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.

 

Summer snapshot of English countryside and coast 2011

I want to show you how well chosen pictures can help you communicate a really powertful message. They really can save you a thousand words.

My shot of the  river Medway, that appears above, shows it flowing through the gap, (now known as the Valley of Visions), that it has cut through the chalk of the Kent Downs, near Medway. See how Dickens’s words add to the power of the image when set alongside as a caption.

The words of the greatest writers can be used for marketing purposes, although you must still take care that the context of their use is entirely appropriate, and be prepared to seek permission from the author’s descendants. Naturally, it’s an advanatege when the text is out of copyright, as in the case of Dickens, because no royalty is payable; but acknowledgement of the source is still a pre-requisite. Great words can help you tell a story that makes a real impression on the mind, or teaches you something that will always be remembered.

I’m sharing some of the photos I’ve been taking while walking in the local countryside of Kent this summer. See how, when the words of one of our greatest writers about the places pictured are added, the images take on an entirely  new life and significance. It all supports my belief that the Dickens connection willl encourage tourism to the countryside of Kent as well as towns and cities in 2012, which will mark the bicentenary of his birth. Read more about Dickens 2012.

Dickens actually grew up in the nearby Medway town of Chatham, and chose to live out his final years at Gad’s Hill Place, overlooking the same part of the Medway valley, above the village of Cuxton, which is shown in the picture below. I’m starting to understand why.

Dickens knew Kent well, and loved it so deeply that he chose to honeymoon in the county, spent many holidays along its coastline, and  featured it in many of his best loved novels, including ‘ Great Expectations’ and ‘David Copperfield’.

 

What has really amazed me as I’ve shot these images of beautiful countryside, is how empty some parts of the landscape still are. They must be pretty much unchanged since Dickens came this way. He spent many holidays writing in Dover Folkestone and Broadstairs.

Here’s what he wrote about his coastal walks  in south east Kent when he was writing for his magazine Household Words in Folkestone in 1851

Our situation is delightful, our air is delicious, and our breezy hills and downs, carpeted with wild thyme, and decorated with millions of wild flowers, are, on the faith of a pedestrian, perfect.

Wild flowers above the white cliffs of Kent, where Dickens enjoyed 'going for a blow'

Britain is actually a pretty crowded island.  Southern England has an average population density of around 658 people per square kilometre (which is greater than the average for the Netherlands) and yet it’s still possible, indeed I’d even say easy, to get away from it all, if you know where to go and are prepared to walk – like Dickens did – even on summer weekends, as my pictures illustrate.

This magificent view looking west from the cliffs above South Foreland towards Dover harbour is likely to have been on the route of one of Dickens's 20 mile walks from Dover.

Writers sometimes get stressed out and find themselves in need of a break. Dickens was no exception. Here he is again, writing to fellow author Wilkie Collins about taking a break from working on Little Dorritt in Folkestone in 1855:

‘You know my state of mind as well as I do. How I work, how I walk, how I shut myself up, how I roll down hills and climb up cliffs; how the new story is everywhere, heaving on the sea, flying with the clouds, blowing in the wind; how I settle to nothing’.

Dickens’s writing reaches across the years as only the greatest can. In another letter, written to his actor friend Macready the same year, Dickens wrote that he was constantly tempted  ‘to run out on the breezy downs here, tear up the hills, slide down the same and conduct myself in a frenzied manner, for the relief that only exercise gives me.’ I understand  the feeling: working hard makes me feel I need to take a trip to the gym myself to unwind.

In a letter to his wife dated May 1856, Dickens told her that he ‘did nothing at Dover (except for Household Words), and have not begun Little Dorrit no. 8 yet (his novels were written and published in instalments). But I took twenty- mile walks in the fresh air and perhaps in the long run did better than if I had been at work’. It could almost have been written yesterday.

Until next time…

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 things that matter in marketing.   Freelance assignments welcomed. Maybe you’re a business looking to capitalise on the opportunities that London 2012 or Dickens 2012 might bring to you. We’re flexible and versatile. If you’d like to discuss how we might be able to help you, please get in touch.

