Memorandum submitted by Caradon District
Council
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Culture, Media and Sport Committee
has set up an inquiry into Tourism and is seeking additional evidence
from local authorities. This paper represents Caradon District
Council's response to the call for evidence.
2. BACKGROUND
Location and character of Caradon District
2.1 The area of the District is 66,389 ha
and in 2001 the population was 79,649.[2]
There are five principal rural and estuarial towns Liskeard, Looe,
Callington, Saltash and Torpoint, with more than 70 small to medium
sized villages scattered between. Some 47% of the population live
in these five main towns.
2.2 The District has a strong rural character,
with the Fowey, Lynher and Tamar rivers running from Bodmin Moor,
through a farmed landscape with deep wooded valleys to magnificent
coastal scenery. This mix of small towns, villages and hamlets,
provides the District with a rich diversity in both cultural heritage
and environmental terms. It is an undeniably superb environment,
which is a key factor in the area's attractiveness to tourists,
migrants, and new investors. It is however, subject to constant
pressures for change arising from development, agricultural change,
and recreational use by visitors and residents.
Population of Caradon District
2.3 There has been a significant level of
in-migration since 1961, when the Tamar Road Bridge opened, with
the population increasing from 49,980-79,694 (+59.5%). However,
growth between 1991 and 2001 was one of the slowest in the region
at 4.09%. 17.1% of the population are aged 0-15 years; 63.7% are
of working age and 19.3% are of pensionable age. Ethnic minorities
comprise 0.7% of the population.
2.4 There are proportionately fewer children
and young working age people living in Caradon than is experienced
nationally. This reflects a shortage of higher educational opportunities
and jobs for the young people seeking careers in the area. There
are, however more mature working age people than typical, and
more pensioners. The average age in the district is 42, compared
with 38.6 nationally.
Tourism in Caradon
2.5 Caradon District Council relies heavily
on the visitor economy and the latest figures on the Tourism Economy
from South West Tourism show that for 2005:
CARADON KEY FACTS (2005)[3]
|
| 474,000 | trips by staying visitors
|
| 2,868,000 | staying visitor nights
|
| £110,629,000 | spend by staying visitors
|
| 1,399,000 | day visits |
| £56,124,000 | spend by day visits
|
| £7,040,000 | other tourism related spend
|
| 4,608 | jobs related to tourism spending
|
| 14% | of employment is supported by tourism
|
|
2.6 By supporting 14% of all employment and bringing
in a total of £170 million pounds to the local economy every
year, the visitor economy is absolutely vital to the economic
wellbeing of the district and underpins much of the district's
rural economy. This was borne out in 2001 when the Foot and Mouth
outbreak caused much of the rural area to be closed and put the
tourism economy on hold for some months.
3. THE TOURISM
INDUSTRY—A
SPECIAL CASE
3.1 The tourism industry in S E Cornwall is predominantly
made up of small establishments, operating from a rural location
with very firm roots to their local area. What they can offer
their paying visitor is directly related to what the local area
"offer" is which includes how the public product is
managed and presented. Nowhere is this more true than in Cornwall
where visitors come for the landscape, the beaches, the towns,
moors, the heritage and the countryside. This complex relationship
between an industry, its social and natural environment and the
public bodies who manage a seemingly unrelated part of a product,
is unique and is not seen in any other economic sector and yet
must be understood if the tourism economy is to be effectively
and sustainably managed.
3.2 Since the early 1990s, the Government has done much
to try to understand this complex relationship and to harness
it to deliver real benefits to the visitor, the industry, the
host communities and the environment,[4]
also known as the "VICE" model. As a result of the Tourism
and the Environment report, the Government went onto set up a
number of "Local Area Initiatives" which were pilots
into how tourism could be managed to be more sustainable. "Project
Explore" was one of these initiatives that operated in S
E Cornwall and was recognised for delivering great progress to
the striking of this balance.[5]
3.3 A key lesson learnt from all these initiatives was
the importance of partnerships and the need to build these from
the grass-roots level up at a very local level. Whilst it was
recognised that there had to be supporting structures at a higher
political level, it was at the grass-roots level that the relationships
were particularly vital.
