European Charter for Sustainable Tourism for the
Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Cotswolds Conference Centre, Broadway
Thursday 18 February, 10.00am
MEETING NOTES
Attending:
Sue Adie, Cheltenham Borough Council;
Jo Butler, Oxford City Council;
Sally Graff, Cotswold District Council;
Nick Holliday, Cotswolds Conservation Board;
Jemma Roberts, CoaST;
Simon Tipple, Destination Worcestershire;
Michael Banks, Cotswolds Conservation Board;
Richard Drakeley, Warwickshire County Council;
Nicola Greaves, Cotswolds Conservation Board;
Chris Jackson, West Oxfordshire District Council;
Rosie Simpson; Europarc Consulting;
Emma Whittlesea, South West Tourism
Apologies:
Sara Chardin, Stroud District Council;
Fiona Humphries, Bath Tourism Plus;
Sarah Taylor, Cotswolds & Forest of Dean Tourism; Robin Townsend, Wiltshire Council;
Alun Williams, Visit Wiltshire;
Julie Wood, Tewkesbury Borough Council
NOTES
1. Nick Holliday welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for attending.
2. Self introductions were made along with a summary of what people were hoping to get out of
the meeting. Common themes were opportunities for working together, networking with others
and sharing best practice on sustainable tourism activities.
3. NG gave an introduction to the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the role of
the Cotswolds Conservation Board, along with a description of some of the recent sustainable
tourism related activities that the Board has been involved with.
4. Jemma Roberts from the Cornwall Sustainable Tourism Project (COAST) gave a presentation
on the work of COAST and their experiences with working with tourism businesses and the
Cornwall AONB, leading to the Charter award for Cornwall in 2009.
5. Rosie Simpson from Europarc Consulting introduced the European Charter for Sustainable
Tourism in Protected Areas and explained its purpose, aims, process, principles and benefits.
6. A question and answer session took place after the presentations which covered the following
issues:
a. Getting some businesses engaged with sustainable tourism is often difficult.
Businesses need to be encouraged to take small steps to becoming more sustainable
and to see the benefits of doing so.
b. Not all businesses want to get involved with GTBS, however there is a Green Start
scheme available with Visit Britain to get businesses started.
c. The benefits of the Charter aren’t obvious to businesses therefore there is a need to
highlight the benefits of the AONB more prominently.
d. The benefits of the AONB need to go beyond the boundary of the AONB.
7. NG outlined the existing vision for the Cotswolds Conservation Board in terms of its role in
encouraging people to understand and enjoying the Cotswolds AONB. This vision is included
in the Cotswolds AONB Management Plan 2008-13. Everyone agreed to support this vision in
principle as a start to the development of a sustainable tourism strategy for the Cotswolds.
8. The group split into two smaller groups to discuss the principles of the Charter and how they
each relate to current activity in their areas. The results of this exercise is included below.
9. A group discussion took place to identify key priorities and issues over the next few years.
These included:
a. Warwickshire County Council:
As the AONB only covers a small part of some DMO/local authority areas, there
is a need to try and spread the benefits of the AONB eg looking at the role of
Stratford as a gateway to the Cotswolds.
WCC are focusing on capacity building for communities and encouraging a
bottom-up approach. There are issues over resources and need to be able to
justify a business case for the Charter.
b. Cheltenham Borough Council
There is a major development programme underway for the Cheltenham Art
Gallery & Museum which will involve temporary closure of the museum and new
venues sought for touring exhibitions. The Visitor Information Centre will be
integrated into the new building when completed. A key objective is to increase
footfall into the town centre. Also involved with developing civic pride and green
tourism initiatives.
c. Destination Worcestershire
DW has developed a sustainable tourism campaign, working closely with
businesses. Two successful conferences have been held which have helped to
increase awareness of the need for businesses to become more sustainable. A
laundry card has been developed as part of this. The aim is to get businesses
fully involved and use them as PR ambassadors for the wider area. There is
concern over resources as they are only a small team of 3 staff. Their focus is
on businesses and marketing and trying to engage closely with key businesses
to help them deliver some of the objectives of DW.
