news€¦ · visitengland’s tourism superstar 2015. ... delighted to host a travel trade...
TRANSCRIPT
news
www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org
Issue 29 www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org June 2014
Following on from the success of last year’s inaugural Oxfordshire Cotswolds Tourism Superstar, we are delighted to announce that we will again be running this initiative.
In association with VisitEngland, the national tourist board, and the Witney Gazette, our media partner, we are now searching for the 2014 Oxfordshire Cotswolds Tourism Superstar, an individual who is instrumental in giving the visitor the best possible experience.
We are looking for an individual working in the tourism sector in West Oxfordshire, either front of house or behind the scenes, who is passionate about the Oxfordshire Cotswolds and goes above and beyond the call of duty to make the visitor experience that little bit more special: a person who is welcoming, friendly and has demonstrated a commitment to making every visitor’s trip memorable.
It’s time for you to nominate someone from your business to give them the recognition they deserve.
We are looking to shine a light on the fantastic range of businesses and individuals that we have across the Oxfordshire Cotswolds whether the business is large or small, an attraction or accommodation provider, a tour guide or an events company. The individual will be one that interacts with customers and enhances the visitor experience so it could be a receptionist, waiter, customer services assistant, or tour guide – anyone you can think that really makes a difference.
We look forward to receiving your nominations!
The five shortlisted candidates will be announced in the Witney Gazette in July and there will then be an online vote, which will close on 29th July 2014.
The winner will be announced at the Oxfordshire Cotswolds Summer Networking Event that will take place at Eynsham Hall on Tuesday 19th August between 5pm and 8pm
The winner will be eligible for nomination to VisitEngland’s Tourism Superstar 2015.
Searching for our next Tourism Superstar
The Criteria
The Oxfordshire Cotswolds Tourism Superstar must:
- Work in a business that welcomes visitors
- Go above and beyond the call of duty to make the visitor experience one to remember
- Be available and willing to attend the finalists’ event on Tuesday 19th August
- Be aware that they have been nominated and happy to participate in any related PR and media opportunities
Nominations close on Wednesday 25th June. For more information and to make your nomination visit
www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org/superstar
www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org
VisitBritain in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds
North American Buyers’ Visit
Following on from the work we have been doing in the
North American market over recent years we were
delighted to host a travel trade delegation from North
America and Canada in March as part of VisitBritain’s
Hosted Buyers’ Market Place event.
The group consisted of 30 delegates: key buyers and
agents; travel media and VisitBritain overseas staff. The
visit was a great success and was based on our new
Downton Abbey product, which is proving very
successful in this market.
We worked in partnership with the following businesses
to deliver the familiarisation visit and would like to thank
them for being involved: The Swan Inn Swinbrook,
Cogges; Bampton Archive, Blenheim Palace, The Old
Swan & Minster Mill and International Friends.
Laurie Scott, the Partnership Development Manager for
VisitBritain in New York said:
‘The group thoroughly enjoyed their visit. It was great to
see so much of the product that we promote and really
interesting to see the new Downton Abbey itinerary.
The buyers and media were very interested in the
Oxfordshire Cotswolds and what it has to offer’.
One of the buyers, Laure DeMaio – Director at Global
Consolidated Services Inc., commented:
‘Now that I’ve seen how beautiful your part of the
country is, I need to make sure we’re showing it off the
best way and in as many ways as possible!’
VisitBritain European Staff Visit
In May we were also delighted to host VisitBritain’s
European B2B Team for their annual strategy day and
familiarisation visit -. a great opportunity to promote the
area to those who actually manage the overseas markets.
Representatives attended from London, Sweden,
Germany, France, Denmark, Poland, Spain, Norway,
Holland, Belgium, Italy and Russia.
We worked closely with local businesses to ensure this
was a great showcase for the area and would like to
thank the following businesses for their participation:
Eynsham Hall, Oxford Bus Museum, Wychwood
Brewery, Blenheim Palace, The Macdonald Bear Hotel
and First Great Western Trains.
This was a great profile-raising opportunity helping to
promote the Oxfordshire Cotswolds in these important
overseas markets.
Kevin Jones, B2B and Commercial Manager at VisitBritain
attended the visit and said:
‘We were amazed by the kind hospitality of the
Oxfordshire Cotswolds and all their destination partners.
