What’s hot for 2012

Current outlook

At the Visitor Economy Forum I attended last month, forecasters were cautious about the business outlook for 2012.  STR Global indicated that the majority of UK hotels are being affected to some extent by slowdown in demand, with major chains reporting evidence of people downgrading their grade of accommodation , and others deciding not to make a trip at all.

On the positive side:

• London has seen a 12% increase in available accommodation for visitors, with almost no adverse effect on occupancy levels – indicating increasing demand and prices holding firm.
• Budget accommodation is more in demand than ever, and site shortage has resulted in the likes of Travelodge expanding into spaces above high footfall retail premises such as supermarkets, particularly in outer areas of the capital.
• Budget operators are scouring the most attractive protected landscapes and national parks in the English countryside for suitable premises to take over and expand into.
• A new Premier Inn has recently sprouted on the rooftop level of the new Westfield shopping centre at Stratford International
• Unconventional online lettings agencies are springing up to promote apartments and homestays with easy access to London; but quality could be an issue. Look out for user generated reviews to counter this risk.

Business Opportunities

• Keep an eye out for  pop up shops and retailers – or even consider starting one yourself.  Taste of London pop up restaurant festival will be in Regents Park June 21-24. Presale tickets available online now.
• London 2012 merchandise is now on sale at John Lewis, Next, Adidas, The Post Office and official shops at St Pancras, Heathrow and Stratford City. Get yourself, your staff and your business dressed up for the Olympic torch relay when it passes by. No one in the UK should be more than 10 miles from the route, according to the organsiers.
• Obviously attractive popular official 2012 merchandise, like posters and pin badges are already on sale and may sell out nearer the time – so buy them now.
• Shop now for Union Jack accessories, window dressing and get thinking on how to celebrate the games with customers and staff.
• Editorial teams in the media are already out there looking for stories about places and happenings in Britain in 2012. If you’ve got anything  new, unusual or eccentric coming up, or if you win an award for something in your business – this is the year to share it with the world – and issue a series of news releases.  Dont forget to post them onto your website.
• This is likely to be a year of innovative and opportunistic developments like no other.
• New businesses may find it hard to get established unless eye catching promotions or discounts are offered. Social media makes it possible for a small business to make a big noise though.
• Don’t forget it’s the Queen’s Golden Jubilee (with an extra long weekend holiday in June to boot).
• Yet more opportunities await those businessses able to capitalise on the bicentenary of the birth of the novelist Charles Dickens, who enjoys a global network of fans. He travelled all over the UK, with many hostelries  he patronised still in business as hotels and restaurants. Visitor attractions in many towns and cities where he lived worked or set his novels (Portsmouth, London, Rochester, Broadstairs, all spring instantly to mind) are in line for a welcome windfall as well.

Regional winners and losers

Again, according to STR Global

• Of all UK cities outside London, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Leeds are all prospering most.
• Brighton and York are also likely to do well thanks to strong demand boosted by steady year round visitors attending meetings conferences and business events.
• Edinburgh willl continue to suffer from remedial repair works to crumbling tarmac along the controversial Princes Street tram route (laid along  in the very heart of the city in 2009); and although work was suspended over Christmas and New Year, word has spread on social media of unsightly hoardings and traffic disruption. I saw it myself in the autumn, and it’s likely to discourage or disappoint some visitors until it completes in July.

Leisure trends

Olive Insight, reporting further on their ongoing research for Visit Britain, both during and in the aftermath of the last recession, have found

• More people are now ( 61%) worried about the economic outlook in Britain than they were during the recession in June 2009 (when the figure was 40%).
• Earlier research showed that there was a tendency for consumers to ring fence their spending on holidays; but somewhat worryingly, this appears to no longer be the case.
• More people than ever are now looking to stretch their budget by taking advantage of deals and special offers.
• Businesses take note! Propositions offering service upgrades, added value, an inspiration you may not have thought of for yourself, or an opportunity to enjoy a bit of self indulgence, work best.

Will Brits still go abroad?

Here’s a  round up of current thinking:

• Demand for domestic holidays in 2012 is likely to strengthen because of the economic situation
• Our current near-recession makes our  offering more competitive as a destination to visit.
• Research from  TUI claims that outbound demand from Brits is holding up for traditional summer destinations such as mainland Spain and the Balearics, for those who want to get away from the fuss this summer.
• I suspect that other southern European Eurozone countries with economic issues, such as Greece, and even Italy, may not be so lucky in the current economic climate.
• In my neck of the woods in Kent, people are feeling cautious about leaving the country; mainly because they don’t want to miss out in this year of a lifetime.

Can we help you?
Virtual Viv is part of the team at Manifold Associates, working in the UK and travelling the world independently to inform you with incisive commentary in words and pictures about news that matters. We want to help businesses  maximise the benefits of the forthcoming exciting months.

Our recent projects have included researching and authenticating, on behalf of Visit Kent, locations still recognisable today, that have associations with Charles Dickens in advance of the bicentenary of his birth. We welcome freelance photo journalism assignments and writing commissions. Vivienne Boucher has recently been comissioned to write a feature article about The Kent of Dickens, which has been published in the January 2012 issue of BBC Countryfile magazine.

Maybe you’re a business looking to capitalise on the opportunities that 2012 might bring to you. If so, please get in touch.

 

Coping with disaster: perception vs reality

The recent inland flash floods that have hit the Australian state of Queensland during the 2010/11 cyclone seasonhave emphasised the scale of the inundation to have affected ‘an area larger than France and Germany combined’.

Even the first floods immediately after Christmas (pictured above) were bad enough to be described by Queensland state Treasurer Andrew Fraser as a “disaster of biblical proportions”.

Last week, first Toowoomba,  the state capital of Brisbane, and many other communities in the centre and south east of the state have been hit by further major flooding events almost surpassing landmark 1974 floods.

The death toll has already reached 20; but many more are still missing, so the final toll is expected to rise futher.

Queensland Flood Disaster appeal

The Queensland Government has launched an appeal to help people affected by the central and south east Queensland floods. With many communities devastated and some families losing everything, everyone can help make a difference by donating to the official  Flood Relief Appeal

SCAMwatch is warning consumers to thoroughly check the legitimacy of charities when donating to help flood victims in  Queensland. I was impressed to find information about the SCAMwatch service in Australia, and its work to help prevent unscrupulous fraudsters from cashing in when they see an opportunity to rip people off, especially in such unfortunate circumstances. Other countries take note!

