Warwickshire County Council
Tourism Policy
Draft – November 2012
Head Office
Project Manager
30 Hall Garth Lane
4 Thorburn Rd
Scarborough
Edinburgh
YO13 9JA
EH13 0BQ
Tel: 01723 862345
Tel: 0131 466 1005
e: info@team-tourism.com
e: richardsmith@teamtouism.com
www.team-tourism.com
List of Contents
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2.
3.
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5.
6.
Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1
The Importance of Tourism to Warwickshire ................................................................... 1
The Potential and Priorities for Future Tourism Growth .................................................. 1
The Warwickshire Visitor Economy Framework ............................................................... 3
Tourism’s Contribution to ‘Going for Growth’ ................................................................. 5
Warwickshire County Council’s Tourism Policy ............................................................... 5
1.
Introduction
Tourism makes a key contribution to the Warwickshire economy and the quality of life for the
county’s resident population. The county has assets with national and international visitor
appeal and is a popular destination for day visiting. All indicators point to significant future
growth in Warwickshire’s visitor economy. The Warwickshire Visitor Economy Framework 20132018 charts the agreed way forward for capitalising on this growth potential. It identifies
Warwickshire County Council as a key delivery partner. The following Tourism Policy thus sets
out the roles that the County Council will play in implementing the Visitor Economy
Framework.
2.
The Importance of Tourism to Warwickshire
In 20111, it was estimated that Warwickshire’s visitor economy generated £405m of Gross
Value Added (GVA) to the county’s economy, supporting 20,800 jobs and 3,610 firms.
In percentage terms the visitor economy accounted for 5% of GVA, 9% of jobs and 11% of
firms in the county.
The visitor economy also makes a significant contribution to the quality of life for
Warwickshire’s resident population through the provision of a wide range of leisure time
opportunities and support for diverse and vibrant retail and eating out sectors.
3.
The Potential and Priorities for Future Tourism Growth
Key market trends put Warwickshire in a strong position for future tourism growth:
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The county should benefit from the continuing staycation trend in the domestic
market and the growing demand for short breaks;
The international awareness and appeal of Shakespeare, Stratford-upon-Avon and
Warwick Castle put Warwickshire in a strong position to capitalise on the anticipated
future growth in overseas visits to the UK;
The county has good potential to attract short break demand from the growing
emptynester, early retired and pre-family markets;
Warwickshire has a sizeable and growing catchment population for day visits.
TBR - 2011
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Visitors are becoming ever more demanding in terms of the quality of visit experiences that
they are looking for. With the increasing power of social media and customer review
websites, getting the visitor experience right has never been more important. Stratford-uponAvon, Warwick and Royal Leamington Spa are Warwickshire’s attack destinations. Ensuring
that they are as compelling and competitive as possible as places to visit is a key priority
going forward. Developing the county’s rural tourism and recreation infrastructure for both
visitors and local people will also be a priority in order to extend the benefits of tourism across
the county.
Advances in digital communications technology are changing the way that customers
research and book holidays, breaks and days out. Tourism destinations and businesses need
to take full advantage of these new technologies to boost demand.
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4.
The Warwickshire Visitor Economy Framework
The Warwickshire Visitor Economy Framework 2013-2018 is a strategy for growing the visitor
economy’s contribution to economic prosperity, employment and quality of life in
Warwickshire. It sets a target to grow the value of the county’s visitor economy by 5% per
annum over the next 5 years, increasing its value to £570m of GVA by 2018 and creating an
additional 5,600 jobs.
The Visitor Economy Framework is focused on 3 Strategic Priorities for growth:
Priority 1: Creating Compelling Places to Visit
In terms of developing the visitor offer of Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick and Royal Leamington
Spa – as the county’s attack destinations.
Priority 2: Building Private Sector Marketing Capacity
In terms of collaborative marketing and digital marketing capability.
Priority3: Extending the Benefits of Tourism
Both geographically across rural Warwickshire and seasonally through boosting off-peak
demand.
The Visitor Economy Framework focuses on 6 Action Programmes to address these priorities:
Programme 1: Destination Development Plans for Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick and
Royal Leamington Spa
Bringing together all of the relevant delivery bodies to formulate and implement an agreed
vision for improving and developing the visitor offer of each town.
Programme 2: Gateways to the Countryside
A programme to co-ordinate and support the development of Warwickshire’s rural tourism
product and infrastructure for outdoor activities.
Programme 3: Destination Marketing
Co-ordinated destination marketing led by the Shakespeare’s England DMO.
Programme 4: Tactical Marketing
Tactical marketing campaigns and projects to drive business to certain types of tourism
business and/or boost off-peak demand.
Programme 5: Digital Marketing Skills
A programme of digital marketing skills training and advice to equip the county’s tourism
businesses with the knowledge and skills they need to market their product successfully in the
new digital age.
Programme 6: Advocacy & Intelligence
A research and intelligence programme to ensure that the contribution and potential of
tourism is fully understood by all key decision makers in the county.
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WARWICKSHIRE VISITOR ECONOMY FRAMEWORK
Aim
To increase the visitor economy’s contribution to economic
prosperity, employment and quality of life in Warwickshire
Target
Increase value by 5% per annum between 2013 and 2018 to £570m
of GVA by 2018 and the creation of an additional 5600 FTE jobs.
