Agenda item

Visitor Plan Refresh 2020-2030

Minutes:

Councillor Evans OBE (Leader), Adrian Vinken OBE (Chair of Destination Plymouth), David Draffan (Service Director for Economic Development), Amanda Lumley (Chief Executive – Destination Plymouth) and Patrick Knight (Economy, Partnerships and Regeneration Manager) presented this item.

 

The report outlined the Council’s intention to commission the refresh of its Visitor Plan 2020 – 2030, took a retrospective look at the achievements of the existing plan and looked to maximise the legacy of Mayflower 400.

 

The report outlined the following key areas -

 

(a)

the need to refresh the Visitor Plan in the light of an evolving market place, the significant progress against the existing plan and new opportunities arising which included how best to capitalise on the Mayflower 400 legacy and the proposal to establish the UK’s first marine national park;

 

 

(b)

the achievements of the existing plan which included the –

 

 

 

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growth of visitor numbers (which had seen the target of 20% surpassed with the actual visitor growth of 24.9%);

 

 

 

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growth in visitor spend which had seen an increase of 17.5% (£321,767,000);

 

 

 

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growth in jobs had seen an increase of 3,154;

 

 

 

 

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growth in Gross Value Added (GVA) equated to £40m;

 

 

 

(c)

the refresh of the plan would set out new objectives, projects and aspirations which included –

 

 

 

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the diagnoses and addressment of the opportunities/issues facing the growth in the sector, wider ‘place marketing’ challenges and establishment of a clear direction for the future development of Plymouth as a destination;

 

 

 

 

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the engagement with key partners across the City to define priorities, projects and assets that would help drive visitor growth;

 

 

 

 

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the identification of how best to invest limited funding and resources in improvements to the visitor offer and marketing effort.

 

The key areas of questioning from Members related to –

 

(d)

what work had been undertaken by Destination Plymouth to develop the offer for all Plymouth residents;

 

 

(e)

how may hotel beds would be required for Mayflower 2020 and in developing the plan for the next 10 years;

 

 

(f)

the provision of a cruise ship terminal in Plymouth;

 

 

(g)

what extent were the variances between the summer and winter periods and whether there was scope in developing the off peak season;

 

 

(h)

the sustainability of core funding from the Council.

 

The Committee recognised the importance of being able to deliver the exhibition offer in full and to retain the quality of the project in setting the capital budget whilst continuing the engagement of the community.  The Committee also gave recognition to the hard work of all the teams involved in delivering The Box.

 

The Committee agreed that –

 

(1)

it recognised the success of the current Visitor Plan in growing the City’s Visitor economy;

 

 

(2)

it supported the refresh of the Visitor Plan for the ten years from 2020 up to 2030;

 

 

(3)

the Visitor Plan is developed and circulated to Members of the Committee and consideration is given as to whether the Plan will need to be submitted to its scheduled meeting on 9 January 2019.

 

 (Councillors Buchan, Carson, Churchill, Cook, Stevens and Wheeler left the meeting and did not participate further in the meeting).

 

 

Supporting documents: