Who
does what in the "new" UK tourism industry
Last
year the structure of VisitBritain changed, together with some
of the
English regional tourist boards. To help you get to grips
with all the changes, this overview covers VisitBritain, changes
in the English regions and where to find more
information.
VisitBritain is the new organisation, created on 1 April 2003
formed by the merger of the British Tourist Authority and the English
Tourism Council. Its mission is to build the value of tourism by
creating world class destination brands and marketing campaigns.
It is now responsible for promoting to both overseas and domestic
visitors. This is an important change, as it means that for the
first time in many years a national tourist board now has direct
responsibility and funds to promote England to UK residents.
VisitBritain also works in partnership with the national tourist
boards in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to promote an attractive
image of Britain. It is funded by the Department for Culture, Media
and Sport and by its tourism partners.
VisitBritain
operates a network of over 20 overseas offices, some of which
are in emerging and new markets like Poland, Russia, China & Korea.
Approximately 60% of VisitBritain’s staff are based overseas
with the remainder at its head office in Hammersmith, London.
VisitBritain
aims to grow UK tourism from £76bn in 2002 to
over £100 bn in 2010, with better seasonal and regional
spread. It is doing this by: making
domestic holidays more attractive and easier to book; developing
e-tourism platforms to meet customer and industry needs; investing
in new overseas markets such as China and Russia; and using coherent
national branding in all markets.
The England
Marketing Advisory Board (EMAB) has been created to
oversee the creation, development, promotion and implementation
of a marketing strategy for England. The English Tourism Council
no longer exists.
Continuing changes in the English Regions
One of the biggest changes in domestic tourism is that Regional
Development Agencies (RDAs) have been given the strategic lead
for tourism in the regions. The funding which previously went to
the Regional Tourist Boards (RTBs) via the English Tourism Council
is now being channelled via the RDAs. This also means that the
RDAs are responsible for ensuring that appropriate tourism delivery
structures are in place in each area.
As
part of these changes, the RDAs in each English region have reviewed
the work of their RTBs.
Some RTBs have disappeared completely, others have merged
and some have been reinvented with changed responsibilities.
In some regions Regional Tourist Boards have been either replaced
or supplemented by Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs).
DMOs are effectively marketing consortia, with some public funding.
t’s
inevitable that as soon as we’ve
written this brief overview of the changes taking place, it will
be out of date. If you know of any changes
or want to make any corrections to this overview, please do get
in touch!
Let’s start with the most straight-forward situation. In
the East of England there are no immediate changes and the East
of England Tourist Board is still the “sister organisation” of
the East of England Development Agency.
In
London the situation is slightly more complex but the changes
took place
last year so everyone has had more time to adapt than
elsewhere. London’s position is also different because it
not only has a RDA but also a Mayor and the Greater London Assembly.
As well as being the capital city, London also plays an important
role as a gateway city. If we attract more visitors to London,
they could in theory be persuaded to visit other areas of the UK.
The
Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone was elected in 2000 and again
in 2004.
He delegated his responsibility for tourism to the London
Development Agency (LDA). The LDA conducted an extensive review
of all tourism activities in London including those of the London
Tourist Board and subsequently launched the Mayor’s Tourism
Strategy and Action Plan, nominating the newly created VisitLondon
(in essence a rejuvenated London Tourist Board with some different
staff, more funding and activities limited to marketing) as its
key delivery partner.
The
LDA recently appointed Sub Regional Tourism Managers to represent
each of
London’s five regions, North, South, East, West and
Central. Other organisations such as Business Link for London and
London Learning and Skills Council will take the lead for business
support, quality improvements and skills initiatives.
Tourism
South East was formed out of the South East England Tourist
Board and Southern Tourist Board and conforms with the boundaries
of the South East England Development Agency. To make this larger
area work there are also six sub-regions with responsibility
for delivering parts of the business plan.
The situation is also relatively stable in the South
West where
South West Tourism is the tourism delivery partner for the South
West Regional Development Agency.
In
the Midlands the Heart - of England Tourist Board has effectively
been broken
(sorry couldn’t resist that one!). There are
now two organisations covering what was the Heart of England. Advantage
West Midlands has created a new organisation called Heart of England
Tourism (not tourist board – that was the old one!) to undertake
marketing and information activities for the region. This covers
Herefordshire, Staffs, Shropshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire,
and Birmingham.
The East Midlands Development Agency has also created a new organisation
- East Midlands Tourism which is based at the EMDA office and which
will probably be complemented with several destination marketing
organisations.
Yorkshire Forward has yet to announce the final structure nd name of their
tourism delivery partner but it appears that the
Yorkshire Tourist Board will effectively remain although its activities,
name and some staff may change.
One
NorthEast closed the Northumbria Tourist Board in Spring 2004
and was semi-replaced
by an organisation with the temporary name
of One NorthEast Tourism Team, under the direction of One NorthEast.
Many of the former NTB staff are now working with the “new” organisation.
The
North West Development Agency also closed the regional tourist
board in Spring 2004, but in this case eplaced it with five Destination
Marketing Organisations (three of the following already existed):
Cumbria Tourist Board, Marketing Manchester, The Mersey Partnership,
Cheshire and Warrington Tourist Board and Lancashire and Blackpool
Tourist Board. There is also a small centralised tourism team at
the RDA.
Just to add another layer of confusion there is another important
organisation in the North - England's North Country is the umbrella
marketing consortia responsible for promoting the whole area overseas.
Where
to find more information
VisitBritain
has several websites www.VisitBritain.com is
its consumer-facing website with numerous “gateway” sites
for overseas’ visitors. www.VisitEngland.com is
the equivalent site to promote England to domestic visitors.
The
corporate website www.VisitBritain.org includes
information about VisitBritain as an organisation, its aims,
plans, and staff. Their UK tourism industry site www.VisitBritain.org/ukindustry is
full of useful information about how you can get involved in
VisitBritain’s activities, market profiles, marketing opportunities
and is also the place to go to sign up for VisitBritain’s
free industry newsletters.
The
following are the home pages of the RDA websites. We suggest
that if you search within the sites for “tourism” you’ll
quickly find a host of strategies and reports.
Northwest
Regional Development Agency www.nwda.co.uk
Yorkshire Forward www.yorkshire-forward.com;
One North East www.onenortheast.co.uk;
Advantage West Midlands www.advantagewm.co.uk;
East Midlands Development Agency www.emda.org.uk;
East of England Development Agency www.eeda.org.uk; South East England Development
Agency www.seeda.co.uk;
South West Development Agency www.southwestrda.org.uk
London Development Agency - www.lda.gov.uk
Susan
Briggs/September 2004
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