9th Activity Tourism Forum Meeting Notes

CAFRE, Greenmount Campus, Antrim

Wednesday 10th March 2010

Attendees

  1. Nicky Armstong – Action Outdoors
  2. Norman Trotter – Iron Donkey
  3. Gareth Moore -Xplore Outdoors
  4. Sarah-Louise Cairmichael – Jungle NI
  5. Alan Wilson – Aquasports
  6. Mike McClure – SportNI
  7. Siobhan Weir – Skills Active
  8. Martin McMullan – Life
  9. Mark Mohan – Down District Council
  10. Cowper Lynas – Walk Antrim Hills
  11. Gareth Moore – Xplore Outdoors
  12. Andrew Porter – Peak Discovery Group (Chairperson)
  13. Chris Scott – CAAN
  14. Aideen Exley – CAAN
  15. Maeve Curran – CAAN
  16. Karen Hope – NITB
  17. Rosemary Lightbody – NITB
  18. Carolyn Boyd – NITB

Apologies

  1. Lisa Robinson – CausewayCoast & Glens Tourism
  2. Eimear Kearney – Lough Neagh Partnership
  3. Steve Hodge – Xplore Outdoors
  4. Robert Cairmichael – Jungle NI
  5. Charlotte Miller – Carrowmena Activity Centre
  6. John Hubbucks – Mobile Team Adventure
  7. Dave Vincent – DV Diving
  8. Gary Parr - Surfin' DirtMountain Boarding
  9. Ashely Hunter – CANI
  10. Loretto Coyle – Outdoor Ireland North
  11. Trevor Fisher – TollymoreMountain Centre
  12. Elaine Donaghy – Sperrins Tourism
  13. Micael Maguire – Activate Training
  14. Judy Braniff – Diamond’s Lane Equestrian Centre
  15. Chris Smyth – Activities Ireland
  16. Paul Quinn – Rathlin Walking Tours
  1. Welcome and Introductions –

Andrew Porter ATF Chairperson welcomed everybody to the meeting, in particular:

  • Rosemary Lightbody – Product Marketing Manager NITB who has replaced Willie Lougheed as the person responsible for Activity Tourism.
  • Karen Hope – Activity Tourism Officer
  • Chris Scott – Activity Tourism Manager – CAAN – responsible for ATF, Training, Adventure & Canoeing
  • Aideen Exley – Marketing Manager – CAAN – responsibility for Walking, Cycling & Research

The delegates then gave a brief introduction to themselves and their organisations.

Andrew Porter then gave a brief update on working group activity since last ATF:

  • The working group has met on 2 occasions since last ATF
  • Norman Trotter has been nominated as vice-chair
  • Andrew Porter and Chris Scott are due to meet with Forest Service Northern Ireland in an effort to clarify the charges to activity providers
  • A further two working group meetings have been scheduled for April to discuss:
  • Vision / Strategy for Activity Tourism
  • Role of working group and ATF
  • Andrew Porter and Norman Trotter are to compose a comment on DETI’s‘Northern Ireland Tourism - Working Paper – Shaping Tourism to 2020’ on behalf of the ATF to clarify activity tourism’s role / prominence.

2. Discussion on points raised at CAAN Network Meeting

Gareth Moore (Xplore Outdoors) asked what the charges would be for the proposed camp site on the Lower Bann Canoe Trail

Chris Scott (CAAN) responded stating that the campsite is being developed by CAAN in partnership with Causeway Coast Kayak Club and a private landowner. It is designed to only be accessible by water to reduce the potential for vandalism. No pricing structure has been set for the campsite so far but any charge would just be to cover maintenance costs to make the site sustainable.

3. Presentation of NITB / CAAN Activity Tourism Action Plan 2010/2011 -Chris Scott - Activity Tourism Manager, CAAN

Chris Scott gave a brief overview of the forthcoming Activity Tourism Action Plan 2010-2011 explaining how the activity tourism sector can get involved.

He reiterated that the sector will be made aware of how to get involved in any campaigns or initiatives as they are being developed and also made aware of when they are being launched to the consumer.

The Action Plan will be distributed via the on-line trade forum in the next few days followed shortly by a detailed PR plan.

4. Focus Groups –

Andrew Porter led the following focus groups

Focus Group 1 - Adventure Festival March 2011

Brief:NITB / CAAN plan to organise this festival in March 2011 in order to increase the perception of Northern Ireland as activity destination. Activity Providers will be key to the successful delivery of this project; therefore your input at this stage is vital

Delegates were encouraged to feedback on:

  • Overall aim of the event
  • Objectives
  • Target Market
  • Where – all of NI or just one region?

Feedback

Group 1 – Norman Trotter, Cowper Lynas, Rosemary Lightbody, Martin McMullan

  • Careful thought is required re branding i.e. ‘adventure’ vs ‘activity’
  • CAAN / NITB should be responsible for the structure of the event
  • Focus should be on encouraging people to try something new – the feeling is only 10% of people in Northern Ireland have experienced an outdoor activity
  • Target the family in particular kids as the key influencers
  • Aim is to increase awareness of activities / increase participation and in turn generate repeat bookings
  • Use one event in Belfast as a PR stunt – mass participation event
  • Event should be held over a weekend with multitude of small events throughout Northern Ireland
  • Not free - perhaps 50% discount with a voucher to attract repeat business
  • Use the as a foundation year focusing on NI but growing to ROI market in future years
  • Generate significant PR opps

