A toolkit to help your visitor management planning

Introduction

About this toolkit This is a practical step-by-step guide to Visitor Management Planning (VMP) for people working in the London visitor economy - particularly those responsible for place shaping and destination management. It was commissioned by the London Development Agency (LDA) in 2006, to support local visitor economies across London. It draws on the visitor management planning carried out concurrently in Woolwich and City Eastside. For more information or guidance call Niall Brolly at the LDA on 020 7593 8000 or Malcolm Connor of the consultancy team on 01926 642157 Acknowledgements This toolkit is based on the outputs of a consultancy study commissioned by the LDA from TEAM Tourism Consulting, a UK-based international tourism consultancy specialising in strategic and operational planning consultancy for tourism destinations. The work was undertaken for TEAM by Amanda Shepherd, Malcolm Connor and Peter Varlow - www.team-tourism.com And with thanks for some source material and case studies to: Destination Management Handbook , published by ETB and Tourism Management Institute 2003 Haley Sharpe Design, specialists in visual & spatial communication - www. haleysharpe.com

What is visitor management?

In simple terms visitor management is engaging with visitors to influence their movements and behaviour in your destination. Visitor management is one component of the wider destination management process.

A toolkit to help your visitor management planning

A toolkit to help your visitor management planning

Introduction

Why is this important?

Effective visitor management can: contribute to the visitors understanding and appreciation of your destination reduce damage to sensitive sites and localities tackle issues that may be affecting the quality of your experience and the quality of life for local people attract and disperse visitors within the destination to spread the economic benefits more widely encourage more visitors to come at times when there is plenty of spare capacity encourage visitors to visit the parts of the destination that are best able to handle them. Make sure you think of it from the visitors perspective. What experiences do they want? What impressions will they take home with them that will make them visit again, or recommend your destination to others? Visitor management is about getting the basics right - signage, welcome, information, navigation etc - not necessarily wow factors but things that can spoil the visitor experience if they are not right. And getting things right does not often happen by accident - it needs to be planned.

What does a visitor management plan cover?

Every visitor management plan is different but in an urban area the many facets to visitor management can usually be grouped under five headings - as shown in the diagram below. This shows the synergy between the various elements that contribute to the overall visitor experience.
Transport routes

Gateways

Orientation and interpretation

Visitor facilities

Welcome

So, visitor management is wide ranging and touches on infrastructure development, including investment in the public realm and identifying sites for visitor economy related development. Visitor flows need to reflect capacity, so visitor management also includes some aspects of marketing - developing reasons for off-peak visits, for example by developing events or special promotions. And it means managing visitor flows once they are at the destination, creating orientation routes using information boards, maps, signage, siting of facilities and landscaping.

A toolkit to help your visitor management planning

A toolkit to help your visitor management planning

Introduction

What can this toolkit do?

This is a toolkit aimed at destination managers, tourism officers, town centre managers and other people (primarily in the public sector) to guide their visitor management activity. It should be read in the wider strategic context of regional, sub-regional and local strategies. It also needs to fit into other visitor economy planning work:

The Visitor Management (VM) planning process

Preparation: Identify stakeholders, VM objectives, VM planning resources & timescale

Establish the visitor economy objectives for your destination

Where are we now? Audit

Position Statement

Identify your market segments

Vision Opportunities & Issues

Where do we want to be? Visioning Workshop

Prepare the visitor marketing plan

Prepare the visitor management plan

Prepare the visitor information plan

How are we going to get there? Action Planning Workshop

Action Plan

This diagram simplifies the strategic planning process, but it does show that visitor management is only part of the bigger picture that creates the overall destination management plan. It needs to be consistent with things that you might be doing in marketing, visitor services, research, training, business support and other areas. So it must relate to your overall objectives and target segments. And of course it needs to take into account the planning and investment environment in your destination, regeneration projects, transport plans, Business Improvement Districts etc. Your visitor management plan could be part of a much larger visitor economy strategy or could be a separate, but integrated, piece of work.

