NEWSLETTER

There is no better time to join membership of Shropshire Tourism with our joint membership scheme. This means that any business who joins membership of either Shropshire Tourism, Shrewsbury Tourism Association or North Shropshire Tourism will automatically be a member of all 3 organisations and for just £65.00 (inc VAT).

The scheme is the first of its kind in Shropshire and allows members of Shropshire Tourism, Shrewsbury Tourism and North Shropshire Tourism to pay just one membership fee for the year, and gain the membership benefits from each of the three organisations.

This is a positive move towards even closer working relationships between the three organisations. The main initial benefit is to offer better value for money for members. We have been gathering feedback from members for a number of years and the comment we received time and time again was that members don’t want to pay individual membership fees year on year, they want a single scheme.

Simon McCloy, Chief Executive of Shropshire Tourism said “This combined membership scheme will bring significant benefits to all existing and new members as well as the three organisations themselves”.

The joint membership scheme will also allow members to advertise in each of the respective brochures: Shropshire & the Welsh Borders, Shrewsbury Visitor Guide and

Essential Shropshire – without having to pay three separate membership fees.

This is the first year of the scheme and it is a very exciting time for each of the organisations and members. We have to stress to members, that this is a partnership arrangement and that each organisation will retain its individual and unique identity.

Alison Patrick, Tourism & Marketing Officer for Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council supported the scheme by saying, “Shrewsbury Tourism Association Limited is taking an important step which will ensure better coordination of tourism promotion and which is already picking up on the recommendations of Shrewsbury's new Visitor Economy Strategy.”

Rebeccah Wood of North Shropshire Tourism said, “This is an exciting move for North Shropshire Tourism Ltd. It enables us to offer members greater value for money, an increased number of benefits, and will also allow us to take a more cohesive approach in promoting Shropshire as a visitor destination.”

For queries regarding joint membership contact Helen Smith who will be able to explain the ins and outs of the scheme and the benefits of each organisation.

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Book your advert early. The advertising space in the 2004 Shropshire & the Welsh Borders brochure sold out in a matter of weeks last year so please complete your booking form and send to us with your payment as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

The Shropshire Tourism team is now in 2005 mode preparing for brochure production and it doesn’t seem 5 minutes since we put the 2004 brochure to bed – doesn’t time fly! Of course the media and distribution campaign continues for the 2004 brochure, but it’s vital we start production of the 2005 brochure early to ensure it’s printed in time for the New Year and the start of our 2005 media campaign.

Please ensure that you also pay your membership subscription as this is a requirement for advertising in the brochure and we are really pleased to say that the membership fee will remain at £65 (inc VAT) for the second year running.

For further details about advertising contact Jodie Stephen or click here for more information.

Firstly, a big thank you to those members who have let us know that the website is really working for them and generating enquiries. As many of you will know visits to the Shropshire Tourism website have increased dramatically over the past few months, helped in part by the success of our direct mail and awareness raising campaign.

The website received 616,147 hits in February and 753,325 hits in March, a significant increase on last year. Our website address has also been promoted in various articles about the county in National newspapers and magazines, which ensures that the website continues to grow.

Don’t Forget – If you have an enquiry from a potential guest and you’re not able to accommodate them because you’re fully booked then why not refer them to the Shropshire Tourism website – they may even take advantage of the special offers shown on the site.

So join membership today to get your free website which will be part of the searchable database of the Shropshire Tourism site, and also promote your Special Offers for FREE!

You can also use the website as a source of information for your guests. In addition as a member of Shropshire Tourism, North Shropshire Tourism and Shrewsbury Tourism Association in addition to your free web site you can advertise any special offers you have the on website. Email website@shropshiretourism.co.uk with your offer and it will be displayed on the special offers page. Contact Ben on 01743 462462 for details.

The new national database of tourism businesses is coming together with www.visitengland.com, relaunched on the 23rd April from the new Englandnet Destination Management System.

Englandnet is designed to allow visitors to search for information about all UK destinations from one website. Visitors will be able to find information about events and book accommodation online.

Shropshire Tourism will be providing the main destination link for Shropshire to the Englandnet system. Discussions have already taken place with representatives from Englandnet and the Regional Tourist Board to discuss how best to develop the Shropshire Tourism website in the future, so that tourism businesses in Shropshire can benefit from these advantages. We shall keep you posted on developments.

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The big news for this month is that Shropshire Tourism will be re-launching the hugely popular ‘King Arthur Trail’.

Spurred on by news that a gritty Hollywood Blockbuster of the Legend of King Arthur is about to have its world wide premier, Helen Smith, Catherine Collier and Jodie Stephen have been working on updating the trail for the many fans the film will undoubtedly create.

Shropshire is (of course), home to the legendary character and visitors to the county will now have the opportunity to visit Camelot, Avalon and the ceremonial place where Arthur drew Excalibur from the stone.

The trail will be launched in July in time for the cinematic release of the King Arthur film, starring Clive Owen, and will be available at all local Tourist Information Centres shortly.

We are very pleased to announce that Shropshire Tourism has secured a significantly discounted rate with Streamline for any members who wish to take credit/debit cards, and you don't have to change your bank.

Streamline is a Natwest and Royal Bank of Scotland company and they have agreed to offer an exclusive discount to any new or excisiting member businesses wanting to take credit/debit card payments. They will provide a terminal and all the technical support.

