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DURHAM CITY DESTINATION DEVELOPMENT PLAN

REPORT FOR DURHAM CITYCOMMISSIONED BY DURHAM COUNTY COUNCIL AND VISIT COUNTY DURHAM

NOVEMBER 2012

DURHAM CITY DESTINATION DEVELOPMENT PLAN NOVEMBER 2012

CONTENTS1 ABOUT THIS PLAN.............................................................................32 TOURISM STATEMENT FOR DURHAM CITY...................................73 COMPETITIVE POSITIONING...........................................................114 VISITOR MARKETS...........................................................................185 A SHARED STORY FOR DURHAM..................................................216 THE CATHEDRAL AND PALACE GREEN.......................................227 THE RIVER.........................................................................................268 EVENTS..............................................................................................329 PRODUCT INVESTMENT..................................................................3710 DELIVERING A QUALITY EXPERIENCE.........................................4211 DURHAM+..........................................................................................5012 DELIVERY FRAMEWORK.................................................................52APPENDIX ONE........................................................................................54

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1 ABOUT THIS PLANThis is the Destination Development Plan for Durham City for 2012-2020 developed by Blue Sail. We set out the approach, priorities and recommendations for tourism development. There is also an Executive Summary, an Action Plan summary and a Comparator Paper that shows how Durham performs against five other cathedral cities.

This Plan is about making the most of the economic opportunities of leisure tourism and building Durham City into a successful 2-night destination in line with county’s Tourism Management Plan priorities. So we only include actions which have the strongest potential to deliver that aspiration and help to achieve the target to increase the proportion of overnight visitors from 11% to 20% by 2020.

The overriding message is to lead with what is authentic and special to Durham City, learn from best practice but ensure what you do in Durham is true to the place.

We focus action around three areas of activity - heritage, river and events – these are scene changers, major high profile activity that will drive new visitors, encourage them to stay longer and spend more and increase the competitive positioning of Durham.

We include new tourism development in the city centre – visitor attractions and hotels – longer term opportunities that will drive new visitors to the city, provide further reasons to take a 2-night stay and deliver a wider choice of places to stay to support growth.

We then look at actions to deliver a consistent quality experience across the city - underpinning activity that is essential to delivering success within our target markets.

The city has also commissioned a Durham Conference and Meetings Study and a Group Travel Study. Blue Sail is undertaking the latter. There is also a countywide accommodation stock survey in the process of being commissioned. This will review the accommodation supply and highlight any gaps in provision and type across the county. The recommendations of these reports are relevant here but at the time of completing this plan, the studies are not yet finished. The recommendations of all these reports should be looked at together and delivered as a wider development priority.

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CONTEXT

Tourism is big business; it is worth £96.7 billion to England’s economy and supports 2.2 million jobs1. The North East’s share of this economy is 4% of domestic trips and spend and 2% of international visitors.

Tourism in Durham City is an important part of the regional value – attracting 4.1 million visitors annually of which around 90% are on a day trip. The industry is worth an estimated £191 million and supports 2,793 jobs2.

Day visitors represent the largest number of visitors but overnight leisure and business visitors have the highest per head spend and therefore offer the best return on investment for the local economy. Currently, Durham City has a relatively high ratio of day to overnight visitors.

Successful destinations are those that offer distinctive and quality experiences. Durham City needs to clearly differentiate itself in a noisy marketplace where everyone is jostling for position. The city has to demonstrate to today’s well-travelled and sophisticated visitor that it has something special to offer that can meet the expectations of its target audiences.

This Destination Development Plan is starting out in a time of economic downturn and uncertainty. It is widely accepted that as we come out of recession the world will not return to the way it was before. Building on the work of One North East and Durham City Vision, we are entering a new era with new ways of thinking and different ways of doing things. Major development projects that Durham City did not achieve in the previous decade will be much harder to deliver in this one. However, when the economy strengthens Durham needs to ensure it is well-placed to take advantage of that and be ahead of the game. It must be a priority to invest in the city’s current assets first and to make them work well for the city. Despite ongoing and significant investment, particularly by Durham University and Durham Cathedral, in the city’s heritage there are significant assets that Durham has failed so far to fully capitalise on. These are good places to start.

1 The Economic Contribution of the Visitor Economy : UK and The Nations, Deliotte, 20102 STEAM 2010

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TOURISM IN COUNTY DURHAM

1.5 million overnight visitors spending 4.2 million nights in the area

17.5 million day visits

£738 million spend

11,300 people employed


This plan helps to deliver the Durham County Council’s Regeneration Statement3 by being clear about which assets can support the city’s aspiration to be a world-class cultural city and what actions will have the most impact for the visitor economy.

Durham has already begun to prioritise what it needs to do in the city in the Durham Tourism Management Plan (DTMaP). We’ve made sure there is a good fit between this plan and the DTMaP to ensure delivery of agreed priorities4.

OUR APPROACH

We have drawn on the Shared Story process to shape this plan. This is a new approach developed by Blue Sail. It gets people working together to articulate a Shared Story which describes what is truly special about your destination. It uses the process of creating that story to build a clear common purpose for the place; identifying what needs to be done to manage, market and grow the visitor economy. We’ve used:

Strategic conversations – one-to-one discussions with 20 decision-makers and thought leaders in the city (see Appendix One??)