This toolkit is divided into four sections. 1) Preparation: your objectives and stakeholders 2) Where are you now? 3) Where do you want to be? 4) How are you going to get there? Each section contains some explanatory information, gives you some case studies and then has a checklist - your next steps.

A toolkit to help your visitor management planning

A toolkit to help your visitor management planning

Part 1 Preparation: Your stakeholders and objectives

To be sustainable, destinations need to satisfy the needs of visitors, the industry, the community, and the environment. There may be some conflict or differing priorities about visitor management among these four different stakeholder groups, which the visitor management planning process will need to air and address:
Your visitors will want some guidance on what there is to see that theyll enjoy most, where, and when; and to be able to find their way around your destination hasslefree Your industry will want visitor management that maximises visitor spend and business profitability, and that sustains the visitor economy into the future Your community will want visitor management that supports local jobs and services and minimises potential problems caused by visitors Guardians of your environment will want to safeguard the quality of the public realm and visitor economy infrastructure, focus on safety and security and restrict visitor numbers at sensitive locations

Getting stakeholders on board

Successful visitor management can only be achieved in partnership with the whole range of stakeholders in your destination. This includes: the public-funded agencies including the LDA and Visit London regeneration initiatives town centre management bodies local businesses (including property developers) and business associations local residents associations and community groups the voluntary sector. Your visitor management plan needs to have the input and backing of these various stakeholders to make sure that it is implemented successfully, that visitors experience a warm welcome and that local communities benefit fully from the visitor economy.

There may be some statutory obligations to consider - Conservation Areas, Listed Buildings, World Heritage Site designations, Sites of Special Scientific Interest (S.S.S.I.) etc. You need to agree objectives with stakeholders at the outset. Between them, they are likely to manage a lot of your visitor product and infrastructure so will be responsible for delivery of large parts of the visitor management plan. Local communities objections to visitors are often because they do not understand the importance of visitors to the local economy - and also because local people may bear the brunt of negative impact. So you will need to communicate information about the positives - the impact of visitor spend on jobs, local services and facilities - and about how a good visitor management plan can tackle potential negative impacts.

Setting objectives
Your visitor management objectives will be specific to your destination and stakeholders. They should address the need for: a warm welcome and good first impressions clear orientation and navigation relevant information for the market - supplied when, where and how they want it quality experiences in a safe setting.

A toolkit to help your visitor management planning

A toolkit to help your visitor management planning

Part 1 Preparation: Your stakeholders and objectives

Here are some examples of visitor management objectives from elsewhere:

Case study - Historic Town objectives Case study - Urban objectives

The objectives for the development of a strategic approach to visitor management in City Eastside (part of Tower Hamlets in London) are listed below. To deliver a joined-up strategic approach across the area that will help create a sustainable destination, positioned as a central and east London gateway, making the most of its rich diversity, creating a welcome for visitors, offering high quality, value for money services and celebrating Londons lesser known gems To act as a pilot for promoting destinations through the logic of the offer rather than relying on landmark drivers or borough initiatives To meet the needs of high spend business visitors, needing focused local visitor services within a short time frame - I have an hour to spend, what can I do? - to the direct benefit of the local area To improve the ability of visitors and business residents to navigate the area, with recommendations for innovative new signage, on street information and the provision of appropriate information at key entrance points to the area To improve visitors knowledge and understanding of the City and East Londons product offer To enhance the experience of visitors and day time population and distribute the economic benefits of visitor economy to further increase the number of Small & Medium Enterprises and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) businesses benefiting from an increase in local spend To understand how to attract the high percentage of day visitors and short stay visitors who visit the major attractions on the edge of this area and increase their desire / confidence to explore further into the City and East London and experience the lesser known area offer To understand how to drive visitors into the street market, independent retail shops and niche attractions to assist their sustainability and long term survival To improve visitors experience when they emerge from key transport points such as Liverpool Street, Fenchurch Street, Tower Gateway, Tower Hill, Aldgate, Aldgate East, Shoreditch. There are six core objectives of the Windsor and Maidenhead Visitor Management Strategy. To improve the quality of experience for residents and visitors alike by providing the infrastructure required to support local businesses involved in tourism To seek and establish commercial and community partnerships by which, through working together and funding initiatives jointly, we can achieve our aims To target specific market sectors, to increase the length of stay, frequency of visit and dispersal of visitors, in order to maximise economic benefit to all areas of the borough all year round To use technology to maximise the impact of the visitor management strategy including websites, email, telephone technology and other digital formats such as television To complement and support other related strategies, in particular the Cultural Strategy, the Local Plan, the Best Value Plan, Regional Economic Development Strategy and Tomorrows Tourism to act as a guidance document for town centre management and generate funding to support initiatives of the borough To implement and monitor progress of the visitor management strategy on a regular basis