Bringing reality home

There are several aspects to the story of disaster that I want to explore; but firstly I have to declare a personal interest, because we have family in the area, so I’ve obtained permission to use some of their photos, and can quote from personal testimony. I’ll be travelling to Queensland myself later in the year, so although I’ll be able to see the reality for myself in due course, I’m talking now about my perceptions of the situation, as seen from afar.

Reading about the unfolding situation, first in increasingly worrying emails from relations, and then seeing the reality in their photos and watching newsreel videos in the media, has helped bring the full horror of natural disaster into our living rooms and onto computer screens far way, my own included.

As I worked on the draft of this post, I’ve found myself re- writing it almost daily over several  weeks as the story unfolded. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

As a family we’ve watched ghastly footage of people stranded on car and house roofs; and seen live action of cars, boats, furniture  and trees being tossed about and crushed in raging flood water like mere toys. We’ve  watched desperate and dramatic rescues, and heart rending interviews with people who’ve lost everything, and seen horrific sights; but at least are alive.

Not everyone has been so lucky. One can only imagine the reality and horror of actually being there and experiencing it in person. Only this morning we heard from some relations that ‘it’s been horrible’, that they were ‘intact’; but that ‘that is a lot more than can be said for lots of other poor people, and lots and lots of animals of all kinds, wild, commercial and domestic.’

Suffering in such circumstances extends far beyond human beings, something that this disaster has really brought home to me personally. What’s really impressed me and everyone I know is the amazing resiliance and stoicism shown by the people of Queensland in coping with their exceptional recent circumstances.

How news editors interpret disaster

While it’s the job of news editors to make sure the news stories they cover provide accurate and reliable information to accompany arresting images that make people sit up and take notice, it’s quite another matter when you consider what individuals and business people think about being the focus of high profile international media coverage that has an immediate impact on their life or livelihood.

It’s a commonly used device by the media to explain the scale of a disaster with the aid of an analogy,  illustrating the size by comparing it to an equivalent more familiar to the audience. In the case of Queensland flooding the BBC in the UK talked about  ‘an area the size of France and Germany combined’ being affected.

While this may be useful for the authorities to help people understand the scale, it can potentially be misleading because, certainly in the case of flooding,  the worst damage is rarely evenly spread over a landscape. In Queensland this was the case. So in disaster situations, authorities might take more care over selecting apparently convenient soundbites about broadscale damage. With hindsight exaggeration can prove to  be particularly unwise,  especially when effects are  localised, and many areas escape unscathed.

From aerial views I’ve seen, although the worst of the Queensland flooding in the south east of the state was confined to river valleys, an additional problem was that the flow resulting from extremely heavy rainfall brought additional hazards by carrying many objects not secured in advance down intervening slopes from higher ground in uncontrollable torrents, that took the quickest route downhill irrespective of what was in their path, and areas previously thought safe suffered significant damage. See aerial views of Brisbane at the height of the flooding contrasted with the same view before the floods struck.

I fear that the general impression that the majority of television viewers took away from recent news coverage in the UK though, is that the entire state of Queensland was similarly affected to the places shown on screen.  This is because the majority of people haven’t made a study of hydrology, and don’t have a detailed knowledge of the geography of places on the other side of the world from the UK, such Queensland, Australia.

The effects of natural disaster on tourism
There’s no denying that tourism in Queensland has taken a severe battering this year, and I’m sure that it will take a very long time indeed for the worst affected places, and people, to recover, especially in places like Rockhampton, Ipswich, and Grantham, as well as in Toowoomba and Brisbane.

However it’s pleasing to see the upbeat approach on the home page of the official Queensland tourism website, which acknowledges the flooding with links to up to date factual information , but doesn’t make a huge issue of it.

There’s a lot at stake for the Queensland tourism industry which is an important contributor to the state economy. Read more about the effects of 2010/11 flooding events on tourism in Queensland.

With many people planning holidays in Queensland looking at dates a long time in advance, it’s important to present a positive face to the outside world. I like the idea that, in a new initiative, there are now live webcams on the official Cairns tourism website, in the almost unaffected tropical north of the state. Just bear in mind the time difference when tuning in, as they don’t all work when it’s dark!

Even in adversity, it’s important to try and look on the brighter side of things. Now lots more people in the world have heard about Queensland, perhaps for the first time(even if for the wrong reasons), or at least have been reminded about it: their curiosity may have been piqued. There really is a window of opportunity available for proactive PRs, to start beavering away to change back any negative perceptions, and remind people about the usually more favourable weather that can be expected in ‘the sunshine state’ of Australia at other times of year.

One of my favourite media relations tips is to never be afraid to tell the truth; but also to keep in mind this quote from Oscar Wilde, about the importance being selective:
‘the pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple’

Disaster recovery for accommodation providers

I have no wish to re-invent the wheel. In a recent article on the Hospitality Trends website about recovery from floods, fire and earthquake, Ken Burgin provides a range of practical tips about disaster recovery and contingency planning.. I dont want to sound trite in the context of Queensland floods,  but it provides food for thought, perhaps!

Can we help you?
Are you a business or organisation involved in the visitor economy that needs PR ideas to raise your profile, or improve perceptions, and secure media coverage to reach new prospective visitors or guests?

Manifold Associates could help you come up with compelling ideas, words and images that will encourage the world to beat a path to your door (as soon as it’s practicable) , or search for your business on the world wide web. If you run a small business we can also teach you the skills you need to manage your own PR and media relations campaigns in a professional manner.

Visit our website for more information about what we have to offer, including what customers think about our services as a UK based marketing consultancy.

Signs of the times: good practice that avoids pitfalls

Why signage in public places can be an issue

Signage can be difficult to get right, irrespective of which industry you’re in. If I was to pick out common factors from those that I consider to be the most successful practitioners, I believe that the best examples offer a combination of clarity, visibility, consistency and common sense. So where do you find them, and what are the signage pitfalls in public places that must be avoided at all costs?

Why is signage important? The reasons are various, but the key points are that without the aid of physical signage, people can potentially get lost, be put to considerable inconvenience, or even get themselves into a potentially unsafe or vulnerable situation from a security point of view. No-one  wants that to happen to anyone at business premises, and that’s why it’s so important for businesses of all sizes to get right.

Who can demonstrate good practice?

