Working Together to Attract More Visitors
Thursday 3rd April, Shakespeare's Globe, Bankside, London

Sharing experiences about locally led tourism initiatives and partnership working!

This is the first event for UKTourismPro.net, the web resource for tourism professionals. It’s organised by Landor Travel Publications, publishers of British Tourism: A Guide for the Travel Trade, and supported by Group Travel Organiser magazine which has enabled us to bring a wealth of inside contacts and knowledge to this event from key buyers and suppliers of UK tourism. The event is kindly hosted by Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre with spectacular views over the Thames, and itself part of a London tourism ‘cluster’.

This event will address how public agencies, local authorities, destinations and suppliers can work together to get more business. During the day you will hear how combinations of attractions, venues, destinations, accommodation providers, tour operators, transport operators and local and regional tourism bodies can work together to increase the overall visitor offer. The seminar will examine how these organisations can take the lead in bringing tourism businesses together, and hear from successful practioners on how they got it right.

The seminar will also examine what are the desirable outputs from collaboration and how they can be supported and achieved. Two workshops will look at what public bodies can do and some low cost marketing options for smaller venues. Another practical session will examine how jointly marketed venues can meaningfully and cost effectively promote themselves at exhibitions.

You will have the opportunity to put questions to speakers and discuss the issues raised. After the seminar there will be an informal networking drinks reception during which you can meet speakers and colleagues in the UK domestic tourism industry informally.

Who Should Attend

The Programme

The Speakers

CATHERINE ANDERSON Marketing Manager, East of England Tourism
Catherine Anderson will tell us about one of the most success partnerships that East of England Tourism, and its predecessor the East of England Tourist Board, established. It successfully pulled together local authorities, attractions and a transport operator in an on-going relationship.

ALICE FERGUSON Tourism Manager, Macclesfield Borough Council
Macclesfield Borough Council has initiated, and is a member of, two marketing consortia that comprise private and public sectors venues within and outside the Borough. Alice Fergusson will tell us about the Peaks and Plains of Cheshire and the Textile Triangle and the role of the Council working within the Destination Marketing Organisation for that area.

VALENTINA DIAMANTI-FOX Marketing & Events Manager, Better Bankside
Better Bankside is a business improvement district which has tourism businesses working alongside other businesses in London. Better Bankside promotes attractions and services to visitors south of the Thames between Blackfriars and London Bridges.

CAROLINE EDMONDS Director, Pennington Public Relations
Caroline heads up Pennington PR, which operates the Seven Wonders of the Weald, a diverse consortium of seven small and medium sized attractions across the Weald of Kent which include two castles, a vineyard and a reservoir. We will hear about how these very different venues have worked together to appeal to different markets.

GINI WILDE Senior Account Manager, Bonner and Hindley Communications
Leeds based Bonner and Hindley Communications formed the Yorkshire Attractions Group, demonstrating that even large venues and national museums can benefit from working together. Gini will also present a paper on the outputs from collaborative working drawing on examples of other partnership working.

SUB-REGIONAL BODIES – Speaker to be confirmed
Since funding of the regional tourism bodies switched to the Regional Development Agencies, each region has taken a different approach and introduced new organisations. From DMOs to RTPs and sub-regional partnerships, we will unravel the jargon and look at the roles of thee new bodies.

ALUN WILLIAMS Head of Partnership, Wiltshire Tourism Partnership
In his various previous roles, Alun has been involved with a variety of tourism partnerships with a range of different venues. He is now head of the new Wiltshire Tourism Partnership and will share his experiences on the suitability of the different arrangements for different markets.

KAREN ROEBUCK Head of Marketing, Tourism South East
Tourism South East organises three regional Group Travel Fairs as well as co-organising the Excursions show in London. Karen will tell us about the importance attached to face-to-face meetings between suppliers and customers and how venues can work together on this.

JAMES PAGE Online Development Consultant
After consulting with games company Eidos, creator of Tomb Raider, James set up and became CEO of travel booking website deckchair.com with Bob Geldof in 1999, now owned by lastminute.com. Over the last two years he has worked with The Guardian Newspaper on creating its mobile phone offering and is now working on a number of tourism projects.

SABRINA MACH Website Usability Consultant
Sabrina recently completed a project that looked at the usability of a tourism website. She will share her findings and look at what needs to be done to create a user-friendly web product for a tourist attraction or a destination.

Other Booking Information

Confirmation
You will receive an email to confirm your booking. If your booking has not been acknowledged seven days prior to the event please contact us on 0845 166 8131 to verify your booking has been received.

Cancellation
If for any reason you are unable to attend, cancellations received in writing by 28th March 2008 will receive a refund less an administrative charge of £50 + VAT. There will be no refunds for cancellations made after this date. Substitutions can be made at any time at no additional cost.

Accommodation
We have appointed Travelocity Business as the hotel reservations bureau for this event. They have negotiated special rates at a number of hotels and will be pleased to make the necessary arrangements on your behalf. Telephone 0870 870 9145 for more information. This is a free service.

Data Protection
The data you provide will be held on a database in accordance with the Data Protection Act (1998). Your details may be passed to other companies who wish to contact you for marketing and communication purposes. If you do not wish your information to be passed on, please write to the Database Manager at Group Travel Organiser Ltd, 47 Wellington Square, Hastings TN34 1PN.