3.4 It is important that these findings are not lost
in any new structures but remain an integral part, driving benefits
down to the local level.
4. CHALLENGES AND
OPPORTUNITIES FOR
THE DOMESTIC
AND INBOUND
TOURISM INDUSTRIES
4.1 A. Domestic and Overseas Tourism in Caradon:
Source: 2005 Value of Tourism by SWT. (2007)
|
| Domestic
| Overseas
| Total |
| No
| % | No
| % | No
|
|
| Trips | 448,000
| 94.5 | 26,000
| 5.5 | 474,000
|
| Nights | 2,669,000
| 93.1 | 199,000
| 6.9 | 2,868,000
|
| Spend | £100,951,000
| 91.3 | £9,678,000
| 8.7 | 110,629,000
|
| Spend per trip | £225.33
| | £372.23
| | |
|
4.2 The table shows that whilst that whilst Caradon receives
only 5.5% of its visits from overseas visitors, they do spend
about 60% more per trip than domestic visitors. However, because
the overall numbers are small, overseas visitors account for less
than 10% of visitor spend in the district.
4.3 With marketing at overseas visitors being notoriously
high-risk in terms of effectiveness, it would seem to make sense
for efforts for the tourism sector to continue to focus on marketing
to the domestic market who spend 91% of all visitor spend in the
district. This is particularly true looking to the longer term,
when cheap flights are no longer viable and domestic destinations
become even more attractive to the UK holiday-maker.
4.4 Climate change and rising oil prices will have an
increasing effect on the tourism economy of peripheral areas such
as Cornwall and it is imperative that these are properly modelled
in order to understand the impact that any price increases or
reductions in their availability might have on the local economy.
However, learning from the findings from the "Maintaining
the Balance" report, it is also important that the tourism
economy takes a responsible attitude to any impacts it may have
on the environment, and that the utmost is done to reduce and
mitigate any negative impacts.
4.5 It is also imperative that marketing activities do
not occur divorced from the efforts at grass-roots level to develop
the visitor economy on the "VICE" principles mentioned
earlier. It is only when the product offer matches with that marketed,
that there is a true partnership and responsible destination marketing.
4.6 If we are to future-proof the visitor economy which
underpins so much of our rural areas, we should be looking to
build from the grass-roots level up a local economy that celebrates
an areas distinctiveness, that builds local links between producers
and consumers and that enables more sustainable use of an areas
resources. These aims are all compatible with a quality visitor
experience as well as the inevitable higher costs of oil and travel
as well as the corresponding reduction in disposable income that
will come soon.
4.7 Infrastructure will also be critical and it must
be incumbent on the Government to ensure that rail links to these
peripheral areas be maintained for the longer term; the Teignmouth
stretch of the mainline being a case in point.
5. THE EFFECTIVENESS
OF DCMS AND
ITS SPONSORED
BODIES (SUCH
AS VISITBRITAIN)
IN SUPPORTING
THE INDUSTRY
5.1 The support structures for tourism lie battered and
bruised after experiencing a continuous carousel of reorganisation
over the last 15 years. Seismic shifts in the support structures
at all levels from national to regional have resulted in an industry
that is defensive and lacks confidence. This has been happening
at a time when the industry should have been doing the opposite—it
should have been looking to work together and build lasting partnerships
to deliver the quality product that the visitors, the environment
and the communities deserve.
5.2 Current concerns with DCMS lie with its uncertainty
about how to treat the tourism industry—whether to treat
it as a cultural/leisure experience in which case the DCMS is
clearly its rightful home, or whether to treat it as the multimillion
pound industry that it is, in which case it would be better in
the DTI.
5.3 However, regardless of where it should sit, the current
structure has handed all strategic functions down to the Regional
Development Agencies without the national framework required to
give it a single compass of direction. This has led to ad-hoc
policy development and continued fragmentation of effort. Examples
here would include the voluntary emphasis on "inspected-only"
accommodation and the confusion over how best to incorporate sustainability
into the tourism industry. It is imperative that the DCMS be properly
funded to fill this strategic vacuum with staff knowledgeable
and experienced in this field.
