CIM SW Tourism Conference places spotlight on sustainable growth

Collaboration and sustainable marketing practices were the key themes to emerge from the CIM South West Tourism Conference held on Friday (2 October 2015) at Watergate Bay Hotel.

The full day event, organised by CIM (The Chartered Institute of Marketing) and sponsored by GWR, brought together 55 tourism leaders and marketers from across the region. Under the spotlight was the changing role of Destination Marketing Organisations and the impact this would have on future of the tourism sector, as well as tactical marketing disciplines. Representatives from two such organisations VisitEngland’s marketing director, Tim Holt and Malcolm Bell, chief executive at Visit Cornwall addressed the gathering.

Chair of the event, Martin Williams, CIM tourism ambassador and partner at Cornwall based The Happy Seven consultancy commented: “The objective was to enable tourism marketers to discuss the challenges they are facing and provide a stimulus for discussion. The important messages that came out of today; is how much more can be achieved in partnership with others and that this is something that individual operators can achieve.  CIM has a role to ensure the sector’s marketers have access to the right marketing training and skills development - as marketing technology is moving at such a pace.”

Diane Burke sales and marketing director at GWR provided a fascinating insight into GWR’s recent rebrand – a process that has taken five years to its launch last month. Diane commented; "I’m delighted to have the opportunity to discuss the work we’re doing to transform rail travel in the West. Every year, our services help tourists from the UK and beyond to explore the natural beauty offered by the region. As part of the greatest investment since the time of Brunel, tourists will soon be able to see faster and more frequent trains as well as considerable upgrades to stations across the network.”

Knowledge share was a key ingredient of the conference with Rachel Johnston, assistant director of the consultancy at National Trust South West, Judi Blakeburn, operations director at Watergate Bay Hotel and Colin Midson, associate director at Port Eliot Festival discussing the role and value of events in the region. The message was partnerships had a valuable role to play in delivering events which lead to more people being able to experience the ‘brand’ and a wider impact on the sector beyond the event itself.

Tactical marketing skills were also under the spotlight, Stafford Sumner, managing director of Jarrange, based in Cornwall spoke on how businesses could use the data they collect to market more effectively and Dorota Szymczynska from Trip Advisor explored how providers could encourage more Trip Advisor reviews and the marketing opportunities available to them.

The day provided a platform for marketers to share ideas and expertise and discuss the opportunities and challenges to help drive sustainable growth in the tourism sector. More information on the conference and future CIM events can be found at: http://regions.cim.co.uk/South-West/home

Photo caption: Speakers Cornwall.jpgSpeakers at the CIM SW Tourism Conference included (Rear left to right) Malcolm Bell, Diane Burke, Tim Holt and Martin Williams