An interactive workshop – with 21 key players to review and refine target visitor markets, agree what sort of destination Durham City wants to be and begin to explore what Durham City’s Shared Story might look like

Market positioning – benchmarking Durham City against competitor destinations to learn from other places.

We’ve then drawn together these strands and through a process of analysis:

Defined what is special and different about Durham City – your Shared Story in words and phrases

Established the best markets for the future – and identified actions needed to attract more of them, staying longer and spending more

Established development priorities – focusing on significant actions that will reinforce and enhance Durham’s offer in line with the Tourism Management Plan.

3 January 20104 DTMaP turns the regional tourism strategy and the County Durham tourism strategy into action. It is a ‘live’ document and updated every six months.

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WHO THIS PLAN IS FOR

This plan is for the city and all the partners with a responsibility or interest in tourism and contributing to its success. That means there is a collective responsibility of all those interests to help deliver it by:

Becoming a champion

Leading on delivery

Supporting the plan objectives by investing in quality, product development and marketing in business activity and in the city.

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2 TOURISM STATEMENT FOR DURHAM CITYVISION

For Durham City to be the cathedral city in England, known for its heritage and river experience with an enviable reputation for offering high quality festivals. Durham will convey a “perfect little city” by polishing the experience of its smaller attractions, animating the city centre and opening up the river to visitors. An upturn in the economy and excellent planning and promotion of site opportunities will deliver a high profile new visitor attraction in the city by 2020 and new hotels that will add choice and meet growing demand. That reputation will be enhanced by Lumiere, will be reinforced by the Lindisfarne Gospels in 2013 and then delivered by the Durham Brass and Book festivals and Durham Mysteries. Transforming the experience of the river peninsula will create a second hub for visitor activity that complements the cathedral and Palace Green. This investment will make a strong visible statement about the city’s confidence in Durham’s future as a visitor destination; an important positioning leading to inward investment in new attractions and hotels including a new national profile visitor attraction in the city centre.

FOCUS FOR ACTION

Durham City will focus on investing in those actions, projects and approaches that maximise the economic benefit of tourism to the city and which play to its distinctive qualities. That means: Achieving Durham City’s ambition to be a 2-night destination – investing in overnight tourism will deliver stronger economic benefits

Investing in the experience of those assets that are special and distinctive to Durham city and have the potential to deliver and support overnight visits and which have the strongest appeal to the city’s target markets

Delivering more things to do and see now that appeal to target markets to extend the stay and increase spend by investing in what Durham City has to offer

Creating new attractions that provide a stronger critical mass of things to see and do

Delivering a national profile attraction to enhance market positioning of the city

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Polishing the presentation, quality and management of the visitor experience where it falls short of the expectations of our visitors and the standard set by the competition.

To achieve these ambitions we recommend that Durham City concentrates on delivering the following six areas of activity:

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Put the cathedral and Palace Green at the heart of the visitor experience – a showcase and visitor hub for the city; the start of the Durham visitor journey

The river - use the river peninsula to enhance what is special about Durham, define the heart of the city, create a new experience to extend the stay

Events – building and extending Durham City’s events profile to make Durham an excellent city for events, provide a reason to visit now, extend the season and the visitor day

Product Investment – identify sites for new product investment and promote these as part of positioning Durham as a city open to tourism development and continue to invest in tourism infrastructure and the public realm as part of demonstrating a commitment to tourism and delivering an excellent visitor experience

Delivering a quality experience – making more of the total offer of the city and the surrounding area, delivering a consistent quality that meets the expectations of our target visitor markets.

Durham City+ - package the city with strong products and experiences elsewhere in the county to create more reasons to stay longer.


A focus on these actions will maximise the city’s potential to become a 2-night destination. It will be a prize hard won in the face of strong competition and Durham needs to use its cathedral city assets and its distinctive qualities that set it apart from its competitors to make an impact in the marketplace.

MAKING THINGS HAPPEN

Our strategic conversations demonstrated that the city recognises both its strengths and its challenges but has found it difficult so far to focus energies and resources to deliver the priorities set out in the Tourism Management Plan because of competing priorities for many city partners. Much of what we recommend is about focusing on those activities – current and new - that will deliver a real impact on the visitor experience and making them happen in a more joined-up and effective way.

A recurring theme in our strategic conversations was that Durham City has ‘too many partnerships’. An emphasis should be placed on making the existing partnerships work better for tourism and deliver more. We set out a delivery framework at Section 12.

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TARGETS AND BENCHMARKS

The target is to increase the number of jobs by increasing the proportion of overnight visitors from 11% to 20% by 2020. By 2020, the county’s visitor economy will account for 17% of the county’s economy. (Durham Tourism Management Plan). This will represent an increase of £125.4m from £738m (2011) to £863.4m in 2020. Using the national (Visit England) and regional standard (£40k = 1FTE job), this would create 3,135 additional jobs by 2020.

This will be achieved by making the river peninsula a half-day experience for Durham to complement the cathedral, castle and Palace Green. Investment in the river and the World Heritage Site, along with increasing the volume and profile of events will raise the tourism profile of the city attracting more visitors with good reasons to stay longer. The combined impact will be to encourage further investment in hotels, raise the profile of Durham as a happening place and as a result increase its appeal as a place to invest in new attractions. The city will identify sites for a new national profile visitor attraction and actively promote these and other tourism inward investment. Durham will continue to use STEAM to monitor visitor numbers.

We’ve divided actions into two timelines:

2012-2015 – Make more of what is special and distinctive about Durham City to create clear market positioning and polish the city’s assets to strengthen the quality and range of experiences including a stronger focus on delivering the river peninsula as a second hub for visitor activity in the city. This will provide more reasons to visit, to stay longer and to spend more now and place the city in a strong position to maximise opportunities as the economic climate improves. During this time it will be important to move up a gear in positioning Durham as a city that is looking to grow its tourism product and support inward investment.

2015-2020 - deliver capital projects that create more and new product that meets what target markets are looking for with a focus on new visitor attractions and extending the range of hotels that will act as catalysts for other growth in other sectors of the visitor economy.

Durham will benchmark progress on growth alongside the performance of three of the comparator cathedral cities – York, Salisbury and Lincoln. These city comparators have invested and grown their tourism.

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Key Attributes of Successful Heritage Cities

An iconic heritage attraction or distinctive set of buildings that define the place – the primary reason to visit

Good road and rail access

Distinctive independent shops and places to eat and drink

Well-designed and managed public spaces that enhance the historic setting and create a bustling city centre and spaces for quieter reflection

A strong support attractions offer – a choice of things to see and do

City values and invests in their natural assets

A choice of budget and quality places to stay though most cities still rely predominantly on day visits.


3 COMPETITIVE POSITIONING

Durham voted UK’s 2nd favourite city in 2011 – one position up from 2010 Guardian, Observer and Guardian.co.uk Travel Awards

Durham has set itself the challenge to ‘optimise the potential of Durham City making it a viable 48-hour stay’.5 Can Durham City achieve that? How will it go about it?

COMPARATOR REVIEW

We have looked at the key attributes for successful cathedral city destinations and compared Durham’s performance against five others as a piece. These attributes provide part of the competitive positioning for Durham City.

Our review shows that Durham City scores strongly on its iconic attraction and on good access but less well on the support offer especially shopping and visitor attractions. This means the volume and value of tourism in the city is lower than for several of its competitors. The competitor cities invest in improvements to the places and the visitor offer. If Durham does not do likewise, it will quickly fall behind its competitors. Comparator exercises are designed to look at places together. Looking across the cities the strong messages for Durham and which inform the priorities in this plan are:

Iconic heritage assets put places on the tourism map; these are an important draw for first time visitors but more successful destinations

5 Durham Tourism Management Action Plan 2011.

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with more overnight visitors offer a wider complementary range of things to see and do. Durham lacks the critical mass of offer compared with some of its competitors;

All the cities have recognised the importance of investing in their iconic heritage assets first because these attractions set the tone for a visit and make strong statements about how much a cathedral city values its heritage. Durham has prioritised this too and should continue to invest in the experience and presentation of the cathedral, the castle and Palace Green to keep abreast of competition;

The comparator studies show that successful attractions tend to be those that reinforce what is unique and special about a place. This ranges from the Colman’s Mustard Shop in Norwich (which has expanded considerably in the last few years) to the new visitor attraction, Chocolate – York’s Sweet Story. Successful attractions tell their story in an engaging interactive way that appeals to non-specialist audiences. Durham needs to use its Shared Story as part of the evidence for identifying attraction investment that reinforces what is special about Durham;

Many of the comparator cities - in particular York, Lincoln and Norwich - have invested in existing and new attractions over the last decade, taking advantage of public sector funding opportunities; metropolitan cities have done likewise. This has raised the bar of visitor expectations on quality and range. Durham should follow that model by continuing to invest in the attractions it has and look to create more to keep abreast of competition;

Many comparator cities value and invest in the quality of gateways and the public realm and are investing in them – recognising that getting that right sets the tone for a visit and contributes to creating the environment for inward investment. Examples of recent investment include in Chester Station, in the public realm of Lincoln’s Cultural Quarter and, heritage interpretation and public realm improvements in key parts of Norwich. Durham should prioritise investment in the quality of design and joined-up management of its gateways and the public realm;

The comparator cities place tourism strategically into city thinking, policies and plans. There is a joined-up approach at a strategic level and a shared understanding of the way forward, with each partner taking leadership and responsibility for their role in delivery. How this works varies according to local arrangements and typically includes close collaboration between key stakeholders (attractions, Cathedral, city businesses, Durham County Council, Durham University, Visit County Durham) across investment, development and marketing, e.g. Chester Renaissance / Cheshire West & Chester Council / Marketing Cheshire;

There is a clear relationship between numbers of visitors overall and the catchment for particular cities. York, Chester and Norwich are each regional centres, have a large population catchment, a significant shopping offer to serve that catchment and consequently a large volume of visits. Day visits comprise the majority of trips to all heritage cities. Key strategic sites have been identified in order to grow Durham as a city.

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In addition, there are specific examples of approaches in particular cities that are especially relevant to Durham.

Chester defines the city boundaries for visitors wider than the city centre to help create critical mass. Chester Zoo located two miles outside the centre is presented as part of the city experience. There are opportunities for Durham City to embrace an area wider than the city itself to help create a critical mass of things to see and do and provide reasons to base a short break in Durham.

Very few of the comparators have made much of the river or waterside opportunities, though we know other heritage cities use this as a successful part of the experience e.g. Oxford, Cambridge, Stratford-upon-Avon. Lincoln is the exception. It has opened up Brayford Waterfront to create a distinctive city quarter that has attracted hotel and other developments, though it is a relatively compact area compared with Durham’s river peninsula, it demonstrates the power of water as a regeneration focus. That example can be seen on a larger scale in metropolitan cities such as Newcastle and Liverpool. Durham should follow this example, being mindful of the contrast between light and dark being deliberate to protect wildlife, and being receptive to the differing priorities of the landowners, with the aim of capitalising on the river as an asset.

Lincoln has created three clear hubs - heritage, culture and waterfront – and focused on these for investment. It also helps visitors understand the place and encourages them to explore. Durham should adopt a similar approach by focusing on heritage, the river and events.

Lincoln used a Serviced Accommodation Study for Lincolnshire in 2009 to inform priorities and recommend on inward investment opportunities. This influenced hotel investment decisions in the city. Durham should use this approach to encourage sustainable growth in the volume and range of hotels.

You can find more in our Comparator Paper.

STRENGTHS

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The Durham City experience is very different to other cathedral cities - compact with outstanding heritage assets, riverside with untapped potential and characterised by different street levels, vennels and bridges.

Durham was voted UK’s 2nd favourite city in 20116 and Durham Cathedral is Britain’s favourite building7 - an excellent starting point to build on. Durham is a small city but surrounded by quality countryside with some excellent visitor attractions.

Durham punches above its weight as a cathedral city and as a visitor destination because of the World Heritage Site status - Durham Cathedral is regarded as one of the finest in Europe and when combined with the castle and Palace Green creates a unique proposition. The Durham World Heritage Site Coordinating Committee is currently working towards gaining approval to extend the boundaries to cover a larger portion of the peninsula, this further strengthens the importance of the relationship between Palace Green, the cathedral, the castle and the river.

The city has a prestigious and well-respected university and the reputation and knowledge economy that goes with that. This profile means visitors have high expectations of the city and the city has high aspirations for tourism.

The city’s reputation sits positively alongside the larger heritage cities of Edinburgh, York and Bath – all of which, including Durham, have made it to the top three of the UK’s favourite cities over the last five years. So the stakes are high and the competition strong.

For many visitors Durham City is Durham and the surrounding coast and countryside provides a supporting act to the main experience. Getting tourism right in the city is essential to enable other parts of the county to benefit more from the visitor economy.

A small concentrated core of heritage streets and squares in the centre – to explore and provide a focus for activity. There are three squares; Palace Green part of the World Heritage Site, the Market Place at the centre of the retail area and originally the commercial trading centre of the city and; Millennium Place, a newly created square and part of the theatre and library complex located off Claypath which is linked to Freeman’s Place and the river via steep steps and a lift.

INVESTMENT

In the main heritage assets - The city is already doing a great deal to make the most of its heritage assets, which are at the heart of its appeal as a visitor destination. The cathedral is investing in a huge programme of development and change which will further open up the architectural grandeur of the buildings for all and enhance the facilities including relocating and improving the exhibition of St Cuthbert’s

6 Guardian, Observer and Guardian.co.uk Travel Awards7 Guardian readers vote for Britain’s favourite building

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treasures and creating better and new restaurants and retail for visitors. Durham University is investing millions of pounds in creating world-class exhibition spaces in Palace Green Library that will be able to host the highest quality exhibitions and show university treasures to new audiences. Both are the subject of a successful HLF bids and the enhancements, once complete, will allow the World Heritage Site partners to grow their exhibitions and events programme, reinforcing their role and that of Palace Green as the visitor hub of the city.

In some visitor attractions - Durham University manages several visitor attractions in the city including Durham Castle (visits by tour only), Palace Green Library, the Oriental Museum and the Botanic Gardens, located on the leafy campus of the University a pleasant walk from the city centre, which has also benefited from recent investment.

In heritage and events. The Lindisfarne Gospels in 2013 provide an opportunity to showcase the city and celebrate its history. The exciting ideas for events and activity under discussion suggest the Gospels offer the same potential as Durham’s Lumiere to showcase the city - get it talked about and attract new and additional visitors.

In new tourism facilities - There are visible signs of investment and confidence in the city as a visitor destination e.g. recent opening of the World Heritage Visitor Centre in 2011 and the opening of the Radisson BLU hotel in 2009 on the waterside in the city centre

In making the city accessible and legible - new pedestrian signing, a restructured visitor information service that provides Visitor Information Points across the city and investment in the Market Place, demonstrate a commitment to making the city accessible and legible.

CHALLENGES

Over the last decade Durham City has not benefited from the same level of investment in cultural and visitor facilities and infrastructure compared with many other heritage cities. This makes it increasingly difficult to be competitive in the marketplace.

Durham lacks the catchment, location and infrastructure advantages of many of its competitors. This makes it hard to offer the heritage + culture + shopping offer that is the successful formula for tourism in heritage cities.

Access to excellent cultural facilities in NewcastleGateshead – that as a larger metropolitan city has benefited from considerable investment over the last decade and now has a strong cultural offer - quality venues, programming and marketing – all easily accessible to people who live and work in Durham. The socio-demographics of local population and the size of arts facilities in Durham dictate

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programming and as a result the cultural offer is not distinctive or particularly compelling - and is likely to be similar to what visitors can find at home.

Durham has the Metro Centre on its doorstep – just 30 minutes drive away – with the convenience of free and easy parking, extensive choice for shoppers and purpose built modern units with guaranteed year round footfall for retailers. Durham offers smaller units and a great historic environment but cannot deliver the footfall required to make a viable business for many retailers including independents. A successful shopping centre cannot rely on visitors; it needs local and sub-regional regular trade. Durham has insufficient catchment and has too much competition: it lacks the pulling power to attract quality anchor retailers.