Group 2 – Aideen Exley, Carolyn Boyd, Alan Wilson, Nicky Armstrong

  • The event should be used to showcase outdoor activities
  • Used as an opportunity to remove perception that there is nothing to do in Northern Ireland on a Sunday
  • Focus on NI market but also targeted marketing into ABC1 Dublin market
  • 2 day event in March / early April avoiding St Patrick’s Day and Easter
  • Each area should have an activity hub e.g. Portrush / NorthCoast, Enniskillen / Fermanagh, Newcastle / Mournes
  • Hubs are there to create buzz, some interactive activities and as an information point to sell on activities in local area.
  • PR – use celebrities and their families
  • Use ‘Olympic Torch’ Concept in the build up with celebs travelling around NI using different activities – horse riding, boat, cycling etc.
  • Clear ‘call to action’ after the event to encourage repeat business

Group 3 – Sarah Cairmichael, Maeve Curran, Siobhan Weir, Karen Hope

  • Extend the event from a weekend to the whole month of March to allow people explore different regions of NI
  • Use event to create awareness of outdoor activities
  • Focus on NI market year 1 then move to ROI in year 2
  • Focus on family and young couples also include those with disabilities
  • Providers should embrace the event to lead on activities and CAAN / NITB to lead on marketing

Group 4 – Mark Mohan, Mike McClure, Gareth Moore

  • Event should not only promote activities but also each destination, local produce and accommodation
  • Aims should cover:
  • Raising the profile of activities and the resources to support them in the respective destinations
  • Increase participation in outdoor sports (in line with Sport NI objectives)
  • Increase awareness of key NI activity locations
  • Target market
  • Domestic day trippers
  • Belfast / Greater Belfast
  • ROI / Day trippers / short breaks / Dublin / East Coast ROI
  • Out of state visitor with activity interest
  • Time should be later in year possibly May or Bank Holiday Weekend
  • The event should not be free – providers should be able to cover costs
  • Use a key event as a draw

An open discussion was held afterwards with the main topic being the timing of the event.

May would attract more people and perhaps better weather would give a better outdoor experience but it would be difficult to encourage activity provider buy-in as this is their peak season. Potentially leading to high demand and low supply.

March would be more attractive in terms of activity provider buy-in. However the potential for colder weather means supply could out weight demand.

It was agreed the working group would discuss this further.

Focus Group 2 - Training

NITB / CAAN plan to deliver one training seminar and one learning journey for the activity tourism sector during 2010/2011. This focus group will allow you express your training needs so these can be incorporated future training delivery.

Learning Journey

Delegates were encouraged to feed back on:

  • Overall aim
  • Objectives
  • Location
  • Time of year

Group 1

  • Trip should be held out of season for two reasons
  • Activity providers in NI are less busy
  • It gives the opportunity to view other areas to see how they encourage out of season activity
  • Would like the opportunity to view:
  • local partnership in terms of product development and packaging
  • Especially small business to small business rather than large consortia
  • product innovation / and marketing innovation for small businesses
  • Public / private sector partnership e.g. forest parks
  • Location not important
  • NITB / CAAN involvement / attendance is very important

Group 2

  • Would like the opportunity to view:
  • Marketing to the family market
  • Innovative small business
  • Effect of National Park status
  • Bonding / short break packaging
  • Location Wales or Cornwall

Group 3

  • Opportunity to view:
  • out of season activities
  • small businesses
  • multi – activity providers
  • Excellent opportunity for networking
  • Less hectic than last trip to increase networking opportunity
  • Location - Wales or Scotland

Rosemary Lightbody (NITB) added that it would be useful to view how activities cross over with other areas of tourism. Giving St Davids as an example where walking interacts very well with local culture and heritage.

Training Seminar

Andrew Porter asked the group as a whole to put forward their training needs.

Norman Trotter & Cowper Lynas - Social Marketing with less detail on strategy and more on how to use the tools e.g. Facebook

Nicky Armstrong - Statistics and monitoring of customers e.g. how they find out about your company

Norman Trotter – Legal requirements / compliance e.g.

  • Insurance
  • Carrying of passengers by car
  • Bonding regulations for tour operators / activity providers

Nicky Armstrong suggested the Federation of Small Businesses can provide great support stating her positive experiences

Aideen Exley asked would there be a possibility for mentoring for providers.

Carolyn Boyd stated that whilst there were obvious benefits of this that it had big implications on budget.

Focus Group 3 – Research

Andrew Porter asked the group as a whole

Would it be helpful if CAAN put together a short consumer feedback form that you can give customers at the end of their activity with you?

Gareth Moore felt it would be difficult as customer feedback was quite personal to each company

Norman Trotter felt many business find difficulty of achieving a reasonable return rate for there own feedback forms therefore having two would make this more complicated.

The group agreed that training on how to collate their own forms would be much more useful

5. AOB

Siobhan Weir from Skills Active distributed the recent Skills Active Northern Ireland Newsletter giving a brief update on progress of various projects.

Carolyn Boyd thanked the group for their invite as being able to listen to training needs first hand was invaluable.

Mike McClure made the group aware that a high court case had as recently as Monday compensated a claimant who fell down at set of steps whilst partaking in orienteering in Northern Ireland. He did not know the full details of the case and report.

Sport NI is hopefully going establish some robust data by carrying out research into claims against landowners occupiers liability. He felt the industry should also consider carrying out research into the nature of claims against activity providers. Robust data is important in creating a positive case for outdoor activities.

Chris Scott thanked the group for their attendance and in particular the excellent feedback during the focus groups which will be very beneficial to the year ahead.