In my initial ignorance about the subject, I didn’t fully appreciate that informational signage and way finding was such a big business, or that as a country we’re among the world leaders in this fiield. Then I visited the Liverpool waterfront last year, and saw the results of the wayfinding and signage project completed there in and around Albert Dock by Holmes-Wood, who describe themselves as ‘one of Britain’s leading companies working in direction, information and identity design’. Yes, that’s right, there are specialist signage consultancies out there, that can help you spend millions on ensuring that your signage is tailored to meet your precise business needs, and looks good as well.

However, even the smallest business can learn from good practice undertaken, not only in places where new signage was necessary as a result of major re-branding and urban regeneration projects, as in the case of Liverpool; but also from the signage displayed in other high traffic public places such as airports, shopping malls, and on the motorway network. The directional signage and branding developed initially for the  UK motorway network, and then the entire national road network of Britain by Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert between 1957 and 1967, is now a recognised design classic, that has become a model for motorway and road signage internationally. It’s a mark of its success, that it’s still in use today.

Clarity is vital when it comnes to signage. Wherever possible it makes sense to make use of internationally recognised systems of symbolism, such as those used for hazardous chemicals, and health and safety signs. It becomes vital that warning signs can be understood at a glance, even when people don’t speak the  language, and can’t read written text. That’s why international signage conventions have developed, such as the use of the lower case letter ‘ i ‘ which is used as visual shorthand to designate tourist information centres worldwide.

Mistakes to avoid

On occasion signage can be percieved as patronising, irrelevant, or worse, can be seen as treating grown adults like naughty children. From time to time I come across such signs. Where signs are used inappropriately they have the potential to provoke a negative reaction, disappointment, confusion, fear or even annoyance, all emotions that are not good for business from a marketing point of view.

In general signs should be used only to communicate simple unambiguous messages that are relevant to everyone who sees them. Unless there is danger, or a possible threat to life or limb, any complicated scenarios, applicable to the minority of the people passing by, is probably best communicated by a different method, and ideally during the course of personal communication.

When things get complicated..

In hotels, where there is a plethora of information that needs to be communicated, and people have an expectation that they’ll receive guidance appropriate to their individual needs, it can be particularly challenging to ensure that guests receive all the information and reassurance they might need, at the same time as being politely encouraged to act on it. In this instance it’s sensible practice to offer an information folder in all guest rooms, and to serve up the answers to frequently asked questions in advance of guest arrival on websites; but that’s not usually enough.

Signs can act as a catch all to help businesses communicate information; but they should not always be relied on or used alone. Some instructions, for example about responsible energy use,  can cause resentment or negative attitude on the part of the paying customer.

With businesses increasingly looking to give their business a ‘green edge’ and promote responsible tourism, it can be hard to find the right tone of voice, and form of words to encourage responsible attitudes to such issues as noise, energy use and contentious areas such as daily replacement of towels and bedding, with signage alone.

Tried and tested strategies

However you look at it, signs have a tendency to lecture because you can’t ignore them. One alternative approach is to draw people’s attention to where they can find information available (but not try to compel them to take notice); and you can invite people to be responsible about their energy usage for rational reasons, rather than posting signage that seems to demand compliance. A self catering opearator I know leaves a copy of the paperback book ‘One Planet Living’ in her cottages, and offers copies for sale to those who express interest. She’s found that this works well.

Offering a reward for compliant behaviour is a further strategy that can be adopted to persuade people to change their habits or encourage reponsible behaviour. I’ve come across hotels that reward guests who leave their car in the car park all day when they go out, with free tea and cakes when they return. Another goes out of her way to explain how to reach local attractions by public transport.  There’s no doubt though, that it can be a challenge to get people to do things the way you want. One thing is for sure, although signage can help, I certainly don’t think it will ever be the only answer.

What do you think? Marketing is about everything that helps a business to identify and satisfy customer needs profitably.  Contact Manifold Associates if you’re a business having difficulty in identifying the most appropriate form of  words and images to explain your business philosophy in your marketing communications. We also help businesses through the process of rationalising and communicating the reasons for people to do business with them; and deliver training on marketing your green credentials.

Until next time…

Looking to push the boat out? Take advantage of crazy offers and publicity stunts

Is there a point to crazy offers?

Tourism businesses sometimes need to take a risk and get innovative with their promotional ideas if they want to attract the more adventurous prospective customers. Here’s a selection of hotel offers at the more extreme end of the spectrum that take some beating.

While I don’t think that hoteliers expect many bookings from their crazier promotions; there’s no doubt that it gets them talked about, both online, and in the media generally! After all, the first stage in influencing a prospective customer favourably on behalf of a busness, is to create awareness that the business exists in the first place. Publicity stunts are designed to  attract media attention, and are frequently associated with photo or video opportunities, so perhaps they’re not quite such a crazy idea after all!

Publicity stunts that deserve attention

Air Portugal found it worked for them when they executed a well planned flash mob event at Lisbon Airport Christmas 2009 which helped put a smile of the face of their customers, and other weary air passengers. Look at their faces. Naturally, the event was filmed for posterity and the professionally edited results were posted onto You Tube, the video sharing web site. Meanwhile, in Belgium, flash mobs have been out ambushing rail passengers at Brussels and Antwerp train stations. Note how these events have also been posted onto You Tube too.  On You Tube visitors to the site rate the films they watch, and forward the best on to their friends, talk about them on Twitter,  insert links to them on their Facebook page, or recommend them on sites such as Digg.com. That’s how social media works. It’s what used to be called ‘word of mouth marketing’ – it just works a bit quicker and with much bigger numbers.

Just look at the number of views! As you can see from these examples, it’s not a bad idea if you’ve got a creative streak, to produce a video that illustrates your customers, or staff, or both, really enjoying themselves, even if they do need a bit of support from professional or enthusuiastic amateur actors, musicians or dancers. If the results are truly original and entertaining the results can spread online just like a virus; and that’s why such films are called viral videos.

Do you need help?

Are you a business or organisation involved in the visitor economy that needs help to boost awareness and is looking to secure more media coverage to reach prospective visitors or guests? Manifold Associates could help you come up with compelling ideas to encourage the world to beat a path to your door, or search for your business on the world wide web. We can also introduce you to our network of professonals, who make a living creating promotional video, if you don’t feel up to taking a DIY approach.

Visit our website for more information about what we have to offer, including what customers think about our services as marketing consultants.

Should everyone be able to find ‘Secret Britain’?

Are you among those who caught the latest BBC television series Secret Britain, which has attracted rave reviews? Personally, as a tourism industry insider, I found the first episode of the series all rather frustrating, although I admit that the landscapes were visually stunning. It’s hardly surprising that’s the case, such is the astonishing variety of scenery to be found when travelling in the British Isles.