Durham has a mediocre shopping experience for visitors with an insufficient critical mass of quality independent outlets to attract day visitors and hold overnight visitors longer. There is a lack of retail and leisure uses with active river frontages or river facing shared public open spaces8. However, at this time town centre retail is struggling across the UK. The Portas Review9 concludes that in some places there are too many shops given changes in demand and shopping patterns and recommends that centres are reinvented as places for social activity and proposes a ‘Town Team’ to enable that. Durham City needs to look at the overall vibrancy and liveliness of its centre. The proposed Business Improvement District (BID) for Durham City has a potentially important role to play in delivering this.

The retail and eating out challenge is mirrored in the evening economy. There is limited entertainment and restaurants in the city centre. Like most regional theatres, The Gala Theatre has a programme that serves a local audience. Outside of major events times, there is little for visitors to do in the evening. Some sections of the riverside can play a much greater role as a nighttime attraction where they do not clash with the setting to the castle and cathedral. After the shops close the centre is quiet in the early evening. There is a strong drinking culture later at night.

Many of the city’s smaller attractions would benefit from investment to make the experience more interactive and appealing to target markets - Durham City has a good range of smaller visitor attractions which should form part of the main visitor offer but the majority are scattered around the edges and many would benefit from investment in their visitor experience. Today’s successful museums present intellectual and educational challenges in a fun interactive way.

The pulling power of Edinburgh and York is strong - despite Durham’s good rail and road access it may be by-passed in favour of larger heritage cities with more and better things to see and do.

8 Durham City Centre Retail Distinctiveness Project, Miller Research, March 20089 The Portas Review, an Independent Review into the Future of our High Streets, Mary Portas December 2011

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GAP ANALYSIS

There are gaps in the visitor experience in Durham City that are important to address to help create a 2-night destination. As a result it underperforms relative to several of its competitors. Many of these gaps are captured in the Tourism Management Plan, reflected in our challenges above, demonstrated in the analysis of the comparator paper and we reinforce them here. It is important they stay front of mind and shape the priorities for action in this plan. The Tourism Management Plan is the agreed way to deliver a successful visitor economy for the county and has recently undergone a significant consultation process with partners.. There is a consensus on the gaps and challenges. These relate to Durham City. :

The city lacks the range of things to see and do to hold visitors for a two night stay. Durham needs a second centre of activity for visitors to complement the World Heritage Site;

Durham City does not have a nationally recognised commercial visitor attraction to help strengthen its competitive positioning;

Durham needs a wider range of commercial accommodation that meet the expectations of target markets;

The city also needs a wider range of other quality places to visit and activities to do that encourage visitors to wander, explore and enjoy the city, this includes:

More and better visitor attractions;

A stronger critical mass of distinctive shopping and eating places;

An early evening offer to help extend the visitor day.

Overall Durham has not benefited from the investment in tourism product that many of its competitors have. These cities are continuing to invest. If Durham does not then it is in danger of falling behind and losing market share.

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Self reliant and independent Hold traditional values Unlikely to justify spending on expensive alternatives. Value more traditional established brands Functionality is far more important than style and individuality Value, and will pay for, good service, which for them means recognition and individual

attention Relaxed pace of life Enjoy intellectual challenges, arts and culture

Independent individualists Not worried about what others might think Little influenced by style or brand unless it represents their personal

values Value technology, new products, services and experiences Function far out rates style as a purchase driver High spenders on what they want - but intolerant of substitutes or image

based advertising Live a relatively relaxed pace of life Enjoy intellectual challenges but ‘arts and culture’ are often negatively

perceivedValue good service – which means enabling them to do what they want


4 VISITOR MARKETSWe have reviewed Durham City’s current and target markets and identified those with best fit and most potential for growing and sustaining the visitor economy and achieving Durham City’s objective to become a 2-night destination. We are using the ArkLeisure segmentation (2006/7) used by Visit County Durham. At the time of writing, this data is being revisited. Our visitor profile is getting younger, which means that more families will emerge in each of the primary and secondary markets.

PRIMARY MARKETS

Traditional Empty-nesters & 40+ travelling without children - current market for Durham city, with good product fit, frequent break-takers, very interested in heritage cities and attractions so opportunity to increase penetration, willing to spend on what they want.

Discoverer Empty-nesters & 40+ travelling without children – opportunity for Durham because of product fit, frequent break-takers looking for somewhere intriguing and different, significant spend potential.

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Self reliant and independent Families Hold traditional values Unlikely to justify spending on expensive alternatives. Value more traditional established brands Functionality is far more important than style and individuality Value, and will pay for, good service, which for them means recognition and individual

attention Relaxed pace of life Enjoy intellectual challenges, arts and culture

Do what they want rather than follow any particular fashion Comfortable trying new things that are out of the ordinary Happy to adopt traditional values when appropriate High-spending market Find it easy to justify buying expensive alternatives Risk takers - a desire for things that are new and different They like new challenges, both physical and intellectual Life for this group is full and active, but with an appreciation of art and

culture


SECONDARY MARKETS

Functional Empty-nesters & 40+ travelling without children – a current market for Durham and their main disadvantage is they are relatively low-spend, however there is a good product fit and Functionals will spend if given the opportunity so are an important market to continue to appeal

Cosmopolitans travelling without children – an active, frequent break-taking market, high-spending and seeking interesting, new experiences. Durham city’s current offer has insufficient appeal for them but events provide an ideal opportunity to target this segment.

