Tourism - Winter 2014 - issue 160

Tourism: thecarrot andcandlestickapproachIf like me you enjoy words for their own sakeand appreciate the use of words notcommonly heard, you will enjoy theappearance in three separate articles in thisedition of Tourism of the word ‘nimble.’

The contributors have used it to describe how the tourismindustry, both domestic and outbound sectors, should react withquickness and agility to developing trends in customer behaviour asthey continuously evolve against a shifting economic background. Ofcourse, you need to know what the trends are.Talking to yourcustomers is the best way to find out what they think about yourproduct and how likely they are to return and, crucially, recommendyou to others.This will give you the opportunity to vary theoffering to match what is being searched for. But it is also importantto see how you fit into the wider picture of visitor behaviour.VisitBritain,VisitEngland, the International Passenger Survey and theAnholt Gfk Nation Brands Index Survey all provide valuableinformation that companies should be using to see how their plansfit the context of current and predicted trends.

One accepted trend is the increasing significance of accessibletourism, not just here in the UK but globally. Ageing populations,multi-generational holidays and a much greater awareness andunderstanding of the needs of disabled people have all helpedpromote the development of this market. Both the UNWTO andthe EU have increased their activities to enable businesses to bebetter trained and provide better information to staff andcustomers. As Eduardo Santander notes on page 14, the Europeanshare of global tourism is expected to fall in the near future; as wellas developing the cultural reasons for people to visit it is also

important to consider the physical facilities that enable them tovisit. By paying attention to accessibility, businesses will maximisetheir options for attracting guests and should see an increase invisitor numbers.

Responding to information like this, revising business plans anddeveloping new models – and doing it quickly – sets the nimbleapart and gives them the advantage in a crowded industry.

Gregory Yeoman FTSExecutive Director

[email protected]

www.tourismsociety.org 3Issue 160 Winter 2014

Editorial ContentsGovernment:VisitBritain and VisitEngland Triennial Review 4-5Ken Robinson CBE FTS, Chair,Tourism Society Think Tank

Scotland: Life after the referendum 6-7Helen Adams MTS, Chair,Tourism Society Scotland, Dr Violet V. Cuffy MTS and Dr Paula DanbyMTS, Queen Margaret University

Research: Spreading the benefits of inbound tourism across Britain 8-9David Edwards FTS, Head of Research and Forecasting,VisitBritain

Youth Travel:A growing market 10-11Emma English, Executive Director, British Educational Travel Association (BETA)

Entrepreneurship: Spotting an opportunity 12Ayisat Banjoko, Director, Gateway Guardians

Accessible Tourism:Access for All 13Ross Calladine, Head of Business Support,VisitEngland

Marketing Europe in a Global Setting: Status quo European tourism 14Eduardo Santander (PhD) MTS, Executive Director, European Travel Commission

Tourism and Climate Change: Out of sight and out of mind? 16-17Neil Warren MTS, Centre for Business and Climate Solutions, and Tim Coles MTS,University of Exeter Business School

Focus on… Quality in Tourism 18Victoria Rowan MTS, Business Support Manager, Quality in Tourism

Customer Complaints: No-one to turn to 19Alison Rice MTS,Travel journalist and broadcaster

An interview with… Peter Long, Chief Executive Officer,TUI Travel plc 20-21

Project Management: New methodologies within a European perspective 23Silvia Barbone, Director, Jlag

Tourism Consultants Network: 25 years – and going stronger than ever 24Roger Goodacre FTS, Chairman,Tourism Consultants Network

Marketing and PR:A change in the balance – PR now wins hands down 25Paul Chibeba, Director of Business Development,A Marr & Associates

Tourism Society Autumn Events: Staycation and World Travel Market 26Gregory Yeoman FTS, Executive Director,The Tourism Society

Membership News 27

The Back Page 28Sandra Matthews-Marsh MBE FTS, Chairman,The Tourism Society

Cover photo: Credit: © hywards – fotolia.com

The Tourism SocietyQueens House, 55-56 Lincoln’s Inn Fields,London WC2A 3BHT 0207 269 9693 F 0207 404 2465E [email protected] www.tourismsociety.orgRegistered in England No. 01366846. ISSN:02613700Designed and produced by Script MediaGroupContact Tony Barry47 Church Street Barnsley S70 2AST 01226 734333

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© Copyright 2014 The Tourism Society

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Government

Issue 160 Winter 2014

VisitBritain and VisitEngland Triennial ReviewIn 2012, as part of post-banking crisiseconomies, the Government abolished220 non-departmental government bodies(NDPBs, popularly referred to asQuangos).

They also began a process of TriennialReviews of NDPBs, as part of the ongoingdrive to “Government efficiency,transparency and accountability”. In July2014, the Department for Culture, Mediaand Sport announced a triennial review ofVisitBritain and VisitEngland, the twinpurposes of which would be “to ensurethat the agencies are still needed and arecomplying with principles of goodcorporate governance”.

The two stages of the VB and VE Revieware defined as: Stage One: to examinewhether there is a continuing public need forall functions performed by VisitBritain andVisitEngland and if so, to determine if theyshould deliver them or if there is analternative delivery model. Stage Two: to lookat the control and governance of eachorganisation to make sure they arecomplying with recognised governanceprinciples and delivering their functionseffectively and efficiently.

The Triennial Reviews are led by a seniorCivil Servant who is not normally involvedwith the selected NDPB, in this case byMark Fisher CBE, a Director of SocialJustice at the Department for Work andPensions, and the findings are expected tobe published by the end of 2014.

The Terms of Reference of the Reviewwere published, and submissions wereinvited.The Tourism Society Board agreedthat the Society should respond. KenRobinson CBE, chair of the Society ‘ThinkTank’, consulted with members andcirculated a draft to members of theBoard, which after amendment wasapproved. It’s important to note thatseveral members wished that theconsultation had a wider remit, as thereare elements of Government policy andthe economy-driven changes of recentyears that have impacted negatively ontourism structures and businesses,including the difficulties faced by DMOs inEngland. However, it was made clear bythe Review Team that this Triennial Reviewhas a focused purpose, on the existenceof VB and VE, so our concise responses

were directed to the questions posed.

The Review questions (italicised) and TSresponses:

Whether delivery of the functions continue tocontribute to wider Government policy(including economic growth)

The delivery by VisitBritain and VisitEnglandof their respective functions (as defined inthe Development of Tourism Act and asprescribed by Government) is essential tothe effective competitive performance ofthe inbound and domestic tourismindustry, including the resultant growth.

Whether providing the functions is ajustifiable use of grant-in-aid and GREATfunding, and whether they provide value formoney

The functions of VisitBritain andVisitEngland cannot be achieved withoutmost of the funding being providedthrough grant-in-aid, and cannot bereplaced from private sector beneficiariesof their services although such partnershipfunding must be maximised.The ‘value formoney’ direct return to HM Treasury andthe wider economy throughout the UKhas been repeatedly proven.There iswidespread agreement that both VB andVE are underfunded, with substantial lossto the Treasury and the wider economy.

The demand for the functions and services,in the light of the changing local tourismdelivery chain and developing local economicgrowth structures in England

VisitBritain: in the competitive internationalmarketplace the activities of VisitBritain areessential to establish the UK’s destinationbrand and work with the nations andsome major Destinations in targeted

marketing.

VisitEngland:The evolution from RegionalTourism Boards and RegionalDevelopment Agency-relatedorganisational infrastructure is severelyhampered by Local Authority-fundingcutbacks and industry fragmentation.Theeffectiveness of Destination ManagementOrganisations is patchy.Whilst the best arevery good, many are economically fragile.Most tourism businesses in England arenot participants in DMO programmes andmany localities do not have a DMO.

The role of VE is essential to provide:

� The identification and spreading of bestpractice

� The improvement and encouragementof quality

� The evolution of consumer-driven,industry-backed standards

� Encouragement of innovation

� Measuring and advocating the benefitsof collective action

� The production and sharing of accuratedata, research and insights

� Identifying gaps in education, skills andtraining and encouraging provision

� Coordination around common intereststo create economies of scale on a multi-destination basis

�A system for effective collectivecommunication

There are real problems with the lack of a‘functioning network’ of tourismorganisations in England, now reliant onthe evolution and permanence of DMOs.Whilst not the specific purpose of thisTriennial Review, ensuring futureimprovements in the funding, viability andeffectiveness of sub-national tourism

entities is crucial to achieving futuresustainable growth, and to optimise theeconomic, social and cultural benefits oftourism, for all communities.

The growth opportunities presented bydomestic and mature international marketsas well as emerging international growthmarkets

There is a wealth of available data todemonstrate that global tourism demandis growing exponentially, whilst the UK hasbeen losing market share and suffereddecreases of visits from major establishedmarkets.

Due to generational change, there is nosuch thing as “a mature internationalmarket”.There is potential for growthfrom all source markets.

Domestic tourism growth is achieved bybetter products and improved value,leading to more trips and greatereconomic benefit. Improving tourismproducts and services for domesticcustomers also benefits inbound tourism.

The extent and effectiveness of theengagement with all related tourism andnon-tourism bodies and whether this isappropriate

VB’s and VE’s engagement with all tourismand non-tourism bodies is limited, due totheir very constrained resources, the verylarge number of entities involved withouta ‘functioning network’ and the fact thatmany aspects of Government policyimpact tourism without the needs oftourism being taken adequately intoaccount.VB has a particularly difficult andsensitive task in supporting andcollaborating with the national Boards andLondon.

Whether commercial opportunities are beingmaximised

Both VB and VE have worked hard tomaximise commercial opportunities and

have been successful within the limits ofworking with an industry that primarilycomprises SMEs.

Whether the governance and managementarrangements are sufficiently robust andtransparent

The governance and managementarrangements of VB and VE are reasonablyrobust and transparent, given the directionof functions by Government, and thelimited resources available to each Board.

The ‘counterfactual’ – that is, the cost andeffects of not delivering the functions;

It is not possible empirically to determinethe costs and effects of not delivering thefunctions, but the cost benefit ratio ofcontinuance is so great, and the relativecost to Government is so small, thatdiscontinuance would cause an immediateand permanent loss of revenue to HMTreasury, particularly from lost potentialinbound business.

Efficiency with which both organisationsoperate and extent to which further back-office administrative cost reductions arepossible

Both VB and VE have suffered cuts to theiroperations budgets over recent years.

The result has been the loss of skilledexpertise (in VB’s case, especially in sourcemarkets) and severe limitations on theability of VE to effectively liaise with andsupport DMOs and tourism businesses –at a time when their involvement isincreasingly essential.

Following devolution of tourismresponsibility to the home nations and toLondon,VB has found it increasinglydifficult to optimise their services, due tolimited co-operation from their partners.This does not diminish the need for VB’srole.