d. Oxford City Council
Only been in the job a short time. Sustainability is high on the agenda for the
Council but not yet in overall tourism activities. A new DMO is being planned for
Oxford City and County.
e. West Oxfordshire District Council
Sustainability is high on their agenda. Blenheim Palace was recently awarded
the 2,000th member of GTBS which generated good PR coverage. Want to use
businesses as ambassadors. Looking into a Green Tourism Lite scheme for
businesses which are unable or unwilling to participate in GTBS. Want to do
more work on promoting public transport routes.
f. Cotswold District Council
Need to try and build in more capacity as resources are limited. They are part
of Cotswolds & Forest of Dean Tourism and supporting their Sustainable
Tourism Action Plan. Want to do more to promote green tourism eg encourage
TICs to participate in GTBS, build green tourism itineraries, and hold events to
promote sustainability – looking at linking Chipping Campden with the
Winchcombe Welcomes Walkers initiative.
g. South West Tourism
All DMOs should have sustainable tourism action plans in place. SWT provide
funding to help DMOs with their sustainable tourism plans. SWT have carbon
mapping software tool which DMOs can use. This can be useful for the whole
of the AONB by assuming an average for SW areas and extending it for the rest
of the AONB. Research in carbon mapping shows that although much focus is
on accommodation and GTBS, the highest carbon usage areas are found in
transport, food and shopping. Sustainability messages can be integrated into
communications and marketing eg by concentrating more on domestic rather
than overseas visitors. There is now a British Standard for sustainable events –
BS8901.
10. Other discussion points included the need to show added value and work together because of
limited resources individually. Although the AONB is a large area which covers different
regions, there are benefits of working across a wider area in terms of exchanging information
with others and working on joint initiatives where resources can be shared. Although SWT
were represented at this meeting, it was suggested that the two other regional agencies should
be involved with this process.
11. In summing up the meeting, NH said that the exercise has shown that participants are happy
with the principles of the Charter. It has shown that a lot of work needs to be done on the
auditing and mapping of sustainable tourism in the AONB. However this meeting is a very
good first step. One of the desired outcomes of this meeting was to get a feel for whether
people were willing to form the core of a permanent sustainable tourism stakeholder forum.
Everyone agreed.
12. Key points from the day:
a. There is a huge amount of work to be done – we need to map as much as we can with
as many different stakeholders as we can or we will run into relationship issues as
things progress. We need more dialogue with others to identify gaps, etc.
b. We are on a journey with the Charter process – it is better to be involved in a journey
where we are clear about the goals at the start, therefore we need to keep the
principles in mind.
c. We need to be innovative on such things as: finding resources, ambassadors, breaking
down barriers, working across boundaries.
d. The Cotswolds AONB has to be flexible and look beyond the boundary to the buffer
zones and look at how to interlink with gateway towns.
e. The Charter is not ‘sexy’ but it is a helpful tool for us all to work together. The Board
needs to drive it forward and show leadership to make it work.
13. NH thanked everyone for attending
Results of workshop:
Linking principles of the Charter with current activity
Principle1: To protect and enhance the area’s natural and cultural heritage, for and
through tourism and to protect it from excessive development.
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Better car parking facilities and signposting
Attracting new markets eg style hounds and discoverers.
Encouraging more cycling and walking eg having cycle hire in towns such as
Cheltenham, Tewkesbury, Stroud to cycle into the Cotswolds and promoting
more walking schemes such as Winchcombe Welcomes Walkers.
Council departments have countryside/country parks service which look after
parks and gardens, tourism departments have close involvement with them eg
Cheltenham in Bloom, Open Gardens Scheme, Cotswolds & Forest of Dean
Tourism Gardens leaflet.
