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The Tourism SocietyQueens House, 55-56 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2A 3BHT 0207 269 9693 F 0207 404 2465E [email protected] www.tourismsociety.orgRegistered in England No. 01366846. ISSN: 02613700

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Tourism is the journal of the Tourism Society.The views expressed inTourism are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of theTourism Society.Whilst unsolicited material is welcomed, neithertransparencies nor unpublished articles can be returned.The Tourism Society cannot be held responsible for any services offeredby advertisers in Tourism. All correspondence must be addressed to theEditor.Tourism is only available to members of the Tourism Society and onsubscription, it is distributed quarterly to 1800 professionals working innational and regional tourist boards, local government, travel agencies,and tour operators, visitor attractions, accommodation and catering,entertainment, information services, guiding, consultancies and educationand training.

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www.tourismsociety.org 3Issue 151 Autumn 2012

EditorialLet’s ensure we profit from ahistoric 2012 In the words of the hilarious Siobhan Sharpe,PR ’guru’ in the BBC’s brilliant mockumentary,Twenty Twelve: “If we get bandwidth on this,you’ve got maple syrup on your waffle fromthe get-go”.Fortunately the real PR brains behind theGames were much more skilled and despiteall the negativity in the build up to theOlympics, the final result was a stunningsuccess.There is no doubt that the benefit to

Britain’s tourism in years to come will be enormous providing wemaximise the opportunities in a targeted and coordinated fashion.In this issue of Tourism, the Olympics provide an underlying theme formany of the articles. Society members and Gamesmakers Ylva French,Nicole Bobb and Jean Burbidge give a fascinating insight into the massivecontribution made by the volunteers in making the Games such asuccess.The worldwide media coverage of the Games has painted Britain in avery positive light and it is hoped that this will attract more overseasvisitors to Britain in the future. It is therefore vital that government atnational, regional and local level does everything possible to support thetourism industry in its endeavours.However, we should also take note of the opportunities that exist toleverage this ‘feel good factor’ within the domestic market, where a hugeamount of national pride has been generated by the Olympics.Those of us who attended the Society’s Annual Conference were treatedto a stimulating day with excellent presentations, some of which arereported in this issue. Sir John Whitmore, who gave the keynote speech,writes here that “I have never been a tourist”. He then goes on todescribe a life spent travelling.Victor Middleton’s article highlights the importance of adoptingdefinitions for tourism across the industry with everyone ‘singing from thesame hymn sheet’.With the effective communication of key messagesbeing so crucial, there’s no room for Siobhan Sharpe gobbledegook!

Mike Bugsgang FTS Board Member Tourism Society | Managing Director, Bugsgang & Associates

Contents

From the President’s DeskLondon 2012 is now a memory. Style,passion, originality, atmosphere, excite-ment – who could have asked for more?

These Olympics have been a triumph andshown the world just what Britain can do.These are memories to cherish. But it isnot enough simply to glow in the warmaftermath of a great success, nor sit backand allow the memories to fade intomyth.There are lessons to be learnt bothfor the country and for tourism.The reallegacy will be if we grasp what is there tolearn and use it for the future.

We must recognise the sheer profession-alism of what was done. It is a remarkablefeat of project management not only tohave built the facilities broadly on budgetand well within time but also to haveconceived of the operation and dailymanagement of the venues and put it allin place so seamlessly.This is not an acci-dent.We do project conception andmanagement across a wide range of disci-

plines very well. One legacy thereforemust be to make much more use ofthese skills in a coherent way in promot-ing tourism in the future. If there everwas a mission for DCMS this is it.Wealso need to recognise that not all of theUK has basked in Olympic benefit.TheNorth of Scotland has had a poortourism year with numbers and spenddown. Back in 2003 when the then CMSselect committee took evidence on apotential London bid scant attention wasgiven to the future tourism legacy butevidence indicated that in the Olympicyear there was little benefit outside thehost city but that the benefits came infollowing years. If London 2012 is to bemore than a warm Olympic memory anda poor tourism year, then we need toinvest to turn that potential into reality.

Lord Thurso MP FTS |President,Tourism Society

Outbound:The changing business environment 4Noel Josephides FTS, Sunvil Holidays

The British Product: Coping with the UK’s weather 5Chris Osborne FTS,The Wales Tourism Alliance

Tourism Degrees: Challenges, and future industry engagement 6Brandon Crimes FTS, University of Hertfordshire

Legal: Making sure suppliers deliver 7Paul Matthews, Linder Myers LLP

Destinations: Cheshire’s Olympic odyssey 8Chris Brown MTS MTMI, Marketing Cheshire

VisitEngland:A Successful Olympics 9James Berresford,VisitEngland

Olympic Gamesmakers: 10-11In the village – Jean Burbidge MTS,Wild Goose LeysAt the Opening Ceremony – Nicole Bobb MTSEvents Services team leader – Ylva French FTS,Ylva French Consultancy

Tourism Definitions:The Language of Tourism, internationally,nationally and locally – making it fit for purpose 12-13Victor Middleton OBE FTS

Conference Report: Coaching and the Tourism Industry 14Sir John Whitmore, Performance Consultants International

Conference Report: People 15Julia Feuell, New Frontiers and OTT

Conference Report: Places 16Robin Barker MTS FTMI, Services for Tourism

Conference Report: Profit 17Michael Jones FTS, Delta Squared Performance Improvement

Consultants Network: Never too old – or young – for professionalism? 18Chris Wikeley FTS, Quality Counts

Membership News 19-20

Cover image credit: www.london2012.com

Noel Josephides FTS | Managing Director,Sunvil Holidays4 [email protected]

The changing business environment

Outbound

Issue 151 Autumn 2012

Forty years in tour operating is a longtime and there have certainly been agreat many changes over that span ofyears.

There are few of us left who still charteraircraft other than TUI,Thomas Cook,Cosmos, Jet 2 and Virgin, who own theirown planes. Just think of the number ofmiddle-range tour operators that existedbefore the absorption of Thomson intoTui and Airtours into Thomas Cook. Nowthere’s Olympic Holidays and that’s aboutit.

At Sunvil we still account for about20,000 committed charter seats a seasonto Greece and the Azores and thatmakes us quite a sizeable tour operator -ridiculous when you think of the numberof charter-based operators that used tocarry 50,000 to 500,000 passengers ayear. In fact, the problem now is finding aUK-based independent charter carrier -there just aren’t any, a reflection on howmuch the industry has changed.

How does it all work now? The modern-day tour operator buys the seats on anad hoc basis from the likes of easyJet,Monarch and a variety of scheduled carri-ers.This means that they can neverbrochure an accurate price because theynever know what they will be paying forthe seat.

Villa specialist companies no longerquote prices per person but per villa, asthey too rarely commit to the number offlight seats necessary to match the num-ber of beds in the villas.

All this has led to the proliferation ofsmaller tour operators and some verylarge technology-based companies likeTravel Republic and On The BeachHolidays.

The smaller tour operators cannot gener-ate the numbers because they do nothave the pressure of filling aircraft seatsand hotel beds to drive them.The tech-nology companies mix and match flightsand accommodation and have ridden onthe increased use of the internet and therapid growth of no-frills carriers.

The resulting excess capacity has keptholiday prices at an unsustainably lowlevel.The new generation of holiday com-

panies now act as agents and not princi-pals and, as a result, do not pay VATunder the tour operators’ marginscheme. Because Government legislationhas not kept up with the changing book-ing patterns, they have not had to workto the same capital and liquidity ratiorequirements as legacy tour operators.

How does it all look this year for tradi-tional tour operators? The economicuncertainty simply translates into laterbookings and, as a result, lower margins.

The problems in Greece have not helpedand nor has the media frenzy which hasresulted in irresponsible reporting aboutthe true state of affairs in that country.

General reporting about what is claimedto be the imminent break-up of theeurozone has further fuelled uncertaintyand the press do not seem to havegrasped that this is not a perfect marketand that it is the politicians who rule, andnot the financial pundits who hope toprofit from engineering a collapse.

The Queen’s Jubilee, the EuropeanChampionships and the Olympics have allcontributed to distorting normal bookingpatterns.The fact is that nobody knowshow the season will finish because of thelate booking trend.