The emphasis will be on visitors travelling independently by train or car because independent travellers have a higher spend. Discoverers and Cosmopolitans typically do not travel in organised groups. Some Functionals will choose a coach tour as a cost-effective way to see several destinations on one trip.

Currently, such tours include Durham as a short stop as part of an itinerary. These tours typically attract low-value short-day visitors and while Durham should welcome and care for them and encourage an independent repeat trip at a later date, they do not present a significant growth opportunity for the city. To convert them into overnight stays would require developing a large hotel prepared to trade at heavily

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discounted rates. Conversations with hoteliers confirm that existing overnight coach parties operate in that way. However, the coach market also includes special interest tours, typically attracting Traditionals travelling in couples or as part of an affinity group. These smaller tours offer niche opportunities for particular attractions in the city including the cathedral and Crook Hall. The per head spend of these niche coach trips is higher, developing packages between attractions and city hotels may be a more viable and attractive proposition. Separate to this study Blue Sail is undertaking a group travel study for Durham City, which will provide a more detailed assessment of the market opportunities of the group market.

Early findings of the Durham Conference and Meetings Market Study suggest that the university, the cathedral and the Gala Theatre will be key players in realising the conference tourism potential in the city.

The accommodation stock survey will also help understand how existing and new stock works for meeting the needs of the coach market.

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5 A SHARED STORY FOR DURHAMThis is the Shared Story for Durham City. It brings together what people have told us about the city, what others have said, what we have seen and what we know about heritage cities. It draws out the essence of what makes Durham City special and different. This shapes and influences priorities. At the start of each of the action plan chapters (Sections 6-11), we capture how those actions fit with specific aspects of the story.

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THE SHARED STORY FOR DURHAM CITY

This “perfect little city” is like a medieval hilltown, with steep cobbled lanes and wooded river banks rising up to the magnificent cathedral – Britain’s favourite building.

It’s a world centre for learning and heritage …Yet it feels intimate and warm-hearted: it’s a working city, buzzing with students, that’s been welcoming pilgrims for 1,000 years.

It’s a beautiful place in a striking rural setting, balanced between the Pennines and the sea, the old town built on a peninsula cut into a precipitous gorge by the River Wear,which surrounds it on three sides.

And while it’s most definitely a place for reflection, with layers of history to explore, a top university at its core,and famously described as “one of the great experiences of Europe” … it’s still straightforward and unpretentious.

So you could say it’s the real spiritual heart of North East England.

Starts with extremely strong quote from Bill Bryson. “Little city” and “medieval hilltown” confirm the scale, which sets Durham apart from other city destinations. “Medieval hilltown”, “steep cobbled lanes”, “wooded river banks rising up” are strong visual images referring to the distinct & picturesque topography. This first reference to the river is deliberately placed at the top of the story. “Medieval” isn’t a literal description of the whole place, but refers to the city’s formative period, its iconic buildings, the stories of pilgrimage and the atmosphere in the historic core. “Magnificent cathedral – Britain’s favourite building” stakes the claim, and gives it national & contemporary credentials, with “favourite” being a warm word. NB This final phrase may need to be adjusted from time to time.

Paragraph 2 asserts Durham’s world credentials but balances that with the idea of intimacy and human warmth. It links this to a suggestion of the city’s working-class roots, its lively student population and its long history of welcome, as well as its important Christian heritage as a place of pilgrimage.

The views of the city are extraordinary and set it apart from other English cathedral cities. Paragraph 3 goes some way to explaining them by mentioning the physical features – so that it’s more than an empty claim. Workshop participants felt the almost ‘rural’ feel of the city is also distinctive – so the word “rural” is used, and there’s the suggestion of closeness of countryside and coast.

The penultimate paragraph positions the city as a place for people who welcome time and space to think, who like to explore and discover things for themselves. As well as being about thought, “reflection” is also a subtle allusion to the idea of watery-ness identified by Workshop participants. It acknowledges the famous university and refers to the city’s international status. But it also reassures potential visitors that it is not elitist – by referring to two of the most positive qualities (“straightforward and unpretentious”) recognised by people outside the region as being characteristic of North East people.

We end with a very positive claim which alludes – in a contemporary way – to the spiritual significance of Durham, and to the warm-hearted quality of the North East England people (which is more positive than perceptions of the wider “North”). It gives Durham a wider regional role, and locates it geographically too.

THE RATIONALE

The World Heritage Site comprises Durham Castle and Durham Cathedral connected by Palace Green,. Durham’s magnificent cathedral is Britain’s favourite building, the main attraction of the city and a must-see for first time visitors. Together with the castle it provides the physical expression of the spiritual and secular powers of the medieval Bishops Palatine So it is essential this part of the city works really well as an attraction in its own right, as a visitor hub for information, orientation and signposting, and sets the mark for quality of experiences and service.

THE CHALLENGES

Balancing the World Heritage Site Partners’ agendas with visitor needs – learn from best practice by liaising with cities that face similar challenges e.g. Bath, Edinburgh

The phasing and timing of different activity – close working between the university and the cathedral will identify potential difficulties early on and develop strategies to deal with them.


