NEWSLETTER

So what on earth are Style Hounds? Well, along with Traditionalists, Cosmopolitans and Discoverers this is one of the new market segments identified by Arkenford.

Arkenford recognises that although people may share the same income bracket, job, and type of address or social status, they will have different priorities in life and different personal values.

Ask yourself ‘do you and your friends have the same idea on what is value for money?’ Or how much would you pay for a brand label? Not much? Well you’re no Style Hound! But don’t worry - if you like finding interesting places to visit and new things to do then you could be a Discoverer and just the sort of person we are looking for. If you like unspoilt England, you may be a Traditionalist in which case Shropshire would tickle your fancy!

Along with the Shropshire Tourism Research Unit and TEAM Tourism, we are currently conducting focus group research to identify what visitors are actually looking for from a short break or day visit. The research concentrates on motivations and perceptions: what people perceive to be a ‘good place to visit’ and what motivates them to make the decision to choose a particular destination. This incisive information will allow us to be even more effective in our marketing activities.

One of our core target markets are people from the South East, classed as ‘AB’ in socio-demographic profiling. The findings of the research will allow us to add another more sophisticated profile to our target markets. For example by only targeting Traditionalists or Discoverers in these areas to get the best match for Shropshire.

What is really exciting about this type of detailed research is that it has never been done before by any other destination. So Shropshire leads the way yet again.

Style Hounds in Shropshire? We shall see!

Can it really be that time of year again?

Preparations for the production of the 2006 brochure have already been underway for a couple of months here at The Barns - and now it’s your turn! This very informative newsletter will have winged its way to you with a pack of information about how you can advertise in the 2006 Shropshire & the Welsh Borders brochure.

The deadline for getting your advertising booking form to us is Friday 5th August 2005. Seems a bit early in the year, we know, but we will be working on the brochure well into the Autumn and we need all the advertisements signed off early to ensure the brochure is in the hands of our Shropshire visitors on time!

The good news this year is that overall the prices of the advertisements have been reduced! (Yes you did read this correctly!) So get your booking form and payment in to us as soon as possible to secure your space. Advertising space sells very quickly and is allocated on a first come, first served basis - we don’t want you to miss out!

As you know, Shropshire Tourism members currently get a free mini website through their membership. But did you also know that Shropshire Tourism can offer you a bespoke website designed to your personal requirements, from around £450.

Maybe your website is looking a bit dated and in need of a refreshing change, or perhaps you are a beginner in the big wide world of the web? Whatever the reason, we can help. If you want to see examples of our work just take a look at the sites we have already designed for members including The Real Art Gallery, Ye Olde Bucks Head Inn and Marches Golf Trail.

If you are still in need of encouragement, consider this… As much as 25% of accommodation business now comes via the web. The source of this information? You!

For more details, simply contact Ben at the Shropshire Tourism office on: website@shropshiretourism.info

There are currently many changes occurring to the delivery of regional tourism. As of 1st April the Heart of England Regional Tourist Board is no longer a membership or grading body. The membership role has been taken over by the individual counties within the Heart of England Region through organisations like Shropshire Tourism and the grading role has been taken over by an independent company called GSL, who have won the contract to carry out inspections on behalf of VisitBritain.

The other big change is the introduction ‘Englandnet’. The national tourism website has been set up specifically to be a ‘one-stop’ website of places to stay and visit in England. Supported by significant investment in marketing the system, Englandnet will be the main source of information, regionally, nationally and internationally.

Shropshire Tourism is contracted to provide all of Shropshire’s presence via the Shropshire Tourism website and database for the Englandnet system, so if you are a member of Shropshire Tourism, Shrewsbury Tourism or North Shropshire Tourism details of your business are already up there. And if you are a member of South Shropshire Tourism Association and Bridgnorth & District Tourist Association, your association has entered into an agreement with Shropshire Tourism to provide you with Englandnet presence in the next few months.

By linking to Englandnet, your business will be accessible via the VisitBritain, VisitEngland and VisitHeartofEngland websites – making it much easier for even more visitors to find you!

The new Englandnet system is due to go ‘live’ shortly, and all Shropshire based information will be provided to VisitBritain by Shropshire Tourism. Please have a look at any of the above sites to see if you can find yourself on there – if you can’t find your details or if any information is incorrect, please let us know and we will amend it as soon as possible. If you have any queries with regards to Englandnet, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Thank you to everyone who completed and returned their visitor survey which we sent out to you in December. As you know, by returning the survey, you were automatically entered into a prize draw for £100.

The winner of the £100 this year is Michael Duckett from The Stanage in Telford. Congratulations! We hope to be sending out another survey form this December, so please do return it to us - you never know, next time it could be you!

There is now new guidance available from the Inland Revenue website which explains the new tax breaks available in relation to the Disability Discrimination Act. The website gives examples of how particular types of expenditure on changes such as ramps, handrails, signs, toilets, lighting, paths etc are treated for tax purposes.

Further information is available from the following web link: www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/specialist/disability-act-guidance

Walford & North Shropshire College is currently looking to build closer links with local employers to help provide students with training which will be of use to both them and their employer when they leave college.

Shropshire Tourism is currently working with the college to help with students training to enter the tourism industry. The suggestions we have made so far include: skills in sales, focusing on customer relations and providing a structured work experience programme which meets the needs of both the student and the business.