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Part 1 Preparation: Your stakeholders and objectives

Checklist: Objectives and Stakeholders

Case study - Cultural/Heritage site objectives

The Derwent Valley Mills Management Plan has an overarching mission. To conserve the unique and important cultural landscape of the Derwent Valley Mills Site To interpret and promote its assets, and to enhance its character, appearance and economic well-being in a sustainable manner The Management Plan has seven specific aims. To identify key issues affecting both the vulnerability of the cultural landscape and opportunities for its enhancement, and measures to protect the crucial significance of the site To establish guidelines for future management of the site and the buildings and land within it, so that the essential character of the cultural landscape is conserved To increase public awareness of and interest in the Derwent Valley Mills site, and to promote its educational and cultural value To develop an integrated and sustainable approach to meeting the transportation needs of the site To identify how present and possible future tourism within the Derwent Valley Mills can be developed in an environmentally and economically sustainable way for the benefit of the local economy To provide a common framework in which owners, occupiers, residents, public and voluntary agencies can pursue both individual and partnership action plans To establish lasting mechanisms for monitoring, co-ordination and consultation

Key steps 1) Agree who will be members of your partnership /steering group, its terms of reference and remit 2) Agree the timeframe in which to prepare your plan and get key dates in the diary 3) Define your objectives - either in a wider visitor economy strategy or as a specific visitor management plan 4) Identify who will do the work - a lead officer / shared around by committee / referred to consultants - key players are likely to be tourism officers and town centre managers 5) Identify who will be the project champion - perhaps an elected member with commitment and influence Checklist Choose and empower your project champion Identify the local authority roles, and ensure that all relevant departments are involved Involve town centre managers and/or heritage site managers Engage with the prime land owners and developers Involve the transport operators Identify representative groups from the private sector, such as tourist associations Understand community wishes and their attitudes to visitors Define your spatial area Understand the strategic context - relevant existing policies and strategies e.g. economic, regeneration & visitor economy vision and objectives, structure and local plans, the local transport plan, national / regional visitor economy strategies and supplementary planning guidance Consider the implications of the Legible London initiative www.legiblelondon.info Understand the Local Authorities adopted tourism signposting policy and the LDA white on brown signposting guidance Identify specific designations that apply in, are adjacent to, or nearby your plan area, e.g. environmental and heritage conservation

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Part 2 Where are you now?

The checklist at the end of this section guides you through the audit. In summary, it should cover: major proposals which may have a bearing on visitor movements over the next few years - with an assessment of whether each is likely to go ahead and the timescale the products - what are the attractors that draw people to your destination and who provides them mapping of visitor movements, specifically: gateways (points of entry) honey-pots (what visitors primarily come to see) clusters (the key places where visitors congregate) nodes (places visitors go to or pass through) routes (where visitors are directed) desire lines (where visitors naturally tend to go)

market segments: most destinations attract a wide range of visitors and visitor management needs to apply across a range of market segments - yet it is still important to identify the core segments that are most important to the visitor economy and/or can be most easily influenced. These are often first-time visitors unfamiliar with their surroundings seeking guidance and reassurance.