This is a great opportunity to save money and increase the number of enquiries and bookings they get.

For further information please contact Helen on 01743 462462

The 2004 ‘Shropshire Places to Visit’ is proving as popular as ever.New for this year, due to high demand in 2003 is an enhanced gardens section, to compliment the historic houses and attractions sections. The publication this year has a print-run of 120,000. Places to Visit are distributed through the Shropshire Tourism office, Tourist Information Centres and Shropshire Tourism members.

For members to obtain further copies of ‘Shropshire Places to Visit’ please contact Jodie Stephen at the Shropshire Tourism Office or click here for more information.

Shropshire Tourism ran a direct mail campaign throughout February targeting 30,000 potential visitors to Shropshire from a selecteddatabase. The campaign was part funded by Shropshire Tourism, and through the Tourism Action Programme funded by Advantage West Midlands and the European Regional Development Fund.

Using the expertise of advertising agency - Cogent Elliot and print buyers Kaizen Consultants we were able to produce this award-winning little booklet which is quirky and full of little musings about Shropshire. Maintaining the Shropshire branding we have been inundated with compliments about the booklet and the stories within it and we’re thrilled to have won the Award of being the most innovative and effective direct mail piece of the month in Print Week.

Alongside the direct mailing, we have been running an awareness campaign in the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph. The well positioned adverts (below the crossword on the back of the Telegraph) have generated significant requests – as well as receiving a copy of the little booklet, all of these potential visitors also receive a 2004 Shropshire & Welsh Borders brochure. We are hoping this will turn into lots of bookings so do let us know if you have had an enquiry as a result of this campaign.

In addition a bespoke website was also set up to compliment the campaign, www.visitshropshire.info and responses for the Shropshire Brochure are being tracked and monitored.

A new Tourism Research Unit has been established, with the aim of providing an effective research service for the county. The unit will be involved with research, data collection, analysis and interpretation. We are working very closely with the team in the research unit,. for further information contact Emma Smith on 01743 252598

Shropshire has started the year hosting 14 different press visits with both domestic and overseas journalists coming to sample Shropshire for themselves. With visits from the county’s overseas target markets of Belgium, USA and the Netherlands, Shropshire’s popularity is growing with additional visits from Australia, Italy, France and Norway.

Themes catching the media attention this year include Gardens, Food and Drink and the Much Wenlock Olympics with film crews and photographers all vying for opportunities to come and visit.

Not forgetting the domestic press with articles appearing in the Sunday Express, The Guardian, The Sunday Telegraph and The Independent.

That special ‘something’ that journalists look for in a story is right here in Shropshire. One Belgian journalist who visited earlier on in the year was so impressed with Shropshire that he came back again a month later. Now that’s what you call creating a good impression!

Last year, Shropshire received £2.83m worth of press coverage generated as a result of press visits, demonstrating the increased value of Press and PR to the county and continuing to help to further raise our profile.

If you have a quirky or unusual story you’d like to share then contact Sarah Whittall, you never know it may get picked up by a journalist!

Shropshire is keeping up its reputation as an award winning County with yet more awards.

Hibiscus in Ludlow has been awarded a second Michelin Star, making the restaurant one of only a handful in the UK who have been awarded the accolade. Two Michelin stars symbolises not only the quality of food in the restaurant but also the hospitality and ambience created by proprietors Claude and Claire Bosi.

Meanwhile, Shaun Hill’s Merchant House has been voted as 19th ‘Best Place to Eat in the World’ by Restaurant Magazine – the industry’s ‘bible’. Out of a top 50 survey chosen by restaurateurs, journalists, chefs and critics, The Merchant House beat off strong competition from high profile restaurants such as the Ivy in London.

Doug and Annabel Hawkes have even more reason to celebrate as the Bird on the Rock Tearoom has been awarded two prestigious, national titles including ‘Top Tearoom’ by the Tea Council and ‘National Café of the Year’ by the Les Routiers Guide.

Not forgetting Ludlow itself, which has become the first place in Britain to be designated a ‘slow town’. Awarded by the Italian Cittaslow movement, the accolade highlights places where the ideal balance of pace and quality of life can be found.

Congratulations to all our award winners! Don’t forget to let us know if you’ve recently won an award.

Keith Dixon has been appointed as the new Financial Director of Shropshire Tourism. He follows in the footsteps of Bruce Crawcour who is stepping down.

Bruce was instrumental in the establishment of the Shropshire Tourism Marketing Consortium in 1995 and later became Financial Director of the new Limited Company, Shropshire Tourism in 2000

Keith, who has previous experience of financial management responsibilities at Shropshire County Council, started his role as Finance Director in April.

Shropshire Tourism would like to take this opportunity to welcome Keith to the team and to wish Bruce all the best for the future.

However, this is not the last we’ll see of Bruce - he will still be very much involved in tourism development in Shropshire in the future.

In addition to our member discounts we are pleased to announce that Wildfire creative, who have produced this season's newsletter for us, are offering a 10% Shropshire Tourism Member discount on their design services! So all of you who call with your membership number will recieve even more priviledges. Just contact Louise Blundell on 01743 246882 with details of your requirements, for anything from leaflets and business stationary to brochures.