Britain – you’re invited! Opportunities for all

Running rings round tradition!

With 2012 less than a year away, I can feel the beginnings of a buzz in the air. The UK government has just published its long awaited tourism strategy; and in one of the first publicly visible actions to commemorate London hosting the games next year, the ubiquitous multicoloured rings have been suspended across the ends of the platforms at London St Pancras International train station.

St Pancras is the departure point for the Javelin high speed trains that are already running to Stratford International, home of the London 2012 Olympic Park, and the new Westfield Stratford City shopping centre that opens there in September this year.

Incidentally, the Javelin high speed trains also already make the journey on from Stratford International to Ebbsfleet International, Ashford International and other attractive places to stay in the county of Kent, such as Canterbury, Faversham and Medway. Read my previous post on the subject.

Exciting times for UK tourism

It’s an exciting time for everyone involved in the British visitor economy. There are lots of new opportunities for everyone to derive lasting benefit from having the eyes of the world, (and, thanks to digital media, more of them than ever before) on Britain. More information about London 2012.

What’s more, if you run a business involved in the UK visitor economy, you can sign up for a travel trade trade newsletter , access some useful free marketing tools, and tell Visit Britain news about your plans for 2012 at the Tourism2012games website. Businesses can also register to tender for 2012 contracts on the Compete For website; and anyone can subscribe to daily news about London 2012 at insidethe games.com. You might even want to become a retailer of official 2012 merchandise, or other souvenirs offering something typically British, yourself.  Read my post on what makes a good souvenir.

London 2012: growing visibility ‘on the street’

A store selling official games merchandise is already up and running at London St Pancras International . The huge range, also available online, includes everything from fine jewellery and tea cups to pin badges, stationery, oven gloves, sportswear, steel athlete construction kits, and even a book of keep fit exercises. With prices starting at £5, there’s something for every budget, and it’s ideal for people looking out for something different to take as a gift for people overseas. Here are some more of my ideas for typically British gifts, from a list of English fragrances to ideas about where to buy English food products.

Other official London 2012 shops can already be found at Paddington station, John Lewis Oxford Street 5th floor and Terminal 5 airside at London Heathrow Airport. In addition, Adidas is the official sportswear partner, and Next is the official clothing and homeware supplier for London 2012 (both have their own ranges; but note that not all stores carry the range yet, so check out the respective websites for details). More information about the official merchandise range.

More visible games related branding and outlets selling merchandise will no doubt follow, as London, and games venues in other parts of the country, start to get dressed up in anticipation. Britain is already getting into celebratory mood this year, starting with the Royal wedding, that will take place at Westminster Abbey on Friday 29th April, now a public holiday. Prince William’s fiance, Kate Middleton’s parents business Party Pieces is already selling commemorative accessories with a union jack theme , if you’re planning a party.

Get your games tickets sorted – pronto!

Now is also the time to apply for games tickets. They start at just £20 each, and all the information you need can be found at www.tickets.london2012.com

2012 logistics

I recently attended an industry workshop concerned with London 2012 at Windsor Racecourse, and was amazed and hugely impressed at the sheer scale of the logistical organisation already well in hand within the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in preparation for the London 2012 rowing events taking place there at Dorney Lake, part of Eton School . No doubt it’s the same at other locations. I know the sailing facilities at Weymouth are already fully operational and the White Water rafting centre is opening imminently at Waltham Cross.

There’s a lot to think about when organising any major international event let alone these games, from obvious things like security for participants, officials and spectators, to parking and traffic management, through to the less obvious considerations such as finding ways to ensure that daily life for local residents is disrupted as little as possible, while all the while encouraging local businesses to gear up to receive, and indeed welcome, increased call volumes, footfall and media interest.