It really was a great showcase and all of the VisitBritain
team went away enthused and knowing a lot more
about the destination that will help us to promote it out
in the different markets’.
www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org
Learn the secrets of PR
Do you read the papers in the morning and wonder how on
earth that local business manages to get their news in the
press week in, week out? It's time to answer all of those
nagging questions and find out how you can do exactly the
same.
On Tuesday 24th June we are running a fantastic FREE half
day workshop in Witney, hosted by PR Agency Director
Catherine Warrilow of Seriously PR, in which you will learn:
How PR, marketing, advertising and social media are
different
How to prepare your business for PR
The basic principles of PR to help you start
communicating your news
How to really understand your target market
Finding your news story
Getting your news into the press and on the radio
Some really important do's and don'ts
Monitoring your efforts and maximising your impact
This is an interactive workshop with activities, question time
and lots more, all designed to help you get the exposure that
your business deserves.
Catherine has over 10 years industry experience and will be
able to answer all of your questions - she's full of great ideas
and really knows how to find the newsworthy stories within
your business. She'll give you tips specific to what you do
and help you to feel inspired and motivated to promote
your business effectively.
Seriously PR specialises in travel, tourism and leisure so this
workshop is especially beneficial if you fall into these
categories but will be relevant to all business sectors.
Booking is essential, as places are limited: contact Chris
Jackson to reserve a place.
Date: Tuesday 24 June
Time: 11am – 3pm (light lunch included)
Venue: Committee Room 2, West Oxfordshire District
Council, Woodgreen Offices, Witney OX28 1NB
Moving Crocodiles
Congratulations to Shaun Foggett and his team
at Crocodiles of the World.
Not only did they successfully manage their
move to smart new premises on the Burford
Road near Brize Norton (the old Foxbury Farm
site) but they’ve also been busy acquiring some
great new exhibits including three young adult
female Salties (Saltwater Crocodiles) – the
world’s largest living reptiles!
The UK’s only crocodile zoo is now open seven
days a week and a great addition to both the
year round and child friendly attractions in the
Oxfordshire Cotswolds.
www.crocodilesoftheworld.co.uk
The Bedroom Browser
Many thanks to all those local businesses who
supported this year’s publication.
If any accommodation providers have still not got
their copies then don’t worry there are still some
available in the Visitor Information Centres in Burford
and Witney or you can contact Chris Jackson.
www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org
The Cotswolds Destination Management Plan
In February 2013 VisitEngland invited local tourism partners and businesses across the Cotswolds to step forward and develop a Destination Management Plan. After a great deal of discussion and consultation a Destination Management Plan for tourism across the Cotswolds is now complete. The vision for the Cotswolds aspires to make it a year round destination through the sustainable growth of the Cotswolds visitor economy by 5% per annum. The plan aims to set strategic direction for tourism across the Cotswolds and harness collaboration across all sectors to bring growth in the industry. You can download a copy of the Destination Management Plan and view comments that were received as part of the consultation for tourism across the Cotswolds on The Cotswolds website: www.cotswolds.com/trade-room
The countdown to next year’s Rugby World Cup has begun – there are now less than
500 days to go.
When you’re planning next year’s marketing it may well be worth bearing in mind that:
many of our most important overseas markets have teams playing in the competition:
USA, Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, South Africa, New Zealand and Japan have all
qualified; Kingsholm (in Gloucester) is one of the official match venues; (with four fixtures
including USA v Japan on 11th October); there is a lot of ‘free time’ for fans to fill in be-
tween matches and given how close we are, a good opportunity for them to visit!
If you have any ‘rugby connections’ or other possible rugby related PR stories then it is
probably time to start dusting them off and getting ready to use them.
The Rugby World Cup runs from 18th September until 31st October 2015.
www.rugbyworldcup.com
www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org
Promoting the Oxfordshire Cotswolds
Destination Britain APMEA
In May we attended Destination Britain APMEA in
Malaysia in partnership with Blenheim Palace. This was
the 11th year of running the event and is VisitBritain’s
largest overseas trade mission.
Around 60 UK & Irish suppliers attended as well as over
100 buyers and media from China, Hong Kong, Japan,
India, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Australia, New Zealand, South
Africa, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand
and Cambodia.
The event saw us attend a full schedule of one-to-one
business appointments that gave us the opportunity to
meet over 100 of the best travel agents, tour operators
and media from 17 markets throughout the Asia Pacific,
Middle East and Africa region to promote the
Oxfordshire Cotswolds as a must see visitor destination.
