We held a very successful Tourism Conference at the Guildhall on Tuesday with the guest speaker being the Independent’s Simon Calder. Click HERE for reporting of his contribution in the Chronicle.
This is my speach to the conference:-
I would like to be quite clear the Council is committed to a successful tourism industry.
As part of that commitment we invest around £630k per annum in Bath Tourism Plus in order for it to be successful and although we have had to share the stringent constraints of the public sector finances we are continuing to provide significant support both in cash and kind.
We do that because we believe that your success as an industry sector is our success in attracting visitors, business and political interest in B&NES and Bath in particular.
We can use the Roman Baths as an example. It regularly draws through its doors 20% of all of the visitors to Bath. We have enjoyed the best year in the last 25 during 2011.
If these figures represent their usual relationship to the number of visitors then we have probably enjoyed the busiest year the City has had as a centre for business.
I say ‘probably’ because the gross numbers of visitors is difficult to arrive at and has taken an interminably long time to produce – even if we consider its accuracy.
Along with Bath Tourism Plus we have been working on the development of the ‘T Stats’ project (stands for tourism statistics) and placing more resources behind gathering the data.
T Stats is intended to be our own – City wide – assessment of our tourism and retail sector. It should help us make the correct evidence based decisions – upon:
- investment
- marketing
- the annual programme of events
- however it needs you support in order to ensure the best information is put in and the best possible reports are produced – for every business to make use of.
I would ask for your support in delivering this – I am sure Nick Brooke Sykes (new CEO) can bring you up to speed on progress.
The best year in the last 25 is a big bonus during a period of uncertainty. I was dismayed yesterday to hear the news bulletins talk down the prospects for tourism during the period of the London Games. It is our determination to repeat the success of last year and make Bath equally successful as a draw for international and domestic visitors.
Clearly Bath Tourism Plus have a new marketing strategy and the promise (by Government) of new resources to deliver it however we also have a wonderful programme of events and festivals to support the Olympic Themes – and your industry. We need you to respond.
We applaud the Business Improvement Districts commitment to Bath in Fashion – the Christmas Lights celebrations however there are so many events that make up the season and I would just like to mention some that we get involved in – by financing or supporting them in order to bring visitors to the City.
Many of course are run by enthusiastic people who are present in this room.
For 2012 we will enjoy:
The Olympic Torch Relay
The Paralympic Torch Festival
Bath Comedy Festival
Outdoor Street Exhibitions
Bath Art Prize
Art at the Edge
St Georges Day Celebration
Cooler Jazz Week
Bath Festivals
Literature Festival
Music Festival
Children’s Literature Festival
Bath Cycle Week
Bath Marches (September walking festival)
These add to the 22 other events that take place in the City each year.
A series of sports events are also likely to be brought forwards to compliment the Bath Half Marathon – Sport Relief Mile and the Sky Ride:
The Aqua Sullis Music Event on the race course 15,000 audience for Jools Holland –coupled with a 10k race along the Cotswold Way footpath.
The contempory music programme has also be a blast – Brian May in Bath last year (which has me up and dancing in the isles) followed by KT Tunstall & (for those that are interested) Joan Armatrading is playing in the Forum on the 8th June 2012.
And we recently introduced Fireworks on New Year’s Eve – the benefits were;
- Changed the nature of the City Centre on that evening by altering the age profile of the nature of the crowd – introducing more family groups.
- Created a focus for the evening – which the Police believe added to the good nature of the crowd.
- Dispersed the crowd over a wider area – reducing some of the behaviours that had previously characterised the crush in the Abbey Church Yard.
- Creating a feature to attract more revellers to the City for the pubs, restaurants and night clubs.
Interestingly we had almost immediate enquiries from towns across the UK from customers wanting to book hotels next ‘News Year Eve’ if we could guarantee the Fireworks – I’ll do that now.
For customers generally we have supported the Bath Tourism Company in refurbishing the Tourist Information Centre – and it looks brilliant. A few days left on the building programme but the nature of the facility has changed and with the introduction of the Bath Box Office we hope we have the ‘one stop shop’ that customers requested.
We want to work with the Tourism and retail sector to develop the offer – the Christmas Lights event is a good example.
Future Bath Plus & the BID have developed the Christmas Lights event in partnership with the Chronicle, private sponsors, the Police, Emergency Services and the Council. It’s become a popular feature of Christmas.
The ‘switch on’ has been undertaken by Nicholas Cage, HRH Camilla Duchess of Cornwall and John Cleese supported by Amy Williams (Olympic Gold Medallist), the Chair of the Council and the Mayor of Bath.
This particular event couldn’t be delivered without the co-operation of all the parties but it is hugely important to the start of the festive season and the run into the Christmas Market – I would particularly like to congratulate Bath Tourism Plus on the 2011 event – bigger, better and a great advert for the City. I know we can do even more with this event.
Today our Director of Culture is with Department of Media Culture and Sport discussing how we can make more of the World Heritage Site designation to market Bath. We have a unique resource to bring to the market – with significant reach into a world-wide interest in protecting the very best of the Worlds Heritage. This is part of our interest in aligning national political figures with our local interests and making sure that we figure in discussions over the future draw of UK PLC and BaNES place within that set of Attractions, World Heritage Sites and Quality Environments for visitors.
In this context I have to also congratulate Thermae Spa, Southgate, Bath Rugby and a whole series of accommodation providers, restaurants, retailers, art galleries, niche shops & Museums that contribute to Bath’s offer – all year round, 365 days of each year &14 hours a day – in many cases, as a minimum commitment.
Of course we have issues to address including developing the market in North East Somerset but an incredible amount to celebrate.
Finally I would like to share with you one issue that has been expressed to us – as a group. We understand the Guest House owners concerns about Hotel development in the City. It is clear that we have very little we can do to ‘control’ development in an era that is development led. We are also constrained by European Completion Law from ‘distorting the market’ by constraining development – having said that we are concerned about the potential rate of growth and the speed of change the already planned developments will bring about.
We are looking a policy development in this area – looking further afield at developments in some of the major and historic cities – Liverpool and York.
Having said that they are looking at our practise in developing a Destination Management Plan and looking at the evidence base for decisions.
We are looking at the controls we can place on site in our ownership to direct future development – to fill in gaps in provision – rather than duplicate.
And we are going to place much more information into the market place – so that developers and operators understand our drivers as a business and resident community and understand our wishes for a certain style of provision – appealing to the essence – a ‘Quintessentially Bath’ approach – not down town any old town.
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