Visitor Evidence Base Report
September 2012
A summary and analysis of three strands of research into the visitor economy in St
Albans City and District in 2012.
Executive Summary
Tourism is set to be the fourth fastest growing sector in the UK and in England. It is
predicted to grow in real terms by 3% per year between 2010 and 2020 (Deloitte
and Oxford Economics, 2010, p. 57). St. Albans City & District Council views the
visitor economy as an important contributor to the economic future of the district.
However, the Council considers that the district’s tourism offer is not currently
realising its potential.
To improve the management and promotion of the visitor offer, the council is
developing a visitor economy strategy with key stakeholders in the district, which is
to be informed by this report.
This Visitor Evidence Base report summarises the findings of three strands of
research:

An analysis of data estimating the volume and value of tourism in the district;

Original survey research into visitors and non-visitors to the district; and

Benchmarking research into how St Albans is performing against
comparable UK destinations.
The report analyses the implications of the findings for the development of a visitor
strategy in St Albans City and District.
The visitor economy in St Albans
Although total spending in the visitor economy in the UK fell in real terms by 3%
during 2007 to 2009, the visitor economy in St Albans has remained stable. In
2010, St Albans City and District:

Received around 1.6 million visitors of which 1.3 million were day visits and
0.3 million staying visits

Received an estimated £107 million in visitor spend

Supported an estimated 2,580 jobs from visitor spend

Welcomed 40% of trips for leisure, 38% visiting friends or relatives and 18%
on business

Saw 74% of visitors arriving by car and 26% by public transport
2
Although St Albans is not a particularly well known destination, satisfaction levels
amongst visitors are high.
Room for improvement
Research with comparable destinations indicates that St Albans is not attracting the
numbers of visitors it has the potential to reach. There is room for significant growth.
Other destinations aim for growth of between 1% and 3% in real terms per year. St
Albans should easily be able to achieve growth of at least 3% per year.
Comparable destinations have significantly more coordination amongst stakeholder
in the visitor economy, especially for marketing purposes. A growing trend is to
move towards a formalised public-private partnership (PPP) for marketing and the
management of many other elements of the visitor economy. Business
Improvement Districts (BIDs) have also been set up in other destinations.
This research found a number of ways in which the visitor economy in St Albans
could be strengthened and expanded in the following areas:

Target setting for growth and identification of primary and secondary target
markets

Improving visitor products

Marketing

Targeted infrastructure improvements

Ongoing monitoring of the visitor economy

Creation of an appropriate management vehicle

Stakeholder engagement and improved coordination
The research summarised in this report generated a number of recommendations
for the visitor economy and the development of a visitor strategy in St Albans.
These are summarised in the following list.
3
Recommendations
Target for growth of the visitor economy

Adopt a target for growth of the visitor economy in St Albans of at least 3%
above inflation

Aim to increase the volume of both day and staying visitors

Aim to increase and influence word-of-mouth recommendations

Aim to increase the volume of overseas visitors
Development of visitor products

Consider developing specific products for leisure visitors, those coming for
shopping trips and those coming to visit friends and relatives

Ensure the district retains a good range and quality of shops

Develop specific countryside products and associated marketing

Investigate the potential to build more coordinated visitor products

Consider setting up a Residents Pass

Consider further promotion of the Residents First weekend
Business tourism

Develop a separate business visitor strategy
Events

Consider creating a larger Christmas event to capitalise of high spending in the
festive period

Re-assess the programme of events and create a plan which builds in equitable
costs and rewards for all stakeholders.
Marketing

Identify primary and secondary markets and target specific marketing to each
group

Develop and market short break packages

Investigate ways to improve the TIC for visitors

Continue publishing visitor brochures

Create an image bank for marketing purposes

Investigate setting up a bookings service and / or itinerary planner on the
website

Create links between the www.enjoystalbans.com website and websites of
attractions, hotels/B&Bs and Visit England.

Continue to invest in improving the www.enjoystalbans.com website

Invest in raising the ranking of www.enjoystalbans.com on Google

Aim to capitalise on high satisfaction ratings with increased word-of-mouth
recommendations

Consider undertaking research to understand how residents currently perceive
the visitor offer and how their opinions may be influenced
4

Increase awareness among residents of the visitor offer

Use social media and recommendation websites (e.g. Trip Advisor) to influence
and generate recommendations

Investigate whether there would be value in investing in brand design work
Infrastructure

Conduct detailed analysis on car and coach parking

Investigate ways to transport visitors arriving by public transport to attractions
outside urban areas

Aim to increase the number of visitors arriving by train
Continuous monitoring

Purchase and analyse Cambridge model volume and value data every 2-3 years
(in particular, visitor numbers and associated spend and employment figures)

Join British Destinations to participate in benchmarking studies with other UK
historic cities

Conduct a visitor survey once every 2-3 years

Collect (or outsource the collection of) quarterly accommodation occupancy
rates and visitor numbers to attractions in the district

Collect quarterly visitor numbers to Council-owned attractions including Tourist
Information Centres

Liaise with external stakeholders (e.g. businesses) through quarterly networking
events or meetings with particular interest groups (e.g. hotels group or
attractions group). The Chamber of Commerce may be an partner in this

Measure ongoing ROI by comparing the amount spent on tourism by the Council
to the total amount of visitor revenue in the district

Aim to measure the effect of specific marketing campaigns (e.g. by looking for
increases in website visitor numbers)
Stakeholder Coordination

Encourage stakeholders to set up special interest groups to work together in the
development and marketing of visitor products

Carry out an options appraisal with stakeholders for the creation of a new
management vehicle
Visitor strategy development

Ensure the 2013-2018 visitor strategy is in line with expected budget, staff
resources and stakeholder commitment

Limit the number of objectives in the visitor strategy to between three and five

Ensure the visitor strategy is linked to the Council’s overall priorities and
objectives, as well as the Sustainable Community Strategy

Write a detailed action plan to accompany the visitor strategy and consider
writing tailored action plans for each key stakeholders

Ensure there is a designated person responsible for driving forward the strategy
and coordinating regular progress meetings
5
Glossary
BID
Business Improvement District
DMO
Destination Management Organisation
DP
Destinations Partnership
EET
East of England Tourism
ERDF
European Regional Development Fund
EU
European Union
FTE
Full Time Equivalent
PPP
Public Private Partnership
PR
Public Relations
ROI
Return on Investment
SADC
St Albans City & District Council
STEAM
Scarborough Tourism Economic Activity Monitor
TIC
Tourist Information Centre
TSE
Tourism South East
VIC
Visitor Information Centre
6
Contents
Executive Summary ................................................................................................. 2
Recommendations ................................................................................................... 4
Glossary ................................................................................................................... 6
1.
Introduction ..................................................................................................... 10
About St Albans .................................................................................................. 10
Value of the visitor economy to St Albans .......................................................... 10
Value of the visitor economy to England ............................................................. 10
Previously limited visitor economy data in St Albans .......................................... 11
Research methodology ....................................................................................... 12
Definition of day visits...................................................................................... 12
Definition of staying visits ................................................................................ 12
a)
Volume and Value .................................................................................... 12
Cambridge model ............................................................................................ 13
b)
Original St Albans visitor research ........................................................... 13
Research Design ............................................................................................. 14
Limitations of the research .............................................................................. 14
Visitors’ respondent profile .............................................................................. 15
Researching non-visitors ................................................................................. 15
Non-visitors respondent profile........................................................................ 15
Data processing .............................................................................................. 15
c)
Benchmarking research ........................................................................... 16
Research Design ............................................................................................. 16
Limitations of the research .............................................................................. 17
2.
St Albans’s visitors .......................................................................................... 18
How many visitors? ............................................................................................. 18
Proportions of Day and Staying visitors .............................................................. 18
Day and Staying visitor average group size ........................................................ 20
Areas visited in the district .................................................................................. 20
Visitor spend ....................................................................................................... 20
Jobs .................................................................................................................... 23
Who are the visitors? .......................................................................................... 23
The visitor experience ......................................................................................... 25
a)
Deciding to visit St Albans ........................................................................ 25
b)
Finding information about St Albans ........................................................ 26
c)
Awareness of St Albans as a visitor destination ....................................... 28
d)
Arriving in St Albans ................................................................................. 28
7
e)
Parking ..................................................................................................... 29
f)
Signage and Orientation .......................................................................... 30
g)
Attractions and amenities ......................................................................... 30
h)
Events ...................................................................................................... 31
i)
Staying overnight in St Albans ................................................................. 33
j)
Conference facilities ................................................................................. 33
k)
Visitor satisfaction ratings ........................................................................ 35
3. How St Albans is doing against its competitors .................................................. 37
Comparable destinations .................................................................................... 37
How many visitors do St Albans’s competitors get? ........................................... 37
Who visits St Albans’s competitors? ................................................................... 37
How do competitors monitor their visitor economy? ........................................... 38
How do competitors collect data? ....................................................................... 38
Measuring return on investment (ROI) ................................................................ 39
Setting targets for growth .................................................................................... 39
How do competitors manage their visitor economy? .......................................... 40
Public-private partnerships (PPP) ....................................................................... 41
Stakeholder interest groups ................................................................................ 41
Visitor Strategies and action plans ...................................................................... 42
Budgets to manage the visitor economy elsewhere ............................................ 42
Tourism staff numbers elsewhere ....................................................................... 43
Sources of external funding ................................................................................ 43
Destination branding ........................................................................................... 44
Marketing activity elsewhere ............................................................................... 44
a)
Destination websites ................................................................................ 44
b)
Business tourism marketing ..................................................................... 45
c)
Joint marketing ......................................................................................... 45
d)
Social media ............................................................................................ 45
Initiatives that have and have not worked elsewhere .......................................... 45
a)
Visitor passes ........................................................................................... 45
b)
Tour operators ......................................................................................... 45
c)
Partnerships with transport providers ....................................................... 46
d)
Training courses....................................................................................... 46
e)
Sustainability ............................................................................................ 46
f)
Council policies ........................................................................................ 46
4. Implications and recommendations for the St Albans visitor strategy ................. 47
Potential for growth ............................................................................................. 47
Day and staying visitors ...................................................................................... 47
8
Overseas visitors ................................................................................................ 48
The product......................................................................................................... 48
a)
Leisure trips, shopping and visits to friends and relatives ........................ 48
b)
Countryside visits ..................................................................................... 49
c)
Passes, discounts and linked offers ......................................................... 49
d)
Themed short break packages ................................................................. 50
e)
Business tourism ...................................................................................... 50
f)
Events ...................................................................................................... 50
Marketing ............................................................................................................ 51
a)
Tourist Information Centre and brochures ................................................ 51
b)
Image bank .............................................................................................. 51
c)
www.enjoystalbans.com website.............................................................. 51
d)
Influencing ‘word-of-mouth’ recommendations ......................................... 52
e)
Branding................................................................................................... 53
Infrastructure....................................................................................................... 53
Ongoing monitoring ............................................................................................ 54
Management vehicle ........................................................................................... 55
Stakeholder management ................................................................................... 56
Writing the visitor strategy................................................................................... 56
List of recommendations ..................................................................................... 58
Bibliography............................................................................................................ 61
9
1. Introduction
About St Albans
St Albans City and District is known for its rich cultural heritage and medieval
architecture. It has a strong visitor offer with a diverse collection of tourist
attractions, historic buildings, unique markets and festivals, giving it a distinct
identity.
The City has a strong shopping theme with many independent shops as well as a
strong food and drink sector due to the number of cafés, pubs and restaurants. The
district also has a number of important attractions including the Cathedral,
Verulamium Museum, Butterfly World and Willows Farm Village.
St Albans also has a small number of three and four star hotels, several inns and a
range of bed & breakfast accommodation. These sectors provide significant
employment about the district with an estimated 1,880 actual jobs and a further 700
jobs generated by indirect and induced expenditure in 2010 (TSE, 2010, p.16).1
Value of the visitor economy to St Albans
In 2010, the total visitor value of St Albans City and District amounted to £160.3
million (TSE, 2010, p.13). This is the ‘reinforced’ value, which includes both direct
visitor expenditure as well as indirect and induced expenditure. The visitor economy
is an important contributor to the overall economy and “attracting and developing
business and tourism” is a key priority in the Council’s corporate plan.
Value of the visitor economy to England
Tourism is set to be the fourth fastest growing sector in the UK, after business and
financial services and construction (Deloitte and Oxford Economics, 2010, p. 55).
Tourism in England is predicted to grow in real terms (adjusting for inflation) at 3%
per year between 2010 and 2020 (Deloitte and Oxford Economics, 2010, p. 57).
St Albans City and District Council views the visitor economy as an important
contributor to the economic future of the district, but it is of the view that the district
is not currently realising its potential. To improve the management and promotion
of the visitor offer by the Council and key partners a Project Team was set up to
develop a 5 year visitor economy strategy (2013 – 3018).
Indirect and induced expenditure refers to suppliers’ expenditure in the tourism sector and
expenditure by tourism employees.
1
10
Previously limited visitor economy data in St Albans
In 2011 the Council commissioned the University of Hertfordshire to conduct
research with local stakeholders. It was also asked to review national tourism
practices and trends to make recommendations on how the Council could
contribute to strengthening the visitor economy. A key finding of this research was
that the Council‘s information on visitors was limited. There was little robust data to
use as evidence on which to base operational and strategic decisions. A key
priority for the visitor economy strategy was that it would be based on robust
evidence so as part of the strategy development process the Council:
1.
commissioned ‘Volume and Value’ reports from 2001 – 2010 to enable us
to undertake trend analysis;
2.
undertook benchmarking of other tourism authorities to understand how
we are doing against similar, comparable destinations and identify best
practice; and
3.
commissioned original research into visitors and non-visitors to St Albans
to better understand the market and enable targeted improvements to
sustain and strengthen the visitor economy.
This Visitor Evidence Base report summarises the findings of all three strands of
research. It also analyses the implications the findings have for the development of
a visitor economy strategy in St Albans City and District.
11
Research methodology
Research into visitors to a destination typically separates analysis in to ‘staying’ and
‘day’ visits.
A day visitor may be anyone who participates in an activity or visits an attraction, as
long as this is outside their own home. Often, these fall in to the category of ‘Leisure
Day Visits’. However, tourism data typically considers a particular sub-set of Leisure
Day Visits. ‘Tourism Day Visits’ focuses more on visitors going to areas outside
their home town and involving a longer stay of at least three hours.
Definition of day visits
Tourism Day Visits were defined in 2012 by Visit England, Visit Scotland and Visit
Wales as follows:
Activities - involving participation in one or more of the activities (listed in Appendix
G)
Duration - lasting at least 3 hours, including time spent travelling to the destination.
Regularity - the participant indicates that the visit (i.e. same activity in same place)
is not undertaken ‘very regularly’.
Place - the destination of the visit is different from the place (i.e. city, town, village or
London borough) where the participant lives. If the visit is taken from a workplace,
the destination is in a different place from the workplace. This rule is not applied
when the visit has involved watching live sporting events, going to visitor attractions
or going to special public events (Visit England, Visit Scotland and Visit Wales,
2012, p. 5)
Definition of staying visits
Staying visits are defined by Visit England as “any journey away from home lasting
one or more nights, to any destination within the United Kingdom and Ireland, by
any mode of transport, for any purpose, and staying in any type of accommodation”
(TNS, 2006, p.5)
a) Volume and Value
An assessment of the volume and value of visitors to a destination is the most basic
information required to develop effective policies for managing the visitor economy.
There are two main ‘off the shelf’ products available to model the volume and value
of visitors to a destination: the Cambridge model, developed by East of England
Tourism (EET), and the STEAM model. St Albans City and District Council is using
12
the Cambridge model. This is the method most commonly used by other
destinations in the south of England and therefore provides comparable data.
Cambridge model
This model uses information from national tourism surveys and regionally based
data held by EET to model the visitor economy. Regional data is only as good as
the information provided by the regions, which in the case of St Albans, is not
comprehensive. It is not an actual picture of the visitor economy because this
requires full data from every attraction, accommodation provider and visitor. This is
prohibitively costly to collect.
The methodology and accuracy of the sources which feed into the model varies,
meaning the results are estimates of the visitor economy. As such, they should be
interpreted with other data sources. The accuracy of these estimates can be
improved by providing better regional data.
St Albans City and District Council has analysed the last ten years of data reports
from EET, comprising years 2001-2010. These reports give statistical data about
the estimated volume and value of staying and day visits. They also give data on
the impact of direct, indirect and induced visitor expenditure and estimates of actual
jobs (both direct and indirect) supported by tourism expenditure.
b) Original St Albans visitor research
The main objective of this research was to provide the Council with a profile of
visitors to the district to support improved operational and strategic planning.
Specifically, the objectives of the original research were to:
 Increase the Council’s understanding of visitors to St Albans
 Increase the Council’s understanding of why potential visitors don’t visit St
Albans
 Provide a baseline of visitor information that can be used to set and track targets
 Make recommendations on how to continue to increase visitors in the future
An external company (TSE Research Services) was commissioned to conduct the
research, design the methodology and analyse the results. The Council met with
TSE in July 2012 and agreed the research design.
13
Research Design
To conduct research amongst visitors to St Albans City and District, 500 face to
face interviews were carried out by TSE market researchers in August 2012.
A sample size of 500 gives results with a 4.4% margin of error at the 95%
confidence limit.2 A sample size of 400 to 500 is the standard sample size used
throughout England for Destination Benchmarking by TSE.
A face to face approach was preferred because it enables data collection at the
‘point of consumption’ – when visitors are experiencing their visit and can give first
hand information. The interview questionnaire used is attached in Appendix A.
Visitors were surveyed between 11am and 6pm at key sites within the district.
These included the Cathedral, the Town Hall, the market, at the coach drop-off
point on St Peter’s Street, outside key attractions and at St Albans railway station.
Residents of the district were excluded from the sample. Trained interviewers were
used and the surveys were conducted in accordance with the MRS Code of
Conduct and the IQCS standard.
Limitations of the research
The location of interviewers introduces bias into the findings which it is difficult to
eliminate in this type of research. For instance, attractions located outside urban
areas may be under-represented in the survey results while city centre activities
such as shopping may be over-represented.
To minimise bias, research was also conducted via an online survey with visitors.
This survey included 300 people who had undertaken at least one day trip or short
break to St Albans in the last 12 months. The questionnaire used is attached in
Appendix B.
The results of this research should be interpreted in conjunction with the volume
and value data and data gathered from visitor attractions and accommodation
providers to give a full picture.
2
This means that if the same study was repeated a number of times, there is a 95%
probability that the ‘true’ results would lie within a 4.4% margin of error around the reported
result.
14
Visitors’ respondent profile

40% were visiting with family, 21% were visiting as part of an adult couple
(without children)

70% in employment (55% in full time employment, with the rest being part time
workers or self-employed)