Starting with an audit

Begin with a destination audit, which is then presented to the partners as a position statement - either as a document or power-point presentation, to make sure that there is a common understanding at the outset.

visitor behaviour: A Day in the Life of exercise is a useful technique to understand more about your visitor behaviour. This is a role play exercise where you put yourselves in the shoes of different market segments and consider the whole experience from their point of view - the maps they collect before leaving home, the journey and signage, where they park, their first impressions, how they move around and the routes they take, their worries and concerns, leaving the destination, their memories and recollections (the best bits and the not so good), etc. This can also be done through a Mystery Shopper who visits the destination to independently assess these sorts of factors. interpretation: existing provision of interpretive media including their locations and themes / story-lines.

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Part 2 Where are you now?

Focusing on gateways
The concept of gateways is an important part of visitor management. Gateways are the key point of engagement with visitors as they set out to explore the destination. In spatial terms there are two types of gateway - centralised gateways (often only one) at the heart or focal point of the destination and dispersed gateways (smaller ones) on the main routes into the area. Centralised gateways help to attract visitors to a specific point (such as an information centre - like the Britain and London Visitor Centre - or heritage or interpretation centre) and then disperse them to parts of the locality that have the capacity to take visitors. In their simplest form, welcome to boundary signs are gateways. So are rail and coach stations, and car parks. But more sophisticated gateways provide an opportunity for travellers to stop and be informed, advised and excited about their visit, create the first impression and provide the first welcome and introduction, explain what there is to see and do, give directions, supply an introduction to the local stories and offer clear mapping. Some destinations have the visitor footfall and the right site or property in the right location to warrant a visitor and information centre - although there are usually high capital and revenue costs associated with this, and relatively low income-generation. Visitor orientation and information is most effective where visitors congregate (and it reaches the most people). Viewpoints and attractions play an important gateway role. Some types of gateway have staff, and the visitor experience is as good (or otherwise) as the staff knowledge of their locality. Visitors will also ask local people for directions and advice - so people who live and work in your destination are ambassadors for your area. Personal recommendation is the most powerful communication medium. A gateway is also a leaving point - an opportunity to say thank you for visiting, have a safe journey, tell your friends and come back again.

Case study - Clusters

City Eastside has developed organically with a number of distinct and diverse visitor attractions such as the Tower of London, The Monument, Leadenhall Market, Spitalfields, St Katharines Dock, Brick Lane. City Eastside has been identified as an emerging destination which has a cluster of unique smaller attractions, retail and hospitality products and visitor interest but where activity is still limited. 1) Primary destination cluster The City 2) Secondary cluster Spitalfields and Brick Lane 3) Secondary cluster Tower of London and the Pool of London

Case study - Gateways

Boundless Parks is a pan-European project that includes gateway development. It has three partners / destinations. Kempen en Maasland in Belgium is a recently designated national park developing one major new gateway and five secondary gateways around the edge of the park. They are attached to existing visitor facilities and each has a specific theme targeting a particular market. Blaenavon World Heritage Site in South Wales has developed a pattern of dispersed gateways based on car parks, lay-bys and viewpoints, with a new TIC at the centre of the town. Veluwezoom is a national park in the heart of the Netherlands with significant visitor pressure. A new visitor centre has been developed to attract people away from the areas at risk to a locality which has capacity. The initial plans included park and ride services from the Centre further into the park.

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Part 2 Where are you now?

Checklist: Where are you now?

Case study - Markets

City Eastside current markets are City and City fringe workers, Local residents and Visiting friends and relatives. Business tourists are time poor and are looking for local activities. East London has a 17% share of the London business tourism market compared to 68% for Central London. Visit London research has shown corporate event organisers / planners has continued to grow and is less volatile that the USA and overseas markets. City Eastside target markets are: visitors to the traditional tourist attractions - the Tower of London is responsible for a large percentage of the market and the aim is to encourage those visitors to explore further under 40 overseas market - looking for non-traditional, more quirky cutting edge experience European markets - especially those coming into Stansted Airport, London City Airport and Eurostar - Spitalfields / Brick Lane is attracting increased press interest and travel film crews - promotion of the gems and independent retail offer can encourage repeat visitors to London to return and experience East London for the first time - London City Airport provides easy access from European cities USA markets press trips are being generated through the Jewish connections and journalists looking for areas that offer value for money European Meetings, Incentive, Conference and Exhibition sector - Tower Hamlets has been working in partnership with Visit London, London City Airport and ExCel London East London appeals to meeting and event organisers and the corporate sector that are looking for something new