In the first of four one hour long episodes of ‘Secret Britain’, presenters Matt Baker and Julia Bradbury presented fairly vague information showcasing various ‘secret’ sites in southern England, from Cornwall to Kent, a region of Britain I know well. What I found particularly frustrating was that the sites given so much high profile airtime were nearly all either inaccessible or pratically impossible for the ordinary viewer, or potential visitor inspired by a programme such as this, to visit; but perhaps that was the point. They wanted to ensure they were kept secret.

Secret locations revealed

The presenters understandably admitted that locations shown where frangrant orchids and fly orchids were seen growing somewhere on the South Downs, could not be identified for security reasons. Unfortunately the fact that the South Downs was recently declared a National Park, and that that there are plenty of practically unknown places within it where visitors are welcomed, yet relatively few venture, was not even mentioned. For example, within the Park in deepest West Sussex, you can still walk up the old Roman Road, Stane Steet, and visit well preserved Roman mosaics at relatively unknown (because it’s privately owned) Bignor Roman villa, or explore the wonderful Weald and Downland Museum at Singleton, near Chichester. Not far away, on the shores of Chichester Harbour you can visit the ancient Saxon Church of Bosham, which was illustrated on the Bayeux Tapestry. That’s just a little sample of some of the secret (or at least little known beyond the local area) places to visit in Southern England that deserve and would appreciate more attention, yet don’t get it.

Surely it would make sense for a series such as this to include more locations like the ones I’ve suggested, and to give some indication of their location so that people can get there?  The programme spent a long time rambling about on the Greenways of Dorset, without identifying a single village along the route of Hell Lane, denying the interested viewer, or walking enthusiast, any hope of finding it. Likewise, Matt Baker was filmed in in a seagoing kayak visiting inaccessible caves and beaches, as well as shooting the dangerous looking passage between the mainland and Seven Souls Rock on  Pentire Head near Padstow, experiences that the casual visitor to north Cornwall probably has little chance of duplicating in safety without the accompaniment of people with local kayaking expertise.

I found myself wondering if the programme makers been forced to sign a confidentiality agreement with the couple who took the camera crew to a rocky valley near Tintagel, where they had celebrated a picnic after their wedding? It certainly seemed possible, so scanty was the information divulged about its location.

Frustration mounted further as it soon became obvious that visiting Iron Age hill forts on Ministry of Defence land on Salisbury Plain, surrounded all the while by danger signs warning of unexploded ordnance, and tank manoevres, was equally unlikelyto be accessible to the general public.  Perhaps that too was trying to score a point about keeping the locations secret?

However, it wasn’t the case, as Charleston Farmhouse, near Lewes in East Sussex, once home to Virginia Woolf and The Bloomsbury set, was also featured. It’s a site you can quickly locate by Googling. As were the well known honeypots of Tintagel Castle and Mevagissey in Cornwall. Footage of Dungeness might have  inspired more visitors too. You can also find information about what to see, and how to get there, fairly easily online. I felt that, in general, the programme makers could have found some unappreciated locations with interesting stories attached that were far more deserving of their attention, such as the Royal Military Canal on Romney Marsh, shown above, where you can go for long walks in a landscape with fascinating history and wildlife.  Here there is plenty of capacity for more visitors to venture. I could go on.

For the benefit of any truly inquisitive programme makers out there, I’d like to give you a pointer about just one out of many places I know about in my own area, which deserve to be more widely known.  Cobham Hall is an Elizabethan mansion near Gravesend in Kent, which now operates as an independent girls school. My jaw dropped when I saw the exquisite interiors on a recent visit, including original hand painted antique Chinese wallpaper in a staggeringly well preserved state in one room (it turns out to have been so well stuck on that it has proved impossible to strip it off to sell).

Visitors, a few of whom manage to find their way all the way from the Antipodes, are also regaled with the romantic story of the origins of  the sport of English cricket’s ‘Ashes’. The original urn that is fought over as a trophy for the winners of the bi-annual series of test matches between England and Australia, may now be kept at Lords Cricket Ground in London; but Cobham Hall was its original home. So, if you want to know the full story, and most especially if you have Australian connections, you really should try and visit. Details of opening dates.

What chance for the promotion of Secret Britain?

Annoyingly, last week’s speech by Prime Minister David Cameron on the subject of tourism in Britain received practically no media coverage. It was drowned out by threat of strike action at Heathrow  over the bank holiday weekend (now called off). It’s not at all amusing that negative stories always seem to manage to crowd out good news during the media’s annual August ‘silly season’. Unfortunately they often do!

Significantly it looks like the Coalition Government is planning to try and give the industry more priority, with a white paper and launch of a new national tourism strategy. It still seems doubtful in view of the comprehensive spending review, whether this will actually lead to more funding for the industry, and offer scope for launching PR or marketing initiatives to promote lesser known but deserving attractions, including more like those I’ve highlighted. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see details of the new strategy and white paper. There could be a lot of interest in secret Britain in the run up to 2012; but I fear that the scarcity of investment to fund its marketing could yet keep a lot of it under wraps.

I think it’s already a good sign though, that Tourism South East have today taken the decision to delay their AGM and conference until November, citing that  ‘this will enable us to deliver a more informed agenda on the future of tourism in the south east.’

Do you need help?

Are you  a business or organisation that needs help to boost accommodation or admission sales, or secure more media coverage to  improve awareness amongst visitors? Or are you a TV production company looking for an enthusiastic specialist researcher with insider knowledge about lesser known or unusual visitor attractions? Manifold Associates could help you by coming up with compelling ideas to bring the world beating a path to your door, or viewers to a screen near you. For further examples of how the presentation of interesting stories behind tourist icons can engage, inform and educate visitors as well as inspiring visits, read my February post ‘Surprising stories behind tourist icons’.

Visit our website for more information about what we have to offer, including what customers think about our services.

An insiders guide to making an exhibition of yourself

When I was recently offered the opportunity of showcasing my business at a consumer exhibition, I jumped at the chance. It seemed to offer a good opportunity to see if I could  generate some local sales leads, even although it meant giving up a precious day of my time over a weekend, usually reserved as sacrosanct family time. However I soon discovered, whether you’re a visitor to an exhibition, or an exhibitor hosting a stand, if it’s a summer event, there can be a lot to think about. One thing’s for sure, during the course of the day I learned a lot!