62% from middle class (ABC1) households

45% of visitors from East of England (mainly Hertfordshire), 19% from the South
East and 12% from Greater London
Researching non-visitors
To research non-visitors to the district, TSE conducted 500 online interviews. These
were people who lived within 2 hours driving time and were aware of St Albans but
had not visited in the last 5 years. The sample was taken from a panel of 180,000
people registered to take part in online market research surveys.
Non-visitors respondent profile

Higher proportion of female respondents (61%)

Two thirds of respondents were adults between 25 and 54 years old

52% of respondents were in full time employment

10% were employed part-time

8% were self-employed

9% had been unemployed for more than 6 months

8% were retired with a company/private pension

53% of respondents live in the Greater London area, followed by residents from
the East of England (22%) and East Midlands (13%).
Interview participants were shown images of St Albans and asked for their
perceptions about the destination as well as their preferred holiday choices. The
questionnaire used is attached in Appendix C. These questionnaires generated
qualitative and quantitative data.
Data processing
Data from completed surveys was processed and generated statistical and
descriptive data. This was analysed to establish if particular visitor groups display
15
distinctive features and opinions, or prioritise particular issues. A final report and
slide presentation of findings were produced. These can be found in Appendix D
and Appendix E.
c) Benchmarking research
The aim of the benchmarking exercise was to investigate several cities with
similarities to St Albans to use as case studies and identify best practice. The key
lines of enquiry included:

How they organise the visitor economy in their city

What data they have to measure the visitor economy; how often and the
methods they use to collect it

What budgets, staff resources and outside additional resources they have for
organising and promoting the visitor economy

How they liaise and work with stakeholders

How they promote the visitor economy

What events and initiatives work for them and what does not work
Research Design
The research aimed to build a detailed picture of the chosen cities so we could
compare elements to St Albans City and District. Cities were chosen which have
similar characteristics to St Albans. Therefore they were Roman, medieval,
cathedral or market cities or they enjoy a similar proximity to London.
Cities visited
Peterborough
Lincoln
Essex (Chelmsford & Colchester)
York
Worcester
Shrewsbury
Winchester
16
This was supplemented by information gathered from the following cities using desk
research:

Durham

Bath

Oxford

Canterbury

Colchester
In each city visited, a local tourism officer was interviewed, generating mostly
qualitative data. An interview questionnaire was drawn up to guide discussions with
each tourism officer (see Appendix F).
Quantitative data was also requested where available or found from online sources.
Information available from the websites of the cities in this study was also used for
benchmarking purposes.
Limitations of the research
The research was constrained by the amount of time available to the researcher
from Council officers in the targeted cities. Further constraints were the amount and
quality of information that each city has available.
17
2. St Albans’s visitors
This report summarises the results from the three strands of research detailed
above.
How many visitors?
The last few years have been a particularly challenging time, especially in the UK
domestic tourism market. From 2007 to 2009 total spending in the visitor economy
in the UK fell in real terms (adjusting for inflation) by 3% (Deloitte and Oxford
Economics, 2010).
However, against this picture of national decline, the visitor economy in St Albans
has remained stable. As the following graph demonstrates, visitor numbers have
remained relatively static over the last ten years.
Number of day visits in St Albans from 2001-2010
1,400,000
1,200,000
1,000,000
800,000
600,000
Countryside
visits
400,000
Urban visits
200,000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
In 2010 St Albans City and District received around 1.6 million visitors (TSE, 2010,
p.2). Of these, 1.3 million were day visits and around 0.3 million were staying visits
(TSE, 2010, p.2).
Proportions of Day and Staying visitors
There tend to be far more day trippers to St Albans City and District than staying
visitors. In 2010, 81% of all visits were day trips (TSE, 2010, p.2).
18
Proportion of day visits to staying visits in 2010
Staying
tourist
trips
19%
Day tripper
81%
This estimated figure differs somewhat from the results of TSE’s survey research
conducted in the district in 2012. This found that 65% of visitors were on a day trip
compared to 35% staying visitors. By comparison, the following table shows the
proportion of staying visits to day visits in other destinations:
Proportion of day visits to staying visits in comparable destinations
Destination
Staying visits
Day visits
St Albans
19-35%
65-81%
Lincoln
9%
91%
Essex
6%
94%
Winchester
7%
93%
Bath
19%
81%
Canterbury
15%
85%
19
Day and Staying visitor average group size
The 2012 survey research in St Albans found that day visitors come in groups of, on
average, 3.32 people while staying visitors come in groups of 2.58 people. Staying
visitors tend to stay for short breaks of, on average, 2.8 nights. This is shorter than
the regional average of 3.02 nights.
Areas visited in the district
Day visitors mostly come to urban areas, but there is a good spread of visitors
throughout the district. The 2012 survey research indicates a greater proportion of
visitors go to the countryside than the Cambridge model estimates. 26% of visitors
surveyed had participated in walking, cycling or riding and 21% stated that attractive
countryside / outdoor pursuits was a key influencing factor in their decision to visit
the district.
Destinations visited
St Albans City
36%
Harpenden
18%
London Colney
15%
Wheathampstead
11%
Redbourn
11%
Bricket Wood
9%
Visitor spend
Staying visitors spend much more than day visitors per person, but this is primarily
due to accommodation costs. Therefore, while staying visitors benefit employment
and trade in the accommodation and transport sectors, they do not necessarily
benefit other sectors in the wider visitor economy, such as attractions, food and
drink, and retail.
In 2010, staying visitors spent a total of £56 million in the district, compared to £51
million for day visitors (TSE, 2010, p.2).
20
Proportion of day visitor spend to staying visitor spend in 2010
Staying
Visitor,
£56m
52%
Day
Tripper,
£51m
48%
Overseas visitors comprised only 19% of all staying visitors with the remainder
being from the UK. However, overseas visitors tend to stay for longer on average
and contributed 35% of the total staying visitor spend in 2010 (TSE, 2010, p.2).
In St Albans in 2012, staying visitors spent on average £54.91 per person per night,
compared to a regional average of £47.30. Per trip, they spent an average of
£153.75 per person, compared to a regional average of £142.90. Day visitors spent
an average of £32.89 per person per trip, compared to a regional average of
£28.32.
Average expenditure per person visiting St Albans in 2012
Overnight
Day trip
Eating & drinking
£5.78
£7.07
Shopping
£7.31
£18.99
Entertainment
£3.87
£5.78
Transport in St Albans
£1.24
£1.04
Accommodation
£36.70
-
Per person per night
Per person per day
£54.91
£32.89
Total
21
Catering and retail form significant proportions of day visitors’ spend, while staying
visitors also spend a significant amount on accommodation.
In addition to direct spending on trip-related purchases and activities, the following
graphs also show the proportions of indirect and induced expenditure. This refers to
estimated spending of wages by employees whose jobs are directly and indirectly
supported by visitor expenditure. It also refers to spending by residents on items
related to hosting their visiting friends / relatives.
Expenditure proportions amongst day visitors
Millions
Day Visitors
40
Indirect and
induced
Non trip
revenue spend
Transport
35
30
25
20
Attractions
15
Catering
10
Retail
5
Accommodation
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Expenditure proportions amongst staying visitors
Millions
Staying Visitors
60
40
Indirect and
induced
Non trip
revenue spend
Transport
30
Attractions
20
Catering
10
Retail
50
Accommodation
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
22
Jobs
Visitor expenditure also generates local employment in the visitor economy with
TSE estimating in 2010 that direct employment generated 1,347 FTE jobs. Indirect
and induced employment generated a further 614 jobs.
The total number of actual jobs is higher than this due to seasonal and part time
working. TSE estimated in 2010 that actual jobs (both direct and indirect / induced)
would be closer to 2,580. Of these, 65% are generated by staying visits and 35% by
day visits.
Employment supported by tourism spending in St Albans
3,000
2,500
Induced
Indirect
2,000
Arising from non
trip spend
Transport
1,500
Attractions/enterta
inment
Catering
1,000
500
Retailing
Accommodation
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Who are the visitors?
The Cambridge model data estimated that around 40% of trips in 2010 were leisure
visits while around 38% were people visiting friends or relatives. Business trips
made up 18% while study trips comprised 1% and ‘other’ trips 3%.
23
Reasons for visiting St Albans City & District
350,000
300,000
Study
250,000
Other
200,000
Visits to friends and
relatives
150,000
Business
100,000
Holiday
50,000
0
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
This data does not show a great change over the ten year period, although the
2012 survey indicates that a greater proportion were leisure visits.
Main reason for visiting in 2012
2%
4%
1%
Leisure / holiday
Visiting friends or relatives
21%
Shopping trip (non-regular)
46%
Business / conference
Language student
25%
Other
In the 2012 survey, most people visited the district with family members (40%).
Adult couples formed the next largest group (21%) followed by individual visitors
24
(17%), groups of friends (14%) and groups with a mixture of family and friends
(9%).
The visitor experience
a) Deciding to visit St Albans
When deciding whether to visit St Albans city and district, the 2012 survey research
found that the top influencing factors amongst visitors were shopping facilities, word
of mouth and historic aspects / heritage.
What influenced your visit?
Good shopping (quality / range)
35%
Visiting friends and relatives
30%
Historic aspects / heritage
25%
Attractive countryside / outdoor pursuits
21%
Fine dining/good places to eat
18%
Lots for children to do and see
17%
Entertainment / visitor attractions
13%
Special interest activities
11%
Culture / The Arts
9%
Quality accommodation
2%
Other
11%
Respondents who had not visited St Albans generally rate the importance of a
destination’s attributes slightly differently with ‘value for money’ being the most
important factor.
25
Importance of a destination’s attributes amongst nonvisitors to St Albans, in order of importance
Value for money
Quality of accommodation
Ease of getting to
Quality of restaurants
Historic aspects / heritage
Outdoor activities / attractions
Cultural offer
Location / distance from home
Other
Indoor activities / attractions
Good shopping (quality/range)
How well you know the area
b) Finding information about St Albans
Visitors used a variety of sources to find information about their trip to St Albans.
St Albans City & District Council has not historically engaged in significant visitor
marketing. It produces an annual Visitor Guide brochure, advertises in group /
coach trade media and attends national and local trade exhibitions under the Enjoy
Hertfordshire brand.
In 2012 the Council dedicated resources to building a new website devoted to
promoting St Albans as a visitor destination (www.enjoystalbans.com).
Although 15% of first time visitors did not use any information source at all, those
who did primarily relied upon the Tourist Information Centre, a brochure or
recommendations from friends / relatives.
26
Information used to find out about St Albans amongst visitors
All
visitors
First time
visitors
Repeat
visitors
I did not use any information
33%
15%
48%
Advertisement
8%
12%
4%
Brochure
11%
18%
5%
Website
6%
7%
6%
TIC / VIC at destination
10%
15%
7%
Friends / relatives
24%
25%
23%
Guide book about the area
6%
8%
4%
Other
2%
0%
3%
The www.enjoystalbans.com website was launched in the summer of 2012 so it is
to be expected that not many people have used it yet. However, the non-visitor
research shows that when finding information about a destination, the most
common sources are word of mouth and the internet – usually Google. It is to be
expected, therefore, that more visitors will use the website in future.
Main sources of information when planning a trip amongst non-visitors to St
Albans
Word-of-mouth recommendations
50%
Internet search engine (Google mentioned by 86% of all search
engine users)
48%
Tourism Website such as Visit England
42%
Accommodation’s own website
38%
Tourist Information Centre upon arrival
29%
Newspapers / magazines
25%
Tour / Coach Operator
12%
Specialist tourism website (Trip Advisor, Late Rooms, Hotels.com,
etc)
12%
Other
5%
27
c) Awareness of St Albans as a visitor destination
St Albans is not a particularly well known destination. When people who had not
previously visited St Albans were given a series of images depicting the district,
29% said they would most definitely consider visiting while a further 59% may
consider it. Only 13% would not consider visiting St Albans in the future.
What is clear from the responses is that imagery presented in marketing material is
very important in generating a perception about a place.
Perceptions of St Albans based on images given to non-visitors
•
67% think that St Albans has rich heritage and hidden gems
•
39% believe St Albans has a surprising range of things to do
•
29% thought ‘St Albans is somewhere I must explore’
•
26% state St Albans doesn’t appeal to them
•
18% would prefer to visit other places
•
17% perceive St Albans has a ‘Lack of things to see and do’
•
15% perceive that ‘the area may be dull or boring’
d) Arriving in St Albans
The non-visitor research conducted by TSE in 2012 indicated that most people
(51%) will travel between one and two hours when making a day trip. A further 31%
will travel more than two hours while 16% will travel only between 30 minutes and
28
one hour. Since St Albans has a very large number of people living within a two
hour travel time, there is great potential to attract a larger number of day visitors.
When making an overnight trip, people are prepared to travel further. 38% of
respondents said they would travel four hours or more, a further 32% said they
would travel three to four hours and 23% said they would travel two to three hours.
This means there is even greater potential to attract a larger number of staying
visitors.
St Albans has a good road network with easy access to the M25, M1 and A1
motorways. In the original visitor research, 74% of visitors indicated that they came
by car while only 26% came by public transport (15% on a bus or coach and 11%
by train).
Given St Albans’s excellent direct train connections to London and the south east,
there is potential to attract more visitors along the train network. The area suffers
from traffic congestion. Encouraging more use of public transport would help to
ensure that an increase in visitors does not overly increase road congestion.
However, rural areas in the district are less well served by public transport than
urban areas. Visitors using public transport would likely be restricted to urban areas
in their visit around St Albans.
e) Parking
Given the large proportion of visitors who arrive by car, there is a clear demand for
adequate parking facilities.
Ease of parking and satisfaction with parking were important considerations
amongst visitors to St Albans. The research indicates visitors were slightly undersatisfied with the current ease of parking. This is a common trend amongst
destinations, although other historic towns tend to fare slightly better in this area.
St Albans does not have a park and ride service like some of its competitors
(Shrewsbury, York, Worcester, Canterbury). This is a popular service in other
places and, as the University of Hertfordshire’s (UH) research report highlighted, is
something that St Albans could consider implementing. The UH research also noted
that a park and ride service that linked tourist attractions could spread visitor
numbers around the district more evenly.
Coach parking for group visitors is limited in the district. There are two designated
coach parking spaces at Verulamium Park and another two at Westminster Lodge.
There is also a coach drop-off point outside the Town Hall.
29
The research summarised in this report did not specifically look at group visitors
and there is no particular data available for this group. As a result, there is no
evidence to indicate whether coach parking is a problem or whether there are other
issues affecting group visitors in particular. More research is needed in this area to
understand fully any coach parking issues.
f) Signage and Orientation
Visitors surveyed in the district in August 2012 indicated that while signage and
orientation were important to them, they were satisfied with the ease of finding their
way around.
g) Attractions and amenities
Amongst the visitors to the district who were surveyed in 2012, shopping was the
most popular activity during their visit, followed by eating out and meeting friends or
relatives. However, this data could be slightly skewed by the location of
interviewers.
Activities undertaken by visitors in August 2012
Shopping
53%
Visited a pub / tea room / restaurant etc.
52%
Visiting / meeting friends / relatives
37%
Visited a tourist / visitor attraction
27%
Participated in walking / riding / cycling
26%
Visited cultural venues / museums
13%
Toured around in car / bus etc.
10%
Attended an event
6%
Participated in golf
6%
Visited Verulamium Park
6%
Went on a guided walk / tour
5%
Other
4%
Attractions record their own visitor numbers, which include residents. However,
ongoing monitoring of this data is a useful supplement to the estimates provided by
30
the Cambridge model’s volume and value data. Attractions’ own visitor numbers
provided to the Council in 2012 are:
St Albans attractions’ visitor numbers in 2011
Attraction
Number of visitors
Abbey Theatre
15,100
Butterfly World
111,000
Maltings Shopping Centre
7,200,000
Town Hall
15,000
Hearts Showground
50,000
St Albans has a wide range of attractions in its visitor offer. The University of
Hertfordshire’s (2011, p.20) research found “a lack of a collaborative approach due
to the limited and often slow communication amongst stakeholders within the
district”. This, they say, “has led to disharmonised offerings and competition in
some cases” (ibid.).
Other destinations, such as Lincoln and York, offer joint booking and ticketing
facilities in the form of a ‘York pass’ or a ‘Visit Lincoln’ 3 day all inclusive pass to
encourage visitors to go to a number of attractions and make it easier for them to
book tickets.
There is a food and retail discount card managed by What’s On St Albans, but this
does not cover attractions.
h) Events
St Albans has a variety of events throughout the year. Events that the Council funds
either directly or through its Leisure contractor ‘Leisure Connections’ are:
31
Events in St Albans City and District in receipt of Council
funding
St Albans Music City
Beating the Bounds
Music in the Parks
St Albans Half Marathon
St Albans Festival
Larks in the Parks
St Albans International Organ Festival
Heritage Open Days
Giant Monopoly
St Albans Food & Drink Festival
The Big Draw
St Albans Christmas Lights Switch On
St Albans Pancake Race
Plus ad hoc events such as the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations and
Olympic Torch events
Christmas events in St Albans are limited to the Christmas Lights Switch On and
the Christmas markets. Other, similar destinations place the greatest emphasis on
Christmas events, probably because this is the time of year when spend is highest.
Lincoln and Bath, for example, have very large German-style Christmas markets
which are a big draw for visitors to the cities in the festive period. Winchester has an
ice rink at their cathedral in the festive period.
Many other destinations also organise a number of smaller events throughout the
year to spread visitor numbers out. Shrewsbury Council is moving away from
organising events because it sees them as too costly.
32
Some destinations have set up events management companies using a publicprivate partnership (PPP) management vehicle. These companies run the
destination’s events as a business (e.g. Lincoln).
i) Staying overnight in St Albans
Tourism South East (TSE) estimated in 2010 that amongst staying visitors to St
Albans, around 59% stayed with family and friends while 37% stayed in ‘serviced’
accommodation. Serviced accommodation includes hotels, bed and breakfasts,
guest houses, inns and serviced farmhouse accommodation. This pattern was
found in the original visitor research in August 2012. Amongst 404 respondents, the
following distribution of accommodation was used:
Type of accommodation used within St Albans by visitors surveyed in
August 2012
Home of friend or relative
63%
Hotel
18%
B&B/Guest House
9%
Pub/Inn
4%
Self catering accomm.
4%
Second home
1%
Other (specify)
3%
East of England Tourism (EET) estimated in 2009 that there were 58
accommodation establishments in the district with 680 rooms and a total of 1,386
bed spaces. Information on occupancy rates is not readily available. The Council’s
own requests for information yielded data from two hotels in the district which had
occupancy rates in 2011 of 62% and 48%.
j) Conference facilities
When spend is analysed by type of visit, business expenditure counts for the
greatest proportion, despite the relatively small number of business visitors the
district attracts.
TSE estimated in 2010 that business expenditure accounted for 35% of all spend,
while visits to friends and relatives accounted for 29% and holiday trips accounted
for 27%.
33
St Albans visitor spend by purpose of trip
St Albans Tourist Spend by purpose of trip
£25,000,000
£20,000,000
Holiday
Business
£15,000,000
Visits to friends and
relatives
£10,000,000
Other
£5,000,000
Study
£2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Business visits are clearly an important market segment in terms of the spending
power they bring to the district. The University of Hertfordshire’s (2011, p.23)
research indicated “the business tourism market has not been tapped into
sufficiently and that there is room for improvement, especially concerning marketing
and provision of facilities”. Their research identified a major limitation as “the
availability of suitable accommodation for the conference market” (University of
Hertfordshire, 2011, p. 23). Currently, the largest conference space in the district is
at Sopwell House, with 132 bedrooms and space for 700 conference delegates.
The University of Hertfordshire’s (2011, p.23) research suggests that marketing of
St Albans to business tourists could be improved by creating dedicated web content
on the www.enjoystalbans.com website and engaging in joint promotion activities
with Enjoy Hertfordshire. The University of Hertfordshire’s (2011, p.24) research
also identified the potential to better exploit the district’s Samuel Ryder heritage and
golf facilities for business visitors. These may need improvement to meet increased
demand and compete with state-of-the-art facilities along England’s Golf Coast.
34
k) Visitor satisfaction ratings
Overall, visitors appear to be very happy with their experience in St Albans.
Amongst 760 visitors surveyed in August 2012, 85% enjoyed their visit and 88%
were ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’ to recommend a visit to St Albans to their friends and
relatives.
Visitor satisfaction ratings and perceived importance attributed to key
services in 2012
Parking is the area to focus on improving from these findings.
When compared along the same ratings with other historic towns, St Albans is
doing very well, as the following spider graph demonstrates:
35
St Albans’s satisfaction ratings benchmarked against similar
destinations
This comparison with other historic towns indicates that St Albans should focus on
improving its Tourist Information Centres (TICs) and ease of parking.
36
3. How St Albans is doing against its competitors
Comparable destinations
St Albans is comparable in certain aspects to many other historic towns and cities,
some of which are very famous tourist destinations. The Council’s own
benchmarking research in 2012 identified that St Albans is most comparable (in
terms of size, scale and type of visitor attractions) to Lincoln, Peterborough,
Colchester, York, Worcester, Shrewsbury, Winchester and Canterbury. The
benchmarking group Destination Performance, within Tourism South East, includes
St Albans in its UK City 2 Group. This includes Brighton, Cannock Chase,
Canterbury, Chesterfield, Exeter, Greenwich, Guildford, Lancaster, Maidstone,
Windsor & Maidenhead, Tunbridge Wells and York.
How many visitors do St Albans’s competitors get?
St Albans is comparable, in terms of the size of the resident population, to York.
However, York is a much larger tourist destination, receiving 4.1m visitors in 2008
compared to St Albans’s 1.5m in 2010. Brighton, Cheshire West & Chester,
Greenwich and Windsor & Maidenhead also get many times the number of visitors
and associated spending compared to St Albans. However, they are also better
known tourist destinations.
Canterbury and Winchester have resident populations less than a third the size of
St Albans but they get roughly twice the value of visitor spend compared to St
Albans. Canterbury received around £215m in annual visitor spend in 2008 and
Winchester received £224 in 2009, compared to £107m in St Albans in 2010.
Although Winchester has around the same number of staying visitors as St Albans,
it gets around 3.5 times the number of day visitors.
Even Shrewsbury, with two thirds the resident population of St Albans and a largely
rural surrounding population (resulting in a small visitor catchment) has a higher
annual visitor spend (£137m in 2007). It also has almost a million more annual
visitors. These findings indicate that St Albans is not performing well against
comparable destinations and could attract more visitors and associated spend.
Who visits St Albans’s competitors?
Many similar destinations attract older, empty nesters who value the heritage offer
as well as couples without children.
37
In terms of market segments, most common are ‘Functionals’, using the Ark Leisure
segmentation system, and ‘ABC1’ (i.e. middle class) using the Market Research
Society’s NRS system. ‘Functionals’ were the most common type of visit to
Hertfordshire too, according to EET in 2009.
Comparable destinations to St Albans also attract more leisure visitors than
business visitors.
Families with children are not primary markets amongst St Albans’s competitors.
The visitor survey research conducted in St Albans in 2012, however, indicated that
lots of people visit St Albans with their family members.
Destinations with large marketing capabilities identify a range of primary and
secondary market segments and tailor marketing messages to each group. Bath is
a good example of this.
How do competitors monitor their visitor economy?
St Albans’s competitors monitor their visitor economy using either the Cambridge
model or STEAM data combined with available local data. The primary pieces of
data used for ongoing monitoring purposes include:

volume and value of visitors to the destination;

employment numbers in the visitor economy;

accommodation occupancy rates;

visitor perceptions of the destination;

TIC/VIC visitor numbers;

visitor numbers to tourist attractions; and

web usage statistics (amongst destinations with a visitor website, e.g. Bath and
Worcester).
Destinations with a public-private partnership (PPP) management vehicle also
monitor stakeholder satisfaction amongst businesses in the local visitor economy,
since they are financially accountable to them.
How do competitors collect data?
Most places outsource the collection of occupancy rates and visitor perceptions to
private companies.
38
Occupancy rates tend to be collected monthly while visitor surveys are usually
undertaken sporadically, every few years (Bath do surveys every two years but is
considering dropping the frequency to once every three years). Tourism South East
(TSE) recommend conducting a visitor survey once every two to three years. Visitor
surveys usually cost around £10-14,000.
Most places also purchase Cambridge (or STEAM) model volume and value data,
though not every year. A tourism officer in Shrewsbury Council suggested that it is
only really necessary to purchase volume and value data every three years for
ongoing monitoring purposes.
Tourist / Visitor Information Centre numbers are usually collected by Councils
operating the service, as are visitor numbers to any Council-managed attractions.
Essex and Bath collect quarterly visitor attraction data, but they do not necessarily
directly manage data collection. Both destinations have well-organised partnerships
with stakeholders organised into different interest groups. The visitor attractions
sub-group in Bath collects visitor numbers.
Measuring return on investment (ROI)
Measuring the return on investment (ROI) in terms of managing the visitor economy
is complex and this research has yet to identify a rigorous method for doing this.
Most places do not appear to use any method at all for measuring ROI. Amongst
the small number who do, Essex look for increases in web visitor numbers while
York measures responses to particular marketing campaigns. Shrewsbury
measures investment in press and PR marketing by looking at column inches and
advertising equivalent.
Winchester state that their ROI is £1 for every 0.3p spent by the Council. This is
measured by comparing the amount spent on tourism by the Council to the total
amount of visitor revenue in the district, not just revenue accruing to the Council.
Setting targets for growth
Targets for growth of the visitor economy vary. Essex, Lincoln, York and Bath base
their targets on Visit England’s predictions for growth. Visit England predict an
annual 5% growth rate in tourism in England from 2010 to 2020. This includes an
estimated 2% inflation per year. Most other places generally aim for a more
conservative growth of 1-2% per year.
39
There are often different targets for day and staying visitors. Essex, Canterbury,
Oxford, Bath and Winchester are all inundated by day visitors and want to see more
of an increase in staying visitors and staying visitor spend.
How do competitors manage their visitor economy?
Vehicles for managing the visitor economy are undergoing substantial change since
local government budgets have been cut. The trend is moving towards some form
of public private partnership, at least for joint marketing purposes amongst tourist
attractions. There are four different types of management vehicle currently in use:
1. Local authority in-house Tourism department: the traditional model. This
is the model that Brighton has retained. It does not preclude separate publicprivate partnership (PPP) arrangements for specific purposes such as joint
marketing campaigns. For instance, Winchester City Council continues to
retain tourism management in-house but has PPP agreements for marketing
purposes.
2. City Destination Management Organisation (DMO): an independent or
arms-length PPP between Council and visitor economy stakeholders in the
city. A DMO can take on a number of functions ranging from marketing to
public realm, tourist information centre, attractions and parking management.
It can also incorporate a range of funding models. This is the model that York
and Bath use to differing degrees. Bath has a Business Improvement District
(BID) but pay one third of the revenue to a city DMO for tourism marketing.
3. County DMO: a county-wide public-private partnership (PPP) which includes
other local authorities in the Council and broader stakeholder engagement.
This is the model that Essex and Oxford use.
4. Multi-functional partnership: a PPP with a wider remit than managing the
visitor economy, such as also managing city centre and public realm
functions or economic development. Lincoln has a PPP hosted in the
Chamber of Commerce for managing tourism in the city. It also has a BID
arrangement which includes public realm improvements, events
management and tourism marketing. Bristol also has a city DMO as well as a
city BID which includes some marketing activities.
Bournemouth operates a coastal BID and a city BID simultaneously. Their
coastal BID is the closest model yet to a Tourism BID (a new type of BID
which is currently at the concept stage).
40
Public-private partnerships (PPP)
Setting up a PPP is the model favoured by the government and Visit England
because the public and private sector both have responsibilities (which sometimes
but not always overlap) in managing the visitor experience.
Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) are deemed to be one of the more
successful PPP models by Visit England as they generate more sustainable income
and gives businesses more of a say about how the money is spent.
Ideally, a PPP model should not be just about marketing the destination. It should
also be about ensuring the whole visitor experience is excellent, otherwise visitor
numbers and spend are unlikely to increase much.
Getting private sector backing for a PPP is crucial to its success and this is where
the difficulty often lies. It is reliant upon key leaders within the industry driving
forward the project. It also takes several years to get right.
Stakeholder interest groups
At the very least, other destinations have a variety of interest groups organised
amongst stakeholders in the visitor economy. These include:

