Agenda item

To enable Cabinet to give consideration to recommendations made by the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee in respect of the Tourism Strategy.

RESOLVED that -

(a)    Cabinet notes the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s recommendations; and

(b)    the parish and town councils within the District be included, in due course, as part of the consultation process on the emerging Tourism Strategy.

Cabinet was informed that, at the meeting of the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 30 July 2018 (Minute 22 referred) the Head of Sport and Leisure (Mike Carran) had given an update to that Committee on the production of a new District wide Tourism Strategy.

That update had touched on the following:-

(i)            that the Strategy was due to be produced by October 2018;

(ii)           the ever closer working relationships with the private sector and the voluntary sector (such as on successful initiatives like Love Clacton and the Coastal Communities Group) and the lessons to be taken into the Strategy; and

(iii)          new models for marketing and promoting tourism and the importance of “Local Pride” in tourism within the District.

Mr Carran had then outlined to the Committee the nine key focuses of the new Strategy, namely:-

(1)  Two tier focus on Events;

(2)  Council’s role in facilitating as well as leading on Events;

(3)  Tourism promotion;

(4)  Digital marketing;

(5)  Increasing sector confidence for example through increasing investment;

(6)  Developing the seafront offer;

(7)  Developing the heritage offer for example the Mayflower 400 project;

(8)  Partnership working; and

(9)  Promoting the district for outdoor activity.

The Corporate Director (Operational Services) (Paul Price) had then addressed the Committee and had emphasised that tourism was a fast moving, agile economy and that this had not been taken into account in the previous Tourism Strategy (2010-16). The private sector had not been involved in the formulation of that Strategy. The Strategy had not focused on the visitor economy from within the District as well as that from outside the District. In the new Strategy there was a greater emphasis on the Council’s role of facilitation.

Having considered and discussed the information provided the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee had:-

“RESOLVED that this Committee recommends to Cabinet that –

(a)  the parish and town councils within the District be included as part of the consultation process on the emerging Tourism Strategy; and

(b)  in view of the fact that tourism generates £372million income for the District, additional funding be allocated to the Tourism Section within the Operational Services department in order to ensure that it is fully resourced.”

Cabinet was made aware that the Leisure and Tourism Portfolio Holder had thanked the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee for its consideration and its recommendations and had commented as follows:-

“In respect of recommendation (a), I support the proposal that the parish and town councils within the District be included as part of the consultation process on the emerging Tourism Strategy; and

In respect of recommendation (b), I will discuss this with the Finance and Corporate Resources Portfolio Holder, the Corporate Director (Operational Services and the Head of Finance, Revenues and Benefits as part of the budget setting process.”

Having considered the recommendations of the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the responses of the Leisure and Tourism Portfolio Holder thereto:-

It was moved by Councillor Skeels Snr., seconded by Councillor Fairley and:-

RESOLVED that -

(a)    Cabinet notes the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s recommendations; and

(b)    the parish and town councils within the District be included, in due course, as part of the consultation process on the emerging Tourism Strategy.