Memorandum submitted by Suffolk Coastal
District Council
1. ABOUT THIS
RESPONSE
Suffolk Coastal District Council, via its partners
in DPUK and BRADA fed into a response to the original enquiry
in March.
This response will aim to look at the issues
raised from a local perspective.
2. DOMESTIC AND
INBOUND TOURISM
Nationally, it has appeared that the inbound
tourism market is in decline, with a large reduction in overseas
visitors since 2001, particularly from the USA.
At a local level on the Suffolk Coast, we are
seeing a continued increase in domestic tourism, particularly
short breaks and day trips throughout a season extending from
March to November (increase in almost 3.3 million trips since
1994).
Overseas tourists aren't a particularly large
segment of our market and numbers don't fluctuate much.
The domestic tourism industry will be challenged
in the near future by pressure on disposable income as a result
of the repeated increases in interest rates.
There are particular challenges that face coastal
resorts, in terms of deprivation, homes in multiple occupation
and reduction in accommodation and attraction provision.
Opportunities for domestic tourism include a
potential increase in short breaks and day trips from people living
nearby, particularly specialist breaks for walking, cycling, fishing,
golf, bird watching and food and drink interests. The issue over
carbon footprints and the negative connotations of using air transport
may also encourage more people to holiday at home.
In terms of the inbound market, this issue may
affect the number of people taking long haul flights, and as the
USA is one of England's biggest markets, this could have a significant
impact on tourism spend.
The Olympics must be seen as an opportunity
for inbound tourism, particularly for London and the South East
and parts of the East of England. This will only transpire if
the Cultural Olympiad is used to its full potential and the Government
actively and financially support VisitBritain in marketing the
country overseas.
Terrorism or the threat of terrorism is also
a major deterrent for the American market, and although that doesn't
particularly affect us in the Suffolk Coast, the potential for
Olympic related overseas tourism could be affected by this issue.
3. THE EFFECTIVENESS
OF THE
DCMS AND ITS
SPONSORED BODIES
IN SUPPORTING
THE INDUSTRY
and
4. THE STRUCTURE,
FUNDING AND
EFFECTIVENESS OF
SPONSORED BODIES
IN THE
TOURISM SECTOR
DCMS and VisitBritain
Suffolk Coastal would endorse the views submitted
by DPUK and BRADA in their earlier response with particular emphasis
on the following key points:
Within DCMS, tourism appears to be the "poor
relation" in comparison to sport and the arts, with very
few dedicated and experienced staff and a very low funding allocation.
Over the years, VisitBritain's budget has been
reduced and staffing and responsibilities have been eroded. This
reduction in funding inevitably affects their ability to promote
England both domestically and overseas.
Coming into the early stages of the Cultural
Olympiad, VisitBritain must be given the resources to make the
most of this opportunity.
VisitBritain has over the years withdrawn officer
support for the Tourist Information Network from its own national
office and the RTB's. This has dramatically reduced the effectiveness
of communication channels from DCMS and VisitBritain to the local
Tourism Officers and TIC's. This is slowly improving with the
appointment of a National TIC Co-ordinator, although local communication
is still lacking.
There is also an issue regarding the devolution
of tourism from RTB's to the RDA's whose vision for tourism development
varies from region to region. The national cohesion is missing,
and postcode lotteries appear to exist when it comes to tourism
funding and support.
This lack of national cohesion and regional
direction, along with increasing pressure on Local Authority budgets,
affects the local commitment to tourism management with many authorities
merging TICs into "One Stop Shops" or removing their
function altogether.
5. THE CURRENT
TAX REGIME
AND PROPOSALS
FOR LOCAL
GOVERNMENT FUNDING
In a local authority context the VAT on accommodation
paid by tourists is levied at one of the highest levels in Europe.
Suffolk Coastal is therefore opposed to the proposed bed tax not
only on grounds of competitiveness but also on the grounds that,
being aimed solely at serviced accommodation, it would be selective
and discriminatory and would make England an even more expensive
holiday destination.
