A Destination Marketing Strategy for Bath & North East Somerset

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1 Published by Bath Tourism Plus in January A full version of this Strategy together with accompanying Annual Marketing Plans are available from Bath Tourism Plus A Destination Marketing Strategy for Bath & North East Somerset A Summary Bath Tourism Plus Abbey Chambers, Abbey Churchyard, Bath, BA1 1LY Company Reg. No

2 By 2014, tourism will be worth 400m to our local economy What are we aiming to achieve? But how? Bath is one of the UK s truly world-class destinations. Research confirms that Bath rides high both on the domestic and world stage as a leading visitor destination. We welcome loyal visitors, who feel at home with the city s mix of history and heritage, stunning cityscape, instantly recognisable landmarks and beautiful surrounding countryside. So, why change? While Bath has a well-deserved reputation and brand image, we cannot be complacent. The world is changing, with shifts in visitor behaviour as national and global economies fluctuate. We need to capitalise on the holidaying at home trend, grow our appeal with key regional audiences and focus on those key overseas markets which offer the greatest growth potential. The way visitors make decisions is changing too, with an increasing reliance on technology and social media. In a crowded marketplace, we need to stand out, using imaginative and inspiring ways to attract visitors both old and new. Growing the value of tourism is crucial to the economy of Bath and North East Somerset. We aim to do this through subtle brand changes, innovative and effective campaigns and exploiting opportunities such as staycation and daycation trends, plus boosting business tourism and increasing our share of regional markets. By 2014 we want to grow domestic and overseas overnight visitors by 9%, raise the value of day visitors by the same amount, see a 10% growth in the number of nights stayed and increase business event delegates to 169,000 a year. By 2014, tourism will be worth 400m to our local economy. How will we get there? While continuing to build on the unique strengths of Bath and working hard to retain current visitors, we need to grow the value of our visitors, rather than just increase numbers. Through focussed planning and careful targeting, harnessing the power of word of mouth and online marketing, we will refresh and invigorate the Bath Brand to appeal to higher spending visitors and fresh markets. History and heritage are at the heart of our brand and always will be. But today s Bath is also a contemporary, cultured and creative place with a sense of style and sophistication. How we tell that story will entice new visitors. We aim to recruit visitors and locals as brand ambassadors actively encouraging a word of mouth and social media buzz. The strong retail offer of our city centre and our year round Festivals and Events programme will play a bigger marketing role, while helping to extend the season and fill off-peak capacity. We will also continue to welcome visitors with a world class Tourist Information Centre, up to date online information and visitor-friendly marketing materials. A shared commitment Bath Tourism Plus will provide leadership, marketing tools and market intelligence to deliver this strategy, but it will only be successful through strong collaborative and partnership working. A new Marketing Forum will be created and integrated, targeted marketing delivered through partnerships at national, regional and local level. Together, we can reach further, shout louder and achieve more for the benefit of all.

3 Our Vision To grow the value of tourism in Bath and the surrounding area by working in partnership across the industry to deliver integrated marketing programmes that are timed and targeted to provide maximum growth Our Goals Tourism plays a key role in the economy of Bath and the surrounding area. Boosting its impact and value is vital to our economic success and this strategy outlines marketing activity designed to deliver a significant increase in the value of tourism to Bath. There are five crucial targets that will provide the key to increasing tourism s value by 43m a year. 1 Build on the destination s success in the domestic market and capitalise on trends to holiday at home by boosting the value of domestic overnight visitors by 12% from 105m a year in 2010 to 118m by A great place to start Bath is already in a strong position. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it has iconic and instantly recognisable landmarks, a stunning cityscape and a history and heritage to rival anywhere in the world. One of the UK s truly world-class destinations, Bath is in the enviable position of being widely recognised as a premier city break destination both domestically and in key overseas markets. VisitEngland, the national tourism body, has endorsed this. Despite challenging market conditions, Bath and North East Somerset has bucked the national and regional trend and seen visitor numbers increase in recent years. But we cannot afford to be complacent. In a changing world and increasingly competitive marketplace we must ensure that the Bath brand, and how we position the city, continues to appeal to all key visitor markets. That means not only highlighting the traditional aspects of Bath, but also the city s more vibrant and contemporary offer. And we need to do that in imaginative and inspiring ways to attract visitors both old and new. Our aim is to add another 43m to the bottom line impact of tourism in Bath and North East Somerset increasing tourism s value from 357m in 2010 to 400m by How we ll do that This strategy sets out the strengths of tourism within Bath and the surrounding area, the challenges it faces and outlines new marketing activity aimed at delivering that significant overall increase in the value of the visitor economy to the area Grow the value of high spending international visitor market by 12% from 73.5m in 2010 to 83m in 2014, focusing on the US and Europe plus selected emerging leisure markets such as China and Asia. Grow business tourism by 9% from around 155,000 delegates attending business events per year to 169,000 delegates by Grow the value of the day visitor market by 12% from 179m in 2010 to 200m in Grow the number of visitor nights spent in Bath by 10% by 2014.

