (if no/don’t know, go to question 10)

9 If yes, which countries? (state)

10 Do local events provide benefi t to your local business? � Yes � No � Don’t know

11 Did you know the council provides Tourist Information Centres?


12 Do you use the services of the local Tourist Information Centre?

� Yes (go to question 14) � No � Don’t know

13 If no, why not? (state)

14 If yes, how do you rate the range and quality of services they provide?

� excellent � good � average � poor � very poor

15 How do you rate the quality of the visitors’ guide? (please see enclosed)


16 Did you advertise in above guide? � Yes � No � Don’t know

17 How do you rate the quality of the events guide and attractions guide?




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18 How would you rate the overall marketing and promotion of as a tourism destination?


19 How would you rate the website? ( )


20 How would you rate the partnership?


21 How do you rate the contact, information and feedback from the local authority tourism service? � Excellent � Good � Average � Poor � Very poor

22 Do you have an internet site for your business? � Yes � No � Planning to

23 Do you have any comments or suggestions which may help improve our services to both you and our visitors?

Thank you for completing the above survey. This will enable to us to improve our service to yourselves and incoming visitors.



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Appendix 4 Brochure survey

How did you obtain your copy of this brochure?

Tourist Information Centre � which one?Responded to advertisement � which publication?Other

Which, if any, describe the reasons why you obtained the brochure?

To decide between different destinations? �

To book holiday accommodation? �

To decide on places to visit and things to do? �

Other (please specify)

In which month did you obtain your brochure?

Have you visited in the past? Yes � No �

Which of the following best describes you?

I had already decided to visit the area prior to seeing the brochure �

I will be visiting/have visited the area as a result of seeing this brochure �

I will not be visiting the area within the next 12 months �

Do you plan to visit the area in? 2003 � 2004 �

How long in advance of your visit did you/are you likely to make your booking?

Less than 2 weeks in advance �

2-4 weeks in advance �



Over 3 months in advance �

Will not make a booking in advance �

How many nights did/do you plan to stay?

What was/will be the main purpose of your visit?

Holiday 4+ nights �

Short break 1-3 nights �

Day visit �

Visiting friends/relatives �

Business/conference �

Other (please specify) �

Including yourself, how many were/will there be in your party?

Adults Children TOTAL



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What type of accommodation did you/do you plan to stay in?

Hotel �

Guesthouse/ B&B �

Self-catering �

Caravan/camping �

Staying with friends/relatives �

Other (please specify) �

In which area did you/do you plan to stay in?

Please name the establishment you stayed or plan to stay in?

Which of these are of greatest interest to you?

� Walking� Sailing� Shopping� Churches� Sport� Historic sites/buildings� Cycling� Museums� Bird watching� Entertainment (cinema, theatre)� Eating out� Beach activities� Touring by car

How would you rate the following aspects of the brochure? (Please tick 5 for very good, 1 for very poor)

Relevance to your request 5� 4� 3� 2� 1�Ease of use 5� 4� 3� 2� 1�Range of accommodation 5� 4� 3� 2� 1�Range of events/things to do 5� 4� 3� 2� 1�Front cover 5� 4� 3� 2� 1�Use of Photos 5� 4� 3� 2� 1�Introductory pages 5� 4� 3� 2� 1�Maps 5� 4� 3� 2� 1�

Which national magazines/newspapers do you read regularly?

Please send me a priority copy of the 2004 brochure �



COMPONENT 4

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Section 5 ReferencesGeneral references

Specific component references

Section 1 Destination audit

Section 2 Destination planning

Section 3 Destination development


5 Where to go for help: contacts and references

The following section gives details of where to go for help, with further references andinformation relating to each of the individual components. For enquiries regarding thehandbook as a whole, please contact Anthony Climpson in the Leisure Services Departmentof New Forest District Council at Appletree Court, Lyndhurst, Hampshire SO43 7PA, tel 0238028 5102, fax 023 8028 5457, email [email protected].