The roles of VB and VE arecomplementary but almost entirelydifferent.VB and VE cannot therefore be

fully integrated.The colocation of theiroffices and the sharing of ‘back-office’systems and some other support functionsis managerially and economically practicaland desirable.

The recommendation related to the coreobjective set out for the Triennial Review,viz: “…..specifically whether there shouldbe one or two separate organisations todeliver the functions” is that they must beseparate, but can beneficially be co-located, utilising efficient common services.

The accountability, governance andsponsorship arrangements as appropriatefollowing recommendations at Stage1

VB and VE should be separatelyestablished, each with their ownAccounting Officer.

Governance should be improved, and, inthe case of VisitBritain, be more regularlypublically accountable to encourage andbetter demonstrate the effectiveness ofco-operation between VB, the nationalBoards, London and the industry.

Sponsorship of VB and VE should be bywhichever Department will giveappropriate prominence and support tothe potential of Tourism to the nationaleconomies. DCMS is logical as it hasresponsibility for the Museums, Heritage,the Arts etc. that are core resources forTourism.

Only if another Department will providesubstantially greater support and effectivecross-Government representation shouldtourism be re-located.

The Minister for Sport and Tourism will haveoversight of the Review. Both Cabinet Officeand DCMS Ministers will be asked to agreethe report and recommendations forVisitEngland and for VisitBritain beforepublication. A review team has been set upthat is independent of both VB and VE. AChallenge Group has been established towork alongside the review team and toprovide challenge to the methodology andconclusions of the review.


Ken Robinson CBE FTS l Chair,

Tourism Society Think Tank

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Scotland


Life after the referendumThis was a big year for tourism in Scotlandwith the Commonwealth Games inGlasgow, Ryder Cup at Gleneagles and thesmall matter of the referendum on 18thSeptember.

The latter required a big decision on thepart of the voting population and tourismprofessionals (like professionals in allsectors) voted for what they thought wasright for both their professional andpersonal lives.

Key considerations for tourism, both forand against independence, wereeloquently outlined by Kenneth WardropMTS and Beppo Buchanan-Smith in anearlier edition of Tourism.While Kennethwanted to see an independent Scotlandabolishing Air Passenger Duty andreducing VAT, Beppo countered thattourism and hospitality thrive on stabilityand that Scotland benefits from supportfrom the rest of the UK.

After all, the Scottish industry relies heavilyon visitors from England.

The vote was close: 55% voted No and45% Yes and since 18th September thediscussion continues as Scotland seeks tofind its way forward.

Dr Violet Cuffy MTS and Dr Paula DanbyMTS at Queen Margaret University tookthe initiative and conducted an opinionpoll on behalf of Tourism Society Scotlandto solicit members’ views on the impact ofthe referendum on the Scottish tourismindustry.

Thank you to everyone who took thetime to participate.Tourism SocietyScotland will endeavour to take on boardmembers’ views and support the industryaccordingly.

Helen Adams MTS lElected Chair of

Tourism Society Scotland

Tourism Society Scotland –Members’Views, Post-Referendum Interestingly the post-referendum opinionpoll results are reflective of the finalreferendum outcome with the majorityholding the view that the No vote was the

best option for the future of the sector.

Nevertheless, the results also indicate thatthere are still a number of unansweredquestions and much concern amongindustry stakeholders about the future ofthe Scottish tourism product.

Generally, members had mixed opinionsabout the positive impacts on Scotland’stourism brand, with a relative numberopining that in terms of destinationmanagement things will more or lessremain within the current status quo.Moreover, it was largely felt that thereferendum would do very little to changethe level of tourism collaboration betweenScotland and the rest of the UnitedKingdom.

In relation to tourism, do you thinkthat the Scottish tourism industrywill benefit from Scotlandcontinuing to be part of the UK?

Comments here reflected on the benefitsof continued unity with England, Scotland’skey tourism market and the importance ofnot alienating Scotland.The No vote isseen as having removed uncertainty forScottish tourism’s future.

Others countered with views on theneed for full control of fiscal powers andtaxation in Scotland, including AirPassenger Duty and VAT.Visa control wasanother concern raised.

Another participant answered:

“No. My business offers a holiday planningservice to clients from overseas. As a result,the sales trends that we see are severalmonths ahead of the visitor trends and wehave noted a drop off in enquiries for 2015post the referendum result.The UK'sexceptionally high Air Passenger Duties arethe biggest problem for us.The high taxesinhibit the development of direct flights toScotland and they make travel to Scotlandmore expensive for overseas visitors whohave to route through London airports.Thelack of direct flights means that our clientscut a day off each end of their possiblevacation time in Scotland so that they cantravel to / from London.”

In relation to tourism developmentplease list any advantages ofScotland being united with otherparts of the UK.

� Working closely with the other UK

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tourist boards

� Increased transport connection

� Shared currency

� More ‘joined up’ visitor experience

� Easier to talk to near neighbours

� No border problems

� Better chance of attracting Europeanfunding

However, not everyone subscribes to thebenefits listed above and concerns wereraised about the UK’s future as part of theEU and Scotland’s standing within that.

In relation to tourism developmentplease list any disadvantages ofScotland being united with otherparts of the UK.

� Scotland does not control the revenueraising or spending powers it needs inorder to fully invest in tourism

� Disproportionate level of investment byUK Government in the South East ofEngland

� UK Border Control PoliciesOne participant illustrated their point withan example of how their business isaffected:

“We often find that our US Clients arecombining a visit to Scotland with a visit toEire.They invariably allow more time for Eireat the expense of time spent in Scotland.When we ask them why they do this, theirreason is usually that Eire is a countrywhereas they perceive Scotland as a regionin the same way that they consider theCotswolds to be a region.”

In your opinion what is the impactof the referendum on future foreigninvestment in Scotland's tourism?Opinions here varied and ranged fromthere being no impact as investors valuethe continued stability of Scotland’s placewithin the UK, to our having had a‘wobble’ in 2014 around the referendumitself.

Some feel there is potential for positiveimpact with Scotland’s profile having beenraised significantly across 2014.

More cautionary responses included:

“On the one hand, the outcome has settleduncertainty amongst investors; on the other,it's raised the spectre of potential futureuncertainty as well.”

“Negative! A great opportunity has beenmissed for Scotland to raise its profile ininternational markets.”

How do you think the brand ofScotland has been impacted by thepolitical implication of thereferendum results?Positive impacts listed included thedemonstration of Scotland’s passion in thereferendum, and its high level ofdemocracy. It is felt that the No votestrengthened Scotland’s brand as part of

the UK.

Some felt Scotland’s ‘brand’ featuringcastles, lochs, glens, whisky etc remainsunchanged by politics.

Others are more down-hearted and feelopportunities have been missed with theNo vote, and that the coverage affordedby the referendum raised awarenesswithout particular understanding of whatScotland is.

How do you think the referendumresults will impact on theconfidence of small tourismbusinesses?There was a mixture of responses here –some feel confidence will be restored withuncertainty having been removed with aNo vote. Others feel there still remainsmuch uncertainty with the 2015 UKgeneral election still ahead of us. Onerespondent commented the number ofenquiries made to their business fellaround the referendum and hasworryingly not yet got ‘back on track’.

How will increased devolutionfavour Scotland's tourism?Once again, opinions varied.There remainsmuch uncertainty ahead as Scotland findsits way forward. Others are hopeful thatdevolution will give Scotland greater fiscalcontrol over taxation and the opportunityto make its own decisions regarding visas.

In ConclusionAs shown in the above, the opinions ofScottish tourism stakeholders on theoverall impact of the referendum onScotland’s tourism are as diverse as theissues themselves and much difference in

perceptions still linger on. Some haveargued that it is much too early to makeclear judgments on the mid-term to longterm impact.

Furthermore, the referendum has createdanother significant challenge for the UK interms of cultural diversity, social policy andpolitical direction.The impacts of theseremain to be seen.

We cannot predict the future, howeverwe hope for and will strive to achieve arobust, united industry which willcollaborate effectively and providesupport to one another in order toprovide a quality tourism and hospitalityoffer within the UK’s destinations toachieve a more successful and sustainableindustry.

One thing is certain though, now that theprocess is over it is time to refocus on ourpriority as a destination and pool ourefforts into moving ‘brand Scotland’forward in 2015 and beyond.

The Daily Mail recently highlighted theincreased interest in Scotland from therest of the UK since the referendumacknowledging that searches foraccommodation on travel website Trivagohad risen by 33% for Inverness, 27%Edinburgh and 10% for Aberdeen.

This will no doubt have a positive impactfor small tourism businesses withinScotland.

Dr Violet V. Cuffy MTS lQueen Margaret University &


Dr Paula Danby MTS lQueen Margaret University &



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Research


Spreading the benefits of inboundtourism across Britain

Imagine that you are in your early twenties– I realise this may be a bit of an ‘ask’ forsome readers – and that you are off onyour first big solo international adventureto Australia.

There’s lots you’d like to see and do, butone thing is for sure, you have to take aselfie by the Opera House and HarbourBridge.

Just as Sydney is a ‘must see’ for anyonegoing to Australia for the very first time,so too is London for visitors to Britain.

Be in no doubt that London is an asset forBritain’s inbound tourism sector – itsiconic landmarks are known around theworld and it is a fabulously well connecteddestination by air and rail.

But 54% of all spending by visitors fromoverseas in 2013 accrued in London, with47% of visits including no nights outsideLondon.

Of those who did stay in London for atleast one night only 9% also spent nights

elsewhere in Britain during their stay.

Arguably what matters more than theproportion of spending that is in oneplace or another is that Britain competessuccessfully in the ‘global race’ foreconomic growth.

For our inbound tourism cake to grow,London must continue to play a pivotalrole in attracting international visitors – itis much easier to entice a visitor to spendtime elsewhere in Britain if they areenjoying all that London has to offer thanif they chose Paris, Rome or Barcelona astheir destination.

The ambition should be to encouragevisitors who are coming to London to stayin Britain longer, and to enjoy a richer anddeeper experience of what else Britaincan offer, thereby helping to grow ourinbound visitor economy, supporteconomic growth and crucially to createemployment opportunities within a sectorthat already underpins 3.1 million jobs.

Over the past two years VisitBritain hasundertaken major studies aimed at helpingus better understand why it is that manyvisitors fail to venture beyond the capital,and what the sector can do differently orbetter in order to address this.

As a backdrop a separate studyundertaken by VisitBritain explored thebehaviours, attitudes and characteristics of1,000 international travellers in each oftwo-dozen countries.We looked at whatit is folks want from an internationalholiday in order to ensure it is anexperience that they will personally enjoy,alongside those considerations that wereforemost in their mind when choosingwhere to go.

More than forty attributes were examinedrevealing how persuasive emotional needsare in leading travellers to choose adestination - the desire for ‘relaxation’, ‘funand laughter’ and a ‘warm and friendlywelcome’ topping the table. A verypractical need managed to pip all the

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other attributes to the post, namely theprospect of a destination that would offer‘good value for money’. Another themethat emerged among attributes seen to bevital was a hankering for destinations thatoffer the opportunity to ‘enjoy the beautyof the landscape’.

