Visit
London’s successes - Cash or Campbell?
The
selection process for Visit London’s next Chief Executive
is currently underway as David Campbell will be leaving to revitalise
the Dome in March. What sort of person does Visit London need for
their next stage of development and what has David Campbell achieved
since he arrived in 2003?
Visit
London is a completely different organisation to its forerunner,
the
London Tourist Board. Most of the staff are new, it has smart
new offices, a marketing-only focus and a hitherto only dreamed-of
huge injection of public funding via the London Development Agency.
And it no longer has any members. They are now “partners” although
they still pay a subscription to join the organisation.
I
interviewed David Campbell when he first arrived, amidst the
blaze of publicity
about his salary of over £230K per annum.
Presumably other more official organisations are busy analysing
whether or not this has been money well spent.
I
found him friendly, with a down to earth approach and plenty
of energy
for the job ahead. He was very clear about what he wanted
to do. He needed to re-structure the staff so there was far greater
emphasis on marketing. He wanted to look again at the membership – were
the right people members, could others such as retailers & restaurants
be encouraged to join? What were the benefits?
He was clear that although information centres and quality were/are
important issues in London, these were not the remit of the new
look tourist board. He stressed how positive he had found the Greater
London Assembly, the Mayor and the London Development Agency towards
tourism. He also said he had already found there was a major sense
of collaboration from the private sector, particularly from organisations
such as British Airways and Thistle. This choice of examples was
perhaps an insight into the future direction of Visit London.
Both
the staffing structure and staff themselves have undergone a
radical change.
The “jobs worths” have gone and energetic
younger staff with a stronger marketing focus have joined. With
one notable exception, all the new staff are positive and helpful.
Some partners are surprised at the extent to which staff seem to
be managing external agencies rather than doing the job themselves,
but the new direction has made an enormous difference in terms
of marketing London, and there’s an injection of creativity.
Cash
helped of course, but Campbell didn’t have the baggage
of the past or any loyalties to hold him back. He was able to put
an effective new structure in place relatively quickly. One interview
credits Campbell with finding and negotiating Visit London into
the new offices next door to City Hall. In fact his predecessor
had already suggested this but the lack of cash held him back.
His predecessor would never have dreamed of proposing London TV
but that’s where I personally think too much money isn’t
always a good thing.
The
membership structure has been revisited and re-shaped so members
are now
called “partners”. Retailers and restaurants
have been encouraged to get involved and have particularly benefited
from some of the Totally London activities.
There
are 2 areas where the cash + Campbell combination haven’t
always = success.
One
is the need to enthuse and energise the industry. The other is
the need
to make the smaller, lower fee paying partners feel
they have a voice. They may have one in theory but many of the
ones I speak to suggest that they feel Visit London’s focus
is now more on the “big boys” such as BA and Thistle.
The corporates have an essential role in terms of financial contributions
to campaigns and their products.
But
the many small – medium sized businesses (SMEs) that
make up the tourism industry are one of the principle reasons why
the government gives public money to organisations like Visit London.
Tourism is important because it’s a job creator and an area
where SMEs flourish. But they don’t always feel cherished.
Sometimes it’s simply a case of demonstrating how they fit
into the bigger picture and how promoting the big names can also
benefit them.
It’s probably now time for a figure head whose absolute
passion for London tourism really does shine through. This isn’t
to say that David Campbell doesn’t have this but sometimes
when he speaks in public one feels that maybe it’s his salary
that is driving him rather than 100% love for the industry. Does
this matter? I think that passion is infectious. And at the moment
the industry feels more passive than passionate.
The
metamorphosis from poverty-stricken-trying-to-do-everything-London
Tourist
Board to cash-rich-marketing-only Visit London needed some
one like David Campbell to drive it forward. He will no doubt go
on to really make something out of the Dome. Now he has made his
contribution and decided to move on, there’s an opportunity
to think about what or who Visit London needs next.
So
I’d like to make a public plea, now that the fundamentals
for the new Visit London are in place. Please can we have some
one who really loves tourism, some one who’s perhaps come
up through the ranks so they understand how the big and little
boys feel, some one whose been to the travel trade parties and
can now act like a Pied Piper to make everyone part of the game?
Thank you!
Susan Briggs
susan@tourismnetwork.org
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