The Windsor tourism team is already looking at working with social media, and is planning a smartphone app. I think there’s going to be a big opportunity for savvy businesses to harness social media channels to capture incremental business and passing trade, for example with the aid of smart phone apps and websites from providers such as Urban Spoon, Top Table, Groupon, Facebook Deals and Living Social. To preview the potential check out what Alton Towers theme park are already doing with social media.

Accomodation inclusive packages

There will also shortly be accommodation inclusive London 2012 ticket packages available from branches of Thomas Cook in Britain. More information.

Looking for insider information?

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 about things that matter in marketing and the international visitor economy. Freelance assignments welcomed. We’re flexible and versatile. If you’d like to discuss how we might be able to help you, do get in touch.

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.

Ahoy there! Summer fun afloat in Maidstone (and southern England)

Cowes Week

According to the British Marine Federation only 2.73% of the UK population own some sort of boat, which makes it a somewhat minority interest. However, half the country’s population live within five miles of a canal or river, 11 million people regularly visit  inland waterways every year, and there are more than 32,000 registered boats on the water. Even if you’re a’ landlubber’ this is the best week of the entire summer for the casual visitor to get (albeit temporarily) interested in boating,  and heading for the waterfront  somewhere, whether it’s the coast, or a navigable river.

This week is Cowes Week on the Isle of Wight, just off the south coast of England in Hampshire. More information about Cowes Week. The Isle of Wight is one of my favourite places, although I have to admit I prefer to go there out of season when it’s less busy. Cowes Week is the highlight of peak season. More information about visiting the Isle of Wight.

Maidstone River Festival

In Britain you’re never very far from a river or the coast, and this year for the first time I decided to take the opportunity to visit this year’s Maidstone River Festival, to find out if this annual nautical carnival has anything to offer the casual visitor, as opposed to the convinced ‘yachtie’ type who owns their own boat.  Although it’s on an inland river, and on a much smaller scale than Cowes, as a landlubber myself, I still found it good fun. The serious yachties moor up days in advance, and die hard fans who sail  up the Medway to Maidstone in their own boats, decorate them in line with an annual theme – which this year was the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the WW2 Dunkirk evacuation (masterminded from Dover Castle in Kent, by Vice Admiral Bertram Ramsay, a  distant family relation).

I’d been tipped off that the highlight of the entire Maidstone River Festival weekend is always the Saturday afternoon raft race, and that’s what drew me to visit. I watched as teams of amateurs in fancy dress first contest a competition for best turned out raft, and then race on their home made craft, against the current, upstream from Whatmans Park to old Maidstone bridge, next to the county town’s law courts.  Having completed the race, which was won this year by Maidstone Canoe Club in ‘HMS Thrust’, competitors take turns to try and sink each others craft with flour bombs and jets of water, as they turn and drift back downstream to the start, to the evident delight and amusement of spectators lining the banks, and looking down from the bridges spanning the course (the best vantage point for taking photos).

The event co-incides with a funfair at Lockmeadow; and all along the town centre towpath, and in the car park near All Saints Church, are stalls selling fast food, raffle tickets and other trinkets, and stages with live musical entertainment. It was a lovely sunny day, and I also made another interesting discovery a new waterside restaurant, ‘The Barge,’ moored up adjacent to The Archbishops Palace, which looked like a nice place for riverside dining with a bit more style, inside and out. I plan to give it a try before the summer’s out, although it says on the website that it’s open year round!

There are a couple of other nautical diversions on offer in summer in Maidstone that are likely to be of particular interest to the casual visitor. These include one hour cruises downriver from central Maidstone to Kent Life heritage farm and museum of rural life, on the paddle steamer Allington Belle, which also operates two hour summer evening cruises from the Malta Inn Beefeater and adjacent Premier Inn at Sandling on Wednesdays and Friday evenings at 7.30 pm (booking essential). Motor cruiser Kentish Lady is a family business also operating trips to Kent Life, and they also offer 3 hour trips up the Medway to Teston Lock and back. I’ve walked along the towpath in this area, and can recommend the rural scenery you’ll encounter. For dates and times check the website.