We met with qualified leads that will help secure
business in these fast growing and dynamic regions.
Interest in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds was extremely
high and we have already seen a significant number of
enquiries come in as a result.
Brochure request campaigns
Every year we run a number of brochure request
campaigns, sending out the Visitor Guide in response to
these requests. This year the campaigns have been very
successful with over 12,000 brochures sent out already
this year in response to the main campaigns.
The Oxfordshire Cotswolds website
The Oxfordshire Cotswolds website is currently
breaking all records: unique visitor numbers were up
60% during the first four months of the year (compared
to the same period last year) and website hits are now
close to 1 million a month.
Emarketing
We’ve been building our media, travel trade and
consumer contact databases sending out regular
enewsletters to each sector – an average send of almost
10,000 per month with an open rate of just under 30%.
Social Media
While continuing to work on our Twitter and Facebook
channels we’ve recently started putting some concerted
effort into Pinterest with the creation of a number of
new boards and additions to existing ones.
www.pinterest.com/oxcots
Great for Groups - Manchester
The Oxfordshire Cotswolds will be having a stand at
this year’s Great for Groups exhibition at Trafford Park
in Manchester on September 3rd.
The show will inspire group travel organisers and tour
operators looking for great trip ideas. The event is set
to attract over 1,000 group organisers and is a great
opportunity to promote the Oxfordshire Cotswolds.
We have already booked a stand and will represent the
Oxfordshire Cotswolds as a whole but if any tourism
business wishes to partner us then please let us know
by contacting Diane Blackwell.
To find out more information about the show please
visit www.greatforgroups.co.uk/north/
www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org
Rugby World Cup 2015
The countdown to next year’s Rugby World Cup has
begun – there are now less than 500 days to go.
When you’re planning next year’s marketing it may well
be worth bearing in mind that:
Many of our most important overseas markets
have teams playing in the competition: USA,
Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, South Africa,
New Zealand and Japan have all qualified
Kingsholm (in Gloucester) is one of the official
match venues (with four fixtures including USA v
Japan on 11th October)
There is a lot of ‘free time’ for fans to fill in
between matches
If you have any ‘rugby connections’ or other possible
rugby related PR stories then it is probably time to start
dusting them off and getting ready to use them.
The Rugby World Cup kicks off on 18th September
and runs until 31st October 2015.
www.rugbyworldcup.com
The winner is announced!
We received over 250 entries for this
year's photographic competition, making
the choice of shortlist and then winner
exceptionally difficult . A big thank you to
all the entrants and congratulations to you
all - the standard of entries was truly
exceptional.
However there can only be one winner
and that is Howard Sherwood, who took
this wonderful picture of a wheat field
near Lyneham. He will receive a beautiful
reproduction of his entry mounted onto a 30 x 20 inch art canvas – ready to hang on the wall - which has been kindly
donated by Blueprint Imaging Limited plus a scrumptious afternoon tea for two served in the Wedgwood Lounge
compliments of De Vere Venues Heythrop Park Resort
The image will feature in our 2015 Oxfordshire Cotswolds Visitor Guide to promote the destination to potential visitors.
The Oxfordshire Cotswolds Visitor Guide 2015
We are just starting work on the 2015 Oxfordshire Cotswolds Visitor Guide, so look out for the information and entry forms arriving very soon.
This is the main piece of promotional literature for the destination and we will be printing at least 45,000 copies. It will also be available as a mobile phone App and downloadable on our website, as well as being taken to group travel and trade shows.
For further information please contact Diane Blackwell or visit
www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org/advertise
2014 Photographic Competition
Oxfordshire Cotswolds Summer Networking Event
Make sure that you've got Tuesday 19th August saved in your diary!
Eynsham Hall will very kindly be hosting our Summer Networking Event between 5pm and 8pm on Tuesday
19th August. This is a great opportunity to network with other local tourism businesses and to come along and
catch up with the tourism team.
The event will also see the announcement of the results of the 2014 Oxfordshire Cotswolds Tourism Superstar
competition and the winner’s award presentation.
Invitations will be sent out in due course but make sure you save the date in your diary.
The Cotswolds
Discoverer - it's just the
ticket!
The Cotswolds Discoverer pass is the perfect and hassle-free way for your guests to travel around and explore much of the Cotswolds by bus and by train.