However, the bad weather in the UK andthe devaluation of the euro by about10% have helped bookings to the euro-zone, so it’s not all bad news!

What can we expect in 2013? Well, wewon’t have the Olympics, EuropeanChampionships or the Queen’s Jubilee so,with any luck, we should have a calmerseason.

If the politicians of the eurozone manageto convince the financial markets thatthey have no intention of letting theeurozone collapse then that should helpas well.

However, a potential triple-dip recessionin the UK is not good news so I wouldthink we can probably anticipate that2013 will be much the same as this year.

Who will fly you to Greece?

The British Product

www.tourismsociety.org

Chris Osborne FTS | Chairman,

The Wales Tourism Alliance5

Recent sunshine, coinciding with thebeginning of the main summer holidays,has brought a welcome relief to both UKtourists and tourism operators after theapparently incessant rain from April toJune/July this year and sporadic deluges inAugust.

However, questions were being askedabout UK tourism and how it can per-form under these conditions.

Towns and cities often benefit fromweather that doesn’t support outdoor,natural holiday experiences, yet not so inthis last blast.

It was as if the command had gone outto stay indoors, being inside homesrather than inside shopping malls, cine-mas, museums, etc. One of the questionsraised is, should we now contemplatemaking our holidays weatherproof?

What does this actually mean: hermetical-ly sealed accommodation, restaurants,leisure facilities? Or does it mean wherethere is outside action, e.g. theme parks,outdoor pursuits centres, horse riding,quad biking, there should be commensu-rate under cover options, albeit not withthe same offer?

Sounds easy and sensible, but for farmers,fishermen, guides, ramblers and otherpeople who do it outside and rural, it’sneither financially nor strategically imagi-nable – just think of the planning hurdles.

Perhaps the solution then is to focus onwet activities, since once you’re wet youcan’t get wetter ; to look to rivers, lakes,sea for water borne / immersed action.

That might be part of a solution, but itprobably doesn’t help campsite operatorsand event organisers who have beensquelching through their empty fields.Nor is anyone involved in domestic andinbound tourism happy with the recentsudden upturn in those seeking morereliable weather abroad.

A direct tension: foreign sun versus inap-propriate clothing (as Billy Connollydetermined the only problems of UK hol-idaying to be). In Wales the strapline ofreal or ‘proper holidays’ has been used, areference to actual, physical endeavour ina natural environment. It is honest; per-

haps too honest for the UK climateexperience.

I am reminded of an even braver market-ing campaign run by Visit Wales’s prede-cessor, the Wales Tourist Board, someyears ago.This focussed entirely onaccepting water that will come; it fea-tured, inter alia, Bog Snorkelling atLlanwrtyd Wells.This has become a great,international event and just shows whatinspiration can be had from water.

Other Wales water activities, as well asthe more ‘normal’ ones such as sailing,kayaking, fishing, swimming, kite surfing etc,include the now widely known and prac-ticed coasteering, first introduced by TYFin St Davids, followed by canyoning (samething but down gorges rather thanaround the bottom of sea cliffs).

Now these new activities are truly wetweather, so it matters not a jot if it’s rain-ing. Hah, there is really wet stuff to doand therefore promote.

So do we look for retractable roofs, dryand wet weather marketing partnerships,hot and cold health days, and any otherideas to capture the mixture that is

leisure UK?

Yet despite all the comments, and thecriticisms they attract, we should not for-get the UK’s special weather, the weatherthat forged our island spirit, our stub-bornness, our humour. And the latter iswhere we should be looking to embellishour offer.

Inappropriate clothing.We have exportedsome extraordinary humour, sometimesto the bewilderment of the rest of theworld – viz Olympic opening ceremonyc/o Danny Boyle – yet we retain a toplevel position on the internationalhumour ladder.

The trick, I think, is to combine that repu-tation with delivery on the ground whilstsimultaneously delivering our product,professionally. I am reminded of a hospi-tality university’s leading light who sug-gested we rebrand ‘hospitality’ with ‘per-formance’.

I have often considered this whollyappropriate. Chuck all this in the air andwe end up with professional ‘wet & dry’.Sounds like a glasspaper, but I think itmight float like a butterfly.

Coping with the UK’s weather


Wet weather can bring benefits

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Brandon Crimes FTS | Senior Lecturer,TourismDepartment, University ofHertfordshire6 [email protected]

Challenges, and future industry engagement

Tourism Degrees


The UK higher education system isundergoing significant and radical changesin the funding, accountability and expecta-tion of future students.

The publication in June 2011 of theGovernment’s White Paper – “PuttingStudents at the Heart of HigherEducation” – generated considerable stu-dent protest and academic debate intothe value and purpose of higher educa-tion.The proposals for these changes arebased on four broad areas:

� Reforming funding.

� Delivering a better student experience.

� Enabling universities to increase socialmobility.

� Reducing regulation and removing bar-riers for new providers.

The aims of the White Paper were to putmore power in the hands of the con-sumer. For higher education providers,this means that in the future funding willfollow the choices of students.Whileaccepting the proposals may well bringabout improvement in areas of the stu-dent expectation and experience of high-er education, it is worth consideringwhat, if any, would be the consequenceson tourism education in higher education.

The intention is not only to increase thechoice and quality of the student experi-ence, but to create an environmentwhereby universities are funded throughthe demand for courses.This does raisesome fundamental questions for thefuture of those institutions deliveringtourism programmes. Can they attractsufficient students to cope with thedemands of higher education andemployment needs of the industry?

The increased emphasis on employeeengagement and reporting of graduateemployment in the sector will requirehigher education institutions, and thetourism sector, to develop much strongerlinks and partnerships to demonstrateclearly why it needs tourism graduates.

In these turbulent times for universities, it

is timely to reflect on whether thetourism academic community has failedto establish significant and effective rela-tionships with the public and private sec-tor to demonstrate how tourism aca-demics and institutions benefit the indus-try and wider society. While many aca-demics and institutions may well haveestablished beneficial links with industryand are active members of the TourismSociety, the fact remains that tourism inour universities is deemed a ‘marginal’subject in increasingly smaller faculties,and while student numbers appearhealthy the variety of courses on offermay be of less relevance to the industrythan they once were.

Despite the general demand for universi-ty places still outstripping supply, tourismcourses in universities and higher educa-tion establishments are facing pressurefrom significant fee increases for students,increased expectation of employmentupon graduation and competition fromnew private providers.

Universities that can profile supportiveemployers, provide evidence of industryrecognition and report positive graduateemployment will be rated highly in thevarious university league tables andNational Student Survey (NSS).Thesesurveys are considered as student‘barometers’ that measure a range of

indicators. However, one of the reportedconcerns frequently expressed by manytourism academics and institutions is thelack of sound careers advice and anunderstanding of what a ‘graduate’ entryjob is within the sector.

‘To be successful, institutions willhave to appeal to prospective stu-dents and be respected by employ-ers’ 1

To emphasise the importance of gradu-ates to the sector, it was a real pleasureto meet a new member of the TourismSociety, Rachel Jelley, Responsible TourismManager for Sunvil Holidays, at a recentTourism Society event. As a tourism grad-uate, Rachel emphasised the point thatfrom her experience, “graduates breathelife into a business.”

At a time when universities are highlight-ing employability, professional accredita-tion and lifelong learning, can the tourismsector claim to be making a significantcontribution in supporting tourism institu-tions, courses and graduates? Will thishave any influence on the quality andnumber of future students enrolling ontourism courses?

1 Source: Students at the heart of the sys-tem: Higher Education White Paper.

HigherEducationStatisticalAgency data.Studentnumbersremainhealthy butwill there becoursesavailablesoon?

Legal


Paul MatthewsCorporate Commercial

Partner, Linder Myers LLP7

One of the outstanding performances inthe Olympic Park this summer occurredbefore the impressive opening ceremony,and unfortunately there were no medalswon on this occasion.

With all eyes on London in the build-upto the Games, the high profile failure ofG4S to deliver the service agreed for itseye-watering £284million contract high-lighted the issues that can arise when asupplier falls short.

The Government deployed thousands ofextra military personnel to cover thesecurity required to make up the short-fall, but how can SMEs and owner-man-aged businesses protect themselves fromthe risk of a similar situation?

By way of example, failure to deliver onthe part of a supplier can have seriousconsequences for a hotel relying on acaterer to deliver on quantity and qualityin time for a wedding, or a B&B that reg-ularly relies on laundered bedding to bereturned by a set time.

Prevention is always better than dealingwith the problems that result in this situa-tion.

Advance homework is always worthwhilewhen dealing with a new supplier.

Obtaining references and readily availableinformation to see how established thesupplier is by running a credit check canhelp avoid headaches further down theline.

If, despite best efforts, things do gowrong, having a written contract can helpto ensure that a business doesn’t lose outfinancially and substantially reduces thescope for disputes as to what was prom-ised.

Service Level AgreementsWhere regular supplies are envisaged, aService Level Agreement (SLA) shouldbe seriously considered.

This is a legal contract which should stateexactly what is required from both par-ties and also takes into account what willhappen should there be a failure to com-ply. It is advisable to have an SLA in placeat the beginning of a new working rela-tionship.

Such a document should include the fol-lowing:

� Defines the service to be deliveredand details:

� Required standard.

� Agreed timeframe.

� Responsibilities of both parties.

� Legal compliance.

� Payment and credit terms.

� Non-disclosure agreement.

� Clear guidelines on termination.

Defining service expectationThis ensures clarity as to what is requiredfrom each party and provides peace ofmind and evidence should a dispute arise.

Whilst most of the provisions will relateto the expectations of the supplier, theywill also set out the obligations on theother party to pay for the services pro-vided including any credit terms.

Many such contracts go on to providethat the supplier can withhold furtherdelivery of services should any paymentsbe significantly overdue.

Non-disclosure agreement (NDA)In an increasingly competitive marketplace, it is wise to set out a non-disclo-sure clause, otherwise known as a ‘confi-dentiality agreement’ or ‘confidential dis-

closure agreement’.

This helps secure any financial or otherdetails disclosed to an external supplierfrom being shared with the competitionor other party where knowledge of theinformation could prove detrimental.

Terminating a contractIf a supplier breaks the terms – for exam-ple, not delivering the service or qualityagreed within the timescales discussed –having a signed contract becomes partic-ularly important.

The first step may be to discuss theissues with the supplier with a view torectifying the situation but failing that, abusiness may well be within its rights toterminate the contract early. However, itis important that expert legal advice isobtained before taking any step of thisnature.

Failure to do so may cause the party pur-porting to terminate to be in breach.

It is likely that any financial loss suffered asa result of the supplier not delivering canbe claimed from them – again expertlegal advice is important before pursuinga claim.

Having a written contract in place will beof considerable benefit making it far easi-er to show how the supplier’s perform-ance has fallen short of what was agreedinitially.

Making sure suppliers deliver


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Don’t rely on the Army to sort out your problems

Chris Brown MTS MTMI | Chief Executive,Marketing Cheshire8 [email protected]

Cheshire’s Olympic odyssey

Destinations


The London 2012 Olympics confirmedwhat we secretly knew all along: we needa big improvement taking penalties, ourbaton passing requires a bit more prac-tice, but we can put on the greatest showon Earth when we put our considerablenational talents to good effect.

Mind you, we’ve had a bit of practicethanks to perennial favourites likeWimbledon, the British Open GolfChampionship, and arguably the mostdemanding football league on the planet.

Annual events from Changing the Guardand The Boat Race, to The FA Cup Finaland The Great North Run have alsohoned our event management skills.

Our pride and joy in the big occasionwere also evident at the Royal Weddingand The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee cele-brations.When we staged Live Aid, therewas a sense that we had a real appetitefor creating events that would rock theworld given half a chance.

Looking back, it was all a preparation forthe really big one – The Olympic Games,and wow, we did present it with panacheand a sense of humour.

We seized the opportunity to showcaseour fashion, pop music and flair for designand invention, and set the Games them-selves in stunning historic locations.

Yes, we won medals and showed we cancompete with the best in the worldwhen we want but the greater prize willbe in the way sporting achievementinspires future generations to fulfil theirdreams.

Winners train hard to achieve success;event managers and strategic plannersdo, too. Cheshire & Warrington had theforesight to seize the opportunities forbusiness and the community presentedby London 2012 and established aSteering Group to realise them. It devel-oped an ’Embrace the Games’ strategy in2008 to shape the legacy of theOlympic/Paralympic Games withinCheshire and Warrington.

The Strategy featured four themes:Cultural Olympiad, Sport & PhysicalActivity,Visitor Economy, and BusinessOpportunities and agreed actions toachieve them.

We welcomed the Olympic Torch Relaywith spectacular festivities that chimedwith the national sense that the Gameswere history in the making.Thousandslined the Torch Relay route as theOlympic flame passed through the townsof Crewe, Congleton, Macclesfield andKnutsford.The torch welcome cere-monies showcased the creative talent andenergy of Cheshire communities in dis-tinctive and unforgettable presentations.

Chester gathered at its much loved race-course to celebrate the Torch Relay witha stunning performance by CheshireDance,Warrington made its way toOrford Park for its homage to the flame,and in East Cheshire comedian JohnBishop took the torch to the top ofJodrell Bank radio telescope.

Our hospitality and facilities came to thefore, too. At Manchester MetropolitanUniversity in Crewe a team from Vanuatuprepared for the Games there, and SportCheshire created ‘Community Games’

across the area that engaged people inphysical activity as the route to healthylifestyles.

We will not measure the success of theGames just by medals won but in theway we now build on the breath-takingspectacle of the big event.

The historic occasion has built up a hugesurge of interest in Britain that startedwith the Royal Wedding, continued withthe Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebra-tions and is now at an all-time highthanks to the global media coverage gen-erated by the London 2012 Olympics –and the way Britain delivered it.

The media who attended the OlympicGames are already heading to Cheshirethanks to VisitBritain’s Media Centrethere.

Marketing Cheshire, through its work inBritain’s Heritage Cities consortium, isactively working with partners across thecountry to tap into massive global inter-est in Britain and convert the heightenedawareness of the UK into business fornot only the visitor economy but also forproducts and services in other sectors ofthe economy. In many ways, our Olympicodyssey has just begun.

25,000 people turned out to celebrate the arrival of the Olympic flame atChester Racecourse

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VisitEngland


James Berresford | Chief Executive,

VisitEngland9

VisitEngland was primed and ready forLondon 2012 and had a dedicated mar-keting and PR plan in place to capitaliseon the once in a lifetime opportunitiesoffered by the Games and other excitingevents of this year.

VisitEngland’s team focused its efforts ona number of initiatives to generate shortterm coverage and build on the longterm legacy for tourism, and the nextquarter will provide further excitingopportunities to build on England’sstrengths.

A central part of our work was aboutraising awareness of the wider Englandproduct.

Around 30,000 media were working inLondon during Games-time andVisitEngland worked alongside VisitBritainand London & Partners to maximise thepotential of this opportunity, collaboratingwith 150 English destinations to ensurethey benefited from Games-time journal-ists on individual press trips.

Using the London Media Centre weassisted with visiting journalist requests,encouraging them to explore beyondLondon and the Olympic venues.

VisitEngland booked the Orient ExpressPullman to host international and UKmedia.

Over 200 journalists were aboard thetrain with a gourmet lunch served withEnglish wine as they travelled throughKent.

We also took over the Banqueting Suitein the Tower of London as a media-facingbase over the weekend of ‘SuperSaturday’.Two main events were hosted:the Fan in a Van After-Party, and Pop-UpEngland.

The after-party celebrated the TorchRelay campaign while the Pop-UpEngland event gave space for 50Destinations to host a table at the event.

Around 300 journalists attended to gleanstory ideas and organise trips.VisitEnglandalso chartered the royal barge ‘Spirit ofChartwell’ for an afternoon Thamescruise and VIP gourmet lunch.

This catered for 60 international anddomestic media and has already resulted

in coverage at home and abroad.