More summer fun afloat in Dorset
Back on the south coast, if you’re looking for something a bit different, the summer barbecue cruise on Saturday nights at 7pm from Tuckton Bridge on the lower reaches of the rivers Stour and Avon in Christchurch, is an interesting propostion on a warm evening, with a one hour trip on the river followed by a barbecue and New Forest Ice cream. More information or phone for details on 01202 429119. A riverside table at the Captains Club Hotel on the river Stour might be a safer (but more expensive) bet if the weather looks a bit iffy.  For those game enough for a more nautical adventure, how about a boat trip out across Christchurch Harbour for a ‘Safari supper’ at the Beach House Cafe on Hengistbury Head. The next one is scheduled for August 13th, but you can also get out to this idyllic location the long way round, via the land train that operates from the main car park at Hengistbury Head, as well as by ferry from Mudeford Quay. Whenever the weather is fine, they put flags up to show from a distance that they’re open.

Expect the weather to play an important part in the success of such ventures as these. Experience suggests that there’s often a last minute flood of bookings in fine weather; but advance booking is vital to be sure of a place whenever such trips do go ahead. My advice is always to enquire well in advance, and, if you’re ever in a position to make recommendations about boat trips, include a caveat about watching the weather forecast, as safety is always paramount, and trips can get cancelled at short notice.

Looking for inspiration or help with marketing ?

If you seek nautical adventure, boat sales or hire for yourself or your customers in your local area, the definitive guides to navigable inland waterways in Britain, including the ‘River Thames and southern waterways’ edition, are published by Collins/Nicholson and available online from retailers such as Amazon.

If you’re a tourism business looking for new marketing ideas, Virtual Viv could help you. We can inspire you by sharing case studies, and can teach you basic DIY marketing skills. Contact us for more information.

Until next time…

Summer’s here and the living is easy!

I went to Gatwick airport this weekend. On a Friday afternoon in July I expected it to be busy, yet the Easyjet check in at North Terminal check in was quiet.  I didn’t have a problem getting a space on the first floor of the short term car park, and I came away glad that I wasn’t flying off to the Med myself. It’s another staycation for me this summer, and it’s already apparent that I’m not alone.

Thanks to factors as varied as the threat of the volcanic ash cloud returning,  people who’ve had their holiday budgets blown by the last Icelandic eruption, to fear of ongoing recession, the World Cup, and the simply fantastic weather that saw Wimbledon fortnight 2010 uninteruppted by rain, all the cicumstantial evidence that I’m aware of seems to point to another boom year for UK staycationing.

Buy produce and learn about fruit growing in The Garden of England

When the weather’s good there’s simply no place like England in summer, and it’s been beautiful in the south these past few weeks. In Kent, aka ‘The Garden of England’, the cherry season is now in full swing – always something I particularly look forward to. At Brogdale, near Faversham, home of the national fruit collection, they held their cherry festival this weekend.

If you live in Kent, are here on holiday, or planning a visit, Brogdale is a great place to buy and learn about the various fruits grown in Kent. Indeed if you want to learn about actually growing your own fruit, Brogdale is one of the best places to come, as you can go on guided tours of the orchards and nut platts and buy the various plants, bushes and trees, which are also sold online. They have a seasonal programme of fruit related events too. This year’s programme is typical:

Cherry festival	July	10 – 11
Plum Day	August	15
Nut Day	September	19
Cider Festival	September	25 – 26
Apple festival	October	23 – 24

Where to find the best cherries

In my humble opinion though, the very best cherries of all are those sold at The Cherry Basket, a pop-up roadside kiosk on the north side of the Cranbrook road outside the village of Goudhurst, in Kent, half a mile beyond the Taywell Farm shop (a good place incidentally for local asparagus, blueberries and strawberries).

The Cherry Basket is only ever there from late June until mid July annually, so catch it while you can – it’s well worth waiting for! That’s my latest picture of their produce above.   This year these most succulent of cherries cost £5.50  per kilo basket. They’re just the best, and there’s absolutely nothing like eating them fresh, straight from the stall. The carefully netted trees where they grow can be seen in the fields right alongside, and you can just taste the freshness.

