APPENDIX 21
Memorandum submitted by the Countryside
Agency
OUR ROLE
The Countryside Agency is the statutory body
working:
— to conserve and enhance England's
countryside;
— to spread social equity and economic
opportunity for the people who live there; and,
— to help everyone, wherever they live
and whatever their background, to enjoy this priceless national
asset.
Sustainable tourism development in rural England
is a crucial contributor to the achievement of these aims.
Our strategic national role, backed by a network
of regional teams concerned with local and regional implementation,
requires partnership with government departments and agencies
with responsibilities including, in the case of tourism, the Department
for Culture, Media and Sport and English Tourism Council.
We therefore have an interest in contributing
to this Inquiry which is examining the current state of the tourism
industry, government policy towards the sector, and its future.
OUR ROLE
IN TOURISM
In 2001 we published our Rural Tourism Strategy[1]
in partnership with the English Tourism Council and in consultation
with the tourism industry and other interests.
The aims of the Strategy are based on sustainable
tourism. They are:
— to maintain and increase the availability
and quality of employment in rural tourism enterprises;
— to ensure that a high quality of
visitor experience in the countryside is available to everyone;
— to maintain and enhance the quality
of the rural environment; and,
— to spread the benefits of tourism
throughout rural communities.
To provide national focus and practical input
to advance implementation of the Strategy, we welcome the decision
by Alun Michael to establish a Rural Tourism Sub Group of the
Rural Affairs Forum for England. The Sub Group met for the first
time on 23 October.
RESPONSE TO
INQUIRY
1. What is the current and likely future performance
of the British tourist industry following Foot and Mouth Disease
and the events in New York of 11 September 2001?
Countryside Agency research has examined the
cumulative economic impact on rural England resulting from visitor
activity, rather than measuring the industry's performance per-se[2].
Our wide-ranging study of the impact of Foot
and Mouth Disease (FMD) on rural areas[3]
relied on information provided by others (such as the English
Tourism Council) to provide an update of its effect on tourism.
This report included:
— a baseline statement of the state
of the countryside before the outbreak;
— forecasts, using existing trends,
of what might have happened had FMD not occurred; and,
— an assessment of the impact of FMD
to mid-August 2001.
Conscious of the difficulties in readily obtaining
reliable rural tourism data, we and the English Tourism Council
are jointly commissioning a study to review existing sources of
data to establish both a more comprehensive assessment of the
scale and contribution of tourism in rural areas and a framework
that might be used in future to measure performance.
Currently, we are working with other national
agencies and tourist boards to collect data that is used to measure
the activities and expenditure of GB residents on their leisure
day visits[4],
including those to the countryside. The latest data will be published
in 2003-04 and will reflect activity this year. There is no comparable
data available for 2001-02 when measuring visits to the countryside
was inappropriate because of FMD.
Better information and understanding is essential
to guide tourism development. In the context of rural tourism,
for example, there is a need for more research on the characteristics
of different market segments and what they are looking for in
rural areas.
2. Does Government have a role in promoting
and/or supporting the industry?
Rural tourism makes a major contribution to
local and national economies, generating spending of almost £14
billion a year and supporting 380,000 jobs in the English countryside.
At an uncertain time for agriculture, the case for fostering tourism
to reinforce rural economies is convincing and needs high-profile
national and regional leadership. In rural areas the sector is
particularly fragmented, dominated as it is by micro businesses
and self-employed operators. There is therefore a danger that
representation at a regional and national level could be dominated
by the most powerful commercial enterprises that are mainly unrepresentative
of the rural tourism industry which crucially relies on the appeal
of the countryside for its success.
Government intervention recognises that the
tourism industry does not operate in a vacuum, but relies on the
many other resources it promotes and supports—including
transport, the environment, education and training and public
services.
The Tourism Summit fulfils the need for awareness
across government that tourism impacts on, and is impacted by,
the policies and resources committed to delivery of programmes
by its other departments.
The Summit and the Tourism Forum that feeds
it with information and opinion show the Government's acknowledgement
of the economic importance of tourism. Since FMD and 11 September
2001, tourism industry national representation and discussion
structures have been further strengthened by the formation of
the Tourism Alliance and Tourism UK. The CBI-supported Tourism
Alliance brings together nearly 60 trade and sector tourism organisations
to lobby government on the key strategic issues facing the industry,
and works with others to create a united voice for tourism at
a national level. More recently, Tourism UK has been formed by
the national tourist boards of England, Scotland and Wales. Its
purpose is to encourage government to acknowledge the importance
and potential of tourism, and to support initiatives to create
an economic climate in which the industry can prosper.
These new national tourism initiatives and the
formation of the Rural Tourism Sub Group of the Rural Affairs
Forum for England show the expectation that government will continue
to provide administrative and supportive infrastructure for the
British tourism industry.
Without continued promotion and support by government,
the tourism industry will not achieve its full potential to improve
the performance of under-performing rural economies and assist
in the restructuring of agriculture.
3. What should that role be?
Government needs to ensure that structures,
policy and funding are in place which support both the tourism
industry and its consumers. We see a continuing need for a strong
central body in England (supported by Government) with the task
of promoting tourism interests, both urban and rural. These central
tasks include:
— research, intelligence and monitoring
functions,
— promoting the interests of minority
groups and the socially excluded, and
— taking forward new national initiatives.
The development of EnglandNet and a national sustainability certification
scheme for tourism businesses, to which the Countryside Agency
are partners, are good examples here.
There is also a clear need for advice and dissemination
of best practice to assist regional and non-government national
partners and to inform regional strategies and activity.
Government support for the promotion of rural
England, under the umbrella of "Your Countryside—You're
Welcome", showed that national marketing initiatives have
a role in rural tourism. This was a campaign to react to the special
circumstances of FMD; there is however further opportunity for
a support organisation to promote national brands to the domestic
market, including those that are exclusive to the countryside.
Marketing is just one of the key areas within
our joint Rural Tourism Strategy, which shows 22 specific actions
to be delivered with the English Tourism Council. The success
in achieving these during the five-year lifespan of the Strategy
is dependent on our joint working at a national level.
Without English Tourism Council's skills, experience
and resources, delivery of our Strategy is in jeopardy—to
the detriment of rural tourism and rural economies.
4. Do current arrangements for supporting,
promoting and/or regulating the industry: meet the need adequately;
reflect the devolution settlement appropriately; promote the quality
of provision effectively; and encourage productivity within the
industry?
By working with the English Tourism Council
we have produced, and are implementing, a Rural Tourism Strategy
and will shortly be reporting first-year progress to the Rural
Tourism Sub Group of the Rural Affairs Forum for England. Promoting
quality of provision and encouraging productivity within the industry
are both priority actions in the Strategy.
The combined work of the Countryside Agency,
English Tourism Council and other national and regional partners
demonstrates that sustainable tourism development, including the
provision of quality products and encouraging improved business
performance, is widely embraced in the industry and will be further
encouraged. However, much work is still needed at regional and
local level to enable rural tourism businesses to access improved
support and training, help planners better match supply and demand,
raise the quality of tourism destinations and for regulators to
address the needs of businesses in the sector.
1 "Working for the Countryside-A strategy for
rural tourism in England 2001-2005" (English Tourism Council/Countryside
Agency, 2001). Back
2
"The Economic Impact of Recreation and Tourism in the English
Countryside" (Countryside Agency, 2000). Back
3
"Foot and Mouth Disease: the State of the Countryside"
(Countryside Agency, 2001). Back
4
Great Britain Day Visits Survey 2002. Back
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