Annual Report 2014/15 © Aardman Animations Ltd 2015 Aardman © /biz Contents Introduction 3 Chairman’s Foreword 4 Our Role 5 Our Operational Environment 2014/15 6-7 Refreshing England’s Tourism Strategy Triennial Review The Tourism Landscape 2014/15 8-9 Leading the Industry, Working in Partnership 10-13 Formulating strategic partnerships to generate growth Supporting the Government growth agenda Leading the tourism debate Highlighting industry resilience Developing new routes with regional airports Engaging the Travel Trade Growing the business tourism market English Tourism Week 2015 Supporting a Thriving Industry 14-16 Providing advice and support to industry Providing robust research and insights Promoting accessibility for all Driving quality and customer service Total volume and spend of Accessible Tourism in England VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2014 Revolutionising tourist information Stimulating Consumer Demand 17-20 Regional Growth Fund delivery Holidays at Home are GREAT Ride England Rugby World Cup 2015 England’s Hall of Fame First World War Centenary Winnie-the-Pooh ‘Simple Pleasures’ What's Next with James Berresford 21 Our People 22-23 Our Board Our Team Introduction VisitEngland’s annual report summarises our key activity undertaken over the period 2014/15, reflecting on our operating environment and key achievements in our mission to grow the value of tourism in England. © Aardman Animations/Wallace & Gromit Ltd 2013 & Gromit Animations/Wallace Aardman © 3 In its Triennial Review of Départ in Yorkshire, and the Tour VisitEngland and VisitBritain, the de Yorkshire. Government gave us a new mission to grow the number of visitors A highlight for the industry this outside London by managing a new year has to be Rugby World Cup Product Development Fund. The 2015, hosted in 10 cities in England ambition of this proposal will be to (as well as Cardiff ), which is sure transform England’s great tourism to spread tourism benefits far assets; supporting the industry and wide. to deliver compelling products and experiences. We know that Chairman’s We launched a TV campaign earlier domestic holidays generate very this year to showcase England as high levels of satisfaction and there Foreword a fantastic place to book a holiday is enormous scope to grow this or short break ahead of the Rugby market. In addition to the increase The last twelve months have been World Cup, set to the backdrop in people holidaying at home in hugely eventful for English tourism: of Jerusalem – synonymous with recent years England has seen English Tourism Week kick-started English rugby. The poignant words increased levels of short-break the tourism season with more by England’s own William Blake taking, more trips taken by over businesses than ever getting certainly stirred my pride in our 55’s and a greater variety in on board to showcase all that’s green and pleasant land. destination types for leisure trips. great about our industry. We have City breaks, in particular, have seen high numbers of domestic We also ran our third Holidays at been a driver of growth – not least and overseas visitors flock to Home are GREAT campaign in 2014, because the product on offer has events across the country in which saw the return of Britain’s improved enormously over the past celebration of significant historical best-loved characters Wallace and few years. All of these present clear milestones from the centenary of Gromit to encourage Brits to book areas of opportunity. the First World War and the 450th a holiday at home through their anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth local travel agent. The campaign As always, working in partnership to the 800th anniversary of the created an incremental spend of has been crucial to success. The signing of the Magna Carta, and £148.5m and led to the production merging of arts and culture to the 150th anniversary of Lewis of our fourth campaign this year – support tourism is at the heart Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland – all starring the award-winning Shaun of the Cultural Destinations testament to the rich historical and the Sheep. programme, which forms part cultural appeal of England’s tourism of our partnership with the landscape. We know visitors are increasingly Arts Council. Ten projects were looking for unique, personalised, announced in 2014 as part of this The product on offer in England immersive experiences and we’ve partnership to promote and expand has undergone a staggering seen the industry embrace this upon England’s cultural offer and transformation in recent years. trend. From “locally defining” tremendous progress is being People have rediscovered the food and drink to the increasing made. By creating and building fantastic places on offer right on popularity of cycling to star gazing upon these unique and engaging their doorstep. It’s now up to us to experiences under some of the partnerships our industry will harness and develop our strengths country’s darkest skies, England continue to thrive. to build on the rise in domestic really does continue to