NEW – what to do when you find something you like in Kent

Share your secrets with the world on the brand new My Kent website.

What I can do for you

As well as being a Kentish cherry fan and active blogger, I’m a content strategist. If you represent a business or a destination management organisation, and you’re looking to outsource, I’m someone who can research, interpret, contextualise and produce original multi-platform content for you, and commission the images to go with it. If  you’re interested in finding out more, contact me at Manifold Associates.

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…

In praise of the English market town

My personal favourites

In my most recent travels in the UK, I’ve had the pleasure of visiting, working in and indeed staying overnight in some very special places. What Midhurst in West Sussex, New Alresford in Hampshire, and Cranbrook, near where I live in Kent, all have in common are that they are all typically English market towns, where markets are in fact actually still held.

Indeed I’d actually go as far as to say that they are amongst my very favourite places in England. None of them have the international fame enjoyed by such towns as Stratford Upon Avon, or Ludlow, yet for me they typify all that’s great in Britain. Visitors love them.

What market towns offer the visitor

What each of these towns all have in common are what’s uncharmingly called a ‘high quality built environment’. This means they all have a wealth of charming listed buildings, set amid an attractive network of streets, lovingly protected from inappropriate eyesores by benevolent but eagle eyed planning authorities who are proud of the effectiveness with which they police  the official central ‘conservation area’, which often consists of an ancient high street and central marketplace.

The first thing I notice and appreciate is how  a majority of the shops are unique to the local area, and are independently owned and run. In fact there’s a noticeable dearth of branded chain stores. This also helps to make each of them all a paradise for the amateur photographer. Here neon signs are anathema. Tasteful chalk boards and rustic hanging signs advertising ancient hostelleries are in, and local property prices are usually  on the rise.

The trio of towns I’ve mentioned, are also all slightly off the beaten track; yet located sufficiently close to major communication networks  to be easy for visitors to reach. That’s only if they know about them, however, since none of them are any longer on the way to anywhere in particular.

Both Midhurst and Cranbrook used to be linked to the railway network, but are no longer, whereas Alresford has its very own steam drawn heritage railway, the Watercress Line. Midhurst is bypassed by the A3 near Petersfield, Alresford is bypassed by the A31 and the M3; and as for Cranbrook, well that’s bypassed too, by the A21 to Hastings.

My accommodation picks

In Alresford, I like to stay at The Bell. Now under French ownership, it’s really more of a restaurant with rooms rather than a pub, or a full service hotel. You’ll pay around £30 for a top notch 3 course dinner with a glass of wine; and from £60 for overnight accommodation.  If you stay more than one night I recommend taking a trip out to the nearby Bush Inn at Ovington, It’s quite hard to find but well worth the journey for its lovely location on the banks of the crystal clear river Itchen.

In Midhurst the lovely centrally located Spread Eagle is usually over my budget, (if you’re very lucky you might just pick up a room midweek for £90, but expect to pay more). However there are compensations – the food’s absolutely top quality, and it’s always a pleasure to run a meeting there.

I usually stay at the Halfway Bridge Inn, out on the A 272 Petworth Road, beyond the Cowdray Park  golf club and Benbow Pond, where I used to enjoy childhood picnics many years ago.  Comfortable contemporary rooms here start at £75 for bed and breakfast, and are housed in the converted Cowdray Barns featuring gorgeous French bath potions brimming with essential oils. The food is excellent, and a cooked to order dinner followed by full English breakfast the next day will really set you up for a busy day ahead.

Cranbrook is near home, so I haven’t actually stayed at The George, but it has a cosy bar and dining room, and if you feel like pushing the boat out you might be able to secure a table at Michelin starred Apicius, a few doors down Stone Street. Booking well in advance here is essential.

Do you know an English market town and can recommend a place where you can stay and enjoy a meal? Do let me know about your favourite places.

