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NEWS IN DEPTH | SPECIAL REPORT


The £40m Discover England Fund has brought a ‘step-change’ to English tourism, Andrew Stokes of VisitEngland tells Samantha Mayling


Invest to impress: how to spend £40m


Q The three-year Discover England Fund runs to March 2019. What has it achieved? A It has brought 50 new projects to life, bringing a step-change in English tourism products. The winning bids enhance


England’s tourism by bringing history to life through innovative technology; making national parks more accessible; creating bookable itineraries; and developing coastal trails with art-focused visitor experiences, to name but a few.


Q What key lessons were learnt? A It has facilitated new product development and refined the process of targeting products to international visitors, while also boosting domestic tourism. VisitEngland and destination


management organisations worked closely with the trade, creating links between suppliers and distribution partners.


Q What feedback have you had? A Feedback has been positive. The fund is a win-win, providing international visitors with bookable products while benefiting domestic tourism. It is supporting those who already


successfully export products to international visitors, and has supported other projects to create new tourism products. The trade has been very receptive,


identifying opportunities to build new supplier relationships. The fund has facilitated new and successful ways of working together across the industry.


Q What have been the most successful themes? A We have seen great successes across the projects. For example, the new National Parks work on unique bookable experiences is a fantastic example of partners coming together. It is the first time that all the national parks have worked together on a tourism-


travelgbi.com Andrew Stokes, VisitEngland director


The fund will provide a legacy of world- class tourism products


focused project. The Manchester Gateway to the North of England project has increased the number of commissionable experiences for the travel trade.


Q What was less successful? A Partnerships take time to build and product development takes time to see results. It is important to build the right product, to get that product into international distributors’ programmes, and to support smaller businesses in a digital world. Year one provided an opportunity to work with smaller projects taking a ‘test and learn’ approach, exploring new opportunities and innovative ways of working.


Q What advice would you give to unsuccessful bids? A There are still ways to get involved. We have 19 ‘live’ projects with more coming. Many projects are about partnerships and we expect to see some of them


amplified over time or replicated elsewhere. We’ll see benefits from the fund for years to come.


Q What is the new DEF distribution platform and how can it help? A We are working on technical aspects to develop a platform that links bookable tourism products to distribution channels. The platform will enable tourism suppliers to make their products more accessible and bookable, nationally and internationally.


Q What is the return on investment? A VisitEngland’s evaluation team has been working hard to measure the return on investment. While you can look at immediate returns, for example with marketing activity, product development can take longer to come to fruition. The added benefit is we can reap the rewards for many years to come.


Q What are the long-term benefits? A When the fund ends, it is intended that as many projects as possible will continue. The fund will provide a legacy


of world-class tourism products, driving greater numbers of international visitors and benefiting


Uncover Cotswolds


the domestic market. The collaborative nature of


the fund means tourist boards, destinations, operators and suppliers have established working relationships that will continue beyond the life of the fund.


Q What has the tourism minister said about the fund? A Michael Ellis spoke at the VisitEngland Discover England Fund conference, and highlighted the huge benefits that projects have already delivered. He emphasised the importance


of attracting visitors to destinations large and small, and spoke of the positive impact it is having on helping international visitors book their visits in advance. And he reiterated the government’s support for the sector.


Q What will happen when the fund closes? A The projects will continue to develop products and will be embedded into VisitEngland’s GREAT activity – continuing to support them from a content, marketing and distribution perspective. We will work closely with the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport


to review funding streams. visitbritain.org


September 2018 | TravelGBI 11


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