Key steps 1) Identify who comes and why - now and in the future 2) Assess your relevant major proposals and their implications 3) Define your clusters where visitors congregate, and map it out 4) Do an audit of your existing signage and street furniture 5) Identify your current destination gateways 6) Identify your key market segments and act out a day in their life as a visitor 7) Prepare a SWOT analysis and position statement that focuses on these issues and helps to clarify your visitor management objectives Checklist How many visitors come and how much do they spend? Where do visitors go, what do they do, what are their motivations? What are the sites carrying capacities and which sites are close to, at, or beyond their carrying capacity? When are the peaks and troughs? Who manages the visitor sites and what are their objectives? Are there any visitor behaviour issues? What are the visitor characteristics in relation to: Seasonality; Languages; Where they stay; Length of stay; How they travel; Travel cohort - groups; Age / Social class; Childrens age range; Mobility / disability; Influence of weather; Advance booking Which segments plan, which are spontaneous, who are the explorers, who follow the crowd? Which segments are more easily influenced in terms of where to go, where to park etc? Where are the clusters: Tourist Information Centre (TIC) - Attractions - Beauty spots and View points - Retail - Events - Restaurants - Accommodation - Public realm - Trails, designated routes Street interpretation etc? Where are the gateways in relation to: Road - car, coach, bus, cycle; Rail - station; Foot - footpaths, bridleways; Boat - moorings, ferry terminal; Air - airport?

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Part 2 Where are you now?

Part 3 Where do you want to be?

Are the car parks appropriate for visitors - in terms of location, length of stay, charging? Is there a park and ride, is it geared to visitors needs? Is there a TIC and what gateway role does it have? What are the safety and security issues? What quality is the signage and public realm? Is there a scheme for white on brown signs? Who is responsible for the signage and public realm? What new developments are in the pipeline - which have planning consent, which have funding? Could Section 106 agreements create funding for visitor management? What quality improvements are planned? What changes to the public realm are expected? Are there any major new transport and road schemes?

Agreeing a Vision, Opportunities and Issues

A Visioning Workshop is a useful way to identify where you want to be and engage your stakeholders. It should set long-term objectives (say 10 years) and then identify the shorter term stepping stones to get there. These shorter term aspirations form the basis of your visitor management plan. There are a number of techniques to do this - working in small buzz groups, individually and in a plenary format with presentations and whole group discussions. The core elements to visioning are: some blue sky unrestrained thinking about where you want to be as a destination and what the visitor experience will be like acknowledge the constraints (often the resources and complexities of land ownership and partnerships) to refine the vision to ensure it is realistic identify the key challenges or obstacles to achieving it identify potential resource implications and sources of funding consider roles and responsibilities This process may result in new players joining the partnership - organisations not originally thought to be particularly relevant but, in fact, key to the longer term thinking.

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Part 3 Where do you want to be?

Case study - Destination vision

Woolwich stakeholders came together to listen to the audit findings, then to develop a vision and priorities: VISION / ASPIRATIONS Stakeholders recognised that visitors and visitor spend will play an important role supporting Woolwichs regeneration and future prosperity. Key aspirations are: that there will be a dramatic increase in the numbers of visitors, attracted by improvements to the heritage and leisure/retail offer, including the evening economy that visitors will spend more time and money in Woolwich in the future that the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games will prove a catalyst to boost visitor numbers and the quality of the visitor experience that improvements to public transport links will continue, improving accessibility and sustainability PRIORITIES Workshop delegates imagined and described the visitor experience in 2010/11 and then used these scenarios to identify the following priorities for improvement. Branding & marketing Information provision - pre-, during and post-visit Wayfinding / streetscape Safety, security and a warm welcome Facilities - toilets & parking Food & drink provision Partnership / interdependencies