Why not commission Virtual Viv to write about and photograph about your local area or business. I can create or write anything from website content or advertorials to news releases  – and I’ll take real pride in doing a great job for you. Contact me at Manifold Associates

Until next time…

Food for thought : finding quality food and produce

The force of circumstance

I’ve never experienced a white Christmas. This rarity value meant that I was unlikely to be alone in my fond imagining that snow would make the seasonal holiday period somehow more cosy and special for everyone. Until this year! I can’t previously remember snow hanging around on the ground for more than a couple of days or so.

Whenever travel becomes disrupted, by force of circumstances, people tend to stick to trips within their immediate local area, and I’m no exception. After a few days,  boredom, or a feeling of cabin fever can set in, and eventually sheer necessity means that you have to venture out for supplies. So it might have been for the first time this year, with snow underfoot and icy conditions on the roads, that it became necessary for people to find out what was available, by way of produce, in the immediate neighbourhood or general vicinity.

Benefits of shopping locally

Potentially, shopping locally has the added benefit of accessing fresher, and therefore better quality food, since it’s likely not to have travelled far; and if you can get used to buying seasonal produce as well, you might well also benefit from keener prices and have less packaging to throw away,  than if you buy from a supermarket.  Watch the video Ninjin – vegetable assassin from Do the Green Thing if you want to see this point made with real impact.

Hotels and restaurants usually find they can benefit by highlighting local delicacies, especially if they’re cooked to order, something which allows guests to appreciate locally sourced  ingredients from local suppliers in peak condition.

In fact I believe that it’s something that helps differentiate a hotel or restaurant from the crowd, if producers of local specialities are highlighted on menus, and in some cases, the producers are actively promoted as places to visit. This is something I’ve recently seen done with great success at the Beechwood Hotel in North Walsham in Norfolk, which actively promotes it’s  ’10 mile breakfast’ with all ingredients sourced inside that radius. The reviews on Trip Advisor speak for themselves.

Supporting local producers can be a winning move for everyone, as it increases awareness for producers, might also gain them incremental spend from people taking goods home as a special, or even unique edible  souvenir or gift, and it creates goodwill for the person or business who makes the recommendation in the first place.

How visitors can find the best local suppliers and retailers in the area

Common Ground provides information online, concerning their Producing the Goods project which showcases food producers and markets across the UK. However, I have to acknowledge that generally consumers are likely to have a problem in finding beacons of originality, quality and freshness when they’re on unfamiliar ground away from home, unless they’re literally stopped in their tracks by a sign (which might be the case when there’s snow on the ground). It’s happened to me.

If you fail to discover any intriguing signs on the street, there’s no real substitute for local knowledge; so in many places I’d urge visitors to seek recommendations from staff at their nearest local visitor information centre,  ask their hotel concierge, accommodation provider, or host.

In my particular area, Kent, as well as a local producers network called Produced in Kent, that offers downloadable food trails and online information about members; there’s a great scheme that helps meet the need for a more personalised service. It offers visitors the opportunity to meet a ‘volunteer friend’ called a Greeter. A Kent Greeter can answer questions and take you on an orientation walking tour as well as providing you with information and tips to help you make the most of your visit – completely free of charge. The Kent scheme is modelled on the Big Apple Greeters scheme of New York City, and is part of a network of similar schemes around  the world, known as the Global Greeters Network.

Here are links to a few more sources of online information about local food producers and retailers in areas of England outside London that are popular with visitors:

The Lake District Cumbria

The Peak District

Cornwall

The New Forest

Isle of Wight

Farm shops

I’ve also recently come across a food safari operation in Suffolk run by an old girl of my former school; although I haven’t tried it out yet. See my post dated 11 September 2009 for information about Daylesford in the Cotswolds.

