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NOTES OF THE MEETING OF THE EXECUTIVE GROUP HELD TUESDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 2002

In the Chair

Digby Jones CBI

Members

Robin BrokeAssociation of Leading Visitor Attractions

Bob CottonBritish Hospitality Association

Tony Millns Association of Recognised English Language Services

Ros PritchardBritish Holiday and Home Parks Association

Ian ReynoldsAssociation of British Travel Agents

Richard TobiasBritish Incoming Tour Operators Association

CBI

Tony Bird Director of Membership Development

June-Alison SealySecretary to the Alliance

Karishma ChandariaPolicy Adviser, Tourism

  1. Tourism UK

Members discussed the formation of Tourism UK, a new public sector tourism body bringing together the Chairs of three national tourist boards.

-Members agreed that the Alliance should give a cautious welcome to the formation of Tourism UK. They recognised the opportunity it presented to improve the co-operation of key public sector tourism bodies and that as a public sector grouping Tourism UK would represent only a small percentage of the industry.

-Members agreed that they would prefer to see regularmeetings between national Ministers to discuss and develop tourism policy.

  1. State of Trade

Members were asked to give an oral update on how their particular sector was

performing in the light of the current business climate.

  • Tony Millns (ARELS): Reported that language schools were doing well and that business was up between 10-30% depending on members' views. China was now providing the largest source of students due in part to displacement from the US and Canadian markets. The corporate end of the market was still reporting a severe downturn in business.
  • Robin Broke (ALVA):Reported that the most recent figures (up to June) suggested that visitor numbers were up 3-4 % and spend up around 8%. Business levels were improving especially on the domestic front, and the industry was gradually getting back to 2000 levels.
  • Ros Pritchard (BH&HPA):Reported that for some parts of the UK, most notably the South and South-East this had been their best year ever in terms of trade. Conversely for parks in the north and Northern Ireland business levels were still suffering.
  • Ian Reynolds (ABTA): Reported that the domestic market was doing reasonably well, up about 10% on the same period last year. However the outbound market was down 10% in terms of volume in comparison to last year. He expressed concern that the market was moving towards a late booking culture and consequently tour operators were reducing their prices dramatically in order to get consumers to book early.
  • Bob Cotton (BHA):Reported that results from a recent member survey for the July-August period suggested a varied picture across the UK with some areas doing very well from the domestic market and others still suffering. He stated that London had started to rebuild the business it lost last year. However after the Jubilee, occupancy levels had began to dip again, especially at the corporate and business end of the market. This could be attributed to the growth of low cost airlines and because companies were continuing to cut back on corporate travel.
  • Richard Tobias (BITOA):Stated that there had been a drop in visitor numbers of about 5% based on their latest figures, with the American market still suffering the most. He emphasised that BITOA's figures recorded those visitors that stayed in the UK for at least 24 hours where as the government's IPS figures included those coming into the country for less time (i.e. flight stop- overs) and consequently did not give an accurate reflection of tourist numbers.

3. Employers' liability insurance costs

Members suggested that this would be a good issue to discuss at the next Alliance plenary

session which would take place in the autumn.

4. Hartwell "2": Comments and follow up action

Members stated that overall Hartwell "2" had not moved the modernisation agenda

forward significantly, however two areas where they felt progress had been made were:

  • Marketing:Agreement had now been reached on the need for a properly resourced England marketing body. However its final structure and funding remain yet to be determined. The likelihood was that detailed proposals would be announced this autumn. Members agreed that in the interim period the Alliance should continue to stipulate that the new body must have a clearly defined marketing focus and at least £10m in core funding.
  • Sector Skills Council:Significant progress had been made on the establishment of a Sector Skills Council for the industry. Tessa Jowell had approached Estelle Morris personally on the issue. The result was that the Sector Skills Development Agency would now fast track the industry's bid in order to speed up the application and keep the bid on target.

5. DCMS links with the Alliance

  • Members asked whether the Secretariat had received a letter from the DCMS outlining how they would like the Alliance to become more involved in the discussions on the reform of marketing and delivery. No letter had yet been received.

Action Point: Secretariat to chase

6.Any Other Business

New BTA Chief Executive:Members agreed that Tom Wright the new BTA Chief Executive should be sent a formal invitation to join the Alliance Executive Group.

Wales Tourism Alliance: June-Alison Sealy informed members of the Group that the

Wales Tourism Alliance was seeking closer links and had requested a meeting with Digby.