Love
Kylie, love London tourism?
In
an earlier issue of this newsletter we called for a new
Chief Executive of Visit London who would be passionate about London,
who understands the tourism industry, who’s perhaps come
up through the ranks so they know how the big and little boys
feel. Some one who’s been to the travel trade parties and
can now act like a Pied Piper to make everyone feel part of the
game.
As
former marketing director of Selfridges, James Bidwell was responsible
for “tasks” such as launching the Love Kylie luxury
lingerie range. But how well will this prepare him for his new
role at Visit London?
There
are parallels between promoting Selfridges and London. When Gordon
Selfridge developed the concept of his store in 1908, he said
he wanted to create a place where “people are encouraged
to make a day of it”. London is just a few steps further
on – we’d prefer people to stay a few days…
A
few years later, Bidwell was quoted as calling Selfridges "a
lifestyle place to hang out in" rather than a department
store. And of course he understands customer needs and the importance
of a quality experience. So far, so good.
With
such strong competition from other cities such as New York and
Paris, it’s important that London trumpets its brand values.
Having opened stores in Birmingham and Manchester and adding
sparkle to the London store, Bidwell also knows all about building
a brand.
His
sense of innovation is encouraging, understanding the need to
move with the times and give the media and public something to
talk about. Selfridges became licensed for weddings because “it’s
about inspiration and fun, and offering customers something new
at every turn”. Just like London.
These skills can easily be transferred to the tourism industry, although despite
being a Visit London board member for some time, James Bidwell will presumably
still need to learn how the travel trade really works at a more grass roots
level. He can probably use some of his media skills to “rally the troops” and
call Visit London Partners to action, encouraging greater participation.
His
appointment is little surprise, given that Visit London’s
public funding is unlikely to continue at the current level.
More income is needed from the private sector. Attractions, hoteliers,
tour operators have only so much more to give. So where can additional
income come from? Err - retailers?
For
years retailer have benefited from tourist’s spending sprees
but not necessarily contributed financially to London’s
promotion overseas. Clearly someone with a retail background
will be more capable of going after their marketing budgets.
So that’s the big boys sorted.
Government
funding is ploughed into organisations like Visit London because
of the many small businesses that are involved. If they can be
helped to grow, they’ll employ more people. But those small
businesses don’t necessarily feel that such organisations
are actually being run for their benefit. It remains to be seen
whether smaller businesses will feel they can relate to the big
brash new Visit London headed by some one from a glamorous West
End store.
Given
his track record and previous experience, James Bidwell is set
to make a success of his new role and to further enhance London’s
position as a destination. He should also be able to bring in
the cash. If he can somehow find a way of convincing all the
smaller partners that they really are partners and that their
voice will be heard, then it’ll be a job doubly well done.
We’ll feature an interview with James Bidwell in a forthcoming
issue.
As
for having been to real travel trade parties, well there’s
going to be a great one on the 22nd
June… maybe see him
there?
Susan
Briggs
Susan@tourismnetwork.org
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