We asked the extent to which Britain andcompetitor destinations were consideredas the ‘best place’ to deliver on eachattribute and it was clear that while Britainperforms well on certain attributes, onmany of those most closely aligned withmotivating international holidays we facestrong competition from France, Italy, USAand Australia.

That perhaps paints a ‘glass half empty’picture which would seem to beconfirmed by findings from the Anholt GfKNations Brand Index Survey in whichBritain is currently rated 20th out of fiftynations for being ‘rich in scenic naturalbeauty’.

But herein lies the evidence that the glassis in fact half full. Brits are one of thetwenty panel nationalities included in thesurvey and we rate our country 3rd forbeing ‘rich in scenic natural beauty’. It isclear that with first-hand knowledge ofhow diverse and tantalising our hills,valleys, woodlands, and coastline are, thereis a huge appreciation of it.

The world sees Britain through a London-lens thanks to its role in many globalevents, its iconic landmarks and skyline sofrequently a feature in movies.This is whywe are rated 4th in the NBI survey for‘vibrant city life’ and 5th for being rich in‘historical buildings’. Surely if only theworld knew the richness of our offeroutside London many more visitors wouldinvest time (and Euros, Dollars…)exploring more of Britain?

Yes and no. Our research into why manyvisitors fail to stay longer and discovermore of what Britain has to offer certainly

provided evidence of a huge knowledgegap. Potential visitors in countries such asFrance recognised that they ‘could’ holidayin different parts of Britain, but wereuncertain what sort of ‘experience’ theywould have there, whereas in markets inthe Middle East and Brazil there was littleconcept that it would be possible toholiday anywhere in Britain other thanLondon – those in Brazil offering gemsthat you get in qualitative research such as‘they have sheep don’t they?’

While inspirational and appropriatelytargeted marketing can help in buildingawareness of what Britain has to offer ourresearch unearthed a plethora of otherimportant issues.

Even if there is knowledge of what liesbeyond London that doesn’t meanpotential visitors know how to access it.Two factors come into play here; firstlythere is huge nervousness about ‘drivingon the wrong side of the road’.Respondents felt that you could ‘do’London on public transport but once youintroduce the idea of holidaying in otherparts of the country there was a feelingthat a car was essential. A New Yorkerthought there was ‘one train a day fromLondon to Edinburgh’.

Lack of knowledge of how easy it is to getplaces by train is a real opportunity thatcan be grasped; indeed in India and Brazilthere was an excitement about thepossibility of using a rail network thatwould be superior to that in their homecountries – plus it was thought to offer amore relaxing alternative to driving in anunfamiliar country.

Time is always too short when on holidayand our research revealed a threshold forhow long visitors are willing to spendtravelling from their arrival point to theirholiday base, this being about three hours.

It is important to understand where lieswithin a three-hour radius of points of

access, particularly when the focus isshort-haul markets typified by a short tripduration.

Windermere is just an hour and a halffrom Manchester Airport by train, Bathtwo hours from Heathrow and theMalvern Hills a mere ninety minutes fromBirmingham International Airport.

Other practical concerns raised whenexploring the idea of holidaying in less wellknown parts of Britain included worriesabout whether culturally sensitive foodwould be available (Middle East visitors),whether food would be served late in theevening (European visitors) and whetherthere would be things to do if it rained(London was seen as weatherproof).

In addition to tackling perceived practicalbarriers we should focus on conveyingexperiential and value for moneymessages as these things matter whenchoosing a destination.

You can show just about anything withstatistics by being selective about the timeperiod or metric used, but if we look atinbound visits between 1999-2003 and2009-2013 then the city witnessing thefastest growth is not London (25%) butLiverpool (159%), followed by Aberdeen(101%), and Leeds (84%).

There is still plenty of headroom to growinbound tourism across Britain further andVisitBritain will shortly launch ourCountryside is GREAT campaign.

There is good news too in terms ofconnectivity, with it recently confirmedthat American Airlines is to fly from NewYork to Edinburgh and Birmingham andUnited to fly from Newark to Newcastle.

With a hugely successful hosting of theGrand Depart of the Tour de France inYorkshire and Ryder Cup in Scotland wecan eagerly await the 2014 figures whichlook set to show favourable growth acrossmany parts of Britain.


David Edwards FTS l Head of Research and

Forecasting,VisitBritain

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Youth, Student & EducationalTravel


Our bright future

Ask any young person what their interestsare and travel is likely to be high up onthe list. Indeed 1 in 5 internationaltravellers is a young person.

They travel for education, for work, fornew experiences, for different cultures andto broaden their horizons. As well ascontributing to these individuals’ personaldevelopment, these experiencescontribute directly to the global economywith conservative forecasts valuing thesector at $320 billion by the year 2020.

From a UK perspective, the sectorcontributes over £20 billion per annum tothe economy.

Young travellers account for :

� 34% of all inbound tourists

� 41% of all bed nights

� 36% of all spendYouth travellers also stay longer and spendmore. Recent figures from InternationalPassenger Survey show that as comparedto a regular inbound tourist to the UK,youth travellers spend almost double(£1149 vs. £640). Most importantly, their

spend goes deeper into the economy thana regular tourist as they have a greatertendency to stay in local communities andsupport local businesses.

The above were all little known facts adecade ago.Youth travel was a nichemarket, a sub-sector of the travel andtourism industry, fragmented and withoutvoice or visibility, with small pockets ofoperators working independently on theirchosen segments such as school groups,EFL, au-pairs, homestay, backpacking etc.

The current picture is now wildly different.Youth travel is the focus of many drivesand initiatives; indeed for many years nowyouth travel has been the fastest-growingtravel segment as governments and othersrealise the benefits that travel from ayoung age can bring.

According to UNWTO over 60% of theword’s tourist authorities have identifiedyouth and student travel as being“important” or “very important” to thefuture of their industry. After all, theseyoung travellers are the future businessand leisure travellers.

The marketplace itself has beenpopulated with many new business start-ups, outstanding accommodation offerings,and a wealth of product and opportunitiesfor young travellers to explore - it is nolonger a niche market.The businesseswithin it continue to develop and innovatein order to attract young travellers to theirproduct, with technology and social medialeading the way.

Youth mobility and immigration has for along time been the focus of many politicalarguments and related policies have beenan enormous barrier to growth for thesector. BETA (the British Educational TravelAssociation) and industry stakeholderscontinue to urge the government to relaxthese policies, to remove students fromthe net migration figures and to recognisethe value of study abroad and the fantasticopportunity that the UK has in attractingthe brightest and best international youngpeople to our shores.

As part of this ongoing initiative BETA hasbeen building on its industry data andrecently published a study into theconsumer trends of youth travellers,

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entitled ‘Great Britain, at the Heart ofGlobal Youth Travel’.The objective was touncover the trends, influences, attitudesand behaviors of our young audience thatare choosing the UK to work, learn, orstudy.

Our findings cemented the view thatyouth, student and educational travel is nolonger a niche.

It is a fast-growing, resilient and dynamicindustry.Youth travellers are informed,mobile and adventurous.They are theearly adopters, brand-loyal and arecreating bright futures not only forthemselves but also for the businesses thatserve them.

The UK’s role as a global youth traveldestination has never been moreimportant. In the eyes of young peoplearound the world the UK is an exciting,trend-setting place to visit and many comehere to experience a culture that is fast-paced yet also steeped in history.

We surveyed over 4,000 youth travellersaged between 11-35 years – yes, 35 years!The age range of youth travellers hasbeen pushed for the past decade and inthis profile there are several sub groups:

� the junior traveller (11-17) heretypically for two weeks with an organisedgroup for cultural tours and languagelearning

� the student traveller (18-24) heretypically for 1-3 years for higher educationand studies

� the backpacker (18-24) here typicallyfor two months to get a taste of the UK’sculture and lifestyle

� the working traveller (25-35) heretypically for 1-3 years, a youngprofessional, earning and immersingthemselves in UK living.

Some of our key findings from the reportwere:

� The UK is a Girl Magnet: a rising trendwith over 75% of young visitors to the UKbeing female

� Youth travel supports VFR and othertravel sectors: half of all young visitorswelcome between two and four visitorsfrom abroad during their stay in the UK

� Excellent referral rates: 95% said thatthey would recommend the UK to friendsand family

� Repeat visitors: 70% said that theyplanned to return to the UK within thenext 5 years

� Dispersal: whilst 83% visited London,the top five destinations outside Londonwere Edinburgh, Oxford, Manchester,Cambridge and Bath

� Academic accolades: 80% said thateducation in the UK is equal to or betterthan that in their home country.

Travel motivations change throughout theage sub-sectors. However, all were heavilymotivated initially by the referrals offriends and family, followed by onlineadvertising and social media.

Creating successful travel experiences foryoung travellers gives value to adestination over a lifetime.They are brand-loyal and will return repeatedlythroughout their own life cycle, to earn,learn and tour. But what about young Britsabroad?

The UK attracts record numbers ofinternational students here for study andeducation; however, these figures are notmatched with young Brits studyingoverseas, something that the UKgovernment plans to address.

Far fewer young Brits choose to studyabroad and this was highlighted in recentresearch from the CBI which found that athird of employers are dissatisfied withgraduates’ international cultural awarenessand around half are dissatisfied withgraduates’ foreign language skills.This datainforms a new initiative to encourageyoung Brits to choose study overseas, togain further skills to make them stand outto future employers.

For example, over 31% of all businessessurveyed said that Mandarin would beuseful to their business, and almost aquarter said they wanted employees with

Arabic skills. So language skills and globalcitizenship are all high up on thegovernment and future employees’ radarsas the UK pushes to rebalance to a trade-and investment-led economy.

…and so it’s clear : travel from a young ageprovides experiences, forms opinions andallows greater cultural understanding andtolerance of other cultures andnationalities and a clearer knowledge ofthe world, giving value to a destinationover a lifetime.

These experiences contribute directly tothe UK economy and the overallcompetitiveness of Britain.

Through its members, including languageand summer schools, activity holidayproviders, au-pairs and internshiporganisations, cultural exchange, youthaccommodation providers, tour operatorsand education professionals, BETA unlocka powerful army of young ambassadorsthat are travelling the world and sharingtheir travel experiences frequently.

We aim to ensure that this sectorcontinues to thrive and receives therecognition it deserves.


Emma English l Executive Director,British Educational Travel Association

Fresh faced and tired from smiling at themany cameras/phones my family hadbrought with them, taking off mygraduation gown, I remember a goodfriend of mine asking me the question“Ayisat, what next?”.

To which I confidently replied: “Lawschool.”Well, to wrongly paraphrase thefamous Dinah Washington song, what adifference two years make.