Case study - Gateway vision

This sets out the vision for a gateway. The components of the visitor gateway should reflect the nature of both the site (and its environment) and the market. It will also be influenced by financial parameters, planning policies and highway issues. Gateways can be indoors (under cover) and out-of-doors. In each case they need to be managed, but not necessarily staffed. There is likely to be a hierarchy of gateway provision. For instance, sites close to major traffic routes could have a more extensive range of facilities and provide an overall introduction to the locality. Other gateway sites might be much smaller and focused. Here is a check list of the essential and desirable elements for both indoor and outdoor locations. ESSENTIAL FACILITIES - INDOOR LOCATION Entrance / advance signage Destination branding Car park / lay by Seating Area / local orientation maps Leaflets and dispenser Interpretive exhibition / leaflets ESSENTIAL FACILITIES - OUTDOOR LOCATION Entrance / advance signage Destination branding Car park / lay by Seating and shelter / shade Area / local orientation maps Leaflets and dispenser Interpretive panels / leaflets Tourist information point

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Part 3 Where do you want to be?

Checklist: Where do you want to be?

OTHER FACILITIES - INDOOR LOCATION Visitor centre Tourist information centre Wi-Fi facility Coach park Alternative onward transport Catering (vending or staffed) Relevant branded merchandise Interactive information consoles Participatory activities Education room OTHER FACILITES - OUTDOOR LOCATION Landmark feature / sculpture Viewpoint Coach park Alternative onward transport Catering (mobile or permanent) Relevant branded merchandise Picnic tables Barbeques Litter bins Childrens play area Dog exercise area Events space Education room / space Rangers base Wi-Fi facility Interactive information kiosk Participatory activities Circular trails - walking, cycling, pony trekking Guided walks Audio walking trails Listening posts Cycle hire Stabling Touring caravan overnight halt Moorings (other boat services) Checklist Identify when and where your Workshop will be held Determine the format to ensure it is truly interactive and free thinking Consider who is best placed to chair and who should facilitate Ensure all of the comments - no matter how incidental - are captured and fed back to the participants Key steps 1) Establish your 10+ year destination vision 2) Identify the visitor management ingredients 3) Set out your shorter term vision that forms a stepping stone 4) Identify the key challenges and obstacles 5) Adjust the partnership mix in the light of the outcomes

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Part 4 How are you going to get there?

Gateways and Mapping Designating gateways Gateway specification Desire lines and connectivity - gateways, honey-pots, other points Way Finding Approach routes to the destination White on brown Traffic signs Welcome to boundary signs Neighbourhood and street signs Orientation maps Pedestrian fingerposts Themed trails Leisure drives Alternative transport - park and ride, land trains, Departure signage and messages Information Information online Information on street Walk-in information, staffed and unstaffed Information collection and databases Saleable print - OS maps, guide books, etc People and Welcome Visitor Information Customer care Ambassadors - community and traders Information patrollers Guided tours and walks Street animation Anti social behaviour

Concept Design Destination brand and logo Concept design options Visualisation of street furniture components Public Realm Car parking Coach parking and drop-off Viewpoints Building plaques Public toilets Street furniture Public art CCTV Business and neighbourhood watch Street cleaning Interpretation Themes Locations Media

Other Aspects Events Ticketing Disabled and sensory needs Volunteer schemes Visitor payback schemes

Action planning
You can now start to write your visitor management plan. Hold an Action Planning Workshop to cover this ground as quickly and as comprehensively as possible. This should involve some of your stakeholders especially those at the sharp end of delivery. There are again a number of techniques to do this - working in small buzz groups, individually and in a plenary format. Your overall plan should be broken down into some bite-sized chunks. Subject headings are suggested below. The components will vary according to your local circumstances - some may not be relevant to you.

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Part 4 How are you going to get there?

Checklist: How are you going to get there?

