Bill Ferris OBE

Chief ExecutiveChatham Historic Dockyard Trust

How museums and the tourism industry can work together to get more visitors …

I have a problem …I don’t understand the proposition!

The Proposition:

Working together: How Hampshire-Solent Alliance Partners and the tourism industry can work together to get more visitors.

United Nations definition of tourism

“Tourism”

It comprises the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes …

Most visited attractions ….

South East

No. 1 – The Ashmolean Museum – 1,042,350

UK

No.1 – The British Museum – 5,842,000

Visits to Cultural and Heritage by inbound visitors £4.5bn PA

We are the tourist industry!

Revised Proposition:

How working in partnership across the tourism industry can increase visitors/audiences to museums and benefit others in the tourism sector

What I could and should talk about …

- The Product

- The Consumers

- Our People

- Integrated Communication Strategy

- Visitor Expectation

But time is too limited

- ……………………. - …………………….

Tourism Partnerships / The Tourism Landscape

Learn to love your Destination Management Organisation (DMO)

Understand the new tourism landscape and language

- Destinations are the future

- Tourist boards are dead

- Get involved

- Encourage your Local Authority (which might be a DMO) to be pro-active

- Don’t expect something for nothing

- Don’t be shy

- Don’t waste time and energy on lost causes

The Historic Dockyard Chatham experience …

- If you are not taking part in the game you can’t expect to win

- There is a real opportunity for museums to take leadership roles

- A small budget isn’t no budget

- Use it wisely- Seek multiplication by combining with partners

Think Visitors Think Customers Think Audiences

- Member of Tourism South East board- Member of Visit Kent board- Member of Visit England visitor attractions group- Chair of Medway Tourism Association

“Branding”

- K.I.S.S. XXXX- Identify your brand values - not their characteristics

- Cut the organisation in half and values should be written throughout

- Your product- Your people- Your presentations- Your imagery- Your language- Your facilities- Your marketing material

- Engage the staff and volunteers - Help them adopt the brand

- Engage partners and stakeholders

- No. 1 Smithery branding exercise led to site wide rebranding

- Engaging with partners helped us understand the product

- Understanding the product helped us understand the brand

- Neither were what we thought they were going to be

- A venue not a museum

- Content and messages critical

- The Historic Dockyard a “Big” DESTINATION with many parts

The Historic Dockyard Chatham experience …

The Epiphany Moment for Chatham

“Think local and you’ll be local”

How to broaden your ‘National’ appeal

“Think national and you can be national”

Segmentation – More than just the market

“Museums are not all things to all people”

“Museums are complicated”

- Market Segmentation

- Message Segmentation

- Media Segmentation

The power of PR if used properly …

The Launch of No. 1 Smithery

- Architectural press and journalists

- Special interest press- Ship models - Art

- Industrial Heritage - Building

- Regeneration press and journalists

- The legal press

- An example

Segmenting the story and the media

- Tourism press and journalists

“ All readers whether specialist or not are potential visitors”

Case Study: SS Jervis Bay

70th Anniversary of her Sinking

1 Object – Ship ModelMultiple stories / opportunities

“… the fire and the fury of the dockyard …” (27.7.10)

“Smithery is the Model OF PERFECTION …”

(7.10)

Have we been successful? YES!

Visitor numbers up 25% 2009-10

Visitor numbers up a further 10% 2010-11

Visitor income up by even more!

Visitor satisfaction levels higher than ever

“Now I understand!”

Tips for success …

In meeting your organisation’s charitable / museum objectives through proper engagement in tourism

- Understand the tourism landscape and engage

- Understand your product and the brand

- Segment, Segment, Segment especially in PR terms