My journey into student tourism and theworld of entrepreneurship in general isvery much the opposite of what manyincluding the younger me ever expected.Unlike most entrepreneurs, I did not ownany businesses at a young age or everimagine actually running a business at anytime.

At university, my many sleepless nightswere spent on the ultimate goal ofattaining an LLB, though (in the interestsof full disclosure) a fair few were alsosacrificed to some amazing nights out (asis occasionally necessary).To find myself ahappily active stakeholder in UK studenttourism is therefore a testament to thewonderful opportunities the sector offers.Apologies to my degree certificate but itlooks like a few more years of gatheringdust still await thee.

I first noticed an opportunity in themarket through a family member whoworked as a host family. Seeing first-handhow they cared for and helped theirstudent guests understand and appreciatethe English language and UK culture, Irealised it was a mutually positive culturalexperience for both the family and thevisiting students. More so, the studentsseemed to enjoy the idea of applying theirlanguage skills in a real world setting.

I fell in love with the idea of experiencingsuch a positive exchange of culture myselfand a few weeks later after much researchdecided to start my own studenthomestay company. I had observed a gapin the market and recognised a hugedemand by agents for homestayaccommodation in locations that wereclose to central London.

From my research, I understood what ahighly competitive industry the studenttravel sector was, particularly in London.However, rather than be discouraged by

this it actually allowed me to focus onsetting my company apart. I asked myselfthe question, “Why would anyone want towork with us rather than any of the othercompanies out there?” and I found theanswer to be quite simple: if we werebetter.

That answer has now become the soleaim of my company in everything we do. Ifigured that if we became the companyoffering better service, better families,better ideas, we were bound to findpeople happy to work with us and alsorecommend us.

Also, by striving to be better we hope toencourage our competitors to improvethe quality of their offering as well,ultimately raising the level of service thevisiting students receive right across thesector whether it be from us or ourcompetitors.

Of course, it was also important toremember that this was a business and

this pursuit of being better needed to bebalanced with financial discipline.There isafter all no point being the better businessif your company is in the red.

This constant pursuit of balancing thequality of our services and keeping thecompany profitable is why I find myself upat 3am, tired and in front of a computerscreen or out in the late night rain in mytrusted wellies and raincoat waiting on acoach of students and yet in both caseswith a big smile on my face. I know this iswhat I love and wouldn’t have it any otherway.

My little bit of advice to any youngentrepreneur or fresh faced recentgraduate like the old me might thereforesound clichéd: do what you love andalways strive to be better. My sincerebelief is that once that’s done, everythingelse will find a way to work itself out.

After all, what fun is being anentrepreneur if you don’t have to worry?

Ayisat Banjoko lDirector,Gateway Guardians12 [email protected]

Entrepreneurship


Spotting an opportunity

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Accessible Tourism


Ross Calladine l Head of Business Support,

VisitEngland

Access for allAfter many years in the shadows ofsustainable tourism, the accessible tourismmovement is gaining momentum, thanksto a combination of changingdemographics and notable initiatives.

Business opportunityAdvocates of the accessible tourismmarket have struggled to present theeconomic business case due to a lack oftourism-specific statistics and have insteadpointed to general disability spendstatistics.VisitEngland has sought toaddress this and now for the first time thetotal volume and value of accessibletourism in England is understood andpresented to the industry in a clearinfographic. The latest research showsthat the overnight accessible tourismmarket is now worth £3billion toEngland’s economy, with day visits bringingthe figure up to £12.4billion.

What is particularly striking is the growthof this market over the past 4 years.Overnight domestic trips by disabledBritons and their companions haveincreased by 19%. Spend too hasincreased - by 33%, three times more thanthat of all trips.

VisitEngland’s recent Trends researchunderlines that with an ageing society andretired baby boomers prioritising leisuretime, meeting the accessibility needs oftourists is going to be increasinglyimportant.

The national media has also shownincreasing interest in England’s accessibletourism offering. BBC Breakfast and BBCnews ran a headline story on AccessibleTourism on Saturday 16th August.

International commitmentThe European Commission (EC) hasrecently completed studies on economicimpact and training needs in addition tofunding two Preparatory Actions onaccessible tourism.VisitEngland hassecured 125,000 Euros in co-funding fromthe EC under the ‘Tourism Accessibility forAll’ action to run the ‘Access for All’project.

The project will support sevendestinations around the country todevelop and promote their destination for

visitors with access needs. Informativevisitor guides will be created for eachdestination and 56 businesses will receivedirect support in improving theiraccessibility.The grant will also provide forthe delivery of a national marketingcampaign to showcase the great accessibleexperiences on offer and encourage morepeople to take a short break in England.

The project will run from October 2014until March 2016 and expand onVisitEngland’s pilot Access for AllParalympic legacy project, whichsupported 4 destinations and included thefirst ever national marketing campaign inEngland aimed at disabled people duringMarch 2014.

Following a series of Resolutions onaccessible tourism, UNWTO is alsoincreasing its activities through thedevelopment of guidelines, indicators,benchmarking and training.The 1stUNWTO Conference on AccessibleTourism in Europe took place in SanMarino this November.

A feeling of momentum was present atthe Destinations for All World Summit,held in Montreal in October.Thirtycountries attended the four-dayconference to share best practice andadopt the ‘One World for Everyone’Declaration. An additional outcome islikely to be the advent of a WorldAssociation for Accessible Tourism. Thisactivity certainly suggests that accessibletourism is now firmly on the international

agenda.

Simple messagesThe needs of disabled people and otherswith access needs can seem daunting tosome businesses. It is therefore importantthat easy-to-follow guidance is madeavailable.

The topic is made more comprehendibleby focusing on what VisitEngland terms asthe ‘three pillars of accessible tourism’,namely, Customer service & disabilityawareness, Information & promotion andPhysical facilities.VisitEngland provides asuite of guidance, tools and case studies atwww.visitengland.org/access.

Carrot or stick?We may well be entering a time when thecarrot for businesses to improve accessfor all is larger than the stick.

Increasing numbers of tourism businessesare realising that good accessibility benefitsall visitors, whether they are young, old,have learning difficulties or temporaryhealth conditions, use a wheelchair orhave an assistance dog or pushchair.

For businesses that are yet to recognisethe accessibility needs of their customers,there is an increasing risk of losing marketshare and reputation.

Tourism businesses and destinations whoembrace this burgeoning market can reapthe rewards of loyal customers and helpdevelop England as a world-class tourism

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It is widely acknowledged that Europe isthe world’s Number One touristdestination.

With 563 million international touristarrivals in 2013, Europe holds a marketshare of 52%, representing a positiveincrease of 5.4% – well above the region’slong-term trend.

It is also worth noting that long-haulmarkets in particular (mainly the USA,China and Russia) contributed significantlyto this growth, as reported by theEuropean Travel Commission’s (ETC)latest quarterly report.

Furthermore, the future of the tourismsector appears prosperous as internationaltourist arrivals to Europe are believed toaccumulate to 745 million by 2030.However, the European tourism industry isfacing increasing global competition fromemerging destinations.

The World Tourism Organization(UNWTO) forecasts that especiallydestinations in Asia and the Pacific willbenefit from the expansion of intra-regional travel and will gain most of thenew arrivals in 2030. Consequently,North-East Asia will replace Southern andMediterranean Europe as the most visitedsub-region in 2030.

Concerned about this issue, ETC firmlybelieves that the most important factorsto successfully promote 'DestinationEurope’ in long-haul markets, to stoplosing market share and to support thesustainable growth of the Europeantourism sector are:

1.The strengthening of the collaborationamong the National Tourism Organisations(NTOs) under the umbrella of a commonEuropean brand;

2.The uncovering of themes fostering thedevelopment of pan-European productsthrough market research;

3.The deep cooperation between publicand private stakeholders on continental,national, and regional levels;

4.The establishment of a reputation forspecialised products that appeal to andfulfil the needs of different travellersegments;

5.The creation of advantages throughtargeted advocacy to solve major travel

barriers (visas, interconnectivity, taxationand consumer protection) establishing aforum with a common voice from thetourism industry (both public and privatesectors).

As a result of the fast developingeconomies outside of Europe, worldtourism patterns are beginning to strayfrom tradition. Europe must respond tothese shifting patterns and capitalise onthe potential of tomorrow’s outboundtravel markets including China, India, Braziland Russia.

Why should we safeguard theindustry? Economic impact oftourismThe figures presented before clearlyindicate that tourism has proved to beone of the few resilient sectors in thefragile economies of Europe and the lossof Europe’s market share in the long-termshould not be taken lightly.

The tourism sector’s total contributionrepresented 9% of EU GDP in 2013,generating a total of 22 million jobs; that is10% of total employment, proving thesector’s ability to serve as a drivingeconomic force in the European region,even during periods of financial crisis.

Furthermore, two significant facts shouldbe taken into consideration:

� First of all, tourism not only contributesto the region’s economy through theinflux of revenues from touristic services,but also produces a spill-over effect that

benefits the recognition of Europe’sunique cultural and natural heritage.Tourism can also assist local communitiesin developing a cultural and/or naturaltourism product that opens new sourcesof revenue and employment.

� Secondly, the World Travel & TourismCouncil also emphasises that the tourismsector creates advantageous jobopportunities in peripheral areas andamong specific groups, employing a higherproportion of women and young peoplethan is represented in the workforce as awhole.

Change of patterns: Raisingawareness and satisfaction amonglong-haul travellersBased on the extensive research, we havefound that potential visitors to Europeseek inspiration and are drawn to the oldcontinent by the number of experiencesthey can have rather than the number ofcountries they can visit. Pan-Europeanthemes that stand out in this context areproducts such as cultural routes,gastronomy, shopping, active andadventure tourism, health and wellness,education, religious tourism, etc.

However, while Europe is also admired forits good quality infrastructure and safety,legal and perceptual barriers (visarequirements) inhibit tourism flows.This isparticularly significant. In order to remaincompetitive and foster sustainable growth,Europe must tackle these challenges andleverage delights.

Eduardo Santander (PhD) MTS lExecutive Director,European Travel Commission14 [email protected]

Marketing Europe in aGlobal Setting


Status quo European tourism

Wishing for a successful future at Rome’s Trevi Fountain

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Tourism and Climate Change


Out of sight and out of mind?

It may come as a surprise that it is eightyears since the Stern Report waslaunched.This year’s fifth report of theIntergovernmental Panel on ClimateChange restated the need for urgent,significant and sustained action. Perhapsless eye-catching but neverthelessimportant, it reminded us that buildingsare major anthropogenic sources ofemissions.

For the past five years, we have beenworking with small- and medium-sizedtourism enterprises in the south-west ofEngland on their responses to climatechange. Most recently, the Centre forBusiness and Climate Solutions (CBCS) atthe University of Exeter has offeredintensive one-to-one support to regionalbusinesses.This has been designed toincrease their future competitiveness andcommercial resilience while reducing thecarbon footprint and environmentalresource use of their premises.