Case study - Project components

The Warwick Renaissance project aimed to improve the public realm in Warwick town centre for the benefit of the visitor economy. The project aimed to develop a new visitor economy infrastructure which is cutting edge in design and makes the most of new technology. There are six strands: 1) PRIMARY GATEWAYS - Developing a Visitor Gateway feature at specific sites orientation map panels (one about Warwick and one about Shakespeare Country and the West Midlands), modular interpretive panel on the story of Warwick, map dispenser 2) SECONDARY GATEWAYS - Orientation map panels with map dispensers and brochure display racks at a range of indoor locations - hotel lobbies, attractions, supermarkets, railway station, ticket offices, etc 3) HUB - Use Warwick TIC as the destination hub - based on a modular approach creating a totally flexible space in which to carry out interpretation, learning, rental, sales and information delivery 4) WI-FI WARWICK - A wi-fi network across the town centre incorporating hot spots and a supply of PDAs hired out to visitors from the TIC, attractions, accommodation and retail outlets, thereby creating learning opportunities through innovative interpretation of Warwick past, present and future - linked to GPS mapping to provide an interactive map of Warwick 5) SPOKES - Update the pedestrian signage to reflect the new urban design standard created in the public realm and the re-alignment of visitor factors and visitor flows - plus temporary banners on lamp posts at strategic points on the approaches in and out of the town to highlight forthcoming festivals and events 6) BRAND - Build the destination brand by establishing a consistent design style on the ground through the public realm and through marketing by South Warwickshire Tourism and the Warwick Town Centre Partnership. The Town Centre Management Group brings together all of the local partners to support the growth of the town and sees tourism as a key economic sector. The Group meets monthly to make all key decisions relating to project direction and expenditure. The District Council acts as banker and is responsible for drawing down external funds and providing information on progress and outputs. South Warwickshire Tourism has a very successful track record in marketing and information services over the last 9 years. Warwickshire County Council is a major partner with responsibility within the public realm and a specific role within highways and transportation. The Market Hall is owned by the County Council and is the base for the County Museum Service.

Key steps 1) Identify your headings from the list on page 27 (eg Wayfinding, Public Realm, Interpretation, etc) 2) Under each heading, (eg Wayfinding) work through the solutions to each of these points: Where we are now Firm plans in place and dates confirmed Where we want to be by (year to be agreed) Our next steps Who will lead, who will do the work, who is the champion Resources and timing requirements Overall priority (high / medium / low) Other comments and information Checklist Identify when and where the Action Planning Workshop will be held Determine the format to ensure it engages with all participants Consider who is best placed to chair and who should facilitate Ensure all of the comments - no matter how incidental - are captured Ensure the long list of components are considered under each heading The relevant components to your destination should feature in your list of actions Identify specialist skills that need to be brought in as you move ahead - design, mapping, interpretive specialists etc

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Public-funded tourism support for London: whos who The London Development Agency has devolved responsibility from the Mayor for tourism in London. This includes a remit to spread the benefits of visitor spend beyond the central London honeypots, through its Sub-Regional Tourism Development Programme. For more information see www.lda.gov.uk or contact Niall Brolly, the LDAs Tourism Development Manager for East London niall.brolly@lda.gov.uk Visit London is the official visitor organisation for the capital, core funded by the London Development Agency. Its aim is to promote London as the worlds most exciting city by marketing to domestic and overseas leisure and business visitors, as well as to Londoners themselves. Visit London is a partnership organisation which also acts as a voice for Londons tourism industry. It was formerly known as the London Tourist Board. For more information see http://www.corporate.visitlondon.com. The London Boroughs vary in their support for the visitor economy: some have designated tourism teams, while others support tourism through their economic development and place making agendas, including town centre management initiatives. For more details, contact Niall Brolly at the LDA - see above.

Other languages and formats: a summarised version of this document is also available in large print, braille, audio casette and in the languages listed below. For a copy, please email: info@lda.gov.uk, telephone: 020 7953 8000, or write to London Development Agency, Palestra, 197 Blackfriars Road, London SE1A 8AA
Gujarati Hindi

Greek

Bengali

Punjabi

Chinese

Vietnamese

Arabic

Turkish

Urdu

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London Development Agency Palestra 197 Blackfriars Road London SE1 8AA Telephone: 020 7593 8000 Fax: 020 7593 8002 www.lda.gov.uk Textphone: 020 7593 8001