Supporting charity
The exhibition was part of a community open day for the Kent air ambulance, and held at their headquarters and operational base. The life saving air ambulance service of Kent is entirely dependent upon the community, particularly the groups, clubs, business, organisations and individuals who fundraise on its behalf. It happens to be based in our local village, and is a real lifesaver when major incidents or serious road traffic accidents occur. I’ve seen how it the benefited a local farmer we know, who was seriously injured in a tractor accident on neighbouring land, some distance from the nearest road.

I try to support local charities, and it’s something clients notice long term, on a subliminal level. That’s why I make sure I always buy Kent Air Ambulance Christmas Cards, and contribute to their fundraising activities when I can.

Some of the interesting ways Kent Air Ambulance create an additional buzz for visitors of all ages on their open day, which is aimed mainly at fundraising from the general public, is to bring in children’s amusements, vintage car owners clubs, and an entertaining Star Wars costuming group called UK Garrison.

How weather plays a part

If an event is partially held outdoors, as this one always is, the weather can be an important influence on overall success. This is something that exhibitors and visitors need to bear in mind. On this occasion the event was held on one of the hottest days of the year (so far).

One has to dress appropriately for temperatures approaching 30ºC and high humidity, which dictated an airy linen dress for me (linen or silk, blended with cotton as a less expensive alternative,  are usually the best bet for the more formal items of clothing when it’s really hot), and comfortable shoes. There’s nothing more off putting for visitors than a perspiring exhibitor!

You don’t want to look like you’re suffering from stress if you hope to make a positive and favourable impression on people. My advice is check the weather forecast and dress accordingly, and go for a layered look if there’s any uncertainty. Exhibition visitors will also feel more comfortable heeding this advice.

Another aspect to consider is the effect of extreme temperature on plant displays. In these times of austerity it seemed appropriate to use skills honed in the local church flower arranging circle to save on the cost of decorating my stand, by creating two fresh flower arrangements myself. My arrangements included some billowy pink peonies from the garden. In spite of overnight conditioning, some of the peonies began to wilt noticeably in the heat. By mid afternoon it became necessary to remove two blooms that had begun to go brown round the edges. Keep everything watered, and whisk away any dead or dying stuff – at exhibitions appearances count for a lot.

Postioning considerations

I was lucky that my stand was postioned by an entrance, which is usually a high traffic area, (retail experts call this space with high footfall), and therefore with greater potential to generate stand visitors.  Corner spots are often good too, as you can capture visitors passing in two directions. Premium stand positions may be priced to exhibitors at a premium. In this case try at least to get an ‘early bird rate’ by committing to exhibit early on.

Something I hadn’t thought about at all was air flow. I’d decided to use multi coloured helium balloons to help attract attention to my stand. It wasn’t a bad idea, but what I didn’t realise was that a position by a door can mean a strong one way draught develops, and my balloons were being dragged in unwanted directions across the front of the stand and into a neighbouring space. So I had to forget the long weighted strings I’d planned to use to display them either side of my stand, and tether them on a shorter string to the pole adjacent to the entrance. Take some duct or gaffer tape as a contingency.

Creating an impact on your stand

Hosting an exhibition stand involves capturing the interest of passing visitors, who as a matter of course usually try and avoid eye contact.  This is somewhat unnerving at first, but you can use the implications to your advantage. Here are a few other ideas I’ve picked up:

• Have a handout, which explains what you do at a glance, and what the stand is all about. It gives you an excuse to accost people as they pass.
• Offer a business card prize draw in a glass bowl. It can be useful for generating leads and has the benefit of forcing people to venture up to your desk.
• Branded carrier bags can work well, but make them tasteful and give thought to relevant but lightweight content.
• Everyone attending an exhibition likes to pick up free stuff and have something to put it in, but most gets thrown away later, unless it’s attractive, genuinely useful or both. No one wants anything heavy or tacky.
• Signage and display material should support your message; but at a glance.
• Pop up banners are a great idea, but give careful thought to the format and content in detail, or the investment can be wasted. Have your name and logo prominently on the top, not at floor level where people can’t see it, let alone read it.
• Draft a bulleted list of services offered, and try and use one, or perhaps two, clear graphics or representational images to illustrate what’s on offer in your handout. Make sure to include contact information and your website address.
• Avoid assuming that visitors understand jargon words or acronyms.  For example, if you’ve won an award it’s better to imagine explaining it to someone outside your industry sector, and explaining in full each word making up the constituent letters.
• Hand out business cards, so bring a good stock, and collect them from visitors if it’s a trade show. Consumers won’t have them though; so you must either ensure you give them a reason, or way, to remember you, or you must solicit their contact details, for example by collecting competition entries!Otherwise you have no way to follow up their interest.
• Tell your friends and business contacts you have an exhibition stand. They’ll probably enjoy coming to see someone they know, and it gives you an opportunity to update them on new services or developments they’re likely to be interested in.
• Watch the inimitable Geoff Burch’s guide to making an exhibition of yourself on You Tube

Give thought to taking a break

If you’re in the awkward position, like I was, of running an exhibition stand on your own, give thought to a way of allowing yourself time to take breaks. I persuaded my husband to look after things while I took a lunch break, and this also had the benefit of allowing me enough time to visit other stands and distribute my handout.  It probably doesn’t look good to have to eat  lunch in front of visitors to your own stand.

My final piece of advice is to make friends with fellow exhibitors at stands nearby. They might be prepared to reciprocate if you agree to mind their stand for a few minutes, and you never know, they might even be interested in what you have to offer.

Taking things further

As well as occasionally making an exhibition of myself , if you run a small business, I can teach  you DIY PR and marketing skills. For larger organisations looking to outsource, I can deliver PR and marketing related training workshops and help with  content strategy on a freelance basis. For more information about the services we offer, contact me at Manifold Associates or visit our website.

Until next time…

What happens when reality kicks in…

A week in politics…
Following the election, reality has kicked in for politicians this week, with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats being forced to work together in coalition.

One of the more fascinating aspects of the aftermath of the election was seeing news being created before our eyes. Friends and colleagues confessed to being fascinated by the ongoing possibility of hearing indiscretions in off the cuff remarks, hastily organised press conferences and opportunistic pavement interviews. There’s no doubt in my mind that thanks to this type of reality television, we’ve been able to witness history in the making and gained more insight into the workings of politics.

Incidentally, Weston Super Mare MP John Penrose has been appointed to the new post of Tourism Minister, and Jeremy Hunt confirmed as Secretary of State for Culture, Media, Olympics and Sport in the new UK coalition government.