Nearly 50 tourism businesses have taken

up CBCS support which is backed by theEuropean Regional Development Fund. Intotal, over 450 businesses haveparticipated in our work.Taking aretrospective view, the sector stands at across-roads in its response to climatechange. Many of the issues we firstencountered in 2010 are still evidenttoday. In the interim further challengeshave emerged.

Energy is perhaps the clearestmanifestation of this. Over the years wehave regularly come across simplisticunderstandings of energy and its role inclimate change. More recently though, wehave found that the emphasis on pro-environmental action in climate changepolicy has severed the crucial link betweenenergy generation and climate change. Inparticular, within tourism businesses therehas been very little interest in howemissions relate to fuel mix and energygeneration.

The standard rationale is that

implementation of individual actions willresult in a net reduction in consumption,costs and emissions. In principle, this allsounds very appealing. A win-win for allparties.To this end, cost reduction hasbeen used as the main hook to capturebusiness interest.

In practice the situation is somewhatdifferent.Too frequently, action has notresulted in a net reduction in consumption(or, for that matter, emissions). In our 2010sample, 99% of over 400 businesses hadtaken some form of mitigation-relatedaction, with an average of 8.2 measuresper business. Of course, many of theseactions were modest. However, only 14%of businesses anticipated lower energyconsumption in the following year.

Action is clearly more welcome thaninaction but, on its own, the introductionof apparently pro-environmental initiativesis no guarantee of reduced emissions.Instead, there has to be a shift of emphasisto encourage far greater measurement,

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monitoring and management of energyuse. It is only through a more informedapproach to energy demand that genuineprogress will be made on emissionsreduction.Yet, measurement andmonitoring have been the exceptionrather than the norm.

In 2010 11% of businesses nevermonitored energy while a further 42%were only interested in energy when theirbills arrived. Our recent work insidebusinesses has confirmed that bills areroutinely reviewed for total cost, onlyexceptionally for total consumption.This isin stark contrast to how intensivelyrevenue and the performance of differentmarketing channels are scrutinised.

Standardised energy-related measures andindices are revealing.There was nostatistically significant difference in theenvironmental performance (i.e. CO2

emissions per m2) between green-certifiedand non-certified accommodationproviders. In fact, around a half of thetourism businesses working with CBCShave current (or had recently participatedin) certification.While it may have beenexpected that these businesses wouldoutperform non-participants, this was notthe case.

This raises two questions.The first iswhether it is really appropriate for thenumbers and levels of action to be asuccess criteria for the environmentalaccreditation of tourism businesses? Andsecond, should consumers expectaccredited businesses to generate pro ratafewer emissions than their non-accreditedcounterparts?

The energy input (kWh) to each guest

night ranged from 4 kWh to 108 kWh. Asa cost of production, energy per guestnight varied from £0.50 to £6.25.Whatsuch data begins to show is that, despitetaking action, some tourism businesses arestill far less energy efficient than others.The absence of effective monitoring alsomeans that most businesses are unawareof whether they are performing above orbelow par, or indeed what par is.

Each business working with CBCS hasbeen given the opportunity to review anddiscuss its data. For some, their morepositive performance has been a pleasantsurprise. Others have had to confront theuncomfortable truth that they have notbeen performing as strongly as theyperceived or desired.

Their reviews revealed a range of possiblemeasures for improvement. Often thesewere relatively simple things like improveduse of heating controls (and resettingcustomer adjustments).

Others faced more significant issues suchas correcting the under-performance ormis-specification of systems. In severalcases, the ambition to reduce total energyconsumption had been scuppered byincreased guest-nights and greaterpersonal demand from guests.

Interestingly, correlations of age of theoriginal building with energy and emissionsintensity were both inconclusive and notstatistically significant.While ‘traditionalproperties’ (pre-1919) constitute around20% of England’s housing stock, theycomprise 70% of tourism properties inSouth West England. In some cases,businesses using older housing stock farout-performed those in younger premises.

This is a counterpoint to the popularperception that such properties act as aconstraint to pro-environmentalperformance. It is also a welcome surprisein so far as so many traditional propertiespunctuate rural, heritage and coastaldestinations in the region.Yet, it highlightsthat climate change guidance is mostlydesigned for purpose-built, modernpremises, not older, converted buildingsthat are widely used in the sector.

There are many aspects of older buildingsthat demand a different approach tobalance comfort, character and efficiency.

Traditional properties were not designedfor the temperatures now expected byguests, or for the humidity levelsgenerated by showers and commercialkitchens. Modern approaches to, andmaterials for, insulating, ventilating andheating properties may at best beirrelevant, at worse damaging ifimplemented in older premises.

Climate change may no longer be as highprofile an issue as it once was. It has not,though, gone away. If further progress is tobe made, there needs to be less relianceon cajoling tourism businesses to ‘gogreen’ and more on equipping them tomeasure, monitor and manage energyeffectively.

A key aspect of this is to understand theirproperties. Success should be judged lessby the uptake of actions and initiatives,and more by energy and carbon savings.

Taking the same approach in the future asin the past is not going to cut it, and thechallenge is to progress the response, notlet it stagnate.


Neil Warren MTS l Centre for Business and Climate Solutions

Tim Coles MTS lUniversity of Exeter Business School

Neil Warren in consultation with a tourism property owner, Exeter

In recent decades, the face of our industryhas shifted and the customer acquisitionprocess has changed immeasurably.

The dawn of the internet, online bookings,TripAdvisor, third party bookingmanagement systems, last minute offers,Groupon and any number of other thingshave shifted the onus of choosingaccommodation more onto the customer,giving them numerous elements on whichto base a decision.

Confusing isn’t it? The question is, how toreliably stand out in such a saturatedmarket?

Businesses can of course throw money atit and ensure they are listed on everypossible site, encouraging customers tospend time reviewing them positively onehundred and one times, and potentiallyeven paying a company to manage theirreputation and promote them morewidely; but is it really worth the spend?

At what point will it actually benefit thebottom line, instead of simply costingmore than it generates?

Of course the other option is to do littleor nothing and hope that the sheernumber of links, referring sites andconnectivity will mean people will come,just because.

It’s no longer about being in the rightlocation, or at the right price and insteadis about added value, recommendationand somehow becoming all things to allpeople! Apparently!

In fact, the delineation of the customerjourney by the useful, but infant, servicewe call the World Wide Web, has pushedrelationships and people even more frontand centre.

Sure, there was a short while wheneveryone purchased based on TripAdvisorreviews, but then stories emerged ofcorporate ‘sabotage’ and it became oncemore just another search consideration.

This has prompted a new trend, onewhere the web is taking a back seat and isshifting from a decision maker to adecision facilitator.

Once more trust is being placed inimpartial services and personalrecommendations which are corroboratedby platforms, not on the free-for-all

reviews of the noughties. It’s exactly thereason the Michelin Guide is still beingbought in large quantities and is not onlysurviving, but thriving online.

So what should you be doing? Well, youcan be taking TripAdvisor, AirBnB andhotel.com at face value.

Where appropriate, they are usefulmechanisms and platforms on which toshowcase your establishment, but theyshould not be dictators of the success orfailure of your business. Instead, you shouldbe looking offline, establishing andexecuting a plan which will ensure you arethe best and recognised as such, beforeyou get online.

Here at Quality in Tourism (QiT) weprovide good, traditional assessment thatis impartial and conducted by qualifiedassessors, not because we haven’t movedon, but because it is exactly what themarket is demanding and consuming; ourassessments are built on consistent andconstant assessment criteria that removethe subjectivity of experience.

It is also the reason that QiT deliverassessments that ensure the benchmark isattainable, but built on somethingworthwhile, that actually has meaning,rather than the reviews of millions ofindividuals who subconsciously compareapples with eggs.

Businesses should look back at traditionalmediums which have generated custom inthe past and work to translate them tothe modern platforms that simplygenerate more exposure.

Special offers and loyalty schemes thatwork through Twitter and Facebook ratherthan paper vouchers is one example.Attaining high quality, recognised awards,but then blogging about them, addingthem to your website, and putting themonto third party booking systems isanother.

They each help create a recognisable andindividual identity that delivers onexpectation. Adding an impartialassessment that has heritage and gravitasis also key, and reflects your commitmentto being the best you possibly can.Businesses that don’t focus on their owndevelopment are the ones that risk beingleft behind.

Customers may not understand star ratingsystems and what makes oneestablishment a three-star and anotherfour, but they do still understand that theyare based on a professional opinion andprovide a meaningful benchmark tofacilitate choice.

Quality in Tourism is a Corporate Member ofthe Tourism Society

Victoria Rowan MTS lBusiness Support Manager,Quality in Tourism18 [email protected]

Focus on…


Quality in Tourism

Customer Complaints


Alison Rice MTS l Travel journalist and broadcaster

No-one to turn toAs radio producers know well, if you wanta busy, angry phone-in, ask the listeners fortheir holiday complaints.

In television, BBC’s Rip-Off Britain teamreceives enough holiday horror stories toproduce its own travel series.When Ifilmed consumer travel advice for the nextseries, most of the stories I was given toinvestigate involved a foreign holiday.

Why are there fewer complaints aboutholidays at home? Obviously there is lessto go wrong when airports, airlines,foreign language and cultures are notinvolved. And perhaps we invest holidaysat home with fewer ambitious hopes anddreams than our foreign forays. But listento those angry phone-in listeners and yousoon know that not every domesticholidaymaker comes home happy.

But what then? Who do they turn to forredress?

Decades ago the Association of BritishTravel Agents (ABTA) set themselves upas the police force for the waryholidaymaker. Although strictly a trademembers association, ABTA carefully andwisely became the household acronym fora route to redress for unhappy travellers.How many times over the years haveholiday reps heard the threat “I know myrights. I’ll have ABTA on to you”?

Even today when, thanks to thecomplications of dynamic packaging, notevery possible booking can be offeredfinancial protection by ABTA, their logo isseen as our consumer protection shield ifthings go wrong abroad.

No official route to redressSo where’s our obvious route to redresswhen we suffer shoddy service at theBritish seaside and under-deliveredpromises at the country house hotel?

Twitter of course. And TripAdvisor, andevery other social media site we can pointour unhappy fingers at.

Why not our tourism bodies? Thehonourable aim of quality accreditationschemes for accommodation andattractions in the UK was to raisestandards. A job well done. But do ournational tourist boards’ accreditationschemes offer help and resolution fordisgruntled customers in accredited

accommodation and attractions?

VisitEngland tells me that a few customercomplaints do find their way to theiroffices and the assessment service has anobligation to investigate but customers“need to take responsibility and researchbefore they book.” I take that as a no.