If you have any suggestions you would like us to pass on to Walford & North Shropshire College, please email Catherine Collier on: ccollier@shropshiretourism.info

Shropshire Tourism member Lyth Hill House Bed and Breakfast recently won a top national award at this year’s Enjoy England Excellence Awards, beating off tough opposition from across the country to gain the Gold Award in the ‘Best Website’ category.

The awards ceremony took place in April at the British Museum in London to celebrate the ‘Best in English Tourism’ with the Enjoy England Excellence Awards highlighting both the quality and diversity of England’s Tourism product.

Helping to put Shropshire firmly on the map, Lyth Hill House, run by husband and wife team Heather and Dave Treweeke is a luxury B&B located just outside of Shrewsbury. Lyth Hill House is no stranger to awards, winning Silver Awards in the Heart of England Excellence in Tourism Awards 2004 categories of ‘B&B of the Year’ and ‘Tourism for All’.

Due to the success of last year’s awareness raising campaign, Shropshire Tourism has once again run an awareness campaign in the Daily Telegraph.

The Love from Shropshire adverts (below the crossword, on the back page of the Daily Telegraph) have generated significant requests – as well as receiving a copy of the Little Book of Shropshire, all of these potential visitors also received a 2005 Shropshire & the Welsh Borders brochure.

Based on the previous campaign, we know that these requests convert at an outstanding 95% to business. Not bad for a small campaign and a bit of innovative, quirky copy!

The Regional Centre for Tourism Business Support has recently launched a new business tool kit aimed at accommodation providers.

The tool kit contains Bed and Breakfast specific, and general business planning samples and templates, financial spread sheets to help you with your cash flow forecasting, profit and loss and break even point calculations.

The tool kit also contains a free accommodation booking system, which can be used by anyone who wants to use a simple computer based system. It is fully functional and will even provide you with customer listings, and occupancy reports.

The tool kit is free to any business who has received a free visit from one of the Tourism Business Advisors and can also be accessed online by simply visiting the website www.qualityatheart.co.uk and registering your details for membership - which is completely free of charge.

Also available are online fact sheets produced by Business Hotline Publications that cover areas such as finance, IT and Marketing. Written by experts in their field, the fact sheets can be found on the website by clicking on the ‘New Fact Sheets Available’ button.

For more information, contact Lesley Davies, the Tourism Business Advisor for Shropshire on 0845 241 8269.

The team have already attended two national exhibitions this year. The National Boat Caravan and Outdoor Show and the British Travel Trade Fair were both held at the NEC, the latter providing the official launch for this year’s Shropshire Places To Visit guide.

The summer exhibition season starts this month with the Cosford Air Show. This year the show is being attended in partnership with North Shropshire Tourism. It is the first time Shropshire Tourism will have attended the event, however the show has been one of North Shropshire Tourism’s main exhibitions for many years.

Next up is RHS Tatton, taking place in Cheshire over four days in July. The Royal Horticultural Show has always been a successful exhibition for Shropshire Tourism, and is the perfect place to promote the county’s many gardens and nurseries through the distribution of the Shropshire Places to Visit guide.

The final exhibition of the year is the Midland Game & Country Sports Fair. Taking place in the grounds of Weston Park, the event is essential for anyone interested in traditional country pursuits, including clay pigeon shooting, falconry displays and ferret racing!

The Special Offers page on the Shropshire Tourism website is currently the most visited section on the site, receiving more hits than any other page.

This section of the site is the ideal place for visitors to find special offers and late availability on Hotel, Bed and Breakfast, Self Catering and Caravan and Camping accommodation in Shropshire. Attractions and activity providers can also promote their current offers.

As a member of Shropshire Tourism you can highlight the details of your latest offers on this section of the site free of charge and link back to your own website. So please feel free to contact us with your latest offers and take advantage of this great opportunity to promote your business.

Building on the £5m worth of press coverage Shropshire Tourism secured in 2004, this year got off to a great start.

BBC Holiday featured a canal boat holiday which resulted in excellent coverage for the Oswestry area. BBC Two’s programme ‘In Search of Myths and Heroes’, and Channel Four’s Da Vinci Code featured Hawkstone Park and Follies and its connections with King Arthur. In fact you couldn’t turn your TV on in February without hearing about Shropshire!

The legacy of Harrison Ford’s visit continues, with the Sunday Times naming a narrow boat holiday on the Llangollen canal as a top summer getaway for 2005 in their list of the Top 100 holidays. Overseas media are now also getting in on the act - a group of 5 French journalists recently visited the Oswestry and North Shropshire area to sample a canal boat holiday for themselves.

Time Out Magazine also paid a visit to Shropshire in January as part of a forthcoming feature on short breaks in South Shropshire. The Time Out guide to Short Breaks is in bookshops now.

To continue to tempt the press and to generate media coverage for Shropshire, we still need your hooks and stories. A small hook is often all that’s needed to create a story and the distinctly different and quirky the better!

Email Sarah on: swhittall@shropshiretourism.info

Are you a member who has run out of your free supply of the Shropshire Places to Visit guide?

You can place these handy little guides in your reception, bedrooms, shop or café, anywhere really, just as long as they are accessible to your guests!

To obtain a new supply please contact Jodie on: jstephen@shropshiretourism.info.