6 THE CATHEDRAL AND PALACE GREEN

… magnificent cathedral – Britain’s favourite building ……world centre for learning and heritage …feels intimate and warm-hearted…welcoming pilgrims for 1,000 years …the real spiritual heart of the North East

THE RECOMMENDATION

Make Palace Green the showcase and visitor hub for the city - the start of the Durham visitor experience

Put weight and support behind investments in the cathedral and the university’s estate, collectively the World Heritage Site – polish the big attraction and make it work even harder for you including with new events

Use Lindisfarne Gospels as an opportunity to test out this approach; then build up more successes to 2020.

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WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW

The cathedral has a successful £3.5 million HLF bid (£3 million capital and £0.5 million revenue) to redesign the cloister spaces and significantly improve access and the layout of the visitor experience. The main elements are a temporary exhibition space for touring international and national exhibitions, a new relocated and improved St Cuthbert and Saxon exhibition, cafe and shop which are newly opened. Stage 2 of the development plans is to create a fine dining cafe in a space currently not open to the public that will provide spectacular views across the city.

Durham University is investing circa £12 million in new world-class exhibition spaces at Palace Green Library. These new facilities will house the Lindisfarne Gospels on loan from the British Library from 1 July-30 Sept 2013 and will host future significant exhibitions. The Lindisfarne Gospels programme is a broad event with the exhibition at its heart and is designed to make the event appealing, accessible and exciting to visitors

The World Heritage Site Visitor Centre is now open at Palace Green and welcomed over 100,000 visitors in its first year. It provides a main point for interpretation of the World Heritage Site and doubles as a Visitor Information Point, part of the countywide Visitor Information Network, allowing visitors to access a full range of information support online The centre carries the information “i”.

Durham Castle is undergoing its first major refurbishment in decades with the university spending £5 million on the Great Hall, Servery, Kitchen, and on student accommodation10. This will lead to the castle being better equipped to serve visitors through better accommodation and better dining/event facilities. This will benefit the conference and meetings market in particular. While of outstanding heritage value, the castle is first and foremost a functioning university building and its development as a visitor attraction is limited as a consequence though the college is considering increasing access to the Norman Chapel, the oldest building in Durham. .

New lighting for the city’s World Heritage Site has been designed and installed. It will be demonstrated in November 2012 and launched in February 2013.

10 http://www.dur.ac.uk/university.college.trust/appeal/

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http://www.dur.ac.uk/university.college.trust/appeal/

2012-2015 THIS HAS BEEN RE-ORDERED

Review the interpretation, exhibitions and marketing of Palace Green Libraries and the heritage centre located close to Palace Green – increase their visibility and appeal to a wider range of visitors by taking advantage of the proposed tourism business support programme (see Section 10 below)

Raise the visibility and profile of the World Heritage Visitor Centre - make its purpose and function clearer to the casual visitor.

Provide better waymarking to Palace Green and follow that through with orientation and interpretation within the Green recognising the limitations the World Heritage Site and working with Wayfinding Strategy for the City (Placemarque, 2008). Link waymarking activity to the visitor centre functions to deliver seamless orientation, signing and information provision

Provide clear high profile signing at Durham Railway Station about the electric bus service to Palace Green (see Section 10 for further recommendations for the electric bus). This should be trialled in 2013 for the Lindisfarne Gospels.

To review and further refine the traffic and pedestrian management on the immediate roads up to the green to improve ease of access and encourage arrival by electric bus.

Make Lindisfarne Gospels 2013 a spectacular success, exceeding all expectations - Durham University, Durham Cathedral and Durham County Council will work closely together to develop the exhibition and supporting events programme, harness creative ideas, set the standard for quality, creativity and visitor management for the city and open up new opportunities to do things differently in the future.

Include a visitor survey in the evaluation of the Lindisfarne Gospels exhibition to measure visitor satisfaction and test visitor management plans.


ACTIONS

The cathedral, the university (as landowner of Palace Green), Durham County Council, and the World Heritage Site Coordinating Committee (which in addition includes English Heritage and the City of Durham Trust) need to work closely together to support the delivery of a joined-up, outstanding visitor experience and ensure Palace Green is the showcase for the city in every way, while balancing academic and religious uses of the space that take priority for the World Heritage Site landowners. The actions are:

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2015-2020

To extend the signing programme to the river at a point in time when significant improvements will have taken place to the built and natural environment of the riverside (estimated 2015) and to develop new routes to attractions from Palace Green that make the most of the city’s river and green routes and rive business to smaller attractions on the periphery.

To build on the success and learning of Lumiere and the Lindisfarne Gospels by using Palace Green as a prestigious creative events space more frequently, subject to university academic commitments. (see Section 10 events below)

To review and refine the role and function of the visitor centre five years on. This might be variously about the content and stories of the exhibition, the visitor information services or opening times.


BUDGETS AND FUNDING

New funding is needed for orientation, interpretation and signing.

We recommend the university as landowner in consultation with the council updates and extends the relevant parts of the Durham City Wayfinding Strategy, 2008 and advise on a more comprehensive programme for Palace Green designed to link with the existing scheme and which is appropriate and sympathetic to the World Heritage Site needs. Funding opportunities and the delivery timetable will be linked to the Lindsfarne Gospels in 2013 and with the riverside walks. We anticipate funding may be in the region of £30,000+ for the Palace Green hub. We suggest that this is led and defined by the World Heritage Site Management Committee.