Priority 1
Creating Compelling
Places to Visit
Priority 2
Building Private Sector
Marketing Capacity
Priority 3
Extending the Benefits
of Tourism
Programme 1:
Programme 2:
Programme 3:
Programme 4:
Programme 5:
Programme 6:
Destination
Gateways to
Destination
Tactical
Digital
Advocacy
Development
the
Marketing
Marketing
Marketing Skills
Plans
Countryside
&
Intelligence
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5.
Tourism’s Contribution to ‘Going for Growth’
The Visitor Economy Framework mirrors the key strands of the County Council’s ‘Going for
Growth’ vision in terms of:
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Increasing the visitor economy’s role in achieving ‘a vibrant economy’ in
Warwickshire;
Ensuring the county’s attack destinations (Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick and Royal
Leamington Spa) punch above their weight as compelling places to visit;
Developing the county’s rural tourism and recreation infrastructure for the benefit of
visitors and local people alike;
Improving the quality of lifestyle and work/life balance for Warwickshire’s residents
through the provision of a wide range of quality leisure time opportunities.
Warwickshire County Council’s Tourism Policy
The Visitor Economy Framework Action Programmes that contribute most directly to the
County Council’s ‘Going for Growth’ vision are Programme 1 (the Destination Development
Plans for Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick and Royal Leamington Spa) and Programme 2 (the
Gateways to the Countryside programme).
6.1 Destination Development Plans
The following County Council departments have important contributions to make to the
development of the Destination Development Plans for the three towns:
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Regeneration
Estates
Tourism Development
Museums
County Records
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Arts Development
Economic Development/Inward Investment
Transport Planning
WCC Tourism Policy 1
The County Council will commit the time and expertise of all relevant officers to the
development and implementation of the Destination Development Plans for Stratford-uponAvon, Warwick and Royal Leamington Spa
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The County Council believes that Destination Development Plans need to be market led and
commercially driven and is prepared to contribute funding to the commissioning of
appropriate visitor research and consultancy support to achieve this.
WCC Tourism Policy 2
Subject to need, cost, budget availability and partner contributions the County Council will
contribute funding to the commissioning of required research and consultancy assistance to
support the development and implementation of the Destination Development Plans for
Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick and Royal Leamington Spa.
6.2. Gateways to the Countryside Programme
As a countywide programme that contributes directly to the ‘Going for Growth’ vision of ‘a
rural infrastructure amongst the best in the country’ it is logical for the County Council to take
the lead role on the Gateways to the Countryside Programme. The County Council also has
a vested interest in this programme in terms of its management of country parks and the
public rights of way network; ownership of farms and small holdings; and work to support the
regeneration of the county’s market towns.
WCC Tourism Policy 3
The County Council will commit officer time and budget to leading the development and
implementation of the Gateways to the Countryside Programme
The following County Council departments have important contributions to make to the
Gateways to the Countryside Programme:
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Tourism Development
Rural Services
Country Parks
Rights of Way
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Regeneration
Arts Development
Estates & Smallholdings
WCC Tourism Policy 4
The County Council will commit the time and expertise of all relevant officers to the
development and implementation of the Gateways to the Countryside Programme
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6.3.
Advocacy & Intelligence
The County Council is the logical lead for the Advocacy & Intelligence Programme. The
district authorities naturally look to the County Council to lead in these areas.
WCC Tourism Policy 5
The County Council will commit officer time and budget to the commissioning of research to
monitor the economic and employment impact of Warwickshire’s visitor economy and the
performance of the county’s tourism industry.
WCC Tourism Policy 6
The County Council will act as the lead champion for Warwickshire’s visitor economy, using
the research evidence to raise awareness of the tourism sector’s contribution to economic
prosperity, employment and quality of life in Warwickshire.
6.4 Tourism Marketing
The County Council sees marketing as the remit of the private sector and will not therefore
be involved in the delivery of marketing action programmes.
WCC Tourism Policy 7
The County Council will not involve itself in the delivery of tourism marketing programmes.
The County Council believes that Tourism Marketing should be based on a sound base of
market research evidence and is prepared to contribute partnership funding to the
commissioning of appropriate market research to help shape collaborative Tourism
Marketing campaigns and inform the marketing strategies of individual tourism businesses
and collaborative marketing partnerships.
WCC Tourism Policy 8
Subject to need, cost, budget availability and partner contributions the County Council will
contribute funding to the commissioning of required market research to help shape and
inform Tourism Marketing activity in the county.
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The County Council may need to market its heritage and cultural services, country parks and
rights of way to visitor markets and may need to promote the county’s developing rural
tourism and recreation product to visitors as part of the Gateways to the Countryside
Programme. In so doing it is logical for the County Council to look first at how it can achieve
such marketing objectives through the Shakespeare’s England DMO.
WCC Tourism Policy 9
Where the County Council needs to market its heritage and cultural services, country parks
and rights of way and/or the county’s rural tourism and recreation product to visitor markets,
it will look first to delivery through the Shakespeare’s England DMO before considering other
delivery options
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