Memorandum submitted by VisitEngland (NE2-10)

 

 

1. About VisitEngland

 

1.1 In response to a clear call from industry arising from the 2008 British Tourism Framework Review, VisitEngland has been created as the strategic leadership body representing the public and private sector stakeholders of English Tourism. It works in partnership with VisitBritain, the RDAs and local authorities, and the private sector, creating a national tourism strategy, optimising marketing investment, and developing the visitor experience across England. VisitEngland continues to use its Enjoy England consumer brand in the domestic market and will market England under the VisitEngland brand in international markets. More information can be found on our websites www.visitengland.com and www.enjoyengland.com. VisitEngland is also responsible for Quality assessment schemes for accommodation and visitor attractions.

 

1.2 VisitEngland is grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this important consultation. There are key issues in the English visitor economy that VisitEngland would wish to be borne in mind and we have provided information and thoughts where we feel we can best add value to the inquiry.

2. The English Visitor Economy

2.1 In 2008 there were 95.5m domestic overnight trips in England, generating a total spend of £16.4bn; 27.3m inbound (international) visits generating £14.3bn; and 872 million tourism daytrips, generating £39.3bn[1].

2.2 In "The Economic Case for the Visitor Economy", commissioned for the British Tourism Framework Review of 2007-08, Deloitte estimated the 2008 total contribution of the English visitor economy in terms of GDP to be £94bn[2]. Holiday travel accounts for over half of domestic overnight spend, but only one third of inbound value, while business tourism is relatively more important to the inbound market. Visiting friends and relatives (VFR) contributes just under a quarter of total spend across both markets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Regional Spread

3.1 London and the South East together generate almost 70% of English inbound visitor volume and value. The profile is very different for domestic tourism which has a much broader regional spread, with the South West attracting the highest number of visitors-in 5 of the national total. The North East accounts for around 2% of inbound visits and 4% of domestic visits:

	Domestic	Inbound
	Trips	Spend	Trips	Spend
	%	%	%	%
London	11.8	14.3	53.8	56.9
East of England	9.7	8.3	7.9	6.0
East Midlands	7.6	6.5	4.3	2.7
West Midlands	8.1	7.0	6.4	4.3
North West	13.6	14.2	9.0	6.0
North East	4.2	4.2	2.0	1.3
South East	17.1	14.3	16.7	12.5
South West	19.8	22.1	8.5	6.9
Yorkshire	10.0	8.5	4.6	3.2

 

3.2 The regional spread of Quality assessed accommodation is as follows:

 

4. Marketing of England and the North East nationally and internationally

 

4.1 VisitEngland is responsible for the overarching England brand. We have quarterly regional marketing (with all regions) where we share marketing plans and information. Recent partnership marketing for the domestic market with ONE is as follows:

· VisitEngland's UK marketing Manager attended ONE's tourism planning day on 9 March and presented VE's plans for 2009-10. There have been discussions on working together.

· ONE have supplied around 50 offers for the national "Enjoy Every Minute, Enjoy England" campaign (which is commonly know as "the value campaign" and is promoted with national print, radio and television advertising).

· VE have worked closely with the NewcastleGateshead initiative on the value campaign-shot taking in the Tyne Bridge and the Sage features on one of the lead posters for the campaign. We have also worked on supplements, press displays and web content. ONE are featuring in Guardian supplements as part of the campaign.

· ONE coordinated consumer offers for those collecting tokens off products from Müller ("Local Treasures") and Walker's ("Gary's Great Trips"). VE delivered these partnership marketing opportunities. VE also did a day of radio with Gary Lineker to highlight the Walker's campaign, highlighting many attractions in the North East.

· VE engage ONE for regional specific PR requests.

· VE are always pleased to receive regional information for our national topical campaign themes. For example, the recent Inn England campaign around visiting the English pub.

 

4.2 VisitEngland is focusing on the international markets of Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland and, going forward, the USA. We offer campaign management and PR services to regional partners. We will ask regions to pay us for these services, but we offer considerable expertise.

 

4.3 If regions, including the North East, wish to run campaigns abroad without our input they are free to do so, but we believe we are working very well together. Recent partnership marketing for the inbound market with ONE is as follows:

· International marketing meetings are combined with the domestic meetings as in para 4.1.

· VE worked with ONE on joint campaigns in partnership with DFDS Seaways in Germany and the Netherlands in Spring 2008.

· We are currently in discussions with ONE of joint activities going forward.

· ONE have a section in our French, German and Dutch brochures, of which we distribute approximately 40,000 per year, per market.

· VE will work with ONE on journalist visits and press coverage from the overseas markets.

 

4.4 VisitEngland operates an assessed-only policy for marketing accommodation. ie we will only market accommodation that has been assessed by VisitEngland or the AA. North East participation is listed in para 3.2.

 

4.5 VisitEngland would congratulate ONE on the demonstrable success of its "Passionate People, Passionate Places" branding and marketing campaigns for the North East. Tourism growth to the North East has been exceptional.

