Colchester: positive tourism trend continues ...
VISITORS are continuing to love their visit to the Colchester area and are appreciating the efforts being made to improve their experience here latest figures show.The latest statistics (2005) show that tourism is growing in its significance to the local economy. Consider this: . The value of tourism to Colchester has risen by 200% from £63.1 million in 1993 (base year) to £189.6 million in 2005. . Colchester attracted over 4.8 million trips from visitors in 2005 (up 71% on the 1993 figure of 2.8 million). . Tourism supports 4,452 actual jobs (up 66% on the 1993 figure of 2,685)
in terms of headlines:
In terms of headlines . . Visitors spending more locally: although there was a 12% drop in the number of visitor trips in the Borough during 2005 compared to 2004 (189.4m in 2004 compared to 4.8m trips in 2005 ), these visitors spent more money here during their visit. This is good news as their economic contribution is growing. There could be many reasons for the drop in visitor numbers including adverse weather (too hot and visitors go to coastal resorts, too cold and they prefer indoor attractions), decreasing leisure spend due to rising interest rates and possibly the impact on visitor confidence after London bombings in July 2005. Overall, managed visitor numbers and increasing spend is a sustainable position in which to be.. Colchester remains national leader in the quality of its parks and gardens
. Overall improvement: areas of concern identified from 2005 research (such as range of shops, quality of shopping environment, quality of service in shops and range of attractions) have all improved. In addition, the key issues identified from surveys in 2005 are also showing significant improvement particularly in the level of street and toilet cleanliness. There has also been improvement in the perception of the cost of parking
. However: pedestrian signage and the continuing decline in feeling of welcome and general atmosphere are still key issues for Colchester and are likely to remain so during this time of great change.
Visitors love the upkeep of Colchester's parks and gardens, where Colchester is a national leader compared to other historic towns. They also appreciate the quality of service in the VisitColchester Information Centre, which also came out top compared to other historic towns which took part in the survey last year. This also supports the regional England for Excellence Award which the Visitor Services team at the Centre won in 2006.
Staying in the Colchester area is also great value. 87% of visitors said this was good or very good; (compares to 76% in other historic towns). The quality of service in local accommodation also came out well with 85% of visitors saying they thought this was good/very good. A similar positive 'thumbs up' came out when asking visitors' opinions of places to eat and drink.
Commenting on the results, Councillor Christopher Arnold, the Council's Portfolio Holder for Culture & Environment, said: "Given what the world has seen over recent years, Colchester is doing remarkably well. Research provides a valuable insight into the performance of Colchester as a visitor destination. It helps to inform decisions about visitor management, where to invest decisions, what kind of marketing should take place and what kind of visitor facilities should be provided. The Council is taking action to make Colchester even more attractive to visitors and local people alike in future."
However, there is always room for improvement and Colchester could do better by continuing to improve street cleanliness and the cleanliness of public toilets. The good news is that plans are already in hand to address this as Councillor Arnold explains: "Feedback from visitors is just one source of information. Similar views have also come from residents and plans are already in place to tackle these important issues."
Tourism is a competitive industry and continuous improvement is key to success. Visitor expectations are constantly rising and the industry needs to invest to compete. Colchester Zoo is a classic example. There has been more than £15m invested in improving the visitor experience and habitat for the animals over the past dozen years to make Colchester Zoo one of the region's leading visitor attractions. Similarly, an ambitious re-display programme is planned for the Castle Museum during 2008 which will make the Castle an even better place to visit. Shopping is also a very popular attraction for Colchester and Williams & Griffin's recent modernisation programme is making the shopping experience there more attractive.
Colchester will also be offering new attractions for visitors and local people alike. The firstsite:newsite cultural attraction will offer new parkland with views of the Roman wall, new conferencing and film screening facilities, a café as well as gallery space. In addition there will be a new 10,000 seater community stadium, a new Roman Circus attraction, 350,000sq ft of new retail space in the town centre, a new cultural quarter and improved interpretation of Colchester's history and stories.
Councillor Arnold added: "Colchester is on the cusp of something great. There are few destinations, especially in the East of England Region, which can claim to have such tourism potential. These planned improvements demonstrate our ambition and intention to sustain and grow visitor activity, to retain our current visitor base and capitalise on the Colchester area's potential, especially in relation to the 2012 Olympics and realise our ambition to be a prestigious regional centre." ENDS 29 May 2007