General references will be given first, followed by references relating to each of the specificcomponents in the order in which they appear in the handbook.

General references

Green Audit Kit – Investing in Business and the EnvironmentThe Green Audit Kit is a self-help manual developed by the English Tourism Council and the Countryside Agency. It is aimed at tourism businesses and is distributed through theRTBs. It demonstrates the quality and other advantages that environmental improvementcan bring to tourism businesses’ marketing, products and customer experiences.

Taking a step-by-step approach, the Green Audit Kit puts an environmental slant on keybusiness activities, generating extra business and saving money. It offers advice onmaximising benefits and is has the following key features:

• allows self-completion and local customisation• encourages sustainable tourism• allows integration in tourism business support programmes• supported by the Green Advantage training course• encourages business review, action and checklist monitoring• includes 22 case studies across England and contact details• includes monitoring forms for user completion• available from regional tourist boards• links in with a user-participation website at www.greenauditkit.org

For copies of the Green Audit Kit, please contact your RTB.

Regional Tourist Boards

Cumbria Tourist BoardAshleigh, Holly Road, Windermere, Cumbria, LA23 2AQTel: 01539 444444, Fax: 01539 444041www.golakes.co.uk

East of England Tourist BoardToppesfield Hall, Hadleigh, Suffolk, IP7 5DNTel: 01473 822922, Fax: 01473 823063www.eastofenglandtouristboard.co.uk

5 WHERE TO GO FOR HELP: CONTACTS AND REFERENCES


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http://www.greenauditkit.org

http://www.golakes.co.uk

http://www.eastofenglandtouristboard.co.uk


Heart of England Tourist BoardWoodside, Larkhill Road, Worcester, WR5 2EZTel: 01905 763436, Fax: 01905 763450www.hetb.co.uk

London Tourist Board1 Warwick Row, London, SW1P 5ERTel: 020 7932 2000, Fax: 020 7932 0222www.londontouristboard.com

Northumbria Tourist BoardAykley Heads, Durham, DH1 5UXTel: 0191 375 3000, Fax: 0191 386 0899www.e-northumbria.net

North West Tourist BoardSwan House, Swan Meadow Road, Wigan Pier, Wigan, WN3 5BBTel: 01942 821222, Fax: 01942 820002www.nwtourism.net

South East England Tourist BoardThe Old Brew House, Warwick Park, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN2 5TUTel: 01892 540766, Fax: 01892 511008www.tourismsoutheast.com

Southern Tourist Board40 Chamberlayne Road, Eastleigh, Hampshire, SO50 5JHTel: 023 8062 5500, Fax: 023 8062 0010www.southerntb.co.uk

South West TourismWoodwater Park, Pynes Hill, Rydon Lane, Exeter, EX2 5WTTel: 0870 442 0830, Fax: 0870 442 0840www.swtourism.co.uk

Yorkshire Tourist Board312 Tadcaster Road, York, YO24 1GSTel: 01904 707961, Fax: 01904 701414www.yorkshiretouristboard.net

EnglandNet4 Bergham Mews, Blythe Road, London, W14 0HNTel: 020 7603 9763, Fax: 020 7751 1943.www.englandnet.co.uk



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http://www.londontouristboard.com

http://www.e-northumbria.net

http://www.nwtourism.net

http://www.tourismsoutheast.com

http://www.southerntb.co.uk

http://www.swtourism.co.uk

http://www.yorkshiretouristboard.net

http://www.englandnet.co.uk

This section refers to many articles which can be found in the ETC publication, Insights. Forcopies of Insights, please contact:Insights: The Tourism Marketing Intelligence ServiceThames TowerBlack’s RoadLondon W6 9ELTel: 020 8563 3000Fax: 020 8563 0302.

Further information on many of the issues covered in this toolkit can be found in World Tourism Organisation Guide for Local Authorities on Developing Sustainable Tourism,1998 www.world-tourism.org

National Tourism Best Value GroupThe National Tourism Best Value Group was set up approximately four years ago with theobject of establishing a self help group for local authority tourism officers preparing for theirBest Value Review process. The group now represents some 180+ subscribers, about half ofall tourism officers in England and Wales.