In September VisitEngland is operatingover 30 group press trips from London.Focusing on London 2012 locations andstories for this year and beyond, the tripsincluded the Beatles’ Liverpool, CowesWeek, a day at Downton Abbey and sail-ing events in Weymouth.

We were promising the most accessibleand sustainable Games ever and wedelivered.VisitEngland provided expertadvice on sustainability and accessibility toinform LOCOG’s AccommodationChecklist.

We worked closely with VisitBritain tohost a joint press trip to Stoke Mandevilleto witness the coming together of theParalympic Torch.This was followed by alunch for 40 at the South Bank Centre.

England’s accessibility is a key strengthand VisitEngland further enhanced itsonline tools to help businesses improvingaccessibility and sustainability in 2012.

The welcome of helpers, greeters andvolunteers has been one of the outstand-ing success stories of the Olympics andVisitEngland worked with People 1st on arange of programmes to improve theVisitor Welcome including at airports andon all points of the visitor journey frombooking to departure.

This unparalleled year offered uniqueopportunities for evaluating not only theimpact of the Games on consumerbehaviour and business confidence butalso the effectiveness of the responsefrom England’s tourism industry andVisitEngland as its tourist board.There arenow new challenges ahead.

Our successful Regional Growth Fund bidwill enable a £41m programme support-ing over 9100 jobs to be implementedover the next 3 years.

This will be the start of a new partner-ship project to deliver local destinationmarketing and thematic campaigns andwill generate £365million in additionaltourism spend.We are already lookingforward to England hosting the 2015Rugby World Cup and in mid-August anadditional £2m was offered toVisitEngland by Jeremy Hunt.

We are delighted that the Governmenthas shown their belief and confidence inthe British tourism industry as an eco-nomic generator, and in VisitEngland inharnessing that potential through theextension of the ‘Holidays at Home areGREAT’ campaign.

The additional £2 million will be used byVisitEngland to further stimulate theshort break market working in conjunc-tion with the travel trade.

A Successful Olympics


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Opening ceremony volunteerIn January 2012 I was fortunate to beoffered a part as a ‘Ceremonies VolunteerPerformer’ in the Opening Ceremony, 47-D cast group.‘WOW!’Without a second thought Iaccepted this once in a in a lifetimeopportunity to be part of a global eventthat expresses and celebrates the passionand creativity of the United Kingdom infront of the entire world.Rehearsals began in April. At the first ses-sion, Danny Boyle unveiled his plans forour group – the NHS.What!!? Honestly, I was totally disappoint-ed for two reasons: I don’t work in theNHS, and secondly mixing politics andsports, not a good idea. It’s not surprisingthat I did not enjoy this session.It was decision time – should I accept mypart, or quit? I chose the former and made a consciouseffort to embrace the Olympic spirit, andI succeeded.Through 24 rehearsals we learned ourdance routine in groups of 200 indoors,then moved up to 800 at Dagenham andfinally 1000+ at the Stadium.I have to admit that being a CeremoniesVolunteer Performer was a significantundertaking and I had to totally commitmyself for the period for rehearsals (up to3 sessions per week, 10+ hours per day).However, the long hours provided idealfor meeting cast members from aroundthe world and developing friendships, somuch so that it felt that we were a greatbig close-knit family.The two technical dress rehearsals withan audience of about 60,000 weredreamlike, surreal.The importance of secrecy wasengrained by the organising team; I didmanage to #savethesurprise – wellalmost! On 27th July, pulling my bed onto the sta-dium was an epic moment; the entire castpulled off a phenomenal live performance.It was beautiful to witness the contribu-tion of the best that Britain has given theworld, past, present and future.As a volunteer this was an incredibleexperience, that delivered what I expect-ed and much more. Rio 2016 anyone?

In the villageBy chance I witnessed the victory paradeof our Olympic athletes after Beijing in2008.I applied two years later as a volunteer atLondon 2012, not because of any enthusi-asm for sport but out of a professionalinterest in visitors to the UK and a strongpatriotic desire to do my bit to help.My call to Games Making, from the list ofreserves, came late one evening and itwasn’t long before I was on duty.One early task was to purchase some-thing suitable from John Lewis to tie a flag

to a balcony.Psychological games came before the realones – huge banners, branding on bal-conies (Slovenia recognisable from WorldTravel Market), and on suitcases(Switzerland’s were striking), and then fin-ger nails in national colours became thenorm too.Trading of pins, an easy conversationopener for all, started.Our team of four assisted the officials,their visiting dignitaries and athletes fromone country between 8am and 10pm. Anuntypical day illustrates how triumph andtragedy affected us.A phone call from the stadium – our ath-lete was disqualified.The Chef de Mission obtained a recordingof the race and looked at the detailsrepeatedly, taking advice and then mount-ing an appeal.

10 [email protected]

Personal experiences

OlympicsGamesmakers


Jean Burbidge MTS Ylva Franch FTS Nicole Bobb MTS

Nicole Bobb MTS |Former Events and

Administrative Assistant,Tourism Society

Meanwhile, at the Royal Artillery Barracksit became apparent a medal might bewon and the large flag was needed forthe TV interview. Celebrating with the tri-umphant team, then straight back to sym-pathising with the distraught athlete waschallenging emotionally.The main quality needed was the abilityto put ‘normal’ life on hold for a fewweeks in order to enter the surreal worldof London 2012.Without the support of my family and thehelp of friends offering accommodation, Iwould have missed the opportunity of alifetime.The motto on the village duvets bestsummarises my experience:Excellence (logistics, website, lawns andgardens).Friendship (smiles and conversation, espe-cially at meal times).

Respect (for the judges, coaches, adminis-trators, the ever cheerful and vigilant mili-tary, security staff, police, caterers, clean-ers, and all the other volunteers) – notforgetting the amazing athletes who aretruly inspirational.

Events Services team leaderWhen I volunteered some two years ago,I had imagined myself in press or hospital-ity because of my PR background, but Iwas recruited by Events Services as ateam leader and based at Excel.Five arenas seating between 8,000 and12,000 people were constructed in ashort period for sports such as wrestling,

boxing, judo, taekwondo, fencing and tabletennis, making it the largest competitionvenue of the Games.The training involved five days starting inFebruary including two at Excel in June.We as team leaders had a twofold role:to support our team members to deliverthe best of visitor services from theentrance to the exit, and to be the eyesand ears on the ground, looking out forpotential problems, and be prepared toact according to our training protocol.In my nine days at Excel, we had manychallenges but no major incidents.Security checks at the west entrancewere rigorous; we did have warnings ofattempts to infiltrate the venue withouttickets, illegal ticket selling, and occasionalunruly behaviour inside by the public andsome over enthusiastic officials from themany different countries.Each day we covered a different area ofExcel, giving a chance to see severalsports in action.The support from the organisers of thevolunteer workforce was excellentalthough shifts were long, starting veryearly or finishing late.On the ground we worked with paidstewards, security and response teams,venue managers and group leaders.On the whole, the volunteers with theirvaried backgrounds and experience werethe most resourceful, adaptable and help-ful.I have worked with fantastic people: somegot up at two in the morning to get toExcel, others slept on friends’ floors orpaid for their overnight journeys fromGlasgow or Sheffield – all that to carryout quite mundane tasks with a smile andefficiency – and to be part of theOlympics.It’s been a wonderful opportunity andworthwhile experience.What about the legacy for the touristindustry and volunteering? I shall be writ-ing more about that in my blog….http://ylva111.wordpress.com/

Personal Experiences

Olympics Gamesmakers


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Jean Burbidge MTS |Owner,

Wild Goose Leys

Ylva French FTS |Ylva French Consultancy

12 [email protected]

Tourism Definitions


You cannot manage what you cannotmeasure…. (oft quoted truism to stress theimportance of measurement). Equally, youcannot measure what you have not firstadequately defined.

Who is the article for?Tourism professionals in their daily work,especially in informing decision makers atall levels (government and business) andovercoming the myths and clichés thatstill surround the visitor economy.

What is it about?Clear definitions of the basic language oftourism for people involved at all levels indecision making in Britain’s tourism.Thesedefinitions were developed by an EnglishTourism Intelligence Partnership WorkingGroup chaired by David James FTS in2011.