4 While continuing to build on the unique strengths of Bath and working hard to retain current visitors, we need to grow the value of tourism, rather than just increase numbers So, why change? How do we achieve our goals? Who are our current visitors? The majority of our existing UK visitors come from Greater London and the South East, although our reach also extends to the South West; Wales and parts of the East of England and the West Midlands. Bath is seen as both cultured and classic and with a strong heritage appeal, but there is potential to shift perceptions further for example York, Oxford and Chester rank higher than Bath as contemporary destinations. Bath holds greatest appeal for independently minded and traditionally orientated visitors, as well as older age groups. However, Bath s appeal also extends to the younger, higher spending, fashion conscious visitor. While Bath has a well-deserved reputation as a top city break destination, we cannot simply rely on past performance to maintain our status. Visitor spending is being shaped by everything from the economy to technology, each of which influences how and where people choose to spend their money. The three key reasons why we need to change and adapt are: To react to an increasingly competitive world market place where more and more destinations are seeking to attract visitors and many are investing heavily in product and marketing budgets to leapfrog the competition. There is growing competition to attract discretionary leisure spend set against a backdrop of an uncertain economy. Ever changing technology means that we have to use new ways and different methods to attract attention and tempt visitors. We need to raise our game when it comes to marketing. Through focussed planning and targeting as well as a re-invigorated Bath Brand, we need to appeal to higher spending visitors and fresh markets. Consumers are looking for new cultural experiences and also expect higher quality service. Whether cash rich, time poor or those taking fewer holidays because of the economic climate, all are expecting more value for money. All these trends combine to create a growing market where consumers tend not to look to traditional advertising, but to the Internet and social web, so a key element will be harnessing the power of word of mouth and people s love for the city both visitors and locals by creating an online and social media buzz about the city. By adopting an integrated, collaborative and coherent approach to marketing Bath and the surrounding area, we can reach further, shout louder and deliver far more effective campaigns for the benefit of all. Internationally, the US remains a key inbound market although the European territories of Germany, France and Ireland also remain strong, while Australia and the Far East are increasingly important and present major growth potential. The good news is that those who visit have a very positive view of Bath with few negatives. Regarded as beautiful and historic and as a calm and relaxing place to spend time, there are, however, some views that the city is relatively expensive. Business Tourism, mostly generated from the South West region, also makes a significant contribution to Bath s visitor economy. While Bath s performance has fared comparatively well, visitors are spending less per head, which does present a growing challenge. To continue to succeed, our tourism industry needs to be resilient, flexible and ready to adapt to an ever-changing world. We need to capitalise on current trends, particularly holidaying at home the staycation and daycation and focus on key, high spending markets that offer the greatest growth potential.

5 Exploiting the strong retail offer of our city centre and year-round Festivals and Events programme will help drive business during off-peak periods Marketing Bath The Brand So, who do we need to target? Bath is a popular destination and appeals to many different types of visitor. But for our marketing investment to have the most impact we should focus on markets that have the greatest potential for growth in value. While staying visitors present the greatest opportunity to grow value, day visitors especially high spending premium regional shoppers are crucial. It is vital that Bath continues to appeal to, and attract, the local and regional market and is seen as the shopping destination of choice in the area. For overseas markets, our priorities will be high-spending North American visitors, but increasingly France and Germany and in emerging markets, China. Business Tourism offers another major growth opportunity particularly filling off-peak and midweek capacity and Bath will focus on UK day and residential events and International incentive travel, particularly from USA and Germany. Bath is already an international recognised brand, the UK s only thermal springs and a city that attracts the famous from all walks of life. Few would argue that the stunning imagery of Bath s iconic sites provides a visual identity as strong as any city in the world. History and heritage are at the heart of our brand and always will be. But today s Bath also offers a contemporary, cultured and creative place with a sense of style and sophistication. We have to respond to what our research is telling us, keeping our marketing fresh, current and appealing and not just to our traditional markets, but to new and emerging markets too. The time has come to review the brand in line with this strategy. A consistent and unified approach is needed and the brand must reflect our core strengths as well as the city s personality. This consistency in message and imagery will provide Bath with a distinctive voice in a crowded marketplace. Bath Tourism Plus will lead this process, creating a refreshed set of brand values. Keeping Bath World Class Our marketing approach reflects our vision growing the value of tourism through a collaborative approach with industry partners, extending our reach, reducing duplication and achieving a bigger slice of the market. Culture will still be at the heart of this both historical and contemporary along with the key themes of pleasure and wellbeing. But our story will be told as much through our people and local characters as our buildings and place. The strength of Bath as a destination offers the potential to harness the goodwill of visitors towards the city for a positive word of mouth and online marketing approach. We want to put the customer at the heart of everything by harnessing visitors loyalty and experiences, mobilising a new army of Bath advocates. By focussing on engaging stories and experiences, we can target specific groups and niche markets and also use the Bath brand to help inspire visitors to discover further afield, outside of the city. We will deliver an integrated marketing communications programme, but maximising channels such as PR, digital and CRM, which offer the most cost effective marketing. Partnership campaigns will also allow more ambitious brand building. Bath Tourism Plus will provide leadership by identifying and securing partnership opportunities for the benefit of the wider industry. We will work with buyers from the business, conference and events market, together with VisitEngland and Visit Britain and the UK and international travel trade, to bring new opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable to our local partners. The creation of a new Marketing Forum will help these partnerships to develop. The focus of Bath Tourism Plus will be to stimulate increased awareness of Bath as a place to visit through the use of inspiring content and imaginative campaigns.