There are two prime benefits of membership:

• Subscribers attend the regular meetings of their chosen category group. These meetingsare much valued by subscribers as a source of new ideas, best practice, increasedknowledge, networking and support.

• Data collection, analysis and reports enable subscribers to compare their own performanceyear on year and benchmark against comparable destinations. This data is in line with theAudit Commission performance indicator requirement and forms the foundation necessaryfor an effective Best Value assessment.

The group is supported by a management team including representatives from the RTBs, theLocal Government Association, the Tourism Society, the Institute of Leisure and AmenityManagement, the British Resorts Association and is managed under contract by the SouthernTourist Board. It is also recognised by the Audit Commission as being a valuable supportsystem for those going through Best Value.For more details contact Judith Barratt at [email protected] or telephone 01256811660. Annual subscription £225.00.

Specific component references

Introduction

Including taking an integrated approach to sustainable tourism management

British Tourist Authority. Sustainable Tourism Strategy: A Strategy for the Sustainable Growthof Tourism to Britain, BTA, 2002.www.tourismtrade.org.uk/pdf/sustainable_tourism.pdf

Countryside Agency. Green Audit Kit. Countryside Agency, Cheltenham, 2001. Details can be found above.



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http://www.world-tourism.org

http://www.tourismtrade.org.uk/pdf/sustainable_tourism.pdf


Countryside Agency. South Hams Tourism and Marketing Strategy 2000-2005. Please contactThe Countryside Agency, John Dower House, Crescent Place, Cheltenham, GL50 3RA www.countryside.gov.uk

Denman J and Denman R. Big Apple ’89: An Initiative in Green Tourism, Insights, Vol. 11(3).English Tourism Council, 1990, p.263-264.

English Tourism Council. Green Labels for the Travel and Tourism Industry: A Beginner’sGuide. Insights, Vol. 9. ETC, A11-19.

English Tourism Council. Time for Action: A Strategy for Sustainable Tourism in England, ETC,April 2001.

English Tourism Council. The National Accessible Scheme, 2002. www.accessibletourism.org.uk


Exmoor National Authority Park. The European Charter for Sustainable Tourism.www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/Projects/Euro_Charter/Report_Evaluation.htm

Fieldfare Trust The Fieldfare Trust works with people with disabilities and countrysidemanagers to improve access to the countryside for everyone. 67a The Wicker, Sheffield, S38HT; tel: 0114 270 1668, fax: 0114 276 7900. www.fieldfare.org.uk

Holiday Care Holiday Care is a source of travel and holiday information and support fordisabled and elder people, families, friends and carers. 7th Floor, Sunley House, 4 BedfordPark, Croydon CR0 2AP. www.holidaycare.org.uk

New Forest District Council. Our Future Together – A Tourism and Visitor ManagementStrategy. New Forest District Council, Town Hall, Avenue Road, Lymington, SO41 9ZG

Tourism Management Institute Regional Network Contact details about regionalrepresentatives may be found at www.tmi.org.uk


Please refer to individual component.


British Resorts Associationwww.britishresorts.co.uk

Carpenter H. The Economic impact of visitors: data collection and evaluation at local level –Discover Islington, Insights, Vol 11: C47-55 2000

Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Guidance on Measuring Sustainable Tourism atthe Local Level, DCMS, 2002. Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2-4 Cockspur Street, London, SW1Y 5DHwww.culture.gov.uk



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http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/Projects/Euro_Charter/Report_Evaluation.htm

http://www.fieldfare.org.uk



http://www.britishresorts.co.uk




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Middleton V. Measuring the Local Impact of Tourism, British Resorts Association, 1998.‘Measuring the Local Impact of Tourism’ - Department for Culture, Media and SportAvailable free www.culture.gov.uk/tourism/forms_documents.html – 1998 archive

Information about the Cambridge Economic Model may be obtained from your RTB.

Information about the STEAM Economic Model may be obtained by contacting Global Tourism Solutions (UK) Ltd, 2 Barleycroft, Filey Road, Scarborough, North Yorkshire,YO11 3AR.

Information about the PRIME (Project Impact Appraisal Model) may be obtained bycontacting Northumbria Tourist Board.


Briggs S. Friends and family reunited: customers queuing on your doorstep, Insights, Vol 14:A13-A19 2002

Coming home to St. Agnes – Community partnerships, Leisure Manager, March 2002

Godfrey K and Clark J. The Tourism Development Handbook, Cassell, 2000

English Historic Towns Forum. Making the Connections – A Practical Guide to TourismManagement in Historic Towns, EHTF, 1999

Martins C and Martins C. Birmingham Visitor and Convention Bureau: Local Tourist CampaignSelling tourism to the local community, Insights, Vol 12: A139-145 2001

Waites N. Community Planning Handbook, Earthscan Publications, 120 Pentonville Road,London, N1 1JNwww.earthscan.co.uk

Where Do We Go From Here, JIGSO, 1998 (Available from Wales Council for VoluntaryAssociations, Cardiff)

1D Determining local carrying capacities in your area

Boissevain J (ed.) Coping with tourists: European reactions to mass tourism, Berghahn, 1996.

Canastrelle E and Costa P. Tourist carrying capacity: a fuzzy approach, Annuals of TourismResearch, Vol. 18, 1991, p.295-311.

Lime D and McCool S. Tourism carrying capacity: tempting fantasy or useful reality, Journalof Sustainable Tourism, Vol. 9(5), 2001, p.372-388.

http://www.culture.gov.uk/tourism/forms_documents.html

http://www.earthscan.co.uk

2A Engaging local authorities

Godfrey K. Attitudes towards Sustainable Tourism in the UK: View from Local Government,Tourism Management, Vol. 19(3), p.213-224.

Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA)Sustainability Team, Layden House, 76-86 Turnmill Street, London, EC1M 5LG.www.idea.gov.uk

Worldwide Wildlife Fund. Mainstreaming Sustainability Resource Pack, WWF, 2002.Worldwide Wildlife Fund, Panda House, Weyside Park, Godalming, Surrey, GU7 1XRwww.wwf.org.uk

2B How to develop tourism partnerships

Augustyn M and Knowles T. Performance in Tourism Partnership: A Focus on York, TourismManagement, Vol. 21(4), 2000, p.341-351.

Clark J and Kerry G. The Tourism Development Handbook: A Practical Approach to Planningand Marketing, 2000.

Curtis-Brignell D. Bicester Village: Partnerships are for life, not for a crisis, Insights, Vol 13:A119-A128, 2002

Day G, Knight P and Morris E. Participation: Where do we go from here? An Introduction toDifferent Techniques in Community Participation, JIGSO - Wales Council for Voluntary Action,2nd edition, 2001.

English Historic Towns Forum. Making the Connections – A Practical Guide to TourismManagement in Historic Towns, EHTF, 1999. EHTF, PO Box 22, Bristol, BS16 1RZwww.ehtf.org.uk

Fyall A and Leask A. The Hampsire & Dorset Benchmarking Project: Managing visitorattractions; a collaborative approach, Insights, Vol 13, 2002

South Warwickshire Tourism Partnership is a non-profit making company representing over430 local tourism businesses around Kenilworth, Royal Leamington Spa, Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick.South Warwickshire Tourism Partnership Limited, Conoco Centre, Warwick Technology Park,Gallons Hill, Warwick, CV34 6DBwww.shakespeare-country.co.uk

Waites, Nick. Community Planning Handbook.


Business Linkwww.businesslink.org

Department for Trade and Industrywww.dti.gov.uk/guidance



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http://www.idea.gov.uk

http://www.wwf.org.uk


http://www.shakespeare-country.co.uk

http://www.businesslink.org

http://www.dti.gov.uk/guidance

English Tourism Council. Managing Micros: A Practical Guide for Tourism Advisors, ETC, 2002.