…demonstrating the power of reality television

The election aftermath also made me appreciate even more the power of reality television. Production companies love it because it’s relatively cheap television to make, yet the ‘fly on the wall’ approach can provide great entertainment value. So this week I wanted to look at winners and losers in reality shows featuring businesses involved in tourism and the UK visitor economy.

A poisoned chalice for accommodation providers?

Accommodation providers featured in reality shows can expect immediate efects on business. I can be certain of this because I’ve interviewed some recent participants. It also helps of course that accommodation providers take advance bookings, and have the opportunities to ask people how they heard about the business either when they enquire, or during their stay.

‘Three in a Bed’ is the latest and greatest Channel 4 tourism reality show I’ve seen(Wednesdays 8pm). It features three bed and breakfast accommodation providers each week testing out an overnight stay in each others premises, and paying what they think it’s worth on check out afterwards. They also take their fellow operators off on a jaunt to a local visitor attraction to give them a flavour of the destination.

I urge you to watch it, partly for its sheer entertainment value; but more importantly as an opportunity to learn from the successes and mistakes of others if you’re operating in any type of service industry.

The opportunity to see yourself as others see you, another thing that this programme highlights,  is an extremely useful exercise. That’s one of the reasons why most of the successful operators featured in the series pay to have themselves inspected and graded by Visit Britain.

It’s become apparent that it’s not always the most highly graded business that ‘wins’ the collective accolade from fellow owner managers each week. It seems to be more down to hard work, attention to detail when it comes to customer service, and value for money.  Part of the deal is that guests are free to choose to overpay or underpay for their stay on check out, depending on how they feel. The greatest entertainment value comes mainly from seeing victims of criticism and underpayment burning with resentment for the entire programme as a result of their experience.

In actual fact, none of the Visit Britain 5 star Gold award winning establishments featured in the programme has won any of the programmes I’ve seen. What’s fascinating is that it actually doesn’t appear to really matter who wins. The programme’s a winner because what it does is to show up, and indeed showcase,  the strengths and weaknesses of each business and business owner, and how they handle people, praise and criticism.

Tourism is a people industry, and the programme shows clearly that people who take genuine pride in giving excellent customer service can expect to be successful. Great people can make a huge impact.

What this programme also demonstrates that there are some people who need real help if they’re ever to make a success of hospitality. They need to learn to be accepting of constructive critism, and above all to enjoy working with people. To be truly successful in hospitality, you need more than drive and passion; you need empathy.

Do programmes deliver measurable business?

I interviewed two businesses featured in recent episodes of ‘Three in a Bed’ (neither of them a ‘winner’ of the programme in which they featured). I wanted to guage whether they thought that their business had benefited from the coverage. The results of this admittedly unscientific straw poll were overwhelmingly positive.

Jenny Hadfield of Jeakes House,  Rye, was very positive and told me that she’d received a lot of interest in the form of enquiries since the programme was broadcast. Her email inbox had got jammed at one point, and she was pleasntly surprised to find that a lot of the interest was from past guests and other friends.  She also felt particularly pleased ‘to have the opportunity to show a good bit of Rye off on national television’, something that she felt could benefit th ancient Sussex town as a destination in the longer term.

Anna Deacon of the funky new Arthouse Bed and Breafast, Canterbury was also very positive about the benefits of participation.  She told me that she’d received 87 email enquiries on the same evening the programme was broadcast, and 10 bookings the following day, with many people commenting that they loved her idea of the relaxed self service continental breakfast they offer. It might not be for everyone, as it was something unanimously criticised by the other business owners in the programme, who pride themselves on the breakfasts they provide.

Longer term benefits for visitor attractions ?

I have to declare a personal interest, in that I was once filmed by Keo films for a BBC2 reality show, at work delivering a marketing training course. It was attended by Tom Hart Dyke of Lullingstone Castle in Kent. Although the  footage was destined for the  series ‘Save Lullingstone Castle’, my moment of fame ended up on the cutting room floor. It could happen to you.

Tom can confirm that both series, including the subsequent ‘Return to Lullingstone Castle’, had the benefit of raising awareness of Lullingstone (and him as a self confessed ‘plant nut’ and horticultural expert)  as well as helping to turn the fortunes of the family run estate around.

A more recent programme in the Channel 4 series ‘Country House Rescue’ fronted by Ruth Watson, aimed to do a similar job for the gardens of Riverhill House, near Sevenoaks, also in Kent. It looks like they’re making a good go of the positive boost to their profile given to them by the programme, and I wish them good luck with the Himalyan themed landscape garden.

Nearby Sissinghurst Castle has also been the beneficiary of reality TV, but as that series of programmes showed, part of the reality concept’s enteratinment value is that it does tend to give a warts and all portrait of participating personalities. Some of it may be down to judicious editing, but I feel it likely that Sarah Raven may not have completely satisfied with her portrayal in the saga of tablecloths and menu changes she wanted for the property’s restaurant in the teeth of strong resistance by staff.

Generally though, reality television can be a great way for visitor attractions to boost awareness,  and through that, to increase visitor numbers or admmissions in the longer term.

As Anna Decon of Arthouse bed and breakfast in Canterbury admitted to me  at the end of our conversation ‘ we were a bit naive when we went into it’; but there’s no doubt that she and partner John Taylor also found the overall experience beneficial. Her parting advice to businesses thinking of signing up for exposure in a reality show?  ‘Be careful’.

I work for Manifold Associates, and my colleague Vivienne Boucher develops and delivers PR, marketing and e-business training for tourism businesses. Much of this work is delivered on behalf of Tourism South East and East of England Tourism.

Until next time…

Could tourism be a winner in the election?

The coming battle

One thing’s for certain. Some time during the next three months there’s going to be a general election. All the indications are that it will be one of the most closely fought struggles to win  the ‘hearts and minds’ of the British people since the Second World War.

I wonder if tourism could become an issue in the campaign. It might not look likely at this point; but if and when a parliamentary candidate comes canvassing, we can be ready. The Tourism Alliance has produced a handy briefing document to mobilise everyone involved in the visitor economy, with its manifesto for tourism, which anyone can download. It demonstrates the hard facts of economic value we all help deliver. It’s somewhat annoyingly been deemed to contribute ‘invisible earnings’ to the economy. So, as an industry, let’s get more visible!

Why tourism deserves to be an issue

Get ready to lobby any politicians who come calling, with the central message that they need to ‘take tourism seriously’, (far more seriously than the current government  does at the moment). With London 2012 around the corner, we’ve got lots to shout about.

