Regional Tourism Pilot Project

The key objective of the Regional Tourism Pilot Project is to act as a proof of concept to demonstrate the value of taking a regional approach to promoting the region to visitors.

Learning from this project will be used to inform the development of a regional response to the Tourism Sector Deal.

Detailed performance indicators will be agreed as part of the procurement process but are expected to include: • Increase in visitor numbers, particularly focused on shoulder months, and length of stay across the region • Increase in online travel agent bookings for regional visits during campaign periods • Overall increase in online engagement, e.g.

Website visits, content downloaded The final project approach will be agreed as part of the procurement process, but West of England will expect the exercise to include the following activities as a minimum: • Identification of key target market(s), which might include leisure visitors, business visitors and explore international/UK/local markets • Creation and promotion of new regional itineraries for these markets that: o look further than city-centre visits and include other regional attractions such as Aerospace Bristol, coastal areas, market towns and rural attractions o enable individual places and assets to be promoted as part of a wider itinerary • Development of targeted promotional material / approaches to reach target markets, including online content • Identification and implementation of opportunities for private sector funding/investment to support on-going marketing activities The scope of the pilot project will focus on activity carried out in the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership area of Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

We expect the proof of concept to clearly demonstrate the benefits of a strategic and co-ordinated approach to delivery across the region.