Small Business Servicewww.sbs.gov.uk


PPG 21, Tourism – available from DTLR website. www.dtlr.gov.uk/planning

The Royal Town Planning Institute has a reading list on village design statements. Tel: 0207 929 9452, email: [email protected]

Village Design Statements, Countryside Commission, 1996. Available from The CountrysideAgency’s website, www.countryside.gov.uk


Clark J and Godfrey K. The Tourism Development Handbook, Cassell, 2000.

Countryside Management Association With approximately 1,200 members, the CMS is the largest organisation of its kind involved in the countryside and urban greenspacemanagement throughout England and Wales.www.countrysidemanagement.org.uk

English Historic Towns Forum EHTF explores the issues impacting on historic towns, offeringsupport and guidance on conservation area management, traffic and visitor management,urban regeneration and design, and other planning issues. www.ehtf.org.uk

English Historic Towns Forum. Making the Connections: A Practical Guide to TourismManagement in Historic Towns, EHTF, 1999.

Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty The Norfolk Coast Partnership worksclosely with many organisations and individuals as it seeks to protect and enhance thelandscape and its special wildlife for all those who live in and visit the area. Theorganisation’s visitor management strategy may be obtained atwww.norfolkcoastaonb.org.uk

World Tourism Organisation. Sustainable Tourism Development: A Guide for Local Planners,WTO, Madrid, 1993.

Grant M, Human B and Le Pelley B. Embracing tourism – Cambridge Tourism Strategy Review,Insights, Vol 13: C41-49 2002.



3B Using technology for effective e-business




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http://www.sbs.gov.uk

http://www.dtlr.gov.uk/planning


http://www.countrysidemanagement.org.uk


http://www.norfolkcoastaonb.org.uk



Cyclists’ Touring Club is the leading organisation in the UK which campaigns for cyclists’rights. CTC played a key part in the production of the National Cycling Strategy, accessible atwww.nationalcyclingstrategy.org.uk, and continue to lobby central government, localauthorities and other agencies to promote, invest in and facilitate cycling. CTC alsoencourages employers to provide facilities for cyclists, campaigns for better access for cycliststo public transport and has a network of 350 Right to Ride representatives campaigning forall cyclists.Cyclists’ Touring Club, Cotterell House, 69 Meadrow, Godalming, Surrey, GU7 3HSwww.ctc.org.uk

Department for Transport. Quality Bus Partnerships: Good Practice Guide, TAS Partnership,May 2001. This publication contains information on a wide range of issues to assist busoperators and local authorities set up, develop and monitor Quality Bus Partnerships.Appendices provide an overview of outcomes from case studies, useful contacts, frequentlyasked questions and sample documentation.www.local-transport.dft.gov.uk/qbus

Downward P and Lumsdon L. Cycle and see: developing a cycling package for visitors (TheStaffordshire Moorlands), Insights, Vol 10: C1-9 (1998)

English Tourist Board. English Walking Holidays Toolkit, ETB, 1999.

Local Authorities A wide range of local information about cycle routes in your area and the implementation of plans for improved cycle routes may be obtained from your localcycling officer.

Information about the Local Transport Plan (LTP) process and related initiatives, includingguidance and best practice may be found at www.local-transport.dft.gov.uk

London Cycling Campaign exists to increase cycling in Greater London for the benefit ofindividuals, local communities and the wider environment by promoting cycling, improvingconditions for cycling, and raising the profile of cycling. The LCC works with a wide range oforganisations, including other cycling, sustainable transport and environmental groups aswell as major employers.London Cycling Campaign, Unit 228, 30 Great Guildford Street, London, SE1 0HSwww.lcc.org.uk

SUSTRANS, the sustainable transport charity, works on practical projects to encouragepeople to walk, cycle or use public transport to reduce motor traffic and its adverse effects.The charity is responsible for co-ordinating the creation of the National Cycle Network withlocal authorities, businesses and landowners. By 2005, the NCN will have been extended to10,000 miles across the UK and amounts to an investment of £400 million.SUSTRANS, 35 King Street, Bristol, BS1 4DZwww.sustrans.org.uk