Hitting the hashtagIn the absence of accountable touristboards, unhappy customers hit the hashtagto vent their spleen. Social media is nowthe tool of choice when customers needto galvanise customer services into action.

Transport companies in the UK know this.Virgin Atlantic, for example, respondedimmediately when a customer resorted totwitter after spending £180 on phone callsto Virgin’s customer services and waiting41 days for an email reply.

Major train operators now man theirtwitter feeds 24/7. And did you knowManchester City Football Club’s customerservices have now all migrated to@mcfchelp? We may not all be tech-savvy

but, like it or not, customers are becomingtech-reliant. And I’ve even heard of hotelsand attractions focusing on righting thecause of the complaint, not just fobbing offgenuine complaints with a voucher or two.

But is this enough? Wouldn’t it help theUK’s reputation as a destination ifholidaymakers stopped having to rely onTwitter and the media to have theirwrongs righted? If there was one reliablebody to turn to when things go wrong?

Like the chancers who believe anexaggerated complaint will get them a fullrefund, I am, of course, living inDreamland.There is no budget and maybelittle inclination from our national tourismbodies to want to redress, let aloneresolve, customer complaints.

So unhappy consumers carry on honingtheir hashtag know-how and spreading theword about damagingly poor experiences.The reputation of our UK tourismindustry carries on being only as good asits weakest link. And media producers andconsumer journos smile as our ratings forholiday nightmares shoot up.

Rip-Off Britain: Offering an outlet for complaints


An interview with...


Peter Long FTSAs Chief Executive of TUI Travel plc PeterLong is one of the most well-known andrecognisable figures in the UK travelindustry.

Since arriving at First Choice in 1996 andbecoming Chief Executive in 1999 he hassteered the company through animpressive series of acquisitions and withthe merger with TUI Tourism in 2007created one of the world’s largest leisuretravel companies, with 21 major sourcemarkets employing 54,000 peopleworldwide.

In October 2013 he was appointedPresident of the Family HolidayAssociation, and in September 2014 hewas awarded an honourary Fellowship ofthe Tourism Society. Gregory Yeomanspoke to him about his motivations, andwhere he goes on holiday.

GY – How did you get into thetravel industry? PL – I originally trained as an accountantand worked in finance in bothmanufacturing and construction beforemoving into the travel industry, and soondiscovered that is where my real passionand interest lies. Holidays are somethingthat everyone looks forward tothroughout the year, a product thatcustomers really dream about and that’ssomething you can feel when you work inthe industry.

GY – Who has inspired you? PL – I have always been inspired by SteveJobs. He was an innovator and anentrepreneur – never afraid to challengethe status quo and one of a few rareleaders who deserves the respect hecommanded worldwide.

GY – Compared with the rate andscale of developments since youjoined TUI, it was quite a whilebefore you set up Iberotravel in1991? Did the plan have a longgestation or did you have a flash ofinspiration one day? PL – My time with ILG taught me a lotand when I left there this was animportant period in my career – not just

running a business but also being anowner. In 1991, when we set upIberotravel, the UK travel-based companyoperated with three main brand names:Sunworld, Neilson and Skybargain.Thefocus during that time was to build brandrecognition and run a business with threedistinct offerings. A big achievement wasthe fact that we took Sunworld to fifthplace in the UK tour operator league tablebefore selling it to the Thomas Cookgroup in 1996.

GY – TUI emerged from therecession in a healthy condition.What was your strategy for dealingwith the downturn and thereduction in British holidaymakerstravelling overseas? PL – People have continued to prioritisetheir annual holiday in their discretionaryspend and the continued growth of theindustry pays testament to that. Ourstrategy is one which prioritises thecustomer, putting it at the heart ofeverything we do.We give thesecustomers unique holiday experiences,providing the technology platforms toensure they have a great time throughoutthe holiday journey.We leverage our scaleto get the best possible deals and are

continuously looking at how we can betterour business for our customers andemployees. In order to grow, as a companywe have to be nimble and respond to thechanging customer trends and we have toensure every holiday experience is unique.

GY – How do you think thegovernment views outboundoperators such as TUI Travel? Arethey part of the tourism industry, ordo they come into their owncategory as their main role is tosend people overseas? PL – Travel and tourism is the UK’s fifthlargest industry, accounting for 9% of GDP(£127bn) and supporting 3.12 million jobs,and TUI Travel’s role within that isimportant – we employ 18,000 peoplehere in the UK alone. Domestic andinternational travel are two parts of thesame coin, we need each other to helpsupport transport, infrastructure and UKbusinesses to prosper so that morepeople are able to enjoy holidays.

GY – The setting up of the TourismCouncil in June this year was well-received by the industry but is seenas a first step rather than a finalposition. How would you like to seeit develop? PL – The Tourism Council is an importantforum for travel leaders to meet and workclosely with Government and this is reallyimportant. As an industry I don’t believewe have been as good as other sectors atgetting our message out about what webring to the UK economy.The Council’sbusiness leaders are working withGovernment providing valuable insight andadvice so that together we can promotetravel and tourism as an industry in thewidest sense, as a career and as somethingto help reinvigorate economies.Thecouncil’s role will continue to evolve andto be an advocate of positive change.

GY – Where do you see the nexttechnological advances happeningin holiday sales and marketing? PL – Technology provides us with theopportunity to better the customer

Peter Long receiving his honouraryTourism Society Fellowship fromSandra Matthews-Marsh MBE


experience throughout their journey, frombrowsing potential holidays through tobeing away.

Our TUI digital assistant (TDA) is a wayfor our customers to interact with usthroughout that end-to-end experienceand sales patterns will change ascustomers get used to booking somethingas important as a holiday through an app.This happened when online bookings firststarted – it was slow at first – and lookwhere we are now.

GY – TUI’s acquisitiveness is well-known.Are you happy with the sizethat the group has reached or haveyou identified further sectors thatyou would like to move into? PL – Our focus is on long-term sustainablegrowth.The merger with TUI AG willcreate the world’s number one integratedleisure tourism business. Following thecompletion of the merger we will have asimplified business with two areas,Mainstream and Non-Mainstream.

Mainstream will be by far the largest areaand as a combined Group we will haveaccess to greater content – with TUI AG’shotels and cruise ships – and will combinethis with our 30 million customers, ourdistribution capability and the power ofour strong brands.

We have a really strong portfolio ofspecialist businesses while in onlineaccommodation we are the market leaderin wholesale accommodation. Under thecurrent structure that value has beensomewhat over-shadowed. In the newGroup they will be managed for growthand value creation.

GY – How do you view ThomasCook’s recovery since HarrietGreen took over and to whatextent do you think it is importantfor the industry to offer a widechoice of operators to thecustomers?

PL – Harriet has done a very good job inbringing the company back from anextremely difficult place. As far as we areconcerned, we welcome competitionbecause it’s healthy for the market place –it encourages us to stay at the top of ourgame and something that we will never dois get complacent.

GY – First Choice decided quiterecently to sell only all-inclusiveholidays.What approach does thecompany adopt to make sure theholidays and destinations scorehighly on measures of responsibletourism? PL – We are committed to responsibletourism. In 2012,TUI Travel launched its‘Sustainable Holidays Plan’, a three-yearstrategy with four ambitious goals,underpinned by 20 commitments.Theseinclude the delivery of 10 million ‘greenerand fairer’ holidays, to operate Europe’smost fuel-efficient airlines, and to engagecolleagues and customers in sustainability.

Our airlines have reduced per-passengercarbon emissions by 9.3% over the pastfive years and have been ranked some ofthe most climate-efficient airlines in theworld.We have also offset an additional1.2 million tonnes of carbon throughinvesting in clean energy projects over thelast five years.

Over 1,200 of our hotel suppliers wereawarded independent sustainabilitycertifications in 2013 alone. Behavingresponsibly is not just about speakingabout it, it’s about acting on it.TUI Travel isleading the industry in sustainability andwe are determined to remain there.

GY – Harriet Green apparently getsup at three in the morning to starther working day. Do you have suchan ‘up and at ‘em’ approach? PL – You have to be committed in thisbusiness.That being said, I wouldn’t chooseto wake up at 3am if I didn’t have to!

GY – With recent announcementsabout your role in the soon-to-merge TUI Travel and TUI AG itlooks as though there are noretirement plans on the horizon.Will you just keep on working? PL – I will continue to work alongside TUIAG’s head, Friedrich Joussen, untilFebruary 2016 when he will become soleChief Executive and I will move to therole of Chairman. It will be different fromwhat I do now but it will not change mycommitment to the Group.

GY – TUI Travel has been asupporter of the Family HolidayAssociation for many years and inautumn 2013 you were appointedas the organisation’s President.Whydo you think the work of the FHA isso important and what will you beable to do as their President toimprove their success? PL – The Family Holiday Association isclose to my heart and an organisation Ihave worked with since I joined FirstChoice in 1996. It’s a lifeline tohardworking families that can’t afford abreak. People underestimate the healingpower of a holiday or break, and theFamily Holiday Association brings thatrelief to the families that need it the most.The fact is that there are over 5 millionparents and children who cannot affordeven one day out in the UK.

We at the Family Holiday Association arecommitted to not only reducing thatnumber but making sure that Governmentdoes so as well.

GY – Since holidays are yourbusiness, how do you switch offwhen you go on holiday? PL – I love spending time in Majorca – Ihave a holiday home there and I love it.My family help me to relax – I enjoyspending time with my wife, three sonsand four grandchildren.That’s how I switchoff and I can forget about everything else.

Sensimar Royal Blue Resort, Crete

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Project Management


Silvia Barbone l Director,

JLag

New methodologies within a European perspective“To let tourism and culture grow, it is notwhat you have but what you do with whatyou have.”

With this statement Taleb Rifai (DirectorGeneral, UNWTO) opened his speech atthe European Tourism Forum 2014, held inNaples last October.

For the tourism sector it is also interestingto ask the question of “how” you do whatwith what you have.Too often, funding fordelivering tourism and cultural projects isspent without achieving any substantialresults or growth.

The reasons behind this failure are, mostof the time, related to the followingproject characteristics:

� Lack of a solid needs analysis

� Poor planning and project design

� Top-down approach

� Vague definition of objectives

� Unclear roles and responsibilities

� Bad stakeholder involvement

� Inadequate monitoring and evaluationmechanisms

� No planning for delivering benefits

� Insufficient timescale

� Scarce awareness of available tools andresources.

With regards to the general shift awayfrom small towards large supra-nationalprojects financed by the public and privatesector, the above shortcomings need tobe overcome (e.g. European Commission,UN bodies,World Bank, etc.).This hasboth positive and challenging aspects.Projects are becoming more holistic but atthe same time the challenges forimplementers are growing.

This means that project managers need toshow certified management skills anddemonstrate that their projects areinnovative and sustainable in order tosucceed.