We simply can’t afford not to make the most of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to showcase ourselves as a visitor destination, while we’re  centre of attention on the world stage.  We mustn’t pull any punches about why we’re an industry that deserves more government backing, whoever ends up in power.

What’s tourism worth?

The World Tourism Organisation confirms that the UK has the sixth largest tourism industry in the world (after France, Spain, USA, China and Italy). It supports 2.65m jobs, in 200,000 businesses, some 80% of which are classified as ‘small or medium sized enterprises’(SMEs). Among them of course is my own, Manifold Associates, so I feel perfectly entitled to have an opinion about our industry, which is worth £114Bn annually to the UK economy.

Key messages for politicians

• Tourism is fairly evenly spread across the UK. Its benefits can be felt everywhere from large cities to coastal  resorts, market towns and isolated rural communities
• It’s a service industry that’s highly labour intensive, offering excellent employment opportunities for young people. Employing a highly diverse workforce, it offers  greater  opportunities for part time employment than any other sector of the economy
• There are relatively low barriers to entry and considerable underutilised capacity, enabling the industry to respond quickly to changes in demand
• The high latent demand by visitors attracted by the country’s heritage, vibrant culture, sport, and education (including English language learning), combined with the powerful international appeal of London, means that the sector can offer a high and rapid return on investment
• The industry can deliver sustainable growth; but as a country the UK needs to take action to improve the competitiveness of our visa and air passenger duty charges, which don’t bear favourable comparison with the 25 EU countries included in the Schengen agreement
• Support is needed for wider delivery of programmes that assist tourism businesses to operate more sustainably and encourage inbound travel. This is a truly heartfelt plea, as training programmes that are helping to develop this potential already exist; but even I have to earn a crust, so, frustratingly, it just can’t happen unless these projects get more funding.
• Provide adequate funding for Visit England to capitalise on the opportunity to grow domestic tourism

Time for tactical marketing

With the election at the very most three months distant, now’s also the time to think about tactical marketing and PR opportunities coming our way.

Just last week, The Daily Telegraph gave national coverage to news that Robert Cook, boss of the Hotel du Vin and Malmaison brands, has already equipped his hotels near the three main party headquarters with red yellow and blue cushions carrying the message “when you stay at Hotel du Vin you are guaranteed a seat”.

Politicians of all persuasion, their agents and spin doctors will be descending on marginal constituencies across the land in the coming weeks, as soon as the election date is finalised, if not before. They’re all be on the lookout for campaign winning photo opportunities, and locations suitable for holding press conferences and media interviews. So there’s no time to be lost. Get thinking about the opportunities for your business, and update your contact database. Start making plans now, so you don’t miss out!

Practical help

Manifold Associates is here to help tourism businesses looking for hands-on help with media relations and marketing in the coming months. We also deliver training that gives even the smallest business confidence and practical skills to help you quickly get organised to start doing things for yourself.

Respond below, or visit Manifold Associates for more information about what we offer.

Until next time…

World Heritage: surprising stories behind tourist icons

They’re found all over the world, from the Eiffel Tower in Paris, to the Leaning Tower of Pisa; from the Sydney Opera House, to the Statue of Liberty in New York,  the Pyramids of Cairo and the Taj Mahal of India.

These wonders are icons of international tourism, and many are recognised by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. You can picture them in your mind’s eye, and most people can even draw a recognisable approximation of them on a blank sheet of paper. They don’t need a caption.

We currently have 28 World Heritage sites in Britain, find out more. They include Stonehenge and Avebury, the entire city of Bath; and churches, abbeys and cathedrals in wonderful places like Durham, Canterbury and Fountains Abbey. Hadrian’s Wall snakes across the border country between England and Scotland, while in the London area you can find Westminster Abbey, Kew Gardens, The Tower of London and Greenwich, and in Dorset, the geological wonders of the Jurassic Coast.

We may think we know all these places – at a glance – and yet, we don’t.  They may be on the list of ‘1000 places to see before we die‘; but the truth of the matter is that we often take them for granted.

Everywhere I go in the world, if I’m prepared to take the time, there are layers of history that can be unpeeled, and without fail, I find fascinating stories await whenever I take the trouble to look mindfully and learn, from even the most familiar of ‘sights’.

It’s easy to adopt the ‘been there, done that’ attitude when ‘sightseeing’, irrespective of whether you’re close to home, or far from it. One general  observation that I’d make, is that you can often make it easier for yourself if you book a professionally guided tour, since a knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide can make the whole learning process much easier and more pleasurable, than if you have to swot up from a guidebook.

It’s easy to take for granted the places which are closest, because we think we’re already familiar with them. By way of illustration,  I’d like to share  some information about La Giralda, the celebrated cathedral bell tower in Seville, pictured above, because, as part of a World Heritage site, an architectural masterpiece in its own right, and as a tourist icon of Andalucia and Spain, it’s already a familiar image. However lovely it is to look at, it’s my theory that not so many people actually know much in the way of stories or information about it, unless they’ve actually visited the Andalucian city.

When we travel to an exotic foreign location we’re somehow more likely to be motivated to learn about  the history and significance of major sights, since there’s always a possibility we might never have another opportunity to return. That’s not the case with places closer to home; although the results of research can be just as fascinating, and our efforts just as much appreciated by the visitors we share them with.  So, given that we have such a truly awesome wealth of history on our doorstep here in Britain if we trouble to discover it, let’s make more of an effort to change things.

Meanwhile, by way of illustration, let’s return to my discoveries about the most famous and beautiful belltower in  Seville…

Revealing facts

The name ‘La Giralda’ means ‘the one who turns’ in Spanish, and it actually refers to the figure that spins round atop the cathedral tower.  If you look closely at the close up of the belltower at the introduction to this post, you can make out the elegantly gilded female figure representing Faith, clutching a spear and a shield, that acts as the cathedral weathervane (giraldilla in Spanish). In Spanish the verb girar means to turn or revolve.

So why is La Giralda so interesting? One reason is because the tower once formed the minaret of a mosque dating from 1184, in the days when Al Andaluz, today’s Spanish province of Andalucia, was ruled by Moors from North Africa, until it fell to the Christians in 1248. Another is that the architect, Ahmad Ibn Baso, was ordered by the ruling Emir of the day to make the minaret more beautiful than any other in existence, using patterned brick and stone construction.

