The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “C”) will provide an update on the Tourism Review and the Destination Management Plan consultation.

Recommended –

Members are asked to note the content of this report and give their views.

(Phil Barker – 01274 432616)

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “C”) provided an update on the Tourism Review and the Destination Management Plan consultation which had undergone a public consultation.  It would provide the recommendation of the Tourism Review and the findings of the DMP and feedback from the consultation.

The public consultation went out on 9 January to 6 March 2017. Sixty two people had responded to the consultation through the Council website, four responded by letter and a petition was sent from Haworth traders and residents with 1,087 signatures. A total of 5 comments supported the Bradford Visitor Information Centres (VIC) (Low response as recommendation was to keep Bradford open), 18 comments supported Haworth VIC, 20 comments supported Saltaire VIC, 25 comments supported Ilkley VIC and 10 of the comments also commented on the closure of the public toilets across the district.

The Strategic Director continued, industry partners in Bradford had welcomed the recommendation. The majority of comments from Haworth, Ilkley and Saltaire related to the importance of the VIC to the local community and visitors to the destination. Many of the concerns from Ilkley were in relation to the ticket sales that the VIC provided. Other comments included the recruiting of volunteers for Saltaire, Haworth and Ilkley, consider seasonal hours was being explored, single manned VICs to reduce staffing costs, relocating Ilkley VIC into the library and Bradford VIC also becomes the telephone and email centre for visitors.

A question and answer session ensued:

·         How was the campaign progressing?

o   Lots of activity was on going across the district through the means of various groups and it was all about bringing different groups under the same umbrella. The campaign would assist the Council in understanding what kind of visitors came to Bradford for which themes. The campaign also included the inviting of journalists from France to visit our city’s attractions. Unfortunately the Bradford Interchange was not very welcoming. Vast advertising had been undertaken in the Leeds and Bradford Airport;

·         Had officers thought on whether free advertising could be undertaken through the Council’s Wi-Fi?

o   It was a matter of time for a vacancy for a full time post for Social Media was filled and this factor could then be discussed. Future promotions through social media and the internet was a big part of the future for attracting tourists and the Council had every intention do undertake significant advertising through such means;

·         Had the Council considered whether hackney Carriage Drivers could become Cultural Ambassadors for the city?

o   A pilot had been undertaken over a 3 months period and this could be undertaken again with the assistance of the Hackney Carriage Service;

·         Was it at all possible to reduce the numbers of paid staff in the VICs and recruit part time staff on a voluntary basis?

o   The options of running VICs in all areas was being considered at this present time.

During the discussion, the Committee made the following comments:

·         The Committee concluded that in addition to fantastic attractions, Bradford had a good transport and networks links and the Hackney Carriage Service was a key partner towards the Council’s successful goal in enticing visitors to Bradford;

·         Cleanliness has to be addressed in Bradford as the first glimpse of something is always the everlasting reminiscence therefore making Bradford clean in the entering gateways was of paramount importance;

·         It was important to get in dialogue with Metro in order to promote the city in buses;

·         There was the occasional Anti Social Behaviour in the Centenary Square and would give Bradford a bad reputation if visitors witnessed such acts of appalling behaviour; and,

o   In response to comment, officers were employed to tackle appalling behaviour by small groups in prominent areas of Bradford.

·         Bradford was already in the forefront in terms of the Curry capital and this advantage could be used to entice visitors to the city.

Resolved –

That the views expressed by the Regeneration and Economy Overview and Scrutiny Committee be shared with the Executive.

ACTION: Strategic Director, Place