In the report “Were ERDF co-financedtourism projects effective?” (March 2011)the European Court of Auditorsrecommends, “Managing authorities shouldensure that tourism projects are set upwith suitable objectives, targets andindicators and the Commission shouldencourage this practice”.

Within this context there are two project

management tools, which are new andvery useful:

1)The Project Management for SustainableDevelopment in Tourism (PM4SD®)methodology and

2)The EU guidebook “Sustainable Tourismfor Development”.

1) PM4SD® is a methodology andqualification for designing and managingtourism projects with sustainability. It isbased on PRINCE2® - Projects InControlled Environments – a structuredmethod for effective project managementand the standard broadly used by the UKGovernment and widely recognized by thepublic and private sector, worldwide.PM4SD® has been developed by theFoundation for European SustainableTourism (FEST) in partnership with JLag,Leeds Metropolitan University, theNetwork of European Regions for aSustainable and Competitive Tourism(NECSTouR), as well as with a group ofinternational experts.

This methodology provides a guaranteefor actors from the public, private andNGO sector that the project will betransformed into concrete actions withclearly defined roles and responsibilitiesand deliver real benefits for all involvedstakeholders. It helps governments andcompanies to plan their projects in atransparent way.

It is especially relevant for projectmanagers, policy makers, tourismorganisations and associations,governments, construction managers,universities, training organisations, NGOs,researchers, students involved in small,

medium and large tourism projects andinitiatives. So far almost 200 professionals,from 15 countries (including the UK,France, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Italy,Czech Republic, Lebanon, Jordan andCaribbean nations) have participated inthe training for PM4SD®.

The two qualification levels (Foundation &Practitioner) are covered on courseslasting three to five days.

2) The ‘Sustainable Tourism forDevelopment’ guidebook has beenpublished by the UNWTO and financedby the European Commission’s DG forDevelopment and Cooperation (DGDevCo).The Guidebook takes acomprehensive approach to tourism,covering a wide range of topics relating toplanning, development, management andimpact in tourism.

The Guidebook aims at:

� Enhancing understanding andcommitment to sustainable tourism

� Providing guidance to assess the tourismsector’s importance, identifyingopportunities for sustainable tourismdevelopment, planning actions, andenhancing sustainability of projects.

� Delivering a ‘Sustainable Tourism forDevelopment Study’ enabling the EU andother development institutions to includesustainable tourism development in theirprogrammed cycles.

Applying standard managementtechniques, and having a recognisedqualification for tourism project managers,will help the sector grow with acooperative and sustainable approach.

2014 has been a significant year for manyreasons.

Besides the centenary of the outbreak ofWW1, it has marked the 25th anniversarynot only of the invention of the WorldWide Web, which has fundamentallychanged the way we communicate and dobusiness, but also the creation of theTourism Society Consultants Group (nowthe Tourism Consultants Network).

The fact that we’re still active, indeedthriving, is testimony both to TCN’sinherent usefulness and to the volunteercommittee members over the yearswho’ve given generously of their time. In1989 the TSCG brought together 122members, which coincidentally is almostexactly the number we have today – assuch, the biggest collective source oftourism consultancy skills in Europe,offering an unrivalled range of expertiseand experience.

This year it’s gratifying to report that TCNhas achieved some real momentum, inevery key area of activity.

CommunicationMembers are now sent email alerts every2-3 weeks on average, as well as our bi-monthly newsletter that has expanded to8 pages, thanks to the selfless editorialwork of Gerry Carver. A LinkedIn forum(for members only) and Twitter accounthave been opened, enabling us tocommunicate instantly with subscribers.

Market IntelligenceOur website (see www.tourismsociety.org>Professional Sections) has also expandedsignificantly this year, and now storesvaluable reference material, as well as anarchive of newsletters, committee meetingminutes, members’ surveys etc.

Project sourcingThe website has also added some 25online project portals, offering access toproject opportunities both in the UK andinternational markets.Very soon, thanks tothe assistance of new member SophieMaulévrier, we plan to circulate twice-monthly email alerts of project

opportunities, drawn from all leading UKand international project portals.

Client facilitationClients in search of specific tourism skillscan now find no better starting-point thanour Find a Consultant search engine, forconvenient scanning of members’ skills andprofiles.Thanks principally to Chris Evans,our Guidelines to Employing a Consultanthave been extensively revised and givedetailed advice on every aspect ofidentifying and appointing a suitableconsultant; they are now referenced onthe websites of VisitEngland and otherDMOs.

ProcurementAn increasingly serious constraint in recentyears for all self-employed consultants andsmall practices has been the insidiousgrowth of regulations, many originating inBrussels, covering public sectorprocurement. Not to mention the relatedrise in importance of the procurementofficer, resulting in the allocation ofprojects on the basis of box-ticking ratherthan suitability for the assignment.

TCN has made a number of writtenrepresentations to government on thisparticularly vexatious problem, and in lateOctober Chris Evans and Oliver Bennettmet Dr Vince Cable MP, Minister of Stateat the Department of Business, Skills andEnterprise, to draw his attention to fourspecific issues that affect consultants. It’s arare delight therefore to be able to report

the sighting of a break in the clouds, withthe issuing of recommendations by LordYoung for significant modification ofregulations that affect SMEs, and thewritten support of Dr Cable in addressingour specific concerns.

Networking eventsWe’ve devoted much energy this year toorganising interesting events, and it’s beenencouraging to see many members appearfor the first time, some travelling from farafield:

� Awards to high achievers – at threespecial receptions organised by TCN,honorary Fellowships of the Society wereawarded to Clive Jacobs (founder ofHoliday Autos), Peter Long (CEO of TUITravel) and the travel writer/broadcasterSimon Calder. All three entertained uswith some interesting insights into theirvaried activities.

� Brussels visit – 17 members undertooka highly successful two-day educational tothe heart of Europe, where we metrepresentatives of EU institutionsresponsible for funding tourism initiatives.We plan to repeat the exercise next year.

� WTM debate – a third successive eventorganised by TCN drew a goodinternational audience to listen to fivespeakers and debate the pitfalls andpriorities of consultancy.

For 2015 our wish is that if you’re amember please show us your support; ifyou’re a consultant but not a member, docome and join us.

Roger Goodacre FTS lChairman,TourismConsultants Network24 [email protected]

Tourism Consultants Network


25 years – and going stronger than ever

Chris Evans FTS and Oliver Bennett FTS meeting Vince Cable MP

Marketing and PR


Paul Chibeba l Director of Business

Development,A Marr & Associates

A change in the balance – PR now wins hands downPublic relations can sometimes be viewedby CEOs as secondary to otherpromotional activities; nice to have, butperhaps not essential…

However, in today’s digital age, rather thanbeing overlooked as a marketing side-linePR should be seen as the most importantpromotional function for any business ordestination.

PR has changed dramatically. It’s no longerabout sending press releases to journalists.It’s about creating a range of compellingcontent that can inspire debate, triggermedia coverage and be shared by opinionformers.

In a PR sense, our traditional ‘publics’ aremore wide-ranging than ever before,extending far beyond the simple publicist-journalist relationship. A PR professional –whether in-house or an external agency –can unlock new ways to influence vastnetworks of opinion formers throughblogs, social media, collaborations andthird-party endorsements, ultimatelyincreasing brand visibility and sales.Nowhere is this more evident than in thesphere of destination PR.

Today, a well-rounded PR strategy isarguably the most lucrative promotionalforce for successful business. A companyor destination with a confident brand willengage potential and existing customers aswell as stakeholders and media.

For the Brecon Beacons National Park inWales, a three-year programme of mediarelations and social media engagement hasestablished an impressive roster of opinionformers through Facebook,Twitter,Pinterest and an e-newsletter. Localbusinesses share ideas and contributenews through a Facebook group,empowering their PR agency to connectthem directly into the programme. It isthis direct online conversation thatenabled the destination to host 75 presstrips, subsequently resulting in more than500 articles and features.

Building relationships through traditionaland social media does take time.The payoff, though, is clear. If there were a way toput a monetary figure on the value ofthose online conversations, magazinearticles and shared photo galleries, theAVE (advertising value equivalent) wouldbe huge.

On the top end of the scale, Australia hassimilarly embraced modern PR, withopinion formers quick to share news oftheir ‘Best Job in the World’ (TourismQueensland campaign) and gained successin attracting Oprah Winfrey for her‘Ultimate Australian Adventure’. Bothinitiatives were shared extensively throughtraditional media and social media.

These tourism bodies recognise thatcompelling PR involves an integratedmarketing communications approach.Theirtourism visitor figures increase as a result,bringing those benefits back to the localeconomies.

Further proof of sales inextricably linkedto a smart PR strategy is certainly evidentfor Bamboo Bicycle Club.The small start-up engaged a PR agency to createawareness of their build-your-own bicycleworkshops and found that 90% ofbookings could be traced back to PRcustomers who had read articles or word-of-mouth recommendations through anintense social media strategy.

Receiving great coverage in a magazineinstills confidence. It’s a show ofconfidence in the destination or productwith a writer having become an

ambassador for you in that moment.Theirsphere of influence is now your newmarket.

PR can help smaller businesses competewith larger operators who have largemarketing budgets.When planningholidays, customers are turning to Internetsearches where credible media articlesand social media platforms are rankingprominently.Today’s consumers pay evenmore attention to recommendations byfriends and family, something that only PRcan nurture.

To maximise effectiveness of PR,destinations can consider how contentpartnerships can be developed aroundfood trails, festivals, walking routes,anniversaries, etc. Local businesses canshare their relevant news and products,forming packages and themed itineraries.The destination’s PR function can adaptthis content for different platforms andpitches, and use their networks of opinionformers to get word out.

For a large company, PR should now sit atthe heart of the boardroom. As directorsplan sales priorities, PR should top the list,receiving respectable budgets to have theright PR professionals on board.

The Society held two key centrally-organised events this autumn which dealtwith major domestic and internationalaspects of travel and tourism.

In September, ‘Staycation – What’s next?’considered how trends for domesticholidays are changing. Sharon Orrell, Headof Research and Insights at VisitEngland,opened with a presentation of the currentstatistics and highlighted importantdevelopments such as the increasinghousehold spend on recreation andculture since 2008.

Allowing for the caveat that this increasewould not necessarily all be holidayrelated, it shows an increase in theimportance of leisure over recent years. Amore significant number was the 68% ofpeople questioned who said they hadchanged their holiday behaviour in someway since 2008; the industry needs to benimble and continually match what itoffers to what the public is looking for.

The discussion that followed the openingpresentation was chaired by Ian Taylor,Executive Editor of Travel Weekly. Oncethe panellists had moved past the issue ofthe validity of the word ‘staycation’, thediscussion broadened to look at themotivations behind domestic holidays andwhat the key trends are. It seems that theimproving quality of what is on offer hasbeen important in promoting a rise indomestic trips and will be an area thatneeds constant attention to keep thecustomers coming back.