Transport 2000 is the independent national body concerned with sustainable transport. Itlooks for answers to transport problems and aims to reduce the environmental and socialimpact of transport by encouraging less use of cars and more use of public transport,



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http://www.nationalcyclingstrategy.org.uk

http://www.ctc.org.uk

http://www.local-transport.dft.gov.uk/qbus

http://www.local-transport.dft.gov.uk

http://www.lcc.org.uk

http://www.sustrans.org.uk

walking and cycling. Information about the ‘Tourism without Traffic’ campaign may befound on www.transport2000.org.ukTransport 2000. Tourism without Traffic: A Good Practice Guide, Transport 2000, 2000.Transport 2000. Easy Arrivals: A Visitor Travel Plan for Harewood House, Transport 2000,2000.Transport 2000. Gateways to the Downs: An Action Plan for Sustainable Travel and Tourismin the East Sussex Downs, Transport 2000, 2001.


Ashcroft P and Denman P. Visitor Payback: Encouraging tourists to give money voluntarily toconserve the places they visit, The Tourism Company, 1997.

Countryside Recreation Network. Visitor Payback: Looking at the Realities behind the SuccessStories, Countryside Recreation, ed. Emma Barratt, Vol. 9(2), Summer 2001, p.4-7.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Tomorrow's Tourism: A Growth Industry for theNext Millennium, DCMS, July 1999.

Disney Wildlife Conservation Fundwww.disney.com

English Tourism Council. Time for Action: A Strategy For Sustainable Tourism in England, ETC, April 2001.

Friends of Yosemite (2001). Help Your Park. www.yosemite.org

Morgan H. A Taxing Time, In Focus, 2000.

Suffolk Coast and Heaths Project – This AONB initiative has developed a number of visitorpayback schemes.Dork Lane, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 1PEwww.suffolkcoastandheaths.org

Sustainable Travel & Tourism (2001). Spain’s Balearics Approve Tourist Eco-Tax. www.sustravel.com

Tarka Project (1997). Visitor Payback Project. www.tarka-country.co.uk

3E Ensuring access for all



Bateman A and Horsey N. To be a pilgrim – Hampshire Millenium’s pilgrims’ trail, LocumDestination Review, Summer 2002

Briggs S. Brick Lane, East London & Leicester Promotions: Destinations with a difference:attracting visitors to areas with cultural diversity, Insights, Vol 12: C1-8 2000



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http://www.transport2000.org.uk

http://www.disney.com

http://www.yosemite.org


http://www.sustravel.com

http://www.tarka-country.co.uk

Countryside Commission. Sustainable rural tourism: opportunities for local action, 1995.

Food from Britain is the UK’s leading strategic international food and drink export marketingagency. It has a mission to foster the development of British speciality food and drink sector,helping manufacturers grow their sales in the UK. Food from Britain, 123 Buckingham Palace Road, London, SW1 9FA www.foodfrombritain.com

Grant M and Le Pelley B. Destinations and local distinctiveness - Devon Case Study, Insights,Vol 14: A21-A27

Hawkins R and Middleton V. Sustainable tourism: a geographical perspective, Butterworths,1998.

Information about the Heart of England Tourist Board’s ‘Food and Drink’ project is availableat www.hetb.co.uk or by contacting Jo Jury, Project Manager on 01905 761124 oremail:[email protected]

Herefordshire Tourism, PO Box 44, Leominster, Herefordshire, HR6 8ZDwww.flavoursofherefordshire.org.uk

Middleton V. More Sustainable Tourism: A Marketing Perspective, Insights, Vol. 10, 1999,A165-172.

Soil Association The Soil Association campaigns for organic food and farming, andsustainable forestry.Bristol House, 40 – 56 Victoria Street, Bristol, BS1 6BYwww.soilassociation.org

World Tourism Organisation. Guidelines for the Development of National Parks andProtected Areas for Tourism, WTO, Madrid, 1992.