conference / business tourism groups;

attractions groups;

hoteliers groups;

heritage attractions groups; or

other forms of joint marketing group.
St Albans is not well developed in this area by comparison. Such groupings make
liaison with stakeholders easier, as well as benefitting the stakeholders themselves
by ensuring a more coordinated approach to their visitor offer.
Other Councils typically meet with stakeholder groups once a quarter to once a
year. Some destinations, such as Lincoln, have found the Chamber of Commerce to
be a useful partner in this.
Maintaining regular communication can also be done through e-newsletters, social
media and phone calls. Essex use all of these methods as well as holding an
annual conference for stakeholders.
41
Visitor Strategies and action plans
Some destinations are further along than others in terms of defining a visitor
strategy and creating a clear action plan for implementation. Examples of best
practice in this area are Durham, Winchester, Essex and Bath, which have detailed
strategies based on multiple strands of research with clearly defined action plans.
It is tempting to include every objective deemed to be important in a visitor strategy
and some plans have a very high number of objectives to meet. Limiting the number
of objectives to between three and five appears to give a more focused plan,
according to desk research. Shrewsbury Council’s experience is that choosing a
small number of key objectives to focus on helps to guide all stakeholders towards
the same goal.
In Shrewsbury’s experience, writing an action plan from a strategy that suits all key
stakeholders is tricky and plans tailored to each stakeholder may be necessary.
PPP Destination Management Organisations (DMOs), such as Essex, which are
financially accountable to their stakeholders tend to have very specific and
measurable targets for each activity within each objective. Responsibilities for
achieving these are also clearly defined.
Budgets to manage the visitor economy elsewhere
Budgets are very difficult to compare, even amongst destinations with the same
management vehicle. Desk research indicates that Visit Lincoln aims to raise
£100,000 per year from membership subscriptions, mainly for marketing activities.
Meanwhile the Lincoln BID has a budget of £60,000 for marketing, £50,000 for
evening economy management and £150,000 for Tourist / Visitor Information
Centre (TIC/VIC) management. Lincoln’s events management function operates as
a business in itself and is self-sustaining.3
Visit Essex has a budgeted spend of around £87,000 per year (primarily on
marketing), according to its 2012-2015 business plan, while income (including
income in kind) is estimated to be around £69,000 per year. It raises substantial
income from membership fees, contributions from partners on specific campaigns
and in kind contributions from marketing partners such as Stansted airport and
Ryanair.4
3
Information from Lincoln Business Improvement District Final Business Plan 2010/2015 and Visit Lincoln
Partnership’s online prospectus ‘Realising Lincoln’s Potential’, published in 2011.
4
Information from Visit Essex Business Plan 2012 - 2015
42
Marketing budgets in comparable destinations
Visit Essex (annual budget 2012-2015)
£87,000
Canterbury (2010-2011) 5
£63,700
Bath (2007-2008)6
£170,000
Shropshire (2012-2013) 7
£160,000
Lincoln
£160,000
Budgets that include TIC/VIC management, tourism staff salaries and visitor
information guides ranged in 2008/09 from £300,000 to £800,000 in destinations
such as York, Cambridge, Oxford, Brighton and Durham.8
Tourism staff numbers elsewhere
Tourism staff numbers vary widely. For instance, Shrewsbury has one full time
tourism officer in the Council9 while Winchester has six (excluding TIC and
Guildhall/conference staff)10.
Winchester has also partnered with a local college to offer student placements
which have been successful at developing specific tourism products.
If TIC/VIC staff are also included in the headcount then other destinations in the DP
UK City 2 group have between 8 and 40 staff11. By comparison, St Albans has 6
FTE tourism staff (4 in the TIC and 2 in the Council).
Sources of external funding
Some destinations have been more successful than others in sourcing additional
external funding. Shrewsbury has managed to secure Heritage Lottery funding for
specific projects. Lincoln are seeking ERDF funding for improvement of public realm
and visitor information services while Essex are seeking to grow their EU funding.
5
Information from Strategic Marketing Plan, Canterbury District 2010-11
Information from B&NES Destination Management Plan, October 2007, p. 21
7
Information from interview with a Tourism official in Shropshire Council, September 2012
8
Information from Destination Performance UK 2009/10 City 2 Baseline Statement, Final Report
9
Information from interview with a Tourism official in Shropshire Council, September 2012
10
Information from Creative Winchester: A Tourism Strategy for the Winchester District 2004-2008
11
Information from Destination Performance UK 2009/10 City 2 Baseline Statement, Final Report
6
43
Destinations with a Business Improvement District (BID) use the levy for some
public realm improvements and marketing activity which benefit the visitor
economy.
Other options are to put a levy on large developments in the area (e.g. Winchester).
Destination branding
Some competitor destinations have put money into developing a specific brand for
their destination. Some simply have a brand for the DMO itself (e.g. York) while
others have developed a flexible brand for tourism in the destination which is
designed to be used by any and all stakeholders (e.g. Lincoln and Shrewsbury).
Lincoln’s brand focuses on heritage while Shrewsbury’s emphasises the originality
of the whole offer. Shrewsbury’s brand was featured in a brand design publication
which helped it to gain more local support.
Creating a brand that can be used by others helps to build a more coherent and
connected visitor offer. Brand design is often outsourced in comparable
destinations, typically at a cost of around £20-25,000.
Marketing activity elsewhere
Marketing the destination is one of the most fundamental tasks of destination
management.
Destinations with larger marketing budgets have very specific marketing plans for
each target market, using a variety of different methods. Those with smaller
budgets tend to focus most on press and PR communications.
a) Destination websites
Destination websites are seen as rapidly growing in importance and some areas are
cutting back on printing visitor brochures in favour of investing in their websites (e.g.
Canterbury). This is seen as an effective way to manage budget cuts. Canterbury
has also invested in a mobile website.
While many destinations have a website devoted to tourism, not all have
accommodation or attraction booking systems. Some only have a booking system
that generates an email to an accommodation provider (e.g. Stayinlincoln.co.uk)
while others have a direct booking system. Most advanced is a fully integrated
itinerary planner and booking system, such as that on the Visit York and Winchester
websites. Visit York run this service as a business, taking commission from
bookings.
44
b) Business tourism marketing
Marketing a destination for business tourism is often a separate activity, sometimes
even with a separate PPP, brand and website (e.g. Essex and Shropshire – which
links up with Telford and Wrekin). Canterbury has a conference module on their
visitor website and targets film makers by giving specific information and a stock of
location images.
c) Joint marketing
Joint marketing is very common amongst competitor destinations. Some places see
businesses and the Council in a local area join together for marketing purposes
(e.g. Discover Winchester) while others join up with organisations further afield.
Canterbury does joint marketing with Visit Kent as well as other members of the
Destination Partnerships UK Historic Cities 2 group since it believes these initiatives
offer excellent value for money.
Winchester is part of the Southern English cities overseas marketing consortium as
well as the Hampshire Top Attractions consortium.
d) Social media
Social media is used by some of St Albans’s competitors. Lincoln uses Twitter, You
Tube and Facebook while Essex and York use Twitter, Flicker and Facebook.
Shrewsbury also uses Twitter and Facebook.
Winchester are developing an iphone app.
Facebook is especially useful for targeting local residents, who help to smooth out
dips in the visitor market.
Initiatives that have and have not worked elsewhere
a) Visitor passes
York and Lincoln have set up visitor passes which link a number of attractions
together (pass holders pay a set fee and get entry to all participating attractions).
Lincoln takes 10% commission on the sale of visitor passes while the remainder is
split between participating businesses.
b) Tour operators
Most places have not really worked with tour operators, although Worcester has
built itineraries for coach parties. York found that attractions did not want to offer
discounts to tour operators because they did not want to look ‘cheap’.
45
Shrewsbury has worked with the Confederation of Passenger Transport to win a
coach friendly award and found it a very positive experience. There is a perception
in Lincoln that coach parties are not as profitable as previously thought.
c) Partnerships with transport providers
Some destinations have partnered successfully with transport providers. Essex has
had successful marketing campaigns with Ryanair and House of Britain (which runs
the Harwich ferries).
Shrewsbury had a successful campaign with the train company that ran the
Marylebone-Wrexham line (before the line closed down) offering short break
packages.
d) Training courses
A variety of training courses are offered to businesses in the visitor economy by
destinations. Essex provide (and charge for) a number of different training courses
for local businesses, such as social media and marketing. Essex trains around 3545 businesses per year.
Shrewsbury has offered (free) familiarisation courses for local businesses to build
awareness of all the products and attractions on offer in the area and increase upselling. They have also provided training on how to use the brand toolkit.
Visit York has run familiarisation courses for taxi drivers.
e) Sustainability
In terms of sustainable, ‘green’ initiatives, most common is a park and ride system.
Also popular are cycle lanes. Some destinations also encourage local buying.
Colchester has done a lot of work analysing car parking demand and facilities and
have a lot of expertise to offer in this area.
f) Council policies
Councils themselves have in some cases worked to ensure that other Council
policies and initiatives are linked coherently into the visitor strategy and the strategy
is prioritised by departmental directors (Durham, for example).
Often the visitor strategy affects planning and public realm functions.
Visit York is a key consultee on planning applications related to tourism, while in
Durham, the visitor strategy is considered to be such a key document that any
initiatives which affect it have to show how they fit in to the strategy.
46
4. Implications and recommendations for the St Albans
visitor strategy
Potential for growth
Tourism is set to be the fourth fastest growing sector in the UK, after business and
financial services and construction. It is growing in real terms (adjusting for inflation)
at 3% per year between 2010 and 2020 (Deloitte and Oxford Economics, 2010, p.
55-57). Assuming inflation with be 2% per year, Visit England has set a tourism
growth target of 5% year on year. Many destinations have adopted this for their own
targets.
St Albans is not a particularly well known destination and visitor numbers are low
compared to similar destinations. When the number of people living within a two
hour travel time is taken into account, it is clear there is significant potential for St
Albans to attract more visitors and associated spend. The visitor market is certainly
not saturated. A target of at least 3% growth above inflation year on year between
2013 and 2018 should be achievable and may be exceeded.
Recommendation:

