Agenda item

Briefing Note of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place)

(Note: Members of Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee have been invited to attend the meeting for consideration of this item)

The Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) received a Briefing Note of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) that provided an update on the progress of the Tourism Strategy 2019-2023, further to the presentation to Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee on 23^rd January 2019 (their minute 40/19 referred). The Note set out the priorities of the Tourism strategy and the timelines for delivery. Members of Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee were invited to attend the meeting for consideration of this matter.

Coventry had a unique opportunity to change perceptions of the city and increase both visitor numbers and expenditure to develop the visitor economy contribution to the overall economy of the city. A tourism strategy was approved by Cabinet on 27th November 2018 (their minute 76/19 referred) with a roadmap of strategic actions to ensure the city maximised all opportunities available to develop a sustainable offer over the next 5 years. A Destination Partnership of public and private partners would deliver the strategy.

The Action Plan Priorities for the Tourism Strategy 2019-2023 for year 1 focussed on 4 key areas:

·  Employ Destination Partnership Manager – employed 14^th January 2019.

·  Establish Destination Partnership Board with clear governance - The Destination Partnership had been established and met bi-monthly. Two meetings had been held to date and further meetings were scheduled for September and November 2019.

·  Agree roles and responsibilities of partner organisations - Working Groups met monthly. The first Working Groups met in June 2019.

·  Confirm projects for year one and potential funding sources - Projects for year one included: Accommodation Audit funded by City of Culture Trust – July 2019; Business events strategy funded by City Council – September 2019; Visitor Welcome training funded by Cultural Destinations fund (managed by City of Culture Trust) – to commence September 2019.

Updates were provided on the following:

Product

·  Development of packages for key product themes identified (Year 1-3) -The Product and Promotions working group would develop 9 identified product packages. This was an on-going work stream.

·  Commission the Accommodation Audit to inform developments (Year 1) - The Accommodation Audit report had been completed and actions to progress recommendations identified. Accommodation Audit report was presented to Destination Partnership on 4^th July 2019.

Place

·  Build on the Great Places programme to develop Welcome Training and skills and capacity of tourism businesses (Year 1-3) - Visitor welcome training was being developed with Visit England accreditation to be delivered to 600 relevant participants. To commence September 2019.

·  Develop visitor information strategies including information in high footfall areas (Year 1-3) - Delivered by the City Council Infrastructure department and informed by the Destination Management working group, a Digital Smart Hub project was progressing to develop the visitor information provision across the city in key areas. July - December 2019.

Positioning

·  Develop key messages and images to use when positioning Coventry to visitors (Year 1-2) - The Product and Promotions working group was developing promotions across the city. An ongoing project but the working group would meet in August 2019.

·  Develop ambassadorial initiatives with residents, students and businesses (Year 1-5) - The Destination Management working group (in conjunction with ENV and the Visitor Welcome training delivery team) was responsible for developing and implementing initiatives. An ongoing project but the working group would next meet in July 2019. Visitor Welcome training would commence September 2019.

The Board questioned officers and received responses, and discussed the following issues:

·  The Destination Management Partnership – comprises key people from many organisations across the wider region to ensure that as many aspects of the economic wellbeing of the City as possible are covered. It would continue to expand over time, with primary responsibility for the Partnership transferring to the private sector. Coventry City Council would continue to play a key role through continued representation. 

·  The importance of connecting with Warwickshire, Birmingham and the West Midlands – Coventry should be integral to their work and not operate in isolation.

·  Recognising the City Council’s role in Tourism in the City, in addition to that of the private sector.

·  Selling the Tourism offer – ensure that the Strategy includes marketing the City’s offers/ attractions/merits through as many media options as possible/the digital smart hub, including the provision of a ‘What’s on in Coventry’ app.

·  Funding available from Public Realm to support the implementation of media and digital provision by 2021.

·  Promoting the outdoor cinema experience at the Cathedral Ruins.

·  The night time economy - managing and promoting the night time economy to maximise offers and visitor spending

·  Accommodation offers – work with universities, as well as hotel providers.

·  The provision of a City Centre Music Venue/ Conferencing facility as in other towns and cities – potential to attract many visitors and businesses. To be further progressed once City of Culture events programme has been released.

·  Key Performance Targets – aspirations to improve an already increasing footfall, the length of time visitors stay overnight in the City, increase visitor spending and improve perceptions of Coventry as a city and provide awareness of offers and attractions.

·  Capital programme – includes projects for which funding bids will be explored/made.

·  External promotion of the City – outside the region/nationally/globally – via trade shows, liaising with the WMCA, promotion of the UK overseas, software for selling tickets, data collection, progressing a calendar of events.

The Board noted the progress being made on the Tourism Strategy and requested that they be provided with a copy of the Tourism Strategy document, that included the details of the Key Performance Indicators. They also requested further information on the work being undertaken externally on the promotion of the city and agreed that a further progress report be submitted to the Board in 6 months-time.

RESOLVED that the Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) notes the update on the progress of the Tourism Strategy and request that a further progress report be submitted to the Board in 6 months-time.