5.4 VisitBritain seems to deliver its marketing function
effectively, but it is not delivering to its full potential due
to the policy vacuum above it. Linkages between for example EnglandNet
and local websites could be improved if there was the strategic
drive from DCMS to do so, thereby pushing the "assessed only"
criteria for accommodation.
5.5 In light of the numbers of businesses leaving the
national inspection schemes, it must be clear that DCMS need to
look carefully at the National Quality Assurance Schemes and consider
whether the way forward might rather be a basic statutory inspection
that ensures guests are not going to be burnt, poisoned, swindled
or infected. This would do much to remove the confusion amongst
the trade and visitors alike and would provide them with the safeguards
that they deserve. Such statutory licensing would not preclude
the tourism industry from being involved in any qualitative inspection
schemes which could then be market driven and could grow to reflect
emerging niches. For example here in S E Cornwall there are some
fantastic holiday companies offering quality alternative accommodation
types. However sadly neither heritage railway carriages nor teepees
can be inspected according to the narrow NQAS inspection scheme
and so neither of these fantastic experiences can be marketed
through VisitCornwall marketing activities, they cannot take part
in Green Tourism Business Scheme because they are not inspected
and they cannot appear on VisitBritain websites because they are
not inspected. Clearly ridiculous as these are precisely the new
and vibrant niche markets that we are keen to develop.
6. CARADON RESPONSES
TO KEY
ISSUES—THE
STRUCTURE AND
FUNDING OF
SPONSORED BODIES
IN THE
TOURISM SECTOR,
AND THE
EFFECTIVENESS OF
THAT STRUCTURE
IN PROMOTING
THE UK BOTH
AS A
WHOLE AND
ITS COMPONENT
PARTS
6.1 In the South West funding for tourism is provided
through the SWRDA who seem to commission South West Tourism for
some functions. Unfortunately the biggest conflict seems to arise
when their marketing function with its associated membership activities,
get in the way of tourism development and delivery. For example
there is lack of clarity on who South West Tourism are there to
serve: are they there to protect their members interests or are
they there to deliver a regional tourism agenda that enables the
industry to support the local economy. With tourism businesses
having small and fixed marketing budgets, what this means is that
the support bodies are actually all working in competition with
each other as they all try to boost marketing buy-in to their
particular service rather than in partnership.
6.2 This highlights the confusion over roles and functions
at the different levels of support bodies. It is therefore imperative
that this is clarified at an early stage in any reorganisation,
and the removal of the duplication of membership schemes would
do much to help this.
6.3 The tourism industry must also be mindful that government
sponsored marketing activity may become less important now that
the Internet enables direct routes to market so much more easily
than was the case even 5 years ago. The time for sponsored bodies
to have a role in marketing may be limited as Expedia, Lastminute.com
and even the destination management system operators all offer
their own private route to market effectively and efficiently.
Perhaps the time for government sponsored intervention for direct
marketing is numbered. This would enable resources to be freed
to develop the product and to ensure that rich local information
is provided for specific areas.
6.4 Whichever option is considered, it will be very important
that there is parity across regions in order to ensure a level
playing field.
7. THE EFFECT
OF THE
CURRENT TAX
REGIME
7.2 The benefits that tourism can bring to an area are
well documented—supporting the rural economy, bringing in
local expenditure, helping facilities and services to become more
viable and assisting in promoting a sense of pride and place.
However the visitor economy does not come free and whilst much
of the benefit goes directly to the private businesses in the
area, the costs of the industry are borne by the local authorities
through car parks, toilets, picnic areas, street cleaning, life-guarding,
beach and open space management, visitor information and so on.
This can place a heavy burden on local authorities and can also
lead to schisms in communities when funding cuts need to be made.
Recently in Cornwall we have faced the debate of whether cuts
should be made to life-guarding on beaches, an activity perhaps
geared towards the visitor, or cuts to children's' playgrounds
which is perhaps more resident-focused.
