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TOURA 25 02

TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE TOURISM ALLIANCE

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

Agenda Item 1: Chairman's welcome

1. Digby Jones welcomed members

Agenda Item 2: Minutes of the last meeting

2. Members agreed the minutes of the last meeting on 31 July

Agenda Item 3: Tourism UK

3.June- Alison Sealy: Explained that Tourism UK was a new public sector tourism body bringing together the Chairs of three national tourist boards, due to be launched on the 6 September. She stated that Digby Jones had been approached by Philip Evans Chief Executive of the Wales Tourist Broad to endorse the new body. Members were then asked for their comments.

Points raised in the discussion:

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

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

Action Point: Secretariat to draft press release encapsulating members' views, to be circulated to the trade press and to Philip Evans.

Agenda Item 4: State of Trade

4.Members were asked to give an oral update on how their particular sectors were

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 until 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 where it needed to be.
  • 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 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.
  1. After members had given the oral reports on the state of their sectors Digby Jones

asked them whether there was merit in commissioning a tourism trends survey to increase the credibility of the industry as a whole.

Points raised in the discussion:

  • Members raised concern that trying to conduct a tourism trends survey would produce very contradictory results due to the various sub-sectors and diverse regional components within the industry.
  • Members decided to produce a six-monthly state of trade from the Alliance that would include a Chairman's statement, current statistics on key sectors and also a forecast for the coming six months. This would make the connection between government policy and the industry. The first will coincide with the anniversary of the Tourism Spending Priorities report launch.

6.CBI's Pre-Budget paper:

Tony Bird asked for members' comments on the paper

  • Members stressed the point that the price/cost of doing business was now the biggest concern facing UK businesses, especially with the lack of harmonisation of sales taxes compared with EU member states, the forthcoming increase in NIC contributions, and steep increases in the cost of employers' liability insurance costs.

Agenda Item 5:Employers' liability insurance costs

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

session which would take place in the autumn.

Action Point: Secretariat to search for a suitable date

Agenda Item 6: Hartwell "2"-Feedback

  1. Members agreed that overall Hartwell "2" had not moved the modernisation agenda

forward significantly. They commented on the following:

  • Marketing:Members reported that 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:Bob Cotton reported that 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 and to try and get the go ahead as soon as possible.
  • 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 DCMS.

Agenda Item 7: Inquiryby the Culture, Media and Sport Committee

  1. June-Alison Sealy asked members to consider an Alliance submission and the points to be

covered.

  • Members noted that although they will each submit evidence on behalf of their own organisation, they will also contribute to a submission from the Alliance.
  • They agreed that the focus of this submission will be the need for an England marketing body.

Action Point: Secretariat tofacilitate the collection of evidence for the submission.

Agenda Item 8: Media relations

10.Tony Bird updated members on progress. He informed them that following the last meeting a tendering process had been initiated between the two offers that the Alliance had received to help it develop a public relations strategy (first from Ylva French Communications and a more recent one from Octopus Consulting).

A letter was sent to Ylva French Communications explaining that Octopus had offered their services on an initial no fee basis, Ylva French Communications were invited to compete with this but they declined. Ylva French Communications declined the offer.

Given this response, members agreed that the Alliance should take up the offer from Octopus.

Action Point: Secretariat to find a suitable date for a meeting between the Executive Group and Octopus Consulting.

Agenda Item 9: Any other business

11.Website: Karishma Chandaria informed members that a meeting to discuss the structure and development of the website was due to take place on 6 September.

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

  1. 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.

Action point: Secretariat to arrange meeting between the Alliance and Wales Tourism Alliance.

KC: September 02.