With either a one-day or three-day pass offering unlimited* travel, they can visit a wide range of attractions, towns and villages including gardens, historic buildings, picture-postcard villages.
As well as enjoying a great day out or short break, they can also save money on travel costs, as well as helping to look after our precious environment by leaving the car behind.
*not valid on rail services before 08.50, Mondays to Fridays.
You can buy the Cotswolds Discoverer at any mainline train station in the UK or on participating bus services in the Cotswolds: (Cotswold Green; Johnson's Excelbus; Pulham's Coaches, Go Ride CIC and Swanbrook.)
Costs Adult 1day £10 Adult 3 day £25 Child 1 day £5 Child 3 day £12.50
www.escapetothecotswolds.org.uk/discoverer
www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org
Winners, one and all!
Congratulations to all the local businesses who have won awards and
accolades over the past few months! Here are just a few of the
recent winners…
At the West Oxfordshire Business Awards (WOBAs):
Witney Lakes Resort won the Heythrop Park Leisure, Tourism and
Hospitality Award
Aston Pottery wont the Blenheim Palace Rural Business award
At the Oxfordshire Business Awards winners aren’t announced unitl
the awards dinner on June 20 but we are guaranteed a local winner
in the Four Pillars Cultural Evets & Tourism Award as all three
finalists are from the Oxfordshire Cotswolds! Good luck to The Old
Swan & Minster Mill; Chipping Norton Literary Festival and Aston
Pottery.
VisitEngland Awards for Excellence
The Feathered Nest
Country Inn won the
coveted national Tourism
Pub of the Year category –
for the second year running.
Last, but by no means least,
a special mention should
also be made of our very
own Burford Vis itor
Information Centre, who
got a Gold Award from the
Green Tourism Business
Scheme.
Summer Showcase Spectacular
Come and meet leading venues and suppliers from Oxford and Oxfordshire who are renowned for hosting meetings and events on every scale.
• World class venues and services • Face-to-face discussions • Local businesses who can help with incentive planning • Completely free of charge to attend, including complimentary drinks and refreshments •Workshops and events scheduled throughout the event
Date: Wednesday 13th August 2014 Time: 3–7pm Venue: Saïd Business School, Oxford OX1 1HP
Register on line at www.meetoxfordshire.com or contact the Meet Oxfordshire (T: 01865 252799 E: [email protected])
www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org
Eynsham Hall
Refurbishment
Following the acquisition of Eynsham Hall by
The Cathedral Group, Eynsham Hall has
undergone significant refurbishment works - in
total, £2m has been spent to date with a
further £500k planned for this year.
The conference, wedding and leisure venue, set
in 3,000 acres of manicured parklands and
grounds, has seen a total renovation of all the
function rooms including the impressive library
which combines traditional oak panelling with
geometric wallpaper and striped furnishings.
The bedrooms in the main hall as well as those
in the separate lodge and court buildings are
being made over with many already completed.
Dining facilities are impressive - many guests
credit the food and the service from all staff as
being the real draw to this venue, on top of the
Jacobean grandeur of the mansion house.
www.eynshamhall.com
www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org
A big summer ahead in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds
The Times recently ran an article on the best music festivals this summer and of
these no less than three were right here in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds. When
you consider the other major events taking place, like the CLA Game Fair at
Blenheim Palace, you can see that there’s a
great summer season ahead.
Major events this summer include:
Blenheim Palace Flower Show - 20/22 June
Cornbury Festival – 4/6 July
CLA Game Fair – 18/20 July
Wilderness Festival – 8/10 August
The Big Feastival – 30/31 August
Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials
– 11/14 September
For more information on these (and many
other events taking place locally) then visit the
What’s On section of our website
www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org/whats-on
Hayley Beer Tourism Services Manager
01993 861561
Chris Jackson Tourism Development Officer [email protected]
01993 861563
Diane Blackwell Tourism Development Officer
01993 861553
Wendy Dancer Visitor Information Centres
[email protected] 01285 623261
West Oxfordshire District Council Tourism Team
DIARY dates
11 June Using Social Media for your Business
Subsidised workshop - Moreton in Marsh
24 June Learn the Secrets of PR
Free workshop - Witney
13 August Summer Showcase Spectacular
Oxford
19 August Oxfordshire Cotswolds Tourism Superstar & Summer
Networking Event - Eynsham Hall
15-21 September West Oxfordshire Week
Join the Oxfordshire Cotswolds (OxCots) on