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THE CHALLENGES

Developing a comprehensive and inclusive tourism masterplan process that realises the potential of the river peninsula as the City’s second visitor hub and delivers that as a strong partnership between stakeholders

Developing and manage the process sensitively to create a series of different experiences that enhance and draw out its environmental qualities and recognise the different qualities of different areas, that include some wild riverbank places.

THE RATIONALE

The river and riverbank should be a central part of the visitor experience during the day and in the evening, reinforcing its cathedral city credentials and making its rural setting tangible for visitors. Restoration and regeneration of the river peninsula in the city centre will make a strong statement about the city’s commitment to tourism, to its natural environment and to partnership working.


7 THE RIVER

It’s a beautiful place in a striking rural setting,…,the old town built on a peninsula…cut into a precipitous gorge by the River Wear,which surrounds it on three sides….a place for reflection

THE RECOMMENDATION

Develop the river peninsula as a second visitor hub to complement the World Heritage Site to enhance what is special about Durham, define the heart of the city and create a new experience.

Think big about what the river could do and the experiences it could offer

Identify a site(s) on a city centre riverfront location for a new visitor attraction to raise the profile of the city’s aspiration.

Create a tourism masterplan for the river peninsula that all the stakeholders can get behind and support. The masterplan and its delivery will make a strong statement about Durham’s commitment to investment, to tourism and to supporting its natural environment. This will be a major project for Durham City. it will start by bringing river conservation, regeneration and management partnerships and projects with tourism much more effectively and then build on that to create a tourism ‘masterplan’ that joins up thinking and raises the bar of what can be achieved. This will help strengthen the individual components and give the river and its restoration a much higher profile and tourism focus. Our consultations suggest there is an appetite for this approach and a recognised gap in having a clear and agreed tourism statement about the river.

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The riverbank gardens, woodlands, the castle walls and walks around the historic peninsula are the context to the World Heritage Site and there are proposals to extend the World Heritage Site footprint to include the peninsula. The riverbank is a peaceful space in the heart of the city. Until the end of the nineteenth century it was a tourist draw, boasting famous visitors such as JMW Turner and Sir Walter Scott. Now the riverbanks are neglected. You cannot see the river; hear the river or get down on to it easily.

The river is a hugely under-utilised asset with potential that so far the city has been unable to realise despite recognising its heritage, amenity, environmental and tourism value. Years of neglect, multiple ownership and lack of funding have made tackling the river and riverbanks issues difficult.

However there are projects now underway to turnaround its fortunes, restore it to its former glory and help open it up again to visitors as an exciting part of the Durham City experience which can help encourage longer stays by creating more to do. Current projects include the Heritage Lottery Fund Cathedral Woodlands Management project and there are further opportunities for funding bids proposed by Durham University including for the Durham Riverbanks Project and Castle & City Walls project to deliver practical environmental management activities and protect and enhance species.

The County Council Regeneration and Economic Development Directorate has a role to play here in identifying city centre waterfront sites that have potential for tourism uses. Tourism and leisure related uses should include a new visitor attraction, waterfront restaurants/cafes and leisure activities to regenerate and broaden waterfront uses and encourage further private sector investment on the waterfront in its design, presentation and management.

The key ownerships are the Cathedral, Durham University, St John’s College, St Chad’s College and Durham County Council but there is a wider range of interests and ownerships that need to be involved at a strategic level at key stages.

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2012-2015

Kick-off the process with a creative think-tank to bring partners together, tourism proof existing plans, agree priorities, identify potential sites for different uses and projects to ensure tourism objectives knit with conservation, regeneration and management imperatives and fit with the Shared Story for Durham

Coordinate a tourism masterplan for the peninsula – take the findings from the think-tank to set out objectives and prioritise projects and programmes that will enable the riverbank restoration and open up the river and riverbank to visitors with phased delivery. The process will be led by the new partnership group (the successor to the Durham City Vision Board) working closely with landowners and existing partnerships. Produce plans that show potential site uses, cycle and walking routes, areas for conservation etc.

Create a joined up phased funding schedule that captures proposed funding bids and needs in one place, identifies gaps and opportunities for joint bids.

Identify and promote riverside tourism development site opportunities to potential investors and companies. Also raise the profile of Durham City’s aspirations for tourism development for the river peninsula and for new visitor attractions more widely in the business and investment press.

Develop and roll out a local PR programme to raise the profile and share information for the project with the local community and specifically with the various ownerships and interests on the river to build a stronger partnerships of interests to help build awareness and support

Secure 3 years of staff and project funding for the Durham Riverbank Ranger Project – to help build on its achievements to date and lever additional funds for local management projects

Develop a 3 year riverside waymarking and interpretation plan as part of the masterplan and begin implementation - review earlier plans in the light of changing needs, visitor market priorities and conservation imperatives and look for cross funding opportunities. Commence implementation of waymarking focusing initially on stretches of the peninsula that have benefited from investment.

2012-2015

Durham County Council to provide strategic the riverbanks’ walkways including potential to make the riverbank more appealing

Ensure the successful delivery of the existing Heritage Lottery Fund Cathedral Woodlands Management project and secure further funding to extend environmental works to other stretches of the river prioritising the river peninsula.

Explore potential to get more people down to the water and on to it – start now but ongoing. Work with existing Durham River Trips Ltd and make more of events on the river (linked to Delivering a Quality Experience see below) and with the visitor attractions.


ACTIONS

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2015-2020

To continue and complete the waymarkng and interpretation scheme