With people actively choosing to taketheir holidays here rather than beingforced to because of cost issues,investment in products and staff isessential. For mid-range hotels andguesthouses this might not be that easy;budget and luxury businesses would dobetter, and once visitors have had their sayon the online review sites there isnowhere to hide.

Looking further afield to the internationalindustry, in November we organised aseminar at World Travel Market entitled‘Tourism’s role in post-conflict and post-disaster regions’. An impressive panel tookto the stage to discuss this meaty topic,with Richard King of Concordis in thechair.With no individual presentations

there was maximum time for discussion,and both the audience and the chairposed searching questions.

A point made early in the discussion wasthat nearly all the countries that wouldtraditionally be associated with conflict, forexample Afghanistan, Iraq or Palestine,each had a tourism ministry occupied by asenior minister who recognised theimportance of their cultural heritage andthe importance of embracing it topromote sustained economicdevelopment. In the period of recoveryafter conflict one of the first things thatshould be done is to make this theme akey pillar of any redevelopment plans.

Rwanda was cited as an outstandingexample of a country which hasembraced tourism as a driving force of itsresurgence, and this is because from theoutset the government put its weightbehind a carefully defined strategy withthe tourism industry at its heart.

Local guides, too, play an important roleespecially as they are the ones fieldingtourists’ questions and they will haveinsights into how the stories can bepresented.

Stability and adequate levels of securityare paramount before tourists can return,particularly on organised itineraries.Responsible operators, liaising withgovernment departments and localsecurity forces, can gauge the situationaccurately and help increase the numberof visitors.

These tourists serve two purposes: firstlyhaving seen the life behind the mediaheadlines they can report it once backhome, and secondly they help restore thedestination’s damaged reputation and buildconfidence in it again.This leads toincreased investment. If the beneficiaries ofa successfully re-established tourismindustry can include those on the marginsof society who are often the ones mostaffected by the conflicts, then the effectsshould be long-lasting.

With thanks to our sponsors TravelWeekly, Maxxton,The Camping andCaravanning Club, City ofLondon/Guildhall Library, and Visit Belfast.

Tourism Society members can readreviews for all our events, includingchapter and section events, by logging intothe website and selecting MyAccount/Event Reviews.

Gregory Yeoman FTS lExecutive Director,Tourism Society26 [email protected]

Tourism Society Autumn Events


Staycation and World Travel Market

Sharon Orrell, VisitEngland, speaking at Staycation – What’s next?

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Welcome to the following new Companyand Corporate Members: Tom Day MTS,Alex Fong MTS, Chris Gottlieb MTS,TracyHalliwell MTS, Louise Maher MTS, Sandra RogatMTS – all London & Partners; Ian Baxter MTS,Anita Beresford Webb MTS, Geraint Coles MTS,Laura Locke MTS, Sarah Harris MTS – allUniversity Campus Suffolk; Joanne Dyson MTS,Rachel Johnston MTS, Denise Foster MTS, RobinLewis MTS, Helen Shute MTS, Brona MoffettMTS – all The National Trust; Stuart Devlin MTS,Eddie Bent MTS, Dean Breyley MTS, Paul RoseMTS, Sarah Howard MTS – all e-strategy.

Welcome to the following new Societymembers: Frank Marr MTS, A Marr &Associates Ltd; Adrian Barsby MTS MTMI TCN,Barsby Associates Ltd; Olumide OlusolaMetilelu, Bournemouth University; Shelley DoyleMTS, British History Breaks; Mathew BradleyMTS MTMI, Canal & River Trust; Juliana DelaneyFTS, Continuum Group; Nicholas Rudge MTS,Simon Law MTS, Cottages4You by WyndhamVacation Rentals; Charles Purdue-Pulido, LJMU;Brianna Wyatt, Edinburgh Napier University;Mike Ashton MTS, Herefordshire &Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce;Tamsin

Leigh MTS, National Trust; Dr Hazel AndrewsMTS, LJMU; Prof. Donald MacRae MTS, LloydsBanking Group Scotland; Deborah MatthewsMTS ATMI, Love Weston; Nicholas Agg-ManningMTS, OAC Ltd (Outside AdventureConsultants); Jordan Lowe, Oxford BrookesUniversity; Dick Wood MTS, South DevonRailway Trust; Nigel Edwards MTS, SRP Risk &Finance LLP; Anoek Petit MTS, Sunvil Traveller;Chris Newey MTS The Caravan Club; JoAndrews MTS MTMI,The Marketing Collective;Clare Mitchell MTS, travelGBI at Travel WeeklyGroup; Stanislava Velikova, University of Exeter;Dr James Kennell FTS, University of Greenwich;Maja Jovic, University of Westminster; GerryLennon MTS,Visit Belfast; Gabriela, PeychevaMTS,Visit Kent; Chris Greenwood MTS,VisitScotland; Xin Lan, Joel Aminu, GabrielleAmos, Clare Denison,Yan Wang, Samuel Hollis,Chloe Sykes, Matthew Ward, Ribe Bianka Sau,Ewa Krakowiak, Kinga Szatkowska, Brittany VanGraan, Helen Stringer, Simren Bhogal, MagdaliniKaravella, Jade Cocker, Federica Di Bella, MonikaLiberadzka, Rhianna Coote, Harriet Davy, IvanIvanov, Millie Clarke, Jessica Grocott, HannahFreeman, Rachel Cousen, Alice Dowling,WeiWei, Charlotte Evans, Rachel Derrig-Vanzie,

Daria Czapp, Sue Cofield, Sonja Liebethal, JiaxinZhu, Rebecca Wilkinson, Jade McDermott,Bethany Soanes, Jessica Talbot, Sophie Robinson,Abigail Tomlinson, Gabrielle Sykes, NathanStafford, Adriana Popescu, Adrianna Lis, NoraYahya – all Sheffield Hallam University; CarolinaVelasquez, Aboubakr Serag, Prescilla Mankulu,Ruguiato Balde, Eva Eduardo, Ana Zacarias,Dexter Achi, Christian Marseglia, GlodieMalonda, Daniel Onise, Brigitte Arteaga, IaraManuel, Luz Myriam Olarte Millan, SonyaMarkova, Andre Da Silva, Francesco Mazzeo,Jimena Garcia, Cinzia Salinardi, Alycia Guinet,Fabrizio Grillo, Michele Indino, LynthonMusamadya MTS – all Westminster KingswayCollege;� Full business and contact details can be foundon the Society’s website.

Harry Baum

Harry Baum, a member of the Tourism Societyfrom its earliest days, died in September aged86. Described as a founding father of the Britishmeetings industry, Harry was also a Director ofLondon Tourist Board and coined the phrase‘Destination Management Company’.

Congratulations to Peter Long (CEO,TUI) and Simon Calder (The Independent) on being awardedhonourary Fellowship of the Society, and to Carole Sherlock and Julian Zarb on their upgrade to FTS.

Membership News

January 201520th – Prospects for 2015, London (andCumbria,Yorkshire, Scotland,Wales and WestCountry via streaming)

February 23rd – Event with Oxford Brookes University

March11th – Tourism Question Time, BoBI,Birmingham

26th – Annual Dinner, House of Commons

27th – Fellows’ Day

June1st/2nd – Tourism Symposium, Kent – withTMI and TCN

OctoberStaycation trends

Media Masterclass, London

November4th – World Travel Market seminar

DecemberPresident’s Debate, London

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The Back PageChairman’s view withSandra Matthews-Marsh MBEFTS MTMI

Connecting to the Future

What will 2015 bring for you? How areyou planning to make it a great year andhow much can we control what happensnext?

Well, if you don’t know the answer tothese questions yet, don’t worry – you arenot alone. So to help you make the mostfrom the Tourism Society this coming yearthe Board and our partners have beenworking hard to make sure that theSociety is a point of constancy andinspiration in challenging times.

The Society’s Communications Group, ledby Vice Chairman Hayley Beer, has justundertaken a membership survey. Over aquarter of the membership replied andthe results will be appearing in the nextissue of the Journal with the headlinesavailable on the website in early 2015.Thiswork will help inform the Society’s newbusiness plan and some really interestingthings are starting to emerge.

One of the early headlines has been howmuch our members appreciate highquality events, which prompted an earlystart to planning for the 2015 TourismSymposium taking place in Ashford, Kenton the 1st/2nd June 2015 – save the datenow!

The theme of the event is ‘Connecting tothe Future’ and the event will featurefantastic speakers and thought leadersinspiring us to make the best use ofresources, maximise digital advances and

explore new markets and create newstandards.Top tips on strategies to remainnimble and sharp thinking will underscorethe Symposium programme – do makesure you join us.

We are also pleased to be piloting livestreaming of our events so that moremembers can enjoy them – the Prospectsevent on the 20th January is the first ‘allpoints UK’ live streamed event.

I’ve been on my travels to visit membersall over the UK recently. At the EdenTourism Summit with the CumbriaChapter I saw the breath-taking Ullswaterand heard at first-hand about theauthentic and superbly tailored outdoorvisitor experience on offer alongside greatfood and quality. I spoke at the inauguralmeeting of one of our newest chapters,the Greenwich University Tourism Society,inspired by Member Dr Jithu Kokkranikal.

A sea of bright eyes reminded me justwhat a rewarding career awaits the 60undergraduates preparing to take theirplaces as the next generation of tourismleaders, many from overseas taking backto their home countries the UK’s worldclass tourism teaching. Another newChapter is Robin Barker’s TS WestCountry, and the Scotland and WalesChapters are going from strength tostrength alongside Yorkshire, Europa, Kentand the Consultants Network.

Several highly successful Consultants and

Fellows events have taken place and twovery special tourism leaders – SimonCalder and Peter Long – have beenincluded on the exclusive ‘HonoraryFellows’ roll call.

Over the last months I have also beeninspired by the Family HolidayAssociation’s Holidays Matter campaign,whose stated aim is to make a significantimpact on the appalling statistic that over7 million people in Britain, the 7th richestcountry in the world, have never had abreak, with over 25% of those neverexperiencing a day out. It is up to all of usin a position to do so, to think about howwe can help.

For my own part, I have had a very busyautumn, and as I write this I am packingmy bags for China to take part in aVisitBritain sales mission as in Kent weembark on the start of a three-year planto develop the Chinese market as it growsexponentially before our eyes.

More of that in my next Back Page.

So what can we do to be prepared? Inevery Back Page I refer to the top tourismingredient, ‘sustainable partnerships’.

The Society is committed to keeping onbuilding links and in the next issue of theJournal we will be announcing even morepartners for 2015. So to end, if you arefeeling unsettled think of the TourismSociety as part of your survival toolkit inan uncertain world – it works for me!

Ullswater

Tourism - Winter 2014 - issue 160

Documents

european tourism

thisedition of tourism

tourism society scotland

benefits of inbound

executive director

cuffy mts

visitbritain youth travel

eduardo santander phd