The new Visitor Economy Strategy was approved by Peterborough City Council’s cabinet yesterday (Tuesday, 15 October).
Its aim will be for Peterborough City Council to play a leadership role in capitalising on our local visitor economy’s growth potential by creating the conditions for it to thrive and attract visitors.
By 2025, VisitBritain forecast that Britain will have a tourism industry worth over £257 billion, just under 10 per cent of UK GDP and supporting almost 3.8 million jobs, which is around 11 per cent of the total UK number.
Councillor Dennis Jones, leader of Peterborough City Council, said: “Our city’s visitor economy not only makes a direct contribution to a local economy but also provides an invaluable indirect economic impact through supporting businesses in the supply chain.
“Promoting the wider region will introduce more product range and choice that will lead to day visitors choosing to stay overnight to have a deeper and richer experience.”
The three main aims of the proposed Visitor Economy Strategy are:
1.Position ‘The Greater Peterborough Region’ as a destination of choice in the UK for staycations, whether day visits or overnight stays.
2. Create a sustainable model, with which to execute promotional activity and generate relentless positive publicity across the city leading to improved Civic Pride
3. Create a record of data that can be used to monitor and track progress and to inform on decisions in real time over the execution of the strategy term.
A key element of the strategy is about promoting all of the wide variety of cultural events and activities that take place in this true ‘world city’. Our cultural offering is so diverse, and by working closely with our partners, the Visitor Economy Strategy also seeks to give a voice to the many communities across the city as they celebrate their identity here in Peterborough.
This action plan will begin to boost the city's reputation as a fantastic visitor destination and, in turn, support business and jobs growth in key sectors such as leisure and hospitality, supporting the development of a vibrant city centre and night time economy.
Its development has included the running of a number of workshops with the Peterborough Tourism Collective, made up of key business representatives across the leisure, tourism, accommodation and hospitality sectors. An overview of this engagement is included in the strategy itself.
Cllr Jones said: “Tourism is not just for tourists. In fact, tourism and the growth of a visitor economy can only develop if you have the right sense of place in which communities already thrive. The strategy includes a focus on growing civic pride, a key factor in placemaking.
“It can also only be a success if we have the buy-in of the whole city, which is why we would like to thank the involvement and worthwhile challenges of the Tourism Collective which have helped us to build this.”
This action plan will begin to boost the city’s reputation as a fantastic visitor destination. And in turn, support business and jobs growth in key sectors such as leisure and hospitality, support the development of a vibrant city centre and night economy.
The Peterborough Visitor Economic strategy is one of a trio of strategies which will interconnect to make our city even more desirable to live, work and visit. The two other strategies are: Economic Growth strategy (also discussed at the same Cabinet meeting) and an Employment and Skills strategy, which will come later this year.