Other examples include:Whitstable Oyster Festivalwww.whitstableoysterfestival.co.uk/

Blossom Trail – Worcester + Blossom Trail Cycle Routewww.evesham.uk.com/blossom.html

A Taste of the Westwww.tasteofthewest.co.uk/index.htm

High Weald Landscape Trailwww.highweald.org/landscap2.htm

3G Biodiversity action plans for tourism

For further information on Tourism Biodiversity Action Plans or the UK/Regional and localBiodiversity Action plans please contact:Enquiry Service, English Nature, Northminster House, Peterborough, PE1 1UATel: 01733 455100 www.english-nature.org.uk



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http://www.foodfrombritain.com


http://www.flavoursofherefordshire.org.uk



http://www.evesham.uk.com/blossom.html

http://www.tasteofthewest.co.uk/index.htm

http://www.highweald.org/landscap2.htm

http://www.english-nature.org.uk


Further examples of biodiversity plans can be found on the following websites:Center Parcswww.thetimes100.co.uk/document.asp?HeaderID=16&SectionID=82

Cornwall Biodiversity Initiativewww.wildlifetrust.org.uk/cornwall/wow/audit2/wowaudit.htmwww.wildlifetrust.org.uk/cornwall/wow/

Lincolnshire Bio-diversity action planwww.lincsbap.org.uk/index.htm

Dart biodiversity projectwww.dartmoor-npa.gov.uk/dnp/factfile/dartbiosum.html

Cambridge Biodversity action planswww.camcnty.gov.uk/sub/cntryside/biodiv/plans/plans.html

Norfolk Biodiversity Action Planswww.norfolkbiodiversity.org/Action%20Plans/actionplans.htm

Exmoor National Park’s Biodiversity Action Planwww.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/About_Exmoor/ExmoorBiodiversity.htm


Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation provides information on the recycling ofaluminium cans and food packaging. Information about collection sites in your locality maybe found at www.alupro.org.uk

Centre for Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism at Oxford Brookes University covers a widerange of subject areas including event management, recreation and sports science. Centre for Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane,Headington, Oxford, OX3 0BP www.hlst.ltsn.ac.uk

Community Composting Network is a fast growing network comprising over 125 membersacross the United Kingdom involved in community composting. Members include communitycomposting projects, local authorities and other supporting organisations.Community Composting Network, 67 Alexandra Road, Sheffield, S2 3EEwww.othas.org.uk/ccn

Composting Association is the UK’s membership organisation that researches and providesbest practice in composting and the use of composts. It provides a central resource forcomposting, researching, collecting and disseminating information.Composting Association, Avon House, Tithe Barn Road, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, NN8 1DH www.compost.org.uk

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairswww.defra.gov.uk



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http://www.wildlifetrust.org.uk/cornwall/wow/

http://www.lincsbap.org.uk/index.htm

http://www.dartmoor-npa.gov.uk/dnp/factfile/dartbiosum.html

http://www.camcnty.gov.uk/sub/cntryside/biodiv/plans/plans.html

http://www.norfolkbiodiversity.org/Action%20Plans/actionplans.htm

http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/About_Exmoor/ExmoorBiodiversity.htm

http://www.alupro.org.uk

http://www.hlst.ltsn.ac.uk



http://www.defra.gov.uk

Environment Agencywww.environment-agency.gov.uk

Green Cone Limited is an environmental company providing local authorities, private sectorand individuals around the world with a system solution to the growing need to encourageorganic recycling in the home. The Green Cone System includes the Green Cone, a kitchencaddy for easier removal of food waste and specially formulated accelerator powder thatpromotes the natural break down of organic food. With food waste on average accountingfor some 25% of all household waste, this system dramatically reduces the amount ofhousehold waste which needs to be collected by local authorities and private sectorcontractors. Green Cone, Sales Head Office, PO Box 6788, Nottingham, NG2 4JEwww.greencone.com

The Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment is a UK non-profit makingorganisation, established in 1974. It researches the environmental and social effects ofpackaging in order to show a better understanding of the issues involved. INCPEN, Suite 108, Sussex House, 6 The Forbury, Reading, RG1 3EJwww.incpen.org

Mercury Recycling is the first UK’s fluorescent tube recycling plant for all types of lightingand a range of other mercury containing products.Mercury Recycling, Unit G, Canalside North, John Gilbert Way, Trafford Park, Manchester,M17 1DPwww.mercuryrecycling.co.uk

RECOUP promotes and facilities post-consumer plastic container recycling in the UK.RECOUP, 9 Metro Centre, Welbeck Way, Woodston, Peterborough, PE2 7WHwww.recoup.org

Recycle-more is an initiative established by Valpak, the UK’s largest compliance scheme forpackaging waste legislation. It aims to increase total glass recycling levels by 1 milliontonnes over 5 years to 2006 making the UK comparable with mainland Europe.Recycle-more, Valpak Limited, Vantage House, Stratford-upon-Avon Business and TechnologyPark, Banbury Road, Stratford Upon Avon, Warwickshire, CV37 7GWwww.recycle-more.co.uk

SCRIB (Steel Can Recycling Information Bureau), Port Talbot, South Wales, SA13 1NGwww.scrib.org

Waste Connect is the UK public recycling database providing comprehensive informationabout all recycling points throughout the country. The site has been re-designed to makesearching for your nearest recycling point even easier. You can search by entering the nameof your town.www.wastepoint.co.uk

Computers for Charity, established in 1993, is a voluntary, non-profit making organisationimproving access to Information Technology for community groups. If offers an easy way to



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http://www.greencone.com


http://www.mercuryrecycling.co.uk

http://www.recoup.org

http://www.recycle-more.co.uk

http://www.scrib.org

http://www.wastepoint.co.uk

recycle redundant computer equipment in a reliable, efficient and secure way that will helpto protect the environment and assist communuity organisations.Computers for Charity, PO Box 48, Bude, Cornwall, EX23 8BLwww.computersforcharity.org.uk

English Tourism Council. Visitor Attitudes to Sustainable Tourism, English Tourism Council,2001.

Middleton V. Fouling the Nest? Environmental Impact of Small Business, Insights, Vol. 9, D13-19, 1997.

Waste Watch is the leading national organisation promoting and encouraging actions onwaste reduction, reuse and recycling. The organisation works with community organisations,central government, local authorities and the public to raise awareness and effect change onwaste. Established as a national charity in 1987, Waste Watch is supported by DEFRA, LandfillTax Credits Scheme, National Lottery and private members.Waste Watch, 96 Tooley Street, London, SE1 2THwww.wastewatch.org.uk

3I Sustainability Awards for Industry and Destinations

ENCAMS website www.seasideawards.co.ukFor further information, please contact Jose Stanton, Seaside Award Office, ENCAMS, 5 ChalkHill House, 19 Rosary Road, Norwich, NR1 1SZ, email: [email protected]

3J Marketing: making the most of your destination


4 Monitoring performance




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User guide to theDestination Management Handbook

CD-ROM

This guide shows you how to view and navigate through the Destination Management Handbook.

–

Launch Acrobat Reader and open the file DMH Contents.PDF

from the CD.

–

You will see the contents page first.

From the contents page click on the sections you wish to view.

–

To navigate through the publication, click on the blue arrow buttons on the top left of each page.

return to contents page view next page view previous page return to component contents

Main Menu buttons are at the top of every component contents page and take you back to the contents for the whole of the handbook.

Contents buttons are at the top of every component page and take you back to the contents for the component you are currently viewing.

You can also click on web and email addresses within the text, which will take you directly to the link.

Click on the arrow button at the top right hand side of this page to see the next page of this guide.

Documents

Destination Management Handbook - The Tourism Management ... · tourism businesses and communities where tourism happens (the local destination) and at the same time are linked into