6. TOURISM DATA
It is self-evident that the Government, national
and regional tourism bodies, local authorities and the industry
need robust research data to quantify the economic importance
of tourism and to inform decisions on investment.
The 2004 Allnutt Report identified the weaknesses
in the major tourism surveys currently undertaken at a national
level and it is a matter of regret that the DCMS has signally
failed to pursue the implementation of the report's recommendations,
particularly in relation to domestic and day visitor statistics.
However, performance data is equally important
at a local level. In terms of the economic significance of tourism
the DCMS should make greater efforts to help facilitate the creation
of a robust economic impact model, building on the lessons learnt
from the implementation of the Cambridge and STEAM models. In
addition Suffolk Coastal would like to see greater priority given
to the development of a self-assessment tool for LA tourism services
to evaluate performance and encourage best practice, possibly
using the DPUK Baseline Statement survey as a starting point.
One of the initiatives being pursued by Partners
for England is the creation of a National Tourism Intelligence
Unit. It is to be hoped that this will come to fruition and that
it will be able to pursue the recommendations in the Allnutt report
as well as addressing data requirements at local and regional
level. However, adequate funding for its activities will be a
pre-requisite.
Bearing in mind the current local authority
funding issues, the long term commitment to the collation of local
statistics is in question, so the creation of a national tourism
statistics office which would be able to disseminate the figures
down to regional and local level at minimal cost would be very
helpful.
ENVIRONMENTAL TOURISM
Environmentally-friendly forms of tourism should
be built into every aspect of the industry's operation. Increasing
environmental awareness is now the norm, and businesses can see
an economic impact from the measures that they can take to make
their business more environmentally friendly.
Locally, tourism partnerships and local authorities
have been promoting the benefits of sourcing products locally,
promoting local attractions and alternative energy production
methods as a way of addressing this area of concern.
Within the Suffolk Coastal area, "food
tourism" has become big business. Businesses are now beginning
to recognise the importance of providing information to their
customers on where their food came from. This has provided immeasurable
benefits to the plethora of small suppliers in the District as
well as for visitors and local residents.
Whilst the District Council and its partners
can improve the communication methods to offer good, low cost
alternatives to make the greener alternatives more attractive
as an option, it is unlikely that car usage will be reduced significantly.
Particularly within smaller seaside resorts,
public transport links are poor, with few railway connections
and inadequate bus routes. The Government must be aware of the
potential impact a reduction in car transport would have on resorts
and their economic stability.
Tourism within the Suffolk Coastal area relies
on car transport as public transport links within the rural and
coastal areas is restrictive, expensive and unreliable. Once visitors
have arrived, however it is much easier to convince them to walk
or cycle around the AONB rather than use their cars, as this enhances
the visitor experience.
8. BENEFITS FROM
THE 2012 OLYMPICS
Suffolk Coastal submitted a detailed response
to the DCMS's Welcome Legacy consultation document in November
2006 and fed into the response from DPUK and BRADA.
In summary we advocated:
— The need for a coherent and targeted
tourism strategy with adequate funding for its successful implementation
— A structure which gives a dedicated
unit (possibly an Olympic Tourism Forum) responsibility for taking
ownership of the tourism strategy, co-ordinating its implementation
and monitoring progress against it.
— Greater emphasis in the strategy
than was evident in the consultation document on how the nations
of the UK and the English regions would benefit from the Olympics
before, during and after.
— The need for VisitBritain and VisitLondon
to collaborate as soon as possible to draft and consult on an
overseas marketing and media strategy framework which destinations
can buy into in a co-ordinated way.
— Likewise in the lead up to the Games
in 2012 regions and destinations need clearly to understand the
strategies which England Marketing/Wales/Scotland are implementing
to promote their nations to a domestic audience.
— Greater LA representation on the
Minister's 2012 Group (since achieved)
October 2007
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