They have already been endorsed by theTourism Intelligence Unit of the Office ofNational Statistics and VisitEngland andare in line with current internationalguidelines agreed by the UN WorldTourism Organisation, OECD and the EU.

Why does it matter? A major contributor to the global econo-my, tourism is a highly complex activitydrawing on many sectors in both privateand public sectors.

Unless professionals in tourism adopt thesame management language, which in2012 we do not, there is endless scopefor confusion in the media, by politicians,by the business sector and among thepublic generally.

If we want to have tourism taken serious-ly we have to communicate a commonunderstanding.

CaveatTo meet the word limits for this articlethe author has interpreted and sum-marised seven of the most importanttourism terms.

The full text with other terms can be

accessed on the Government ONS web-site1.

1. Tourism is the generic term coveringboth demand and supply that has beenadopted and used throughout the Worldsince 1937.

The latest tourism UNWTO statisticsGuidelines (IRTS 2010) notes:

“Tourism is defined as the activities ofpersons identified as visitors. A visitor issomeone who is making a visit to a maindestination outside his/her usual environ-ment for less than a year for any mainpurpose [including] holidays, leisure andrecreation, business, health, education orother purposes….This scope is muchwider than the traditional perception oftourists, which includes only those travel-ling for leisure.”

2. Visitor/s is the common denominatorthat covers all the forms of tourismdefined above.The term embraces threeseparate categories. In each case the pur-pose may be holidays, business and con-ferences, sport, entertainment, visitingfriends and relatives, religion or passiveand active leisure activities.

� Tourists staying away from home forone or more nights for any of the pur-poses noted above.Within the UK suchvisitors may be domestic (UK residents)or inbound (resident in other countries).

� Same Day or tourist day visitorsspending at least 3 hours away fromhome outside their usual environment forgeneral leisure, recreational and socialpurposes but not staying away overnight.

In principle (although not measured incurrent UK surveys) business visitorsaway from their usual working environ-ment for day visits are part of the visitoreconomy.

� Leisure day visitors spending less than3 hours away from home but outsidetheir usual environment, for generalleisure, recreational or social purposes.

Not included in the published tourismstatistics in England, many of this thirdgroup of visitors are local residents ofdestinations.

They are vital to many providers of localleisure and recreation facilities and servic-es; they use the public realm; they con-tribute to demand and supply (and thevisitor economy) at destinations, and theyshould be formally recognised in destina-tion management decisions.

3. Visitor Economy It follows logically thatthe expenditures of all three categoriesof visitor are parts of a modern visitoreconomy.

Visitor economy embraces the whole oftourism and covers demand and supply inthe economic sectors within which visitoractivity and its primary and secondaryconsequences upon the economy of des-tinations takes place.

Visitor economy thus encompasses theactivities and expenditure of both publicand private sector bodies that are directlyor indirectly involved in supplying thegoods and services for visitors at destina-tions.

It includes the upkeep and developmentof the public realm and the infrastructurewithin which, and through which, visitoractivities take place.

The terms tourism industry, tourist indus-try, and tourism industries are all sub-setsof the wider visitor economy and they donot reflect the key participation role ofthe public sector.

4. Visitor destinationss are defined asplaces with identified boundaries that arerecognised as visitor destinations and forwhich it is possible to measure thedemand for and supply of tourism servic-es (visitor economy).

Visitor destination is preferred to ‘tourismdestination’ because by definition itincludes all categories of visitor.

Typically such destinations are promoted

The Language of Tourism, internationally,nationally and locally – making it fit for purpose


Victor T.C. Middleton OBE FTS |

Initiator of English TourismIntelligence Partnership

Working Group13Issue 151 Autumn 2012

and have some form of managementprocess in place for visitor related pur-poses.

At local level, destination boundaries inthe UK are usually based on one or morelocal authorities or designated parts ofsuch administrative areas, for example,National Parks.

At regional level destination boundarieswill always be a combination of localauthority administration areas.

At national level the boundaries arethose of the nation.These levels reflectEU agreements on area administration.

5. Destination Management is a termnow widely used throughout the UKalthough the organisations responsible forit are still developing.

In terms of the definition of visitor desti-nations above it follows logically thateffective management increasinglyrequires a formal planning and develop-ment process for the visitor economy aspart of overall local authority planning.

To be effective, modern destination man-agement organisations (DMOs) have tobe underpinned by the local planning anddevelopment process and must engage(directly or indirectly) with the followingfive processes:

� Planning and development strategy forthe destination – reflecting local commu-nity consultation

� The processes designed to manage allcategories of visitors at the destination

� Maintaining and enhancing the qualityof the destination experience for resi-dents and visitors (public realm)

� Undertaking tourism research andintelligence and measuring visitor activities(demand) and the supply of services pro-vided for them.

� Collaborating formally with local busi-nesses and other bodies engaged in pro-viding services at the destination.

Traditionally interpreted in the UK as alocal authority role with support fromlocal tourism businesses to undertakepromotion, 21st century destination man-agement requires a designated collabora-tive partnership with all relevant partnersengaged in the five main processes notedabove.

The destination partners are local author-ities working with LEPs and other rele-vant public sector organisations, and localbusinesses supplying tourism services(tourism industries).

6. Public Realm is the accepted and wide-ly used term for the services that relateprimarily to the usage of spaces availablefor the public (residents and visitors).

Public Realm covers amenity spaces suchas city/town/village centres, squares, parksand gardens, pedestrian areas, paths, andriver/canal/seaside promenades.

It covers local roads, car parking and pub-lic services such as information provision,toilets, cleansing and litter services associ-ated with public spaces.

It includes services to sustain heritagearchitecture and monuments and mayinvolve direct responsibility for museums,theatres and related public facilitiesdesigned to attract visitors.

In a visitor sense, public realm is the stage

on which the overall quality of the expe-riences received at destinations is deliv-ered. It is what makes places attractive orunattractive to visitors.

In the wider context, public realm isalways part of the local quality of life forresidents and it influences inward invest-ment to an area.

Public realm is the direct responsibility oflocal authorities funded by Government,local business rates, Council taxes on resi-dents and an Authority’s own revenue-earning activities.

Aspects of public space provision areoften also partly vested in other publicsector agencies working with localauthorities.

Public realm is not the direct responsibili-ty of local businesses although they maybe involved in development projects.

7. Ressponsible Tourism, also known as‘wise’ or ‘sustainable’ tourism, has beendefined by UNWTO as “tourism thatmeets the needs of present [visitors] andhost regions while protecting andenhancing the opportunity for thefuture.”

Achieving responsible tourism at a desti-nation has economic, social and environ-mental implications and requires a desig-nated DMO engaging in the five process-es outlined above.1 www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/method-quality/specific/economy/economic-value-of-tourism/measuring-tourism-locally/2012/index.html See MeasuringTourism Locally; Guidance Note 1 (Revised2012).

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Sir John Whitmore | Chairman, PerformanceConsultants International14 [email protected]

Coaching and the Tourism Industry

Conference Report


I have never been a tourist. A curiousstatement from someone who was invit-ed to give the keynote address at thisyear’s Tourism Society Conference. Butmy life has been spent travelling.

As a boy my family would visit relatives inNorway. By 19 years old I was an interna-tional racing driver competing in a differ-ent country each weekend, and afterretiring from racing I moved to Genevafor five years from where I flew my ownturbine aeroplane all over Europe. I thenmoved to California for another five yearsand then to upstate New York for fivemore.

I started a ski school in France, a tennisschool in England and lived on the roador in the air. I wrote what became thebestselling book on coaching that wastranslated into 25 languages so I went allover the world, including Russia, Japan,Australia, Korea and elsewhere to speakat conferences and train coaches.

Although I travelled extensively, clearly farmore than most, it certainly cannot bedescribed as tourism. I did not choosewhere or when I went anywhere for aholiday or recreational reasons, and I sel-dom had any time to visit normal touristsites. Journeys were arranged and book-ings made and changed often at veryshort notice.

I have, on no occasion, been able totruthfully describe myself as a tourist; Iwas from a different planet, and with thisbackground I wondered what I couldcontribute to the Conference.