Ascent to the summit

More interest awaits you if you decide, as I did, to acscend to the top of the tower. Access to the summit is by a series of 35 ramps, constructed inside the four walls, rather than by the steps that you might expect. This is a feature designed to allow it to be possible for two mounted horses to pass each other on the way up and down, in the days when prayers were called out to the faithful from the top. Having successfully wended my way up myself, I felt grateful that was only necessary to negotiate a series of slopes lit by natural light, rather than a potentially claustrophobic spiral staircase.

The view of the city from the top of the tower is well worth the climb. A 4 storey belltower was added to the top of the minaret when it was converted and incorporated into the huge gothic cathedral we see in the city today, after new building commenced in1401, and that’s where you end up. You also get a superb view of the patio of the orange trees with its ablutions fountain, the only other part of the ancient original mosque to have survived until the present day.

Why stories are significant

As you might have gathered by now, I was lucky when I visited Seville, to be  there as part of a small and well organised tour group, which experienced professionally guided tours of the major sights.

In order for visitors to make the most of a visit, to any place, I’d like to think that locals, qualified gudes or no,  will happily be prepared to share with them history, stories, myths and legends associated with that place, if they show an interest. It enriches everyone’s experiences  and enjoyment, which is, I think, what tourism is all about!

Stories can also be used to excite media interest, so there can be great rewards for tourism businesses, if hours of seemingly tedious background research reveals things that have the potential to fascinate the visitor of today. 

In my neck of the woods, in Kent, south east England, Visit Kent runs an innovative scheme that harnesses the enthusiasm of local residents to greet visitors to the local area, and give them a personal introduction and orientation tour, – free of charge. It’s called the Kent Greeters, and is modeled on the Big Apple Greeters of New York, part of the Global Greeters Network. Try it if you find yourself in the area. Visit Kent also arranges an annual ‘Big Day Out‘,  that encourages residents to get to know the local area better, and share their knowledge with visiting friends and relatives. This year it’s being held on Saturday 27th March.

Did you enjoy reading this post? Virtual Viv could undertake research or write for you. I  also help or teach people  how to market a tourism business online or offline. Comment about what I’ve written below, or contact me at Manifold Associates.

Until next time…

Does the postcard have a post modern future?

Will the postcard be dead by 2012?

One amongst  many questions now starting to exercise the brains of those involved in tourism industry planning for London 2012, is how the million or so visitors expected are going to communicate their experiences to friends back home. It’s a matter already under serious consideration by the publishers of greetings cards and picture postcards.

What, you might say, is the picture postcard not in terminal decline? There’s no doubt that more and more people are phoning, texting or picture messaging their thoughts, logging onto social media sites like Facebook, blogging travel journals, uploading photos onto Flickr,  or videos on  You Tube, or earning money from their writing published on Simonseeks?

Around two thirds of the visitors expected to travel to London and venues across other parts of England in July August and September 2012, will originate from within Britain, with the remaining third originating overseas. The question for publishers and retailers of cards is a prescient one. 

So, what  types of cards do people want to buy nowadays and why? Personally speaking, I still buy cards for various reasons: as souvenirs,  to paste up in travel journals or scrapbooks, to frame as pictures, use for competition entries, as bookmarks, or occasionally to send to friends back home while I’m away.

During my travels round Britain over the past few months, I’ve been doing some research on postcards, and have started to notice some new trends emerging. In spite of the rise of digital media options, smart phones and text message communication,  postcards continue to be widely available in England everywhere you’d expect, from post offices to bookshops, to greetings card shops and the stationery departments of large stores to retail outlets in malls and visitor attractions.

Trends in postcard sending

The postcard was first permitted to be sent through the post by Royal Mail in 1894. Royal Mail currently handles an average daily volume of 79m letters. This is 5m fewer than two years ago when volumes were at their peak. However, their figures also reveal that 135 million postcards are now sent each year, and somewhat surprisingly this is  30 million more than three years ago! Sales of postcards are even higher of course, since by no means all get sent through the post.

Brian Lund, editor of Picture Postcard Monthly, thinks that the sales figures might even indicate a return to the glory days of the picture postcard in post-war Britain, when sending them was the height of fashion:  ‘Back in the early 90s, when the internet and mobile phones took over, the number of people sending postcards dropped for obvious reasons – sending a text is easier and cheaper. But now people are realising that a postcard is far more thoughtful than a text message or an email, and that they can be displayed for all to see in the home.’

In the cause of research

I gathered information snooping round news stands at gateways for international visitors including Heathrow and Gatwick airports, and London’s St Pancras International station, as well as shops in various National Trust properties across the country, and by the new Surf Reef at Boscombe pier in Bournemouth, Dorset, as well as looking in on antiques and collectors fairs.

I have to apopolgise for adopting entirely unscientific qualitative research methods;  and freely admit that it’s possible that I looked at a biased sample and a statistically insignificant number of locations.

Postcards of the moment

During and following the recession, retailers have become more ruthless; and are only stocking postcard lines that sell. That’s helped weed out static and old fashioned styles of photography, something I’ve also noticed abroad.

With relatively few exceptions, I’ve noticed an improved standard of creative photography, and new creative treaments creeping in amongst many of the postcards now on sale, helping to keep displays appear more in tune with contemporary taste and maintainin buoyant sales.

Collectable cards

There’s room for nostalgia too, and you’ll sometimes find sections of the ubiquitous revolving card stands reserved for reproductions of sepia toned street scenes of yesteryear. In the same towns you may find antiques and collectors fairs featuring stalls selling the original postcards. There’s a lot of interest, as they’re part of history, yet most remain cheap to collect and display.

The exception are cards by Donald Fraser Gould McGill, an artist whose name has become synonymous with a whole genre of saucy seaside postcards, featuring an array of attractive young women, fat old ladies, drunken middle aged men, honeymoon couples and vicars in compromising circumstances.  Snap it up if you spot one!

New genres of card

What’s also been marked, is that creative treatments are no longer limited to photographs. Cartoon treatments of the local way of life, or a contempoary take on tradition, also have great appeal to visitors, especially if the subject matter is somewhat hard to photograph easily. A selection is illustrated above.

To see a fuller range of the latest cutting edge designs, as well as more traditional subject matter, follow these links :

• Pageantry Postcards
• Lee Gone Publications
• J. Salmon

Judges is one example of a firm of publishers that can help you create and publish postcards from your own photography, and I’m sure there are many more. If you’re a business, don’t forget to include your contact details and website address printed on the reverse side of the card, and ensure you make the most of it’s ability to become a fully fledged marketing tool.

In conclusion, I believe that all the indications are that the postcard is likely to live on in use for many years yet!

Until next time…