delight breaks we have seen over the and surprise visitors with exciting, In terms of sporting events, we’re past five years. It is vital that our innovative experiences. still basking in the legacy of the tourism offer remains competitive London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic to protect our industry in a very Games which boasted to the world competitive market. England’s prowess at hosting major Penelope, Viscountess international sporting events. We Cobham, CBE had the opportunity in 2014/15 Chairman of VisitEnglanD to show off once again with the tremendous success of Le Grand 4 Our Role VisitEngland is the national tourist board for England. Our role is to ensure that tourism in England thrives, working with the Government and industry to safeguard the sector’s successful and sustainable future and develop the visitor experience across England. Strengthen the Increase the competitiveness Increase tourism contribution of of businesses and employment and tourism to England’s England’s tourism local prosperity economy offer As the lead body for tourism in England, of the nation’s tourism by five per cent per our purpose is to grow the value of tourism, annum over the next five years. This target working in partnership with the industry to is laid out in our first national strategy deliver inspirational marketing campaigns, document, The Strategic Framework for drive forward the quality, competitive- Tourism in England 2010-2020. ness and sustainable growth of the visitor economy and provide strategic direction and expertise for our partners. We actively encourage greater collaboration between the different sectors of the visitor economy; supporting partners at a national and local level to achieve economic growth ENGLAND and to increase investment and employment REPRESENTS £ through developing unique visitor 106%BN experiences and effective business practices. By leveraging England’s best assets, IS WORTH AND SUPPORTS promoting excellence and encouraging % our partners to benefit from collaborative 84 M activities (that market England as a OF THE TOTAL UK JOBS destination to domestic and established VISITOR ECONOMY 2.6 overseas markets), we can increase the value 5 Our Operational Environment 2014/15 As the national tourist board for England we aim to operate as efficiently and effectively as possible, bringing partners together and ensuring the sector remains competitive to produce outstanding visitor experiences. Working in partnership, we aim to align activities to achieve a five per cent year-on-year increase in the value of tourism as outlined in England’s tourism growth strategy the ‘Strategic Framework for Tourism 2010-2020’. rism 201 Tou 0-2 for 02 k 0 or w Refreshing England’s e m CREATE AN Tourism Strategy a r ADDITIONAL F c i Published in August 2014, the Annual Review g JOBS e 225,000 of the Strategic Framework for Tourism t a r 2010-2020 reported the sector has performed t S £ strongly against its targets hitting the five BN per cent year on year increase in the value of SPEND OVER tourism and our ambitious jobs target. 50 10 YEARS. Since the strategy was launched five years ago, the tourism landscape has changed radically with political, economic, structural, technological and social shifts all having an impact. It is therefore essential that the strategy flexes in response to this changed Strategic Framework for Tourism environment for England to stay on track 2010-2020 Annual Review results and hit its targets. A mid-term review of England’s Tourism Strategy has commenced, • An annual growth rate of just over including an industry-wide consultation to 5 per cent in the value of tourism help shape the future development of the strategy. The refreshed strategy is due to • An increase of 7 per cent (178,000 be completed by the end of 2015 with the jobs) in the number of people ambition to set out the priorities shared by employed in tourism since December VisitEngland and the industry for today’s 2010, putting the industry on course tourism landscape. By working together to achieve the 225,000 jobs target with industry partners, we can ensure our growth continues at the target levels set in • 70 per cent of the activities in the the original strategy and achieve our goal industry action plans complete of creating a thriving, robust and globally competitive industry by 2020. 6 Triennial Review As part of the requirement for Government departments to review their agencies Triennial Review and non-departmental public bodies we Key Recommendations underwent a Triennial Review, alongside VisitBritain. • VisitEngland and VisitBritain to formally separate VisitEngland has come through its review well, with a strong endorsement of its track • VisitEngland to focus on supporting record and ability to deliver tangible results. the development of high quality tourism The success of our work in creating economic experiences and their marketing in growth and jobs for tourism was strongly England through the management of a recognised, along with our commitment Product Development Fund to engagement and partnership working.