Head of Corporate Communications, Commissioning, Policy and Performance, Resources Directorate, to report on: -
· Feedback from Yorkshire and Humberside Local Authorities' Workshop: Visitor Economy & Growth, 15th January, 2013, Wakefield;
· Feedback from South Yorkshire Tourism Advisory Group, 7th March, 2013;
· Improvements to RMBC’s website;
· Potential income generation opportunities – Rotherham Show.
Minutes:
Consideration was given to the update provided by the Corporate Communications Manager, Commissioning, Policy and Performance, Resources Directorate, in relation to communication and marketing issues in Rotherham.
The update covered: -
South Yorkshire Advisory Board: -
· Met on 7th March, 2013;
· The Board was chaired by Welcome to Yorkshire’s Head of Membership;
· It appeared that the name of the group had been changed from the South Yorkshire Tourism Advisory Group to South Yorkshire Advisory Board;
· It had been proposed that the group would meet three or four times a year;
· A discussion had taken place regarding the membership of the Board, including the need to increase local authority attendance and attendance by smaller private sector venue and attraction representatives;
· Members had discussed the need to focus on maximising the benefits of membership of Welcome to Yorkshire for all members in South Yorkshire, where it was felt that activity had decreased in recent years;
· The Head of Corporate Communications and Marketing would meet with Welcome to Yorkshire’s Head of Communications to discuss joint marketing opportunities.
The Tour de France had been a significant agenda item. Welcome to Yorkshire would be playing a similar role with the Tour to that played by LOCOG in organising the 2012 Olympics. Updates provided to attendees of the Board meeting included: -
· It was expected that there would be two to three million people watching the live event across Yorkshire;
· The ‘caravan’ of the event would be around seven kilometres long, therefore, spectators considered it to be a day’s experience;
· The Leaders and Chief Executives of LGYH’s 22 local authorities had signed up to a legacy programme post-tour. There would be opportunities for promoting cycling in Rotherham on the back of this;
· The police operation would be led by West Yorkshire Police, and would follow the model used for the Olympic torch relay;
· ‘Tour Makers’ would play a key role in the process, similar to the ‘Games Makers’ in the Olympics, and would provide volunteering opportunities for local people;
· The Tour de France brand would be protected in similar ways to the Olympic brand;
· A road show would be facilitated by Welcome to Yorkshire in Sheffield on 9th May, 2013, for local business on how to benefit from the event.
Council website: ‘Leisure Activities: What’s On?’: -
Improvements had been made to the events listings on the Council website to give a greater focus on leisure activities and what’s on. The site would also include links to key local attractions rather than listings, to encourage visitors to view fuller information about the attractions, rather than simply looking at an event listing.
The Rotherham Show: -
· Dearne Valley College had expressed an interest in becoming a sponsoring partner to the Rotherham Show, following a successful recruitment event at the previous year’s show;
· The presence of Dearne Valley College at the show would be beneficial for Rotherham residents to find out about the opportunities available through the college, and it was hoped would also prompt further enquiries about how local companies and organisations could become involved in partnering with the Show.
Yorkshire and Humberside Local Authorities’ Workshop; visitor economies and growth: -
· A brief update was provided. It had been suggested that Welcome to Yorkshire may become involved in preparing an overarching strategy for business tourism and inward investment marketing against which funding bids could be made, including bids to the latest round of Regional Growth Fund.
Resolved: - (1) That the information provided be noted.
(2) That a future report be presented in relation to maximising the legacy programme of the Tour de France in Rotherham.
(3) That further reports be brought back to Cabinet Member on the continued work of Welcome to Yorkshire.