 

 

 

5. Tourism Strategy for the North East Region

 

5.1 The Regional Development Agencies were given the strategic responsibility for the sustainable development of tourism in the regions. One North East were quick to develop a tourism strategy on behalf of the region. They have established a well-regarded tourism support structure, which gives focus and flexibility to a network of Area Tourism Partnerships (ATPs). At the same time, the Agency itself overlays a level of quality to ensure a regional consistency of approach.

 

5.2 One North East formed an active working partnership with its sister RDA, the North West Development Agency, English Heritage, Natural England and a range of other stakeholders, which led to the creation of Hadrian's Wall Heritage Limited. This well-respected body provides oversight, development and marketing opportunities for one of England's great tourism icons.

 

5.3 One North East take an active role in the Regional Development Agency Tourism "Leads" Group. In the absence hitherto of a national tourism strategy for England, the RDAs were asked to explore ways in which they might work collaborative. Whilst this collective responsibility has proved difficult to enact, One North East are certainly active partners in the group. One North East have recently taken over lead responsibility on behalf of RDAs for the review of the proposed national tourism operability platform for England, Scotland and Wales.

 

6. Tourism Strategy for England

 

6.1 As noted above, England does not have an overarching tourism strategy. This has been disadvantageous to the country as a whole, but also to individual regions given the lack of a dedicated national tourism policy. With the emergence of VisitEngland, this situation will soon be addressed with the publication of a new strategy for England by the end of 2009. VisitEngland is working actively with all the regions, including One North East, to develop a tourism strategy that reflects the interests and needs of each particular partner. One North East has volunteered to take an active role in shaping this strategy.

 

6.2 While the England Tourism Strategy is very much a work in progress, we can say that we are focusing attention around two key pillars: (i) effective marketing, (ii) improving the visitor experience. We are drawing on regional tourism strategies in our work.

 

6.3 The England strategy is a collaborative effort between Partners for England (P4E). P4E brings together the disparate stakeholders of English tourism, including VisitEngland, the RDAs, local government, trade and sector bodies and so on. P4E meets twice a year.

 

6.4 VisitEngland is committed to quality in the visitor experience. As well as quality assessment for accommodation, we offer the Visitor Attraction Quality Assessment Scheme (VAQAS). There are currently 70 members of VAQAS in North East England.

 

7. The long term potential for tourism in the North East

 

7.1 Long term sustainability in tourism is provided by destinations that offer two basic things: (a) standards of quality recognised by consumers and (b) local points of difference-otherwise known as Unique Selling Points. Standards-such as Blue Flag beaches, Green Flag parks, Star-Rated accommodation, the Quality Rose-are the bedrock of consumer expectations. On that bedrock, however, destinations must build something that helps them stand out from the crowd and appeal to particular markets. For example, Tynemouth has cut out a useful niche around surfing (the Newquay of the North East), and Hartlepool has done brilliantly with its maritime heritage, securing Tall Ships 2010. Themes that are ripe for the future of tourism interest in the North East will include Bede and early English Christianity; Hadrian and Roman England; the natural environment (esp Kielder and the Dales); city breaks (esp Newcastle/Gateshead and Durham-and Sunderland, City on the Sea); and built heritage (not least the fantastic castles in the region). Tourism offers a viable future in a region in transition to post-industry and post-industrial landscapes (such as the Durham Heritage Coast, Beamish, or the enduring appeal of riding Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge).

 

7.2 Visitor figures for the last full years available:

		Trips (millions)	Nights (millions)	Spend (£ millions)
Region Visited	2007	2008	% Change	2007	2008	% Change	2007	2008	% Change
West Midlands	8.4	7.76	-8	20.12	20.74	3	1184	1149	-3
East of England	10.57	9.22	-13	32.78	29.12	-11	1474	1362	-8
East Midlands	7.37	7.28	-1	20.17	22.29	11	1055	1060	0
London		10.14	11.32	12	23.35	27.43	17	2204	2356	7
North West		13.03	12.97	0	37.61	36.56	-3	2282	2338	2
North East		3.64	4.02	10	12.35	12.22	-1	651	697	7
South East		17.86	16.3	-9	49.95	47.52	-5	2353	2350	0
South West		20.46	18.93	-7	79.33	71.73	-10	3802	3639	-4
Yorkshire & Humberside	10.35	9.55	-8	30.12	26.53	-12	1427	1397	-2

 

 

7.3 2008 was a good year for tourism in the North East. Indeed, the North East is a rapidly growing tourism market, and has been at a time when others have found the climate rather more challenging. Admittedly, the North East has started from a low base and it still has a lot of potential to fulfil. We are confident it will continue to grow and look forward to playing our part.

 

 

13 August 2009

 

---

[1] Daytrips figures are projections based on 2005 data.

[2] An indicative figure only, estimated using English domestic and international overnight tourism spending shares applied to the UK national estimate calculated by Deloitte (£114bn)