Adopt a target for growth of the visitor economy in St Albans of at least 3%
above inflation
Day and staying visitors
Day visits far outweigh staying visits in St Albans, but this is to be expected as St
Albans does not have the holiday attractions and weather of places such as Devon
and Cornwall. The proportion of day visitors to staying visitors is actually not very
high when compared with other UK destinations.
Although day visitors, with no accommodation costs, spend less in total, they spend
more than staying visitors on food and drink, shopping and entertainment.
Therefore, staying visitors are uniquely more beneficial than day visitors to hotels
(and to a much smaller extent, transport providers in the district).
Compared regionally, both day and staying visitors spend more in St Albans than
the regional average. The emphasis, therefore, should be on increasing both the
numbers of day and staying visitors and not just focusing on increasing visitor
spend.
Recommendation:

Aim to increase the volume of both day and staying visitors
47
Overseas visitors
Overseas visitors currently comprise only around 19% of the total number of staying
visitors. However, they stay longer, spend more and have been identified as a good
opportunity for growth in the next ten years by the Deloitte and Oxford Economics
(2010) study.
Overseas visitors could be targeted through joint marketing with other, more famous
destinations, such as Winchester. Or, as Essex have done with Stansted and
Ryanair, a marketing campaign could be run in partnership with Luton airport and
major airlines associated with it.
Recommendation:

Aim to increase the volume of overseas visitors
The product
Ensuring a quality visitor product is critical to increasing visitor numbers. Even if
visitors are aware of things to do in St Albans, they also have to want to do them
and enjoy the experience. In general, the 2012 visitor survey in St Albans City and
District found that visitors are very happy with their experience with satisfaction
levels comparing favourably to other destinations. There is potential for St Albans to
capitalise on high levels of satisfaction by transferring this into increased
recommendations through word-of-mouth.
Recommendation:

Aim to increase and influence word-of-mouth recommendations
a) Leisure trips, shopping and visits to friends and relatives
Leisure trips, shopping trips and visits to family and friends are very significant
segments in the St Albans visitor economy, therefore, it is important to ensure that
there are well developed products and marketing targeted towards these groups.
The good quality and range of shops in the district are already a significant
influencing factor amongst visitors.
Meanwhile the heritage and historic appeal, attractive countryside, great places to
eat, attractions, arts and things for children to do all continue to draw visitors to the
district. Rather than developing one type of product and market (e.g. a heritage
offer for older empty nesters), the experience of very successful destinations (e.g.
Bath) makes clear that it is important to target a range of primary and secondary
markets with tailored products and marketing material.
48
Recommendation:

Identify primary and secondary markets and target specific marketing to each
group

Consider developing specific products for leisure visitors, those coming for
shopping trips and those coming to visit friends and relatives

Ensure the district retains a good range and quality of shops
b) Countryside visits
Countryside visits have grown in popularity since 2004 and there is potential to
capitalise more on this trend with the development of Heartwood Forest and outside
activities.
Walking, cycling, riding and other countryside activities are very popular and
specific products and services, such as trail itineraries or bicycle hire could be
created to promote these activities more.
Recommendation:

Develop specific countryside products and associated marketing
c) Passes, discounts and linked offers
The range of visitor attractions is good, but there is room for more coordination in
the visitor offer. Potential options include the re-development of a visitor pass, joint
ticketing arrangements and online booking through the Enjoy St Albans website.
A St Albans discount card is already in operation through ‘What’s On St Albans’.
This could be expanded to include attractions and more retail outlets in the visitor
economy. Other places link shops in to their visitor passes by offering a 10%
discount on participating retailers.
Residents could also be targeted more (prompting them to recommend attractions
to family and friends) by introducing a residents pass. St Albans already has a
‘Residents First’ weekend which has been running for ten years, offering free entry
to attractions as well as food and drink offers. This is a great marketing initiative to
residents. There may be potential to promote it further to encourage residents to
recommend places to go to their visiting friends and relatives.
Recommendation:

Investigate the potential to build more coordinated visitor products
49

Consider setting up a Residents pass

Consider further promotion of the Residents First weekend
d) Themed short break packages
Short breaks are more common in St Albans than longer trips so short break
packages would be an ideal product to develop.
Golf, food tourism, shopping, outdoors activities and heritage are all important
themes in the St Albans visitor offer which could be turned in to short break
packages.
Recommendation:

Develop and market short break packages
e) Business tourism
Business tourism is a significant visitor segment in St Albans, especially because of
its far greater spending power. As the University of Hertfordshire research
previously identified, there is potential to capitalise more on business spending
power, but there is a need to address suitable hotel and conference provision.
In terms of the development of a visitor strategy, experience elsewhere suggests
that business tourism is quite different from leisure tourism and separate
management, marketing and strategic arrangements are needed. Therefore, it
would make more sense to develop a separate business visitor strategy.
Recommendation:

Develop a separate business visitor strategy
f) Events
Research into comparable destinations suggests that large events, often targeting
Christmas spend, are usually aimed towards visitors to an area while smaller events
tend to target residents. However, given the value of visitors who come to see
friends and relatives, both may be considered important to the St Albans visitor
economy.
St Albans does not have any major Christmas event to capitalise on nationally high
spending at this time of year, which could be a missed opportunity.
There is ongoing debate about whether events should be run as businesses or
public services with some destinations setting up a limited PPP for events
50
management (e.g. Lincoln). Some Councils are reducing their events in the face of
budget cuts (e.g. Shrewsbury).
A plan for the Council’s future involvement in events is needed to ensure the costs
and rewards are borne equitably by the Council, residents and businesses alike.
Recommendation:

Consider creating a larger Christmas event to capitalise of high spending in the
festive period

Re-assess the programme of events and create a plan which builds in equitable
costs and rewards for all stakeholders.
Marketing
It is important to provide clear visitor information at the right point of contact for
visitors.
a) Tourist Information Centre and brochures
Currently, most visitors rely upon the Tourist Information Centre (TIC), a brochure
or recommendations from friends / relatives. This suggests that it is worth
continuing to invest in information provision via the TIC and brochures, however,
there is some room for improvement at the TICs.
Recommendation:

Investigate ways to improve the TIC for visitors

Continue publishing visitor brochures
b) Image bank
From the research conducted with people who had not visited the district in 2012 it
is evident that images of St Albans are very influential in informing perceptions. It is
important, therefore, to ensure that all marketing material, including that provided by
external stakeholders, uses quality images. Some investment may be needed in
building up a tried and tested image bank.
Recommendation:

Create an image bank for marketing purposes
c) www.enjoystalbans.com website
Online marketing through a destination website was previously identified as critical
to the development of the St Albans visitor economy. A destination website is now
51
operational so the Council anticipate this becoming a more important source of
information for visitors.
Google is also an important source of information for many people (as the research
with non-visitors demonstrated) so it is worth continuing to invest in raising the
www.enjoystalbans.com website’s profile on Google rankings.
There is potential to further develop the website as a marketing and visitor booking
vehicle. Accommodation and attractions booking services could be offered, an
itinerary planner could be set up, more information could be made available and
specific products could be advertised. Commission could be earned on website
sales which would help to off-set the costs of running this service.
The website could also link up with other, related websites such as Visit England
and hotel / B&B websites in the district.
Recommendation:

Continue to invest in improving the www.enjoystalbans.com website

Invest in raising the ranking of www.enjoystalbans.com on Google

Investigate setting up a bookings service and / or itinerary planner on the
website

Create links between the www.enjoystalbans.com website and websites of
attractions, hotels/B&Bs and Visit England.
d) Influencing ‘word-of-mouth’ recommendations
Influencing word of mouth recommendations is important because many visitors to
the district use this information to plan their visit. Since satisfaction levels amongst
visitors are very high, there is a great opportunity to capitalise on this and facilitate
word-of-mouth recommendations.
Residents are an important target market because of their influence in
recommendations to visiting family and friends. Therefore, it is important to increase
awareness amongst residents of the visitor offer. Additional research may be
needed to understand what residents currently think about the visitor offer and how
their perceptions can best be influenced by marketing.
Recommendations from family and friends can be influenced by the use of social
media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Flicker and You Tube) and websites, such as Trip
Advisor. Some competitor destinations already use these.
52
Recommendations can also be generated by linking arrangements with other
websites. For instance, St Albans visitor information could be published on the Visit
England site and accommodation providers’ websites in the district.
Recommendation:

