Memorandum submitted by Bath & North
East Somerset Council
COMMENTS UPON
THE DCMS PERFORMANCE
IN RELATIONSHIP
TO THE
PROMOTION OF
TOURISM
Please find the comments for the Parliamentary
Culture Media and Sport Select Committee upon the DCMS performance
related to Tourism from the viewpoint of this Council.
Bath and North East Somerset welcomes the opportunity
to comment.
OUR STARTING
POINT
Bath and North East Somerset's Tourism offering
is dominated by the City of Bath.
— One of three World Heritage sites
in the South West
— One of 28 World Heritage sites in
the UK.
The World Heritage designation recognises Bath
as a place of outstanding universal value for its architecture,
town-planning, landscape, archaeological remains and its role
as a setting for social history. The history of the City extends
over six millennia, from its earliest days when the Hot Springs
were a place of worship for early communities, to the modern day
when Bath is an international icon of architecture and archaeology
within a thriving local community. The United Nations Educational
Scientific & Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) identified "the
exceptional value of the historic and monumental ensemble of Bath"
and committed the City to a management plan that has been revisited
over time.
The World Heritage Site Management Plan (and
the "Future for Bath" vision) set out a commitment to
improve the interpretation of the city's history and to more actively
engage local people and visitors in understanding the value and
relevance of Bath's World Heritage Site status in an enjoyable
and educational way.
THE NATURAL
ENVIRONMENT
The outstanding built environment of Bath reflects
its location. Set at the southern extreme of the Cotswold Area
of Outstanding Natural Beauty (an AONB that wraps around the eastern
boundary of the City) and lying just to the east of the Mendip
AONB—a designation that includes large swathes of the area
governed by Bath & North East Somerset Council.
This co-location of outstanding natural landscape
and the energies of man—expressed through the building of
an historic city—ensure Bath is a special place that is
in need of special attention.
THE CITY
AS A
TOURIST DESTINATION
The City is once again striving to evolve through
a range of regeneration programmes—including the "Southgate"
retail & housing development and the "Bath Western Riverside"
development—whilst protecting and enhancing the historic
centre,that is the heart of the City's designation by UNESCO.
In the 18th century the city's grand parades,
its squares and circus and its gardens formed one of the finest
examples of urban design in Europe. These streets and public open
spaces formed a stage for culture and pleasure, assembly and wellbeing
and were copied by many other cities across the world.
However, today, Bath's public realm is cluttered,
badly eroded and in desperate need of reinvestment. The Council
is developing a bold and exciting strategy for public realm and
movement within the city centre which seeks to make Bath a more
legible and walkable City and to reclaim its streets and spaces
for public life, particularly cultural and community events and
activities.
This approach can not just be resourced from
private sector development alone. Support from the strategic
bodies within the public sector is essential in order to protect
and enhance this World Heritage Site and to attract further partnership
funding.
From within its own resources, the Heritage
Services division of the Council is already engaged in a re-investment
programme to protect, enhance and reinterpret the Roman Baths
and Temple site, a religious spa as unique to Roman Britain as
the City of Bath is today. The Baths and Pump Rooms are a central
feature of the City and provide the focus for this programme,
which will accelerate over the next few years.
However the Service is also considering the
feasibility of providing a transparent cover over the monument,
in the position and form of the Roman barrel vault roof—to
provide a 21st century facility reminiscent in impact of the Great
Court of the British Museum and I.M. Pei's glass pyramid at the
Louvre. Once realised this project—juxtaposing the ancient
and modern—would reflect the desire of regions and governments
to present their heritage in a more ambitious and dramatic fashion.
The Department of Culture Media & Sport
(given the support of its non departmental agencies) should be
in a position to exert influence upon other Government Departments—particularly
with the "Department of Communities and Local Government"
and "HM Treasury" based upon expert knowledge and understanding
of the issues that major tourism centres and World Heritage sites
have to address.
The level of Rate Support Grant is an example
and can be used to represent the particular problems represented
by 4.2 million visitors to the City of Bath (2005 Economic Impact
Survey South West Tourism), a City that has a resident population
of 85,000. This scale of visitor numbers impacts upon the revenue
costs to the Council—particularly those costs that enable
the Bath and North East Somerset Council to present the City—
— its parks and open spaces
— the International Cultural Programmes
in a way that reflects properly the World Heritage
Status to international and national visitors.
Given the shortfall in funds the Council is
unable to approach the scale of investment required to enhance
and display the only UK World Heritage City in a more dramatic
fashion—so that it can continue to attract visitors to the
UK & South West of England, in a competitive International
and National Market.