6 Bath is an incredibly strong destination brand, both domestically and overseas. Our collective responsibility is to communicate the brand consistently in everything we do to make sure Bath continues to stand out in a crowded marketplace. To ensure a shared use of the Bath brand and an enduring identity that tempts visitors and encourages brand loyalty we will: Work alongside B&NES and other key stakeholders to support and help shape the evolution of the Bath brand. Develop a tone of voice, personality and creative approach that reflects our history and heritage, but also the quirky and contemporary. Develop a brand toolkit for industry use, providing access to the best destination imagery, inspiring film footage and other brand assets. Ensure that the Bath brand and supporting messages deliver effective visitor dispersal across Bath, North East Somerset and beyond. Explore opportunities for brand alliances/partnerships to complement the Bath brand and help deliver additional visitor reach. New technology and changes in consumer behaviour are redefining traditional marketing. Bath must keep pace with this increasingly competitive marketplace. By matching the city s wider ambitions to become a leading creative and digital hub, we can work together to share best practice, marketing expertise and innovation. Bath Tourism Plus will provide leadership and create a Centre for Marketing Excellence to: Bring about a step change in how Bath performs in the digital arena through sharing best practice and by supporting innovation. Facilitate greater online collaboration, providing mechanisms for more open sharing and content syndication across all digital platforms. Delivering results By working together, rather than separately, we can maximise marketing opportunities to give us a greater impact on target markets. Bath Tourism Plus will work with the industry to develop fresh marketing and partnership opportunities to: Capitalise on the trend to holiday at home by developing themed and tactical campaigns for our target domestic markets. Grow the number and value of overseas visitors to Bath by working with the industry and trade operators, focusing on targeted markets. Capitalise on the continuing growth of day visitor numbers to Bath, working in partnership across the industry to maximise spend and encourage more to stay, return and recommend. Stimulate greater visitor dispersal, encouraging visitors to discover more of Bath and the surrounding area. Work alongside B&NES to implement the Bath Digital Strategy. Continuing to provide visitors with a world class experience and delivering effective visitor information can positively influence visitor spend, length of stay, the likelihood of visitors returning and word of mouth marketing. We aim to: Harness the positive sentiment of visitors to Bath, utilising the power of social media and recommendations. Capitalise on the growth of day visitors to Bath and work in partnership to maximise the average spend and convert more to stay overnight. Work in partnership with B&NES and other stakeholders to implement and add value to the Bath Information Strategy, ensuring visitors can access high quality information at every touch point. Reduce the effects of seasonality by generating year-round visits, using Bath s major festivals and events as a key stimulus. Establish a new Bath Tourism Marketing Forum to help shape and drive this framework and collaboration forward. Maximise Bath s potential in the Business Tourism market. Build strong strategic partnerships with key players, such as Visit Britain, VisitEngland, Bristol Airport, Airlines, First Great Western, Bath Business Improvement District and neighbouring destinations. Insight, intelligence, and a deeper understanding of our customer the visitor should inform everything we do. Bath Tourism Plus will provide expertise and leadership in this field and will ensure this is shared with our partners to: Actively engage in, and collaborate on, core research projects (eg T-STATS). Collectively pool individual intelligence and knowledge of visitor markets and their behaviour for the benefit of Bath-wide marketing. Measuring performance Measuring and understanding our performance is vital. Bath Tourism Plus will lead and facilitate a sharing of destination performance across key indicators, enabling partners to benchmark their own performance, monitor trends and respond to new opportunities.