Coaching is a pleasant, natural and effec-tive way to communicate with anyone –friend or stranger – and I have no doubtthat it could be very useful in the tourismbusiness.When people travel widely, or

go on holidays to new or strange places,they obviously feel less secure and lesscertain than they do at home or in theirown country.

They need their concerns to beexplained and dealt with simply andclearly if they are to remain comfortable,and that is very important for travellersand tourists.This is just the sort of thingthat can be so well managed in a coach-ing conversation.

Tourism professionals will be very wellreceived if they have what is called a highlevel of people skills which can bedescribed as natural, safe, helpful and easyto understand rather than academicknowledge-based information that can befound in brochures, on signs or the inter-net.

I felt this process for communication withtourist customers is very important andthat the tourism profession could benefitfrom paying a little more attention to it.

I am concerned that many people cannotafford the holidays these days that theyare accustomed to, and many may noteven be leaving their home countries atall.

This is not likely to improve for manyyears anyway, and the cost of fuel fortravel is likely to continue to rise foryears.

The tourism business might well be in fora tough time and that could demand pro-viding more innovative ways of spendingtime off close to home.What is sure isthat we can never be sure any more.

Although much of the content of yourConference was new to me, especiallythe financial information, I found thewhole event very interesting. I had manygood, if brief, conversations with nicepeople.

Maybe one of these days I will even slowdown on my own work life and take atourist holiday in some faraway place. Ihope that some of you will look after me,and then I will be able to give you morefeedback.

Thank you so much for taking me this farwith your excellent event. May I wish youall a good year.

‘I am concerned that many people cannot afford the holi-days these days that they are accustomed to, and many maynot even be leaving their home countries at all.This is notlikely to improve for many years anyway, and the cost of fuelfor travel is likely to continue to rise for years.’

Conference Report


Julia Feuell | Managing Director, New

Frontiers and OTT15

Following Sir John Whitmore’s thought-provoking, inspiring and somewhat emo-tional keynote speech on the topic ofcoaching and its place in leadership, JuliaFeuell introduced ‘People’, theConference’s first session of the day.

Three expert speakers – Anne PierceMBE, Chief Executive at Springboard UK,Sharon Orrell, Head of Research &Insight at VisitEngland and Nic Ray, AgencyChairman at Quirk, answered questionssuch as: How has demand changed? Howcan we attract more young people intothe business? Who will our customers betomorrow? And, are we convertingenough customers from our online pres-ence?

Anne Pierce demonstrated how workexperience is important for young peo-ple. In 2005, 82% of young people leavingschool did not know what career toadopt. However, with Springboard’sawareness campaigns, 53% consideredhospitality above any other sector (mosthaving experienced it via work experi-ence or company visits).There are nowmore hospitality vacancies in 2012 than in2011; however, youth unemployment isthe highest on record with 22.8% ofyoung people being unemployed -exceeding one million.These statisticsprovide a great opportunity for attractingyoung people into hospitality, andSpringboard has launched a programmecalled ‘Inspire’ which aims to create 5,000work experience placements in 2012 andis targeted to increase to a staggering15,000 placements in 2013.Springboard’s aim is to support young tal-ent through school into employment inhospitality, with in-school talks, careercampaigns, and their ‘Into Work’ conver-sion programme.

Springboard also supports employerswith information about giving beneficialwork placements. In July this year theyalso launched the ‘Big HospitalityConversation’ which brings employersand young people together to encouragedialogue between them and encouragebusinesses to offer better work experi-ence and apprenticeship opportunities.

Sharon Orrell’s presentation, looking atBritish domestic holiday booking habits in

the present economic climate, began withencouraging news for UK businesses: theBritish booked 20% fewer holidaysabroad in 2011 than in 2008 and pre-ferred to holiday in the UK (averagelength of stay: 3.5 days), the main reasonsbeing job security and finances.

Sharon suggested that many UK establish-ments could be missing out on this trend,though, as they are not set up to handlelast-minute bookings made online. Onlinebookings doubled to 20,000,000 between2006 and 2011, and with most holidaysnow being taken ‘last minute’ this is some-thing that businesses would be wise toaddress. In spite of the UK’s unpredictableweather, domestic holidays are still likelyto dominate bookings beyond 2012 aspeople enjoy discovering new parts ofthe United Kingdom rather than goingabroad.

Finally, Nic Ray gave some valuableinsights into how social media is uniqueand vital for a business in encouragingcustomer engagement and bookings. Heexplained that there was a much higher

conversion rate for sales (70%) from nat-ural listings in Google rather than throughpay per click, and that in order to pro-duce better sales results, organisationsshould produce more valuable contentfor both Google and customers to read.Less, but more unique, content will givebetter search results on Google and siteswith social signals will feature high in thelists as well. Images now score better thanwords in searches, but Nic explained thatvideo content was the most useful.

Visitors to websites with video contentspend two minutes more on the site –valuable time when trying to convincethem to become customers. Social mediais a critical way to push for engagementby customers and encourages customersto feel closer and more loyal to a travelbrand. On average it takes 2 weeks for acustomer to make a decision and theyneed to be exposed to a brand six timesto be certain of making a purchase.Thetravel industry has become very good atonline marketing, but it also needs tokeep up with continuous developments!

People


A watchful eye on youngsters in the Aramark Innovation Kitchen

Robin Barker MTS FTMI | Director,Services for Tourism16 [email protected]

Places

Conference Report


Wherever you sit in the ongoing debateabout whether people choose their holi-days primarily by place or experiencethere’s no doubt that it is ultimately ourworldwide destinations that deliver thevisitor experience.

The ‘Places’ session in this year’sConference focussed on destinations –urban and rural, coastal and inland, in theUK and across the world – and the fac-tors influencing their evolution, startingwith a global perspective and narrowingthis down to the UK and finally UK desti-nations.

Toby Nicol from the World Travel andTourism Council (WTTC) was our firstspeaker, stunning the Conference withstatistics that all of us should have tohand at all times:

� Tourism represents 9% of global GDP– more than automotive or mining andequal with manufacturing.

� It is creating 1 in 12 new jobs.

� There are 1 billion people who travelinternationally.

� £1 investment generates a £3 return.

� The world remains in tourism growth,except in Europe & N America, where itis static.

Toby’s forecasts for future growth werealso stunning – with a further 4% growthforecasted by 2022, much of it from mid-dle class travellers. In parallel, he predict-ed a very rapid change to the industry,with major structural changes, further dig-ital impacts and an ongoing need for busi-nesses to research and understandopportunities amongst a diverse andever-changing global marketplace.

VisitBritain’s David Edwards took themantle from Toby, focussing on the UKand latest forecasts. In a growing worldmarket, the UK’s share has been droppingfor over 30 years, though continuing tohold up well in Western Europe andespecially France.There was good news,in that Britain is ranked 7th in the world

in terms of Travel & Tourism competitive-ness, 3rd for our cultural resources and –remarkably – 7th for our air transport,but this is balanced out by our embar-rassing 135th slot in travel and tourismprice competitiveness. Out of 139!

Getting under the skin of UK perceptions,there’s a real mix of good and bad news:inbound seat capacity is growing, but notas fast as it is to many competing destina-tions; our brand is strong, ranked 3rd outof 50 top countries and equally stronglyfor our culture, heritage, arts and people,but we’re 22nd when ranked for thecountry’s natural beauty.

Bournemouth’s Mark Smith completedour trio of speakers, looking at the majorissues affecting UK destinations, their suc-cess and very survival. He presented amixed bag, with good as well as badnews.

The recession and ongoing funding cutshad left their mark, with many destina-tions now leaner and offering greatervalue for money, but often without thescale to make an impact. Some had losttheir status as destinations and becomedormitory towns, whilst others had lost

the resource with which to engage withlocal communities and build trust.

Alongside this there were great examplesof success, with trust, teamwork and jointadvocacy being critical success factors.

The LEPs are still evolving, with manysimply ‘not getting’ tourism. This isn’t theirfault, but shows the need for the industryto invest time in informing, educating andworking hand-in-hand with them. Alongwith proven BIDS and the evolving T-BIDS opportunities, Mark felt that thefuture could look bright, but that ‘winningcombinations’ was key.

As Chair of the session, I’d like to thankmy fellow speakers for their input as wellas passion. By way of observation, somany of the identified challenges could soeasily be addressed with greater team-work and leadership, hence my singleunanswered question of the day is: “IfObama can issue an Executive Order tosort out so many of the USA’s hurdles totourism success, what do we have to doto achieve the same here?”

Answers not on postcards please, but onthe Tourism Society Twitter account!

Cooperation is the key to get destinations moving

Conference Report


Michael Jones FTS | Managing Director,

Delta Squared Performance Improvement 17

Having considered the importance ofstaff and customers in the industry andthe destinations that are visited, theConference turned its attention to whatit is that most businesses hope to get outof their work – profit.

It was not simply a case of consideringhow to maximise ROI and margin,though.

Different aspects were examined, withdelegates hearing from the hotel andnon-profit sectors, being taken throughthe pros and cons of discounting, andfinally hearing directly from the bankingsector on how to secure financing.

Margins at London hotels in the build upto and during the Olympics came in for alot of attention recently. Carl Weldon,CEO of HOSPA talked about maintaininga successful trading position.

A key chart he displayed illustrated thecomplex flow of responsibilities associat-ed with what (from the customer’s pointof view) looks like a straightforwardevent, such as buying a drink, and themany points at which premises can loseout if they do not maintain constant andcareful controls and checks.

Controlling Food and Beverage profitswill have a significant impact on the bot-tom line.

Understanding the seasonal spikes in salesallows proper planning and stock control,meaning the risk of surprises on the bal-ance sheet is avoided.

It is not always a matter of using compli-cated number-crunching programmes tomake sure everything is on track – one ofCarl’s strongest pieces of advice was thatkitchen managers should make sure theyweigh the meat delivery at the doorbefore it comes into the hotel. Simplethings can make a big difference.

Including a not-for-profit organisation in asession entitled ‘Profit’ might seemstrange.

However, for the National Trust, with arevenue of £0.5bn per year, managing itslarge business is clearly going to draw ontraditional methods.

The organisation’s view is that the bot-tom line is made up of more than just

numbers.

Ben Cowell, Deputy Director of ExternalAffairs at the Trust, described their triplebottom line which ensures that financial,environmental and social results are alltaken into account when planning their‘net gain’ (as they define profit).

With the Trust’s founding principles basedon social causes in the late 19th Century,this approach to the organisation’s per-formance is deeply ingrained.

Community engagement and effectiveuse of land – improving access, maximis-ing biodiversity and providing redundantareas for local interests e.g. as allotments– are taken into account at the sametime as property maintenance costs, tea-room revenues and membership sub-scriptions, to provide a holistic view ofoverall performance.

If business is a bit flat why not offer somediscounts to boost interest and sales?

This may sound tempting, but as PetraClayton of Custard Communicationsexplained, it is not always the right pathto follow.

Although it can be a successful way toboost awareness you can quickly findyourself making sales at little or nothing

above cost, especially if the discounts areoffered through a third party.

Maintaining contact with your customersis more important.

With creative content on your company’swebsite, giving more background aboutwhat you offer and why it is good forpeople to use your products and servic-es, it is easier to build strong loyalty.

As a long-term strategy this is moreeffective than making lots of cheap prod-uct available.

Rounding off the session, Chris Lee ofBarclays spoke about what is required toensure that banks look favourably onyour request for finance.

Despite what you might read in thepapers, banks will lend and there are afew straightforward factors that will boostyour chances of benefiting from theirgenerosity.

Make sure your business has a strongUSP; understand appropriate industryregulations and be compliant; don’t leaveeverything to the Financial Director – getthe CEO or managing director involved.

Most importantly, don’t only speak toyour bank when you need money!

Profit


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Chris Wikeley FTS | Principal, Quality CountsConsultancy18 [email protected]

Never too old – or young – for professionalism?

Consultants Network


To quote from the Master of the Housein Les Miserables, the innkeeper thoughthe was, amongst other things, a com-forter, philosopher, and chaperone! Just afew of the many roles he could call onaccording to the varying needs of the dif-ferent guests. Consultants may empathisewith his dilemma.

Who are we? Consultancy (is this theright word for our profession?) alsoencompasses many roles, each relevantand yet never quite describing the totalityof the job.We tick the boxes, amongstothers, of a teacher, practitioner andcoach. And also retired! As I understand itthe definition of retirement is ‘to cease towork’. So why become a consultant andsay you are retired? I do not think that ithelps the image of our profession to havesuch a category. And in anticipation ofaccusations of ageism, I should point outthat I also think it is difficult for people tocome directly from university and workas a consultant! There is a lot to be saidfor gaining a few life and business skillsalong the way before launching out onthis route.

So does the world of consultancy needto be seen as more professional? And inwhat way would it be achieved? In mytime as Chair the subject was broached afew times but considered to be too hot apotato to handle.

However, in these days of increasing com-petition, it may not be a bad idea. It couldgive the Tourism Consultants Network(TCN) a more distinctive position in themarket place (achieved to an extentalready by members having to sign theDeclaration of Good Practice) and alsoattract more members who are keen towork and win business.

The Consultant’s Weekly HierachyA couple of years ago in response to asurvey of members I received the follow-ing input from a member concerning thepriorities for consultants today, showingthe pressures on their time:

1. Delighting existing clients.

2. Hitting the bid deadline; filling the

pipeline; research

3. Networking with prospective clients atevents, conferences and exhibitions.

4.Training for a competitive advantage –especially if no competitors there.

5. R&R.

6. Professional development.

7. Networking with other consultants.

As I reported at the time, there is an ele-ment of humour to this list but at heartthis is the truth. Some may argue withthe order but it is unlikely that the topthree will ever be replaced. Memberswant the TCN to give them a higher pro-file and leads for work.The TCN hasbegun to address item three but there isa long way to go.

During my years as TCN Chair, I wouldhave liked to achieve a higher profile forthe group. Certainly I carried out more

than a few presentations on behalf of theConsultants Network to prospectiveclients but I really wanted to get morefrom the office by way of work for thefee the Society charge us for ‘administra-tion’.We have the resources to pay forpart of a post which could be used tofind leads and generate contacts for thegroup. In that way we could meet theneeds and wishes of the membership andhelp to generate more work and leads.

In passing on the baton, I urge supportfor the new team. I hope that the TCNgets more for its money from theSociety; a place on the ExecutiveCommittee to make its voice heard, join-ing TMI; and, most importantly, continuesto make its presence heard in the marketplace to the benefit of all active mem-bers.

I am very fortunate that I have alwaysenjoyed my work but come the day that Idecide to retire, you can rest assured Iwon’t become a consultant!

Retired, with time for consulting


Membership News

New corporate and group members atthe Society illustrate very well thebreadth of our appeal across the industry.The British Hospitality Association, BDRCContinental, Made,Visit Kent andBuckinghamshire New University are allvery welcome and as we adopt a moreflexible approach towards our corporatepackages I look forward to developingstrong relationships with all of them.The first half of this year has seen anincrease in new members compared with

2011.With our new Membership andAdministrative Assistant Barbara Stottjoining the Secretariat team in August Iam sure this positive trend will continue.Barbara brings many years of experiencein PR and marketing in the arts sector,along with plenty of new contacts.Work on the next edition of theMembership Directory will begin shortly,so existing members should check theirinformation by logging into the Societywebsite and making sure everything is up

to date. If you would like to advertise inthe Directory, please send me an email.Our social media profile continues togrow (4243 Twitter followers so far) andour events were given a recent boost bya tweeter describing them as ‘the best, atravel trade must.’ Come along and seefor yourself!

Gregory Yeoman MTS| Executive Director

[email protected]

From the Chairman’s DeskFirst of all may I say it’s good to be back!At the AGM thanks was given to the ‘tri-umvirate coalition’ of Alison Cryer, KenRobinson and me for holding the reinsfor the first half of 2012.

I would add my personal thanks to themand to the rest of the Executive andBoard for their continuing support.