Aim to capitalise on high satisfaction ratings with increased word-of-mouth
recommendations

Consider undertaking research to understand how residents currently perceive
the visitor offer and how their opinions may be influenced

Increase awareness among residents of the visitor offer

Use social media and recommendation websites (e.g. Trip Advisor) to influence
and generate recommendations
e) Branding
Developing a strong brand for a destination has been deemed important by some
competitors, though not all. The best brands emphasise a destination’s strengths
while also being flexible enough that a variety of different businesses can use them.
Awareness of St Albans as a visitor destination is low, but there is no particular
information on brand awareness of St Albans.
Currently, the website makes use of the ‘Enjoy’ brand used by Hertfordshire and
uses the city shield with blue and gold colour themes in marketing material.
Creating a stronger brand may be of benefit. A typical spend on branding elsewhere
is in the region of £20-25,000.
Recommendation:

Investigate whether there would be value in investing in brand design work
Infrastructure
Most visitors to St Albans City and District arrive by car, taking advantage of good
road connections and parking facilities. A significant increase in visitors would add
further pressure to parking and traffic congestion.
St Albans has very limited coach parking facilities but aside from a gut feeling that
there needs to be more, there is no available evidence to say whether coach
parking is an issue.
53
More detailed analysis on parking is needed if visitor numbers are to increase.
Colchester’s experience in this area would be of particular benefit.
Given St Albans’s excellent rail connections to London and the South East, it is
surprising that few people arrive by train. There is clearly an excellent opportunity to
increase the number of visitors from London and the South East by utilising the train
network. However, this would only increase visitors to urban areas of the district
while the countryside and attractions on the edge of the district remain less well
served by public transport.
Signage and orientation appear to be fine as they are and this research found no
particular need to focus on these areas.
Recommendation:

Conduct detailed analysis on car and coach parking

Aim to increase the number of visitors arriving by train

Investigate ways to transport visitors arriving by public transport to attractions
outside urban areas
Ongoing monitoring
This research has generated clear and detailed information about the current state
of the visitor economy in St Albans and how it compares with other, similar
destinations. St Albans City and District Council has not previously monitored the
visitor economy consistently but there is real value in building on the knowledge
generated here.
Maintaining a consistently high level of knowledge in the Council of the visitor
economy in the district, as well as regional and national developments, will enable
appropriate policies to be developed and implemented. This will entail financial and
staff resource investments.
Research with comparable destinations suggests that the best way to do costeffective and consistent monitoring is:
Recommendation:

Purchase and analyse Cambridge model volume and value data every 2-3 years
(in particular, visitor numbers and associated spend and employment figures)

Join British Destinations to participate in benchmarking studies with other UK
historic cities
54

Conduct a visitor survey once every 2-3 years

Collect (or outsource the collection of) quarterly accommodation occupancy
rates and visitor numbers to attractions in the district

Collect quarterly visitor numbers to Council-owned attractions including Tourist
Information Centres

Liaise with external stakeholders (e.g. businesses) through quarterly networking
events or meetings with particular interest groups (e.g. hotels group or
attractions group). The Chamber of Commerce may be an partner in this

Measure ongoing ROI by comparing the amount spent on tourism by the Council
to the total amount of visitor revenue in the district

Aim to measure the effect of specific marketing campaigns (e.g. by looking for
increases in website visitor numbers)
Management vehicle
Successfully developing the visitor economy in St Albans City and District requires
ensuring that the right management vehicle for the district is in place.
There is a nationwide trend moving towards setting up a public-private partnership
(PPP) for the management of elements of the visitor economy. PPPs are
considered to involve businesses with a stake in the visitor economy in the
development and promotion of the area. They also provide a more sustainable
income in the long term.
At the very least, almost every other destination has some form of PPP in place for
marketing purposes. However, the trend is moving towards developing the PPP
model to include a broader remit than marketing to ensure that the whole visitor
experience is good. Tourism Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) are a new
concept to consider in this area.
There are a number of management vehicle options available to St Albans. These
need to be carefully considered to find the solution that best suits the district.
Factors that will be important to consider are the extent of private and public sector
interest in any PPP plans and whether there are key individuals in the district who
would be interested and able to lead the development of a PPP.
The type of management vehicle adopted will affect the available budget for the
development of the visitor economy in St Albans and therefore the strategy for
2013-2018. It is important that a strategy is written and adopted which sets realistic
55
expectations and has the budget, staff resources and stakeholder commitment
necessary to achieve its objectives.
Recommendation:

Carry out an options appraisal with stakeholders for the creation of a new
management vehicle

Ensure the 2013-2018 visitor strategy is in line with expected budget, staff
resources and stakeholder commitment
Stakeholder management
St Albans has under-developed special interest groups in the visitor economy.
Other destinations have found value in organising stakeholders into special interest
groups, typically:

Heritage attractions group

Attractions group

Hotels group

Retailers group

Business tourism group
Groups that work together most effectively, meet regularly and engage with each
other in the development of new visitor products are the most successful in realising
benefits for all. Stakeholder groups also make Council liaison with stakeholders in
the visitor economy easier.
Recommendation:

Encourage stakeholders to set up special interest groups to work together in the
development and marketing of visitor products
Writing the visitor strategy
Evidence from comparable destinations that have already been through the process
of writing a visitor strategy indicates that it is important to concentrate on a small
number of achievable objectives. Between three and five objectives is ideal.
It is important to ensure that development of the visitor economy is linked to the
Council’s overall priorities and objectives. It also needs to link to the district’s
Sustainable Community Strategy.
56
The strategy requires a detailed action plan outlining specific targets,
responsibilities for achieving these and how targets meet each objective. Action
plans may need to be tailored to each key stakeholder.
Regular progress meetings and a designated person responsible for driving forward
the strategy are also important to ensure the strategy does not stall.
Recommendation:

Limit the number of objectives in the visitor strategy to between three and five

Ensure the visitor strategy is linked to the Council’s overall priorities and
objectives, as well as the Sustainable Community Strategy

Write a detailed action plan to accompany the visitor strategy and consider
writing tailored action plans for each key stakeholders

Ensure there is a designated person responsible for driving forward the strategy
and coordinating regular progress meetings
57
List of recommendations
Target for growth of the visitor economy

Adopt a target for growth of the visitor economy in St Albans of at least 3%
above inflation

Aim to increase the volume of both day and staying visitors

Aim to increase and influence word-of-mouth recommendations

Aim to increase the volume of overseas visitors
Development of visitor products

Consider developing specific products for leisure visitors, those coming for
shopping trips and those coming to visit friends and relatives

Ensure the district retains a good range and quality of shops

Develop specific countryside products and associated marketing

Investigate the potential to build more coordinated visitor products

Consider setting up a Residents pass

Consider further promotion of the Residents First weekend
Business tourism

Develop a separate business visitor strategy
Events

Consider creating a larger Christmas event to capitalise of high spending in the
festive period

Re-assess the programme of events and create a plan which builds in equitable
costs and rewards for all stakeholders.
Marketing

Identify primary and secondary markets and target specific marketing to each
group

Develop and market short break packages

Investigate ways to improve the TIC for visitors

Continue publishing visitor brochures
58

Create an image bank for marketing purposes

Investigate setting up a bookings service and / or itinerary planner on the
website

Create links between the www.enjoystalbans.com website and websites of
attractions, hotels/B&Bs and Visit England.

Continue to invest in improving the www.enjoystalbans.com website

Invest in raising the ranking of www.enjoystalbans.com on Google

Aim to capitalise on high satisfaction ratings with increased word-of-mouth
recommendations

Consider undertaking research to understand how residents currently perceive
the visitor offer and how their opinions may be influenced

Increase awareness among residents of the visitor offer

Use social media and recommendation websites (e.g. Trip Advisor) to influence
and generate recommendations

Investigate whether there would be value in investing in brand design work
Infrastructure

Conduct detailed analysis on car and coach parking

Investigate ways to transport visitors arriving by public transport to attractions
outside urban areas

Aim to increase the number of visitors arriving by train
Continuous monitoring

Purchase and analyse Cambridge model volume and value data every 2-3 years
(in particular, visitor numbers and associated spend and employment figures)

Join British Destinations to participate in benchmarking studies with other UK
historic cities

Conduct a visitor survey once every 2-3 years

Collect (or outsource the collection of) quarterly accommodation occupancy
rates and visitor numbers to attractions in the district

Collect quarterly visitor numbers to Council-owned attractions including Tourist
Information Centres
59

Liaise with external stakeholders (e.g. businesses) through quarterly networking
events or meetings with particular interest groups (e.g. hotels group or
attractions group). The Chamber of Commerce may be an partner in this

Measure ongoing ROI by comparing the amount spent on tourism by the Council
to the total amount of visitor revenue in the district

Aim to measure the effect of specific marketing campaigns (e.g. by looking for
increases in website visitor numbers)
Stakeholder Coordination

Encourage stakeholders to set up special interest groups to work together in the
development and marketing of visitor products

Carry out an options appraisal with stakeholders for the creation of a new
management vehicle
Visitor strategy development

Ensure the 2013-2018 visitor strategy is in line with expected budget, staff
resources and stakeholder commitment

Limit the number of objectives in the visitor strategy to between three and five

Ensure the visitor strategy is linked to the Council’s overall priorities and
objectives, as well as the Sustainable Community Strategy

Write a detailed action plan to accompany the visitor strategy and consider
writing tailored action plans for each key stakeholders

Ensure there is a designated person responsible for driving forward the strategy
and coordinating regular progress meetings
60
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