Looking at tourism impact studies.
Heritage Open Days and supporting events
Co-ordination with Arts Departments
Visitor Payback Scheme
Sustainable tourism conferences held to raise awareness to businesses.
Supporting GTBS – is there a way to offer a ‘light’ scheme to this?
Principle 2: To provide all visitors with a high quality experience in all aspects of their
visit.
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Review current DMO research; existing surveys in visitor guide, website, face to face
surveys and TIC surveys.
Identify marketing opportunities which appeal to different people – language, culture
and disability.
Encourage all DMO members to promote accredited accommodation.
Training courses run on: sustainable tourism, Welcome Host, Welcome All, emarketing, Welcome International and bespoke courses.
Limited research on expectations and little contact after visits to check satisfaction.
Access audit and website accessibility
Signposting to businesses for grants
Promotion of GTBS
Dealing/redirecting complaints
Principle 3: To monitor and influence visitor flows to reduce negative impacts.
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Visitor numbers recorded and fed into TIC managers group.
Footfall figures – counters in some towns eg Stratford and Warwick, plus attractions
and accommodation occupancy surveys collated.
Economic impact studies carried out each year.
Tourism strategies and plans developed/being developed by DMOs.
Support the Board’s monitoring of planning; planning policy for new hotels etc;
controlling of major tourism developments, design guide for businesses.
Promote Park & Ride/High parking charges in Oxford
Free parking/low charges by some local authorities
Cotswolds by Public Transport guides available.
Conference with Sustrans to gain more cycle routes
Cycling route information available online.
Footpaths – expanding number of wardens in areas outside the AONB.
Managing a walking tour service.
LJ forecaster in Heart of England
Principle 4: To increase benefits from tourism to the local economy.
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Farmers markets; food festivals; food and drink awards; Taste of Worcestershire; BBO
Food Group, Taste of the Cotswolds; local produce in TICs.
Influencing purchasing in hotels and attractions.
Food lovers coach trip into the Cotswolds (food themed walks?); walking tours of
Oxford.
Local food suppliers directory – where do these exist across the AONB?
Skills/training – TSN/Welcome courses run by DMOs. Sustainability training
BBO Food Group; student placements (opportunity to do more); investigating Future
Jobs Fund and work experience; relationships with local colleges.
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Factsheets
Websites
Principle 5; To ensure that tourism supports and does not reduce the quality of life of
local residents.
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Limited community representation on/with/from DMOs
Council equalities officer input into events
Cotswolds DC newsletter to members, PCs, tourism businesses (stakeholders) to
improve communications and engage community but no feedback received.
AONB reference and links could be much stronger in local tourism guides, website and
communications. Currently material occasionally in guide.
All TICs promote AONB well and have information.
This forms part of strategy planning
Local residents week
Association groups/working group
PR strategy
Consulted with businesses for visitor payback scheme
Importance of member relationship
Principle 6: To increase knowledge of the protected area and sustainability issues
amongst all those involved in tourism.
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Welcome courses/TSN run by DMOs
Workshops in West Oxfordshire to promote GTBS
Destination Worcestershire Sustainable Tourism Conference
Principle 7: To encourage specific tourism products which enable discovery and
understanding of the area.
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Range of events and activities across the area that need mapping eg Capital of Rural
Culture, Bath World Heritage Site status and activities. (DMOs need to provide the
detail).
PR on key events
Heritage grants
Supporting Oxford Inspires
Supporting residents in country parks.
Principle 8: To communicate effectively to visitors about the special qualities of the
area.
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Need to map the different campaigns/marketing promotion by DMOs and tourism
providers. There is a lot of material/press coverage.
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Cotswold Voluntary Wardens’ education project with schools.
Lot of activity by museums and National Trust which needs mapping.
Visitor websites.
Use of laundry cards
Working groups
Marketing plans and strategies.
On your doorstep
Bedroom browsers
VICs/TICs