Memorandum submitted by Calderdale Metropolitan
Borough Council
SOME BRIEF
CONTEXT
Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council is pleased
to respond to this consultation, and welcomes the Culture, Media
and Sport Committee inquiry into the tourism sector within the
UK. Situated at the heart of the Pennines, Calderdale is a non-traditional
tourism destination. Halifax is the district centre, with the
Calder Valley winding its way up to the Pennine Moors through
the key market town settlements of Sowerby Bridge, Hebden Bridge,
to Todmorden at the Lancashire border. A wealth of rural settlements
such as Luddenden, Midgley and Ripponden link to the dramatic
landscapes for outdoor activity, whilst a stunning cultural and
industrial heritage, supported by local festivals and events,
museums and attractions including Eureka!, attract visitors from
across the country and abroad. The majority of accommodation providers
offer small scale self-catering and bed and breakfast accommodation,
with Elland and Brighouse easily accessible from the M62, junctions
J22-25 offering larger hotel accommodation more suited to the
conference and business market. The value of tourism to the local
economy is £174 million, over three million day trips occur
to the district each year generating an estimated £96.6 million,
whilst the staying visitor market accounts for over 1.2 million
bed nights and £66.5 million of expenditure, virtually an
equal split between business, holidays and the VRF market (CEM
2005). Tourism employment supports 3,280 FT equivalents, 30% in
the traditional arenas of attractions and accommodation, with
c60% in retail and catering sectors.
CALDERDALE'S
TOURISM POSITION
Calderdale's approach to tourism is through
interventions in four key areas—business support, marketing
and promotion, product development and effective representation
and strategic direction. Whilst working with local businesses
and local promotion, Calderdale is engaged within the new sub-regional
agenda working in partnership with other West Yorkshire Authorities,
and at a regional level with the Yorkshire Tourist Board and Yorkshire
Forward.
We believe that tourism is grounded within a
sense and quality of place. Activity to enhance the tourism product
should be of benefit and enhance the attractiveness and appeal
of the district, interventions in terms of renaissance activity,
business diversification, planning guidance and developments in
the cultural sectors, all provide the impetus for the development
of an attractive tourism destination. Tourism needs to be integral
to the overall regeneration of the borough.
RESPONSES TO
THE SPECIFIC
QUESTIONS IN
THE CONSULTATION
We would wish to make the following points from
a Calderdale perspective to the Committee's specific questions.
CHALLENGES AND
OPPORTUNITIES FOR
THE DOMESTIC
AND INBOUND
TOURISM INDUSTRIES
Calderdale is non-traditional tourism destination,
and the impact of challenges such as cheap flights has offered
more of an opportunity than a threat to such areas. Inbound tourists,
particularly those from short haul European countries enjoy the
distinctiveness of local places, heritage, culture and landscapes.
Calderdale offers a wealth of opportunity in these areas and is
a good touring destination for such visitors, situated at the
heart of the country in-between the city region's of Manchester,
Leeds and Sheffield. The move from traditional long-stay holidays
to more "experiential" tourism, facilitated by changing
work and holiday patterns, shifts in disposable income, and improved
access, has also affected Calderdale less than other traditional
resorts. The product is diverse and generally offers something
for everyone. Whilst a number of the accommodation establishments
are traditional in their approach, the growth of high quality
self-catering and the development of new quality bed and breakfast
and restaurants offer a more high class quality, expected with
such trips. Calderdale also benefits from the move towards more
adventure and "self-fulfilling" tourism, with long-distance
walks such as the Pennine Way and Calderdale Way, highly popular
and a key source of overnight stays in the area. Day visits to
the region are high, due to the location of key urban settlements
of greater Manchester, Bradford and Leeds; and the greater accessibility
of Calderdale compared to its renowned neighbours (Yorkshire Dales
and Peak District). Although an opportunity diversity is a challenge.
Trends in holiday behaviour and consumer habits fluctuate more
then ever before, and with a lack of quality tourism data, trend
or benchmarks it is difficult for smaller destinations such as
Calderdale to know how best to develop product for best return
on investment.
EFFECTIVENESS OF
DCMS AND ITS
SPONSORED BODIES
IN SUPPORTING
THE INDUSTRY
Whilst Calderdale welcomes the moves in previous
years to create a more effective structure for the tourism industry—creation
of VisitBritain with a marketing remit, agreement on common quality
standards across the UK—there still remains a lack of clarity
on the roles and responsibilities of agencies involved in the
tourism agenda. Local Authorities have been perhaps the most constant
of all agencies in developing tourism, enhancing local areas and
investing in product on the ground, however in new structures,
the role of Local Authorities is less clear. There is a desire
to involved more productively the private sector, and whilst welcomed
there has to be recognition that many businesses within the sector
are small scale and synergies with Local Authorities are paramount.
There remains a policy gap at the national level, which in part
is due to the difficulty in adequately assessing the impacts of
tourism, or fully understanding the visitor economy. There is
also a need for DCMS to engage more effectively with other government
departments—eg DEFRA, DCLG, DTI in terms of recognising
that tourism has a cross-cutting agenda.Given the Government's
significantly increased emphasis on the responsibility of local
government for local economic development and indeed `place shaping',
the relative marginalisation of local government in the governance
and strategic support structures for tourism is unhelpful. Infrastructure
monies will be made available to support achievement of the Government's
housing growth targets. Where is tourism reflected in their agenda?
Tourism relies on developments and interventions in other departments
to build the visitor economy, and often linkages between such
departments are lacking. For example transportation interventions
are key to ensuring a sustainable tourism agenda, whilst the impact
of Foot and Mouth and changes within the agricultural sector can
have a huge impact on sustainability of local businesses, distinctiveness
of landscapes that all attract tourists. In original guidelines
for the new Rural Development Programme for England, tourism businesses
were specifically excluded from obtaining business support opportunities,
yet such businesses can ensure the viability and feasibility of
local centres by adding impetus to the local economy. The devolution
of strategic responsibility for tourism to RDA's, has proved effective
in channelling specific resources to individual regions, but the
diversity with which this has happened, as well as the difficulties
associated with cross-RDA intervention, means that lack of this
is not as effective as it could have been. Important questions
remain about the accountability and governance of RDA's in relation
to local and emerging city region democratic governance structures.
THE STRUCTURE
AND FUNDING
OF SPONSORED
BODIES IN
THE TOURISM
SECTOR AND
THEIR EFFECTIVES
IN PROMOTING
THE UK
Two major comments are pertinent here, firstly
tourism is not just about promotion. At the heart of tourism is
developing environments, places, cultural interventions that enhance
localities. Destination improvements do not have a quick return
on investment, rather their economic return is over a far longer
time period and far harder to quantify. Secondly, in tourism
terms, promotion is about destination identity, and the effectiveness
of the new structures within the tourism arena is often linked
with a consistent "brand". In the case of Yorkshire,
it has proved far easier to engender a sense of cohesion with
areas such as the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It
is more difficult when across an area such as West Yorkshire there
is no easily identified brand proposition—Leeds and Bradford
for business tourism, Pennine Yorkshire, Bronte Country and others
for the leisure market. The lack of interaction and collaboration
between RDA's, for example in areas such as the South Pennines,
means that although such an area perhaps has more resonance as
a destination, interventions are difficult to organise and manage.
The focus for marketing is not as strong as it might be in terms
of overall coordination and leadership. Domestic marketing by
its remit encourages RDA's to compete against each other for visitors
to their areas and with private sector tourism businesses primarily
interested in marketing, marrying private sector investment, destination
distinctiveness versus effective coordination is a challenge.
THE EFFECT
OF THE
CURRENT TAX
REGIME UPON
THE INDUSTRY'S
COMPETITIVENESS
The Air passenger duty has been implemented
for understandable environmental reasons, but if we are serious
about environmentally sustainability, then a more coordinated
approach with transport providers and accommodation providers
would be useful. In order to encourage more visitors to holiday
in the UK, the quality of product has to improve, and there needs
to be implementation across the board of issues such as quality
assessment, accessibility etc. In terms of "bed tax"
we support the view stated by the RDAs and Yorkshire Tourist Board,
that such a duty is targeted at the staying visitor, who is both
the most sustainable and offers the greatest economic return to
a destination.
DATA ON
TOURISM WHICH
WOULD PROVE
USEFUL TO
INFORM GOVERNMENT
POLICY
Issues associated with the difficulties of obtaining
reliable and timely information on tourism have long been debated.
The criticisms levied at both the Cambridge and Stream models
of economic assessment and to a lesser extent Tourism Satellite
accounting are well documented. The key problem with data pertinent
to the tourism economy is the timescales. In an industry that
changes and responds to challenges on a regular basis (foot and
mouth, IIFA awards, Olympics) there is a need for consistent annual
data that reflects the current situation, and for a greater level
of forecasting and benchmarking. At the individual business level,
improved occupancy information would prove invaluable for destinations,
able to benchmark performance and identify gaps in demand that
could then influence regeneration and planning policies. Statistical
confidence in data is crucial and there needs to be a strong steer
from government bodies in moving this agenda forward. In determining
the future policy, there is also a need for, and acceptance of,
forecasting models to enable a greater recognition of the economic
impacts on tourism, It was estimated by the BTA (2002) that the
average expenditure required in the tourism sector to support
one job was £38,000. This figure can be adjusted to allow
for regional cost adjustments and inflation but is not always
accepted by RDA's as an economic return figure. Multiplier effects
can also be applied to tourism, both supply chain and recycling
of expenditure, but neither are well used to enhance economic
arguments and the synergies between tourism and other areas. To
a certain extent, the data required to influence policy requires
an attitude to risk versus proof. Those RDA's that have recognised
the long-term benefits of enhancing visitor destinations—South
West Tourism and NWDA, are excelling in promoting their destinations
and development of their product. There is little specific data
on the ground to back up such an approach, but it is evident over
time the impact will be obvious, in a better quality of environment,
more businesses, enhanced community pride and
THE PRACTICALITY
OF PROMOTING
MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY
FRIENDLY FORMS
OF TOURISM
Calderdale welcomes the move towards more environmentally
forms of tourism, but feels that this needs to be part of a wider,
more holistic cultural change. At a local district level we have
already established a successful partnership with Northern Rail
to promote visits to the area by train, and work effectively in
partnership with METRO to enhance transport interchanges within
the area. The practicalities of moving to more environmentally
friendly forms of tourism cannot always be driven by profit margin.
Visitor and traffic management in remote locations, such as rural
areas that link walking routes, cycleways, and small village centres
as well as town and city centre hotspots is crucial to any move
towards sustainability of areas. We welcome the opportunities
to support businesses in the development of more environmentally
sustainable tourism benefits through grants, energy efficiency
measures and greater knowledge, but as mentioned above, the tourism
sector relies on significant numbers of smallscale businesses
and this is a long term task.
HOW TO
DERIVE MAXIMUM
BENEFIT FOR
THE INDUSTRY
FROM THE
LONDON 2012 GAMES
The 2012 Olympics provide a real opportunity
for the Britain to showcase to the world its distinctiveness and
character. However that requires interventions now, that may not
reap rewards until 2012 and may never offer a definitive ROI.
It requires a recognition of what will be crucial to success—the
welcome, the quality, the accessibility, the sport, the training
camps etc. As mentioned above the regulations for RDPE suggest
excluding tourism businesses, nowhere is there mention of enhancing
customer care of industries or investing in language skills to
offer a full welcome. If the UK are to derive maximum benefit
then tourism, culture and sport have to be at the centre of policy.
The long-term benefits to the UK economy of a successful Olympics
in terms of economic diversity, trade relations, community cohesion
are all significant. The Olympics needs to encourage visitors
to "stay longer", offering a real reason to stay for
more than just the games. It requires RDA's to work together to
best benefit from holding training camps, realising it is not
competition but effective partnership for a greater return. Equally
there needs to be a recognition that in the majority of cases,
the Local Authorities will act as the delivery agent on the ground,
whether this be through their planning policies, regeneration
and renaissance developments of community cohesion strategies.
It is imperative that they are kept informed and advised throughout
the process. Setting targets for sport, culture and tourism for
2012 also need to be carefully considered. The legacy of the games
is perhaps more important than the games themselves, how does
the UK respond and develop post 2012 is just as important as how
the UK develops until 2012.
We thank you for the opportunity to respond
directly to this inquiry and welcome receipt of your findings
in due course. The Partners for England initiative is welcomed,
but this must be clearly fed down to all Local Authorities, many
of whom have been the only constant bodies specifically advocating
tourism development over the last 40 years. Local Authorities
are ready and able to play a more central role in the strategic
development and delivery of tourism for the United Kingdom.
September 2007
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