If you have any tips about ‘foodie places’ in the UK, or other online resources that helps you find them, let me know. Until next time…

Snow business: thinking ahead for 2010

I’ve resolved to get more proactive in working with the media in 2010. Irrespective of being a private citizen, or representative of a business, we all have a role to play.  We can all contribute towards helping to further raise the profile of what the UK has to offer as a destination for both overseas visitors and domestic travellers, as we enter a new decade, one in which London will be at the epicentre of world interest, by the time London 2012 comes around.

What to do next

It’s definitely not too early to start working creatively and getting ourselves organised to  serve up a steady stream of news stories that will get us, or the business we represent, a share of worldwide media interest that will focus on London and the UK in general; between now and the opening ceremony of  the games on 27th July 2012. Read on to find out how.

Opportunities to benefit from London 2012

According to the official website, actual tickets for events will not be available until 2011. However, if you’re interested in getting involved on a personal level as a volonteer, you can already join the cast of thousands who’ve already signed up. If you want the inside track on news from the venues in London and beyond I’ve found a lot of interest in stories from Inside the Games, an unofficial site to which you can subscribe.  If you’re a business and you want to get involved or listed as a potential supplier and tender for London 2012 business officially, you can get more information on the Compete For website. Finally if you’re involved in the creative or performing arts sector you might be interested in getting involved with the cultural celebrations or the Inspire programme for non commercial enterprises.

Getting proactive with the media

I’ve chosen to remain near my home base following heavy falls of snow in Kent that have made headlines around the world this week, and I’ve been out taking loads of pictures.  You might ask why; but my reasons are manifold:

I’m thinking ahead to next Christmas, when I’ll have a stack of fresh, photogenic and seasonal images to use to accompany marketing communications planned well in advance of any seasonal weather ‘on the ground’.

I’ve added to my library of original images to incorporate in presentations and training manuals to illustrate points about things being ‘cold’ or ‘frozen’ or ‘low season’.

I’ve captured a range of images I can provide to the media to accompany news stories

I’ve practiced the facility I have to send images direct from my camera phone to the media

I’ve learned from the experience about what sort of images work best,  and about the limitations of my current equipment should I decide to upgrade

I’ve added to my database of media contacts hungry for news

Although the more negative coverage given to the weather in Kent has focused on transport disruption, I’ve particularly noticed how the media have an insatiable appetite for new images and business related or human interest stories to help balance and fill the airtime of the news programmes at any time when there’s a dearth of major news.

This is something of an ongoing opportunity, which anyone prepared to put together news worthy stories, or images ought to be ready to tap into. Things can happen very quickly if the media pick up on a story. By way of illustration, I was listening live to BBC Radio Kent as the sister of tearful perospective bride Karen Rawlings called up from her snowbound hotel on Friday at breakfast time to appeal for help with transport in getting to an isoloated rural Kentish church for her wedding later that afternoon. The appeal succeeded in saving the day, and not only did the wedding take place in the stunning rural surroundings, but the pictures were fantastic, and the event received national coverage on the evening television news bulletins. The value of such broadcast media coverage is immense.

Key steps to generating news and getting covergae

1. Always carry a compact camera or a camera phone, and be ready to be interviewed. Don’t fret too much about sound and image quality. If your story is newsworthy, the media want the story, and the pictures.
2. Build a database of media contacts. Don’t forget local radio and the local  broadcast news office.
3. Contact the media about any story to which you can contribute as an ‘expert’ commentator or add information from a different angle or viewpoint.
4. Enter for awards, capture images of the presentation cermony, and tell the media when you win.
5. If you’re a busness build a ‘fascinating fact’ file about all the areas of your business operation. The media are always on the lookout for anything new, surprising, or unusual.
6. Be ready to respond quickly to media interest whenever they  contact you looking for a story.

If you’re a tourism business in the South East of England, and looking for more guidance on working with the media, you can book a place on Tourism South East‘s half day training course on ‘Meeting The Media‘, which is part of the Hosting the World suite of courses.  Open course dates are available across the region in the New Year.

Have you received coverage as a result of working with the media? Let me know if you have any tips.

May I take this opportunity to wish you seasonal greetings and a wonderful Christmas and New Year holiday break. Until next time…