Agenda item

Mrs T Bruton, Head of Regeneration Projects, and Ms S Matthews-Marsh, Chief Executive of Visit Kent, were in attendance for this item.

Mr K Pugh declared an interest in this item as his wife chairs the Sheppey Tourism Alliance.

1.         Mrs Bruton introduced the report and set out KCC’s role in supporting Kent Tourism, with private sector partners, and the financial contribution KCC made to it.  She explained that tourism was the best performing sector of the UK economy, despite the current economic climate.  Ms Matthews-Marsh thanked Members for the support, investment and leadership which KCC had provided, and the Cabinet Member for his support in championing tourism. She presented a series of slides which set out the background to the Kent Contemporary campaign, and the simplicity of its message, based on Kent being known as the Garden of England, which could be extended to ‘Explore your garden’, ‘Relax in your garden’, etc.

2.         The Cabinet Member, Mr K G Lynes, praised the approach taken by the Kent Contemporary campaign, and its use of an award-winning photographer, whose views of Kent offered a new way to look at familiar landmarks.  It also made innovative use of social networking media to allow Kent people to upload pictures of and stories about their favourite places on to the MyKent website. The predicted financial outcomes of the campaign were expected to be good. A very detailed model was being used to calculate the average spend by each overnight visitor.

3.         In discussion, and in response to Members’ comments and questions, the following points were highlighted:-

a)         tourism activity and income had always made a good contribution to Kent’s economic health, and Kent has a good tourism product. Kent Contemporary is a good project, and the information generated by it will be useful, but it would be helpful to have some example case studies of local businesses which have been helped by tourism income;

b)         in tourism, there are elements of competition, both within the UK and within Kent.  Members commented that it would be helpful for future update reports to cover these issues and explain how they are dealt with;

c)         SouthEastern Trains have been happy to support a link between road and rail travel, allowing travellers to switch between the two on a flexible, transferable ticket. It is hoped that a ‘Kent Rover’ ticket might be available by summer 2011, which would be particularly useful during the 2012 Olympics;

d)         The ‘Greet the World’ campaign would allow Kent and Nord Pas de Calais to advertise and promote each other’s tourism in a reciprocal arrangement;

e)         Members welcomed the impressive figures quoted in the report, such as the annual number of visitors (45 million) and the contribution this made to Kent’s economy (£2.5 billion) and job creation (50,000 jobs). These figures had been measured using the Cambridge model, and include day visitors as well as those staying for a longer visit.  47% of hits on the Kent Contemporary website had come from London residents;

f)          Kent’s investment in tourism had generated a 47:1 return, with which Members were similarly very impressed; and

g)         Kent residents are encouraged to visit other parts of their own county in the Big Day Out scheme, which in 2011 will run over a whole weekend rather than just a single day.

4.         RESOLVED that:-

a)         the information set out in the report and given in response to Members’ comments and questions be noted, with thanks; and

b)         further annual update reports, in the same format, be made to the POSC.  The next one of these should address the issues outlined in paragraph 3. b) above.