7.3 South East Cornwall also experiences high levels
of second homes, which again places a burden on local communities—pushing
prices out of reach of local buyers. Some of our parishes have
over 20% of their houses as holiday homes. This places an increased
burden on the local authority with more young people having to
be placed on the housing list than would otherwise be the case
if property prices were lower.
7.4 Changes are therefore needed to redress this imbalance;
to ensure that local authorities have the resources to manage
the impacts of tourism without placing the resident communities
at a disadvantage.
8. TOURISM DATA
8.1 [...] "we have come to believe that there is
no other sector in the UK economy as significant as tourism in
which the key strategic and management decisions are so hampered
by a lack of adequate data. Existing sources are no longer fit
for purpose and the potential economic, social and environmental
contributions of the tourism sector will only be realised if priority
is allocated to better measurement." Allnutt (2004) "Review
of Tourism Statistics" DCMS.
8.2 The Allnut report highlighted quite clearly the need
for a co-ordinated collection of data which enabled trends and
comparisons across areas to be gained. Overriding priority must
be given to this basic requirement of collecting and monitoring
accommodation stock.
8.3 Should a statutory licensing requirement be adopted,
this would provide the means of collecting this important data,
of monitoring numbers and accommodation types and of identifying
trends in for example hotels going to self-catering apartments
and camp sites becoming time-share chalet sites.
9. "ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY"
TOURISM
9.1 Managed well the tourism industry can be a great
force for good in any destination—bringing in investment,
underpinning services for visitors and locals alike and supporting
the rural economy. However, managed badly it can be a drain on
a local area, impacting on the environment as well as the local
communities and culture. The challenge must therefore be on how
best to deliver tourism that is not just "environmentally-
frieindly", but culturally and socially-friendly as well.
9.2 As mentioned in section 3.2, the Government built
on its experiences of the "local area initiatives" run
in the early 1990s, to understand clearly the principles of delivering
sustainable tourism as set out in its document published in the
mid-1990s. However, since then, the national government has failed
to mainstream these findings into national policy, and with little
emphasis at a national level, there has been no strategic drive
to develop responsible tourism at regional or local level.
9.3 Here in S E Cornwall a very successful "local
area initiative" was run called "Project Explore",
which did much to develop tourism that balanced the needs of the
visitor, the community and the environment and thereby contributing
to the "VICE" model. However, despite the findings being
published in the mid-1990s, and the "destination management
handbook" being published by the Tourism Management Institute
in 2003, the principles have not really found their way into mainstream
tourism management.
9.4 This seems to be a serious missed opportunity, made
all the more worse by the growing urgency to reduce the environmental
impact of the tourism industry in response to the climate change
challenges.
9.5 One area that this could be mainstreamed is in changes
which could be made to the NQAS accommodation inspection schemes.
Here in Cornwall agencies have been working for some time with
the accommodation providers to encourage them to take part in
the Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS)—indeed Cornwall
is the only county where there is an LAA attached to this activity,
with a stretch target attached. However, the requirement for all
businesses to be part of the NQAS scheme before they take part
in the GTBS scheme is nonsense to many and in fact there are still
instances where NQAS criteria are completely at odds with the
"green" activities. This just perpetuates the outdated
notion that high quality is linked to high consumption.
9.6 It must therefore be time to firstly look very carefully
at the NQAS criteria and see which are really appropriate, and
to "green-proof" them to ensure there is no conflict;
and secondly to consider incorporating green criteria into the
NQAS scheme, so that for example even a basic one star establishment
complies with basic environmental criteria. This would make good
business sense anyway since with its emphasis on basic monitoring
systems to measure usage, would help establishment owners be more
aware of how their business operates.
10. DERIVING MAXIMUM
BENEFIT FROM
THE OLYMPICS
10.1 Nothing further to add to the paper submitted on
the Olympics by the Cornwall Sustainable Tourism Working Group
which stressed the need to ensure that the principles of sustainable
tourism were adhered to.
October 2007
2
Source: 2001 Census. Back
3
The Value of Tourism 2005. South West Tourism, Exeter. Back
4
"Tourism and the Environment; Maintaining the Balance".
2001. English Tourist Board Back
5
"Principles of Sustainable Rural Tourism" 1994. Countryside
Commission. Back
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