After a great Games and the euphoria ofthe Jubilee celebrations surely we mustbe looking forward to a fantastic futurefor the industry?

As we know, tourism is subject to manyexternal events – weather, political andcivil unrest, the economy to name butthree.

And this year has been a good exampleof how when things work well for onesector it brings woe to another, e.g. wetweather: good for indoor attractions, badfor seaside resorts.

There will be a lot of talk about legacy –my personal view is that it is not a giveneven with the international exposure thatbrand UK has had this year.

We all have to work for it. And if as indi-viduals and businesses we don’t then weshould not blame others if we don’t reapthe rewards.

I am looking forward to English TourismWeek 2013 because I have a feeling thatit will be even more important next year.Perhaps the industry will wake up onemorning in the new year and think “Hangon, no Jubilee, no torch relay, noGames… what are we going to do?”

The answer is that working together,making the most of the tools andresources we have at national and locallevel and not resting on laurels ofOlympic proportions, will make the reali-ty of 2013 and beyond the legacy of2012.

David Curtis-Brignell FTS |Chairman,

The Tourism Society

September13thCruising: Is it beneficial to alldestinations?British Hospitality Association(BHA) office, London

17thTourism Society CumbriaTourism Law Workshop withLinder MyersKendal College, Kendal

25thCrisis Management forTourismBHA office, London

October5thTourism Society ScotlandMarket trends: How will theyimpact on your business inthe year ahead?Roxburghe Hotel, Edinburgh

8thTMI Annual Convention:Broadening Our HorizonsBalmer Lawn Hotel,Brockenhurst

11thSocial TourismMacIntyre Hudson offices,London

24thMedia MasterclassStrand Palace Hotel, London

November1stBackpacking UnpackedLondon

7thTourism Society/UNWTOdebateWorld Travel Market, London

December5thPresident's DebateThe Value of OutboundTourismCentral Hall,WestminsterLondon

Calendar of Events 2012

20 [email protected] 151 Autumn 2012

Membership NewsCongratulations to Gerald Tattum, Peter Wear, Sandra Matthews-Marsh, Ufi Ibrahim and Noel Josephides who havebeen upgraded to Fellow of the Tourism Society (FTS).Welcome New CorporateMembersThe British Hospitality Association0207 404 7744www.bha.org.uk

Ufi Ibrahim [email protected]

Frances Sturt [email protected]

Camilla Woods [email protected]

Martin Couchman OBE [email protected]

Best of Britain and IrelandPhilippa Allsop MTS01926 888 [email protected]

The Caravan ClubNatasha Macdonald MTS01342 336 [email protected]

Made0207 831 8105www.made2010.com

Jonathan Mountford [email protected]

Matt Littlechild [email protected]

Welcome New Group Members Oxford Brookes UniversityAngela Maher MTS01865 483 [email protected]

Visit Kentwww.visitkent.co.uk

Stephanie Blackwell-Graham MTS01227 812 [email protected]

Julie Edwards MTS01227 812 [email protected]

Chris Kirkham MTS01303 258 [email protected]

Alanna Kite MTS01622 696 [email protected]

Farah Miri-Meziane MTS01622 221 [email protected]

Cheryl Parker MTS01227 812 [email protected]

Sally Roger MTS01227 812 [email protected]

Fran Warrington [email protected]

Mark Whitling MTS01227 812 [email protected]

Jill Dain MTS01227 812 [email protected]

Estelle Deerenberg MTS01227 812 [email protected]

Sam Dennis MTS01227 812 [email protected]

Buckinghamshire New University01494 522 141www.bucks.ac.uk

Adrian Guachalla Gutierrez [email protected]

Elitza Iordanova-Krasteva [email protected]

Nigel Griffiths [email protected]

Jennifer Tilbury [email protected]

Queen Margaret UniversityMajella Sweeney MTS0131 474 [email protected]

Welcome New Members Louise Carswell MTSColeg Llandrillo01492 546 666 ext [email protected]

Howard Willey [email protected]

Andrew Cooper MTSBath Business Improvement District01225 430 [email protected]

Peter Sharp MTSGVA0207 911 [email protected]

Gary Swarbrooke MTSG4S Assessment Services01684 864 [email protected]

John Telfer MTSExplore Worldwide01252 379 [email protected]

Simon Dabell MTSAttraction Advisors07760 614 [email protected]

Anna Catalani MTSUniversity of [email protected]

Allison Gilliver MTSLeicestershire Promotions [email protected]

Anita Guest MTSStaffordshire County [email protected]

Caroline Wilson MTSFountain Precinctcaroline.wilson@marketingsheffield.orgfountainprecinct.org.uk

Darren Taylor MTSCoventry City [email protected]

Graeme Whitehead MTSStaffordshire County Councilgraeme.whitehead@staffordshire.gov.ukwww.staffordshire.gov.uk

Grahame Jackson MTSCarlisle City [email protected]

Janine Williams MTSLeicestershire Promotions [email protected]

Jill Killen MTSCumbria [email protected]

Jim Oribine MTSVisit Peak District & Derbyshirejim.oribine@visitpeakdistrict.comwww.visitpeakdistrict.com

Jo Butler MTSVisit Oxford [email protected]

Joanna Faulkner MTSVisit Peak District & Derbyshirejoanna.faulkner@visitpeakdistrict.comwww.visitpeakdistrict.com

Lily Davis MTSEastbourne Borough [email protected]

Lydia Rusling MTSLincolnshire County [email protected]

Sarah Willats MTSNew Forest District [email protected]

Tamsin Bowman MTSCarlisle City [email protected]

Tony Merrygold MTSShakespeare County Tourism Ltdtony.merrygold@shakespeare-country.co.ukwww.shakespeare-country.co.uk

Valerie Hawkins MTSMid Wales [email protected]

Wendy Denman MTSVisit [email protected]

Zoe Hawkins MTSMid Wales [email protected]

Richard Fitgerald MTSNorth Wales [email protected]

Stevie Keith MTSCoventry City [email protected]

Sian Parry-Jones MTSCardiff Council029 2087 [email protected]

Gillian Rankin MTSNational Mining Museum Scotland0131 663 7519marketing@nationalminingmuseum.comwww.scottishminingmuseum.com

Nicola Maughan MTSBrecon Beacons Tourism 01874 638 [email protected]

Georgina Gough MTSBath Spa University0122 587 [email protected]

Stuart Burroughs MTSThe Museum of Bath at Work01225 318 [email protected]

Julian Pearce MTSCouncil of the Isles of Scilly01720 424 [email protected]

Noel Josephides [email protected]

Rachel Jelley MTSSunvil Holidays0208 758 [email protected]

Barry Woodfin MTSURS01256 315 [email protected]

Ross Hopkins MTSTRIP Consultants+61 7 3356 [email protected]

Agnes Francis MTSAccela Marketing+1 758 452 [email protected]

Welcome New StudentsAlesia HinesCrieff Hydro [email protected]

Nestah MasiiwaThe University of Sunderland [email protected]

Tamara RamosNational Distance Education Universityof Spain (UNED)[email protected]

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TourismConsultantsNetwork

Through an oversight in administrative procedures, the TCN AGMcould not be held as announced at the Tourism Society’s AGM,although those consultants present had a brief informal discussion.

Subsequently the chairman Chris Wikeley decided to stepdown after a number of years in the post, for which he is to bethanked, and a new committee is taking shape under the guidanceof Roger Goodacre (chairman elect), Ken Robinson and ChrisEvans.

In a difficult economic environment, prospects for theindependent consultant obviously have become no easier.Thenew committee therefore will be organising a number of activitiesdesigned to raise the profile of the tourism consultant and tooffer regular networking opportunities.

Already planned is a discussion forum as part of the officialWorld Travel Market programme, with a panel of high-profilespeakers, to debate how best the independent consultant canmarket him/herself to the potential client.

Before then, steps will have been taken to actively promote theTCN’s most useful resource, its detailed register of consultants.Any consultants not already on this register are missing anobvious opportunity and should take the necessary (inexpensive)steps immediately.

To join the Consultants Network please contact the Secretariaton 0207 269 9693 or email [email protected].

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