RATE SUPPORT
GRANT
The nature of the present difficulties can be
related to the current government funding system as it limits
this Council's ability to fund the costs associated with a World
Heritage City in the following ways:
The revenue grant support system does not accurately
reflect the cost of maintaining the infrastructure of a World
Heritage City and the cost of providing services associated with
the number of visitors attracted to the area.
This situation is highlighted in the current
DCLG consultation on changes to the formula grant distribution
system from 2008-09 related to visitor numbers. The proposed change
replaces the day visitor indicator with a population-weighted
indicator linked to the attractiveness to an area of day visitors.
The weighted indicator proposed does not take
into account the popularity of unique attractions such as the
Roman Baths Museum as this is given the same attractiveness rating
as any other museum in the country.
The proposed change is also based on the assumption
that only the population living within 50 miles of the area are
likely to be day visitors to that area, again this is contrary
to the experience in Bath & North East Somerset where in Bath
alone there are more than four million day visitors per annum
(excluding regional shoppers) against a total of only 1.6 million
people who live within 60 minutes drive of the city (our closest
proxy for the 50 mile zone).
The proposed change, if implemented, actually
makes the position worse for Bath & North East Somerset, with
an estimated loss of grant of around £300k.
In addition to the grant formula system not
allocating sufficient grant based on the cost drivers of a World
Heritage City, this Council received £2.7 million less grant
in 2007-08 (£3.3 million less in 2006-07) than the government
calculates we need, due to the grant damping mechanism where councils
earning grant above the government-set floor level have increases
scaled back to pay for those councils that would otherwise receive
a increase in grant below the level of the floor.
To put this into context, B&NES is the third
lowest funded unitary authority per head of population (net budget
requirement excluding Dedicated Schools Grant);
The Council is unable to fund additional resources
to support the costs associated with a World Heritage City through
its other main funding stream of council tax due to the Council
Tax capping regime imposed by the government, where the Council
has to limit increases to under 5% per annum.
These factors combined with the future outlook
of a reduction in the levels of government funding for public
services (set to be announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review
2007) and increasing statutory service resource requirements (eg
cost of care of the Elderly and Children) leaves the Council with
little or no resource to maintain a World Heritage city."
Whilst this Council is aware that the DCMS is
undertaking some work through Price Waterhouse to examine the
issues of World Heritage sites the special circumstances of a
City, and its surrounding hinterland, tasked with protecting,
improving and presenting the World Heritage City are not to be
examined.
This Council's contention is that this City
represents a complex economic model worthy of detailed investigation
and special treatment through the Rate Support Grant. There is
already a wealth of evidence to support this contention in the
negative comments of visitors to the City.
TRANSPORT FUNDING
In 2006-07 a statutory free off peak concessionary
fares scheme was introduced for eligible bus passengers (those
over 60 and disabled). Regrettably, the government grant available
for concessionary fare authorities was distributed in a manner
which favoured areas of high deprivation rather than areas where
demand for public transport was high, such as in Bath&NES.
Consequently the annual additional costs to the Council of running
the scheme is more than £600k above the available budget
following the distribution of grant.
From 2008-09 a national concessionary fares
scheme will be introduced allowing all eligible bus passengers
free off peak travel on bus journeys originating in Bath&NES.
As a popular tourist destination it is anticipated that there
will be a significant increase in the number of concessionary
fares that will need to be reimbursed to bus operators. The DCLG
is currently consulting on three options for distributing the
additional £200 million available in England for implementing
the scheme amongst concessionary fare authorities. Two of these
options reflect the particular attractiveness of Bath&NES
to visitors, whilst the third is more closely related to urban
density and deprivation factors as a proxy for existing bus usage.
The third option, if adopted, is likely to lead to a further increase
in the budget needed to fund the concessionary fares scheme.
The Council will be making representations to the DCLG to take
full account of the number visitors to the area in the distribution
of the grant.
RECENT ISSUES
The recently opened "Thermae Bath Spa"
is a modern structure that merges into a group of historic buildings
to create an iconic venue that attracts a local, national and
international clientele. The support of the Millennium Commission
Lottery Fund enabled this innovative partnership between the public
sector and a commercial partner to be developed.
The Spa complements the Theatre Royal and the
"Recreation Ground" as extraordinary facilities at the
very centre of the City.
Even so there is a myriad of other buildings
that need significant investment, major decoration and renewal
programmes in order to display their rare grandeur to the visitor
to the City (the Guildhall is a good example)—and to those
wishing to relocate their businesses to Bath and North East Somerset.
Given that the Georgian Buildings form part
of the World Heritage Designation we are concerned that there
has been little support for this aspect of the Cities offering.
In influencing & guiding the investment
of government, lottery and other sources of regional funds, Bath
and North East Somerset would expect the DCMS to understand the
scale of investment required to maintain & restore these buildings
& the infra structure of public spaces.
That the implications are taken into account
in both policy & resource planning and communicated to other
Government Departments—otherwise the nation is in danger
of demeaning the Tourism and Heritage value of this World Heritage
Destination.
FESTIVALS AND
VENUES
Bath enjoys an International Music Festival,
an International Literature Festival, an International Guitar
Festival and the country's only dedicated Mozart Festival—a
programme of 18 discrete events that in other parts of the UK
would be considered as National Treasures (such as the Eisteddfod).
These events have an impact upon the Cultural
Offering, an impact that is felt throughout the year—not
just during the period of the Festivals. They attract tourists
directly—to the events—but also provide a flavour
of the International Dimension of the City
For the most part the venues are small sites.
They include the Bath Abbey, the Assembly Rooms, the Forum and
the Pavilion. The Abbey is an incredible expression of Church
Architecture however the Forum (a redeveloped cinema) and the
Pavilion (a hall) cannot aspire to the acoustic, visual, energy
use and access qualities of a modern, purpose-built, venue.
The Council is examining the possibility of
developing a "signature library" within the Southgate
Development that will reflect a growing ambition for the celebration
of literature, poetry also the fostering of creative thought and
debate. Work is also in hand to explore the feasibility of a "History
Centre", bringing together the riches of the Council's Record
Office and Libraries Local Studies Collection, (possibly in partnership
with the records from other organisations in Bath), to provide
a one-stop-shop in which the collective memory of the community
can be explored and enjoyed in a state-of-the-art facility.
Whilst the Library will provide another small
performance space recent studies—by ABL Cultural Consultants—have
identified the need for a medium size concert and conference venue
which could yet be included in the Bath Western Riverside Development.
They also felt there was justification for a new iconic building
housing an Exhibition Gallery to display major touring exhibitions
from the UK and abroad, in rotation with the City's own collections.
Given the present financial constraints there
is little chance of these ambitions being realised. As a result
more of the conferencing and exhibition trade will be drawn away
to other venues, such as Bristol, further demeaning the economic
base of Bath and North East Somerset.
The work presently being undertaken by DCMS
into the economic value of World Heritage sites to tourism within
the UK could be extended to examine the issues of economic sustainability
of this City as the effect of policies of other Government Departments
take effect.
DCMS seems to lack knowledge, passion and
influence to be able to affect the delivery of other Departments'
policies.
MUSEUMS AND
GALLERIES
Bath and North East Somerset has an unrivalled
array of museums that contribute to the Tourism offer.
Seventeen institutions are currently Registered
or Accredited with the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council
(MLA). Two of the Council's museums, the Roman Baths Museum and
the Fashion Museum (formerly the Museum of Costume) are designated
by MLA as non-national museums of national or international pre-eminence,
while the Council's Victoria Art Gallery, the museum most visited
by local residents, offers an exhibition programme of regional
significance.
Some of the district's museums, such as the
Museum of Bath & Work, tell aspect's of local history while
others, such as Radstock Museum and Saltford Brassmill, record
our rich industrial heritage. Others, such as the Holburne Museum
and Museum of East Asian Art, exhibit artistic collections of
the highest quality and use them as the focus for events and educational
activities.
Despite these riches there remains a pressing
need for new thinking and fresh investment. The Council has already
identified the need to relocate the Fashion Museum to a new location
where its outstanding collection can be exhibited and used to
maximum effect. There is also an ongoing public debate about the
need for a City Museum for Bath and for a World Heritage Centre
and work is in hand to identify the feasibility of achieving both
objectives in a single exciting new attraction.
However, we believe the impact of removing charges
for the major London collections has affected the tourist's willingness
to pay for these attractions in Bath. Visitor numbers have dropped
since the major museums removed their charges and we believe the
perceived "value for money" represented by the Cities
"tourism offer" to visitors has reduced as a consequence.
We believe this has had a detrimental effect
upon the gross visitor numbers although we find it difficult to
quantify this effect.
It is apparent that the impact and effect
of policy changes within DCMS's own Departmental responsibilities
was not thought through so that the impact upon other tourist
locations (outside of London), was identified and compensated
for.
HIGHER EDUCATION
& EXCELLENCE
Bath enjoys the proximity of two universities.
Each reflects different aspects of the Cultural Offering but together
with the City provide a force in preparation, training & performance
that is expressed upon a World Stage.
Bath Spa University provides acclaimed courses
in Art and Design and Music that fit closely alongside the Bath
Festivals programmes—providing both facilities and contributions
that support an enviable international reputation.
The University of Bath is renowned for its engineering
and management schools. In addition, in recent years, it has played
an increasing role in International Sport—particularly as
part of the "English Institute for Sport" providing
a training venue for athletes with a UK and World Wide reputation.
The University hosting the England Rugby Team
(prior to the World Cup) and, with the City of Bath, will be seeking
to attract pre-Olympic and World Championship Training Camps for
a number of different sports and International Teams building
up to 2012 —thus building a legacy for the nation that will
continue beyond the London Games.
The City is using its resources to support Bath
Universities bids and to provide the cultural content of the offering
to international sports team so that the athletes stay is enjoyable
and one which they would want to repeat. We are seeking to ensure
the impact of foreign teams as visitors and tourist is secured
for the future.
However, Bath Rugby Club is a brand known throughout
the rugby world. It is a team that plays in the Premier League
in England and also in European Cup matches that attracts many
thousands of spectators each year, also a significant television
audience to the region during the Autumn, Winter and Spring season.
It is worth in the region of £5.7 million per annum to the
local economy as a visitor and tourist draw.
STADIA
Bath Rugby Club requires a dedicated 15,000
seat arena of the scale provided by Leicester, Harlequins and
Northampton. The Club would prefer to develop at the Recreation
Ground; however the sensitivity of the site would require an innovative
structure that's sits lightly upon the site and is in total sympathy
with its surroundings. Such a solution that would involve considerable
expense above the normal value of a 15,000 seat stadium—a
cost penalty the Club could only overcome with external financial
support.
The Club is contemplating the prospect of having
to move out of the centre of the City to a site with better access
from motorways and by train. A new large scale stadium (identified
in the SW Cultural Strategy)—in excess of 20,000 seats could
provide the catalyst for such a move. This would have a detrimental
effect upon the diversity and richness of the City's sporting
heritage.
A new stadium could provide the sporting venue
for the whole community as well as the conference venue identified
above. Thus it would have a significant benefit in supporting
local hoteliers and the programmes of the 18 festivals.
However the Regional Development Agency's financial
streams, the Lottery Funds, nor the PFI Credits (that used to
be available to Departments) do not support this type of development.
It is an area of investment strategy where
the negative impact of strategic planning & financial policies
remain unidentified by DCMS until the real impact is felt by a
City or Town. In this case the attraction of a purpose-built stadium
elsewhere in the SW Region, to be supported by the SW Development
Agency (see SW Draft Cultural Strategy) will create a significant
drag for Bath RFC—as an anchor tenant—away from a
City that has nurtured and assisted the developed the Club over
many years.
THE CITY'S
TOURISM PERFORMANCE
All these activities attract 4,214,700 visits
to the City each year (2005 figures) which is significant. This
reflects a scale of visitor numbers that outperforms the other
major City attractions—by scale of population, or by physical
size.
In order to develop the profile of the City
the Council (October 2003) created an arm length Agency, to work
in partnership with the Commercial Sector to develop the Marketing
of the destination that is the City of Bath. The organisation
provides the links between potential customers and the visitor
services—accommodation, transport, venues and events.
The organisation is known as Bath Tourism Plus
(BTP) and is an independent entity controlled by a Board that
reflects the balance of the partnership.
INTERNATIONAL &
NATIONAL MARKETING
CHANNELS
As a destination with worldwide status, (particularly
in Britain's key market the USA), BTP works closely with VisitBritain
(VB) to access international marketing opportunities, and particularly
international media contacts, which would not otherwise be possible.
With Bath having such a wide international reputation,
collaborative working with VB is in many ways more important than
the work of the regional tourist organisation, South West Tourism.
In this respect, the adequate funding of VB is important for
Bath to ensure that it can continue to work in overseas markets
and deliver business and media to our destination.
BTP is concerned that VB funding has been frozen
at £35.5 million for several years—well below that
for national tourism marketing organisations.
Results from the International Passenger Survey
(IPS) over the last 8 years show growth in overseas visits to
major "urban cities" who have significant larger marketing
budgets than traditional "heritage cities", such as
Bath.
As such, "heritage cities" such as
Bath, Cambridge and York have lost ground to these destinations.
As shown from the IPS results below, the biggest impacts for
"heritage cities" were felt post 2001 (after the first
foot and mouth outbreak and 9/11). Visitor levels for heritage
cities are still below those pre-2000.
The issue for "Heritage Cities" is
compounded by the fact that whilst the total number of overseas
visitor trips to the UK has increased consistently since 2001,
the percentage of these visitors coming to the UK on holiday visits
has declined since 2004.
One impact of the reduced Government funding
to VB in real terms is that the campaigns devised by VB require
significant "buy in" from destinations. The entry price
points for such campaigns—often in excess of £5,000—are
packaged at major cities with far greater budgets than other smaller
(but no less important) cities such as Bath.
Bath is simply unable to afford to "buy
into" campaigns thus stifling the opportunity for marketing
in overseas markets and to target identified customer groups.
This destination feels strongly that campaigns should be made
more openly available/affordable to key destinations such as Bath.
DEVOLUTION &
NATIONAL MARKETING
The devolution of Scotland & Wales has also
impacted on key English destinations such as Bath.
Funding for national tourism bodies in Scotland
(£38.35 million in 2006-07) and Wales (£22.55 million
in 2006-07) far outstrips that for England (£12.4 million
in 2006-07). This inequality means that destinations in these
nations are being marketed to English residents more strongly
than those in England. For Bath, the marketing of these destinations
is often to our key markets (eg residents from London and the
Midlands are targeted ferociously by Wales & Scotland).
REGIONAL SPATIALITY
& REGIONAL MARKETING
ACTIVITY
Bath and North East Somerset falls within the
remit of the South West RDA which provides funding for SWT. The
geography of the South West and the nation's perceptions of what
"the South West" is, means that the northern half of
the region is often overlooked in tourism marketing. Focus is
very much on Devon & Cornwall.
LOW COST
CARRIER GROWTH—REQUIREMENT
FOR DESTINATION
MARKETING
As with many other cities, the growth in low
cost flights from regional airports has an impact on many destinations.
Figures from the Civil Aviation Authority show the huge growth
in passenger numbers from regional airports:
|
| Airport | % change 1996-2006
|
|
| Liverpool | 702
|
| Bournemouth | 512
|
| Exeter | 381
|
| Bristol | 310
|
|
| (Source: Civil Aviation Authority 2007).
|
On the negative side the opportunities of low cost air travel
mean that UK destinations are competing against European counterparts
far more than we were 10 years ago. It is clear that regional
governments in mainland Europe are providing significant funds
to market their destinations to UK and other European citizens,
thus creating greater competition for UK destinations. In the
case of Bristol Airport currently less than 5% of arrivals are
overseas leisure visitors.
On the positive side, the growth in low cost routes and regional
gateways provides a wonderful opportunity for UK destinations
with an international reputation such as Bath access to new source
markets.
However, targeted marketing activity to these countries is
again stifled by lack of funding. We would call for additional
"ring fenced" funding to be made available for this
activity—it is vital that marketing of "sub-regions"
around regional airports is undertaken in new source countries
to ensure that potential visitors are aware of the destinations
close to regional airports. For example—many Europeans would
know of Bath, but how many would be aware that the city is less
than 20 miles from Bristol Airport?
TOURISM DATA/RESEARCH
There is a requirement for far better, and timelier, delivery
of statistics and trends—particularly international data.
From a destination viewpoint there seems to have been an almost
criminal neglect of research, and where research has taken place
the methodology has often changed meaning that long term trend
analysis is not possible.
SPECIAL CASE
Bath and North East Somerset would hesitate to argue that
it has a special case to promote. However, in the context of Britain's
Historic Cities—(so important for the image of the UK across
the world and consequently its balance of returns) Bath Architectural,
Heritage & Cultural Offering plays a role in English Tourism
that combines—in one discrete City location—a celebration
of that which is "special" in the development of England
over a 6,000 year history. It combines built environments, cultural
celebration and sporting endeavour that are both contemporary
and yet brimming with historical reference.
As a City of 85,000 residents it attracts a disproportionate
number of visitors but is prevented from properly managing the
impact of those visits by progressive changes in Government Policies.
Identified above are some of the issues the City is struggling
with today. Issues that require external assistance and support
to resolve. However as a World Heritage site of considerable importance
it should be that DCMS have the knowledge, passion and expertise
to identify the impact of changes—and work at mitigating
the negative effects.
Bath and North East Somerset Council would welcome the
Select Committee holding a session in the City of Bath's Guildhall
and examining, directly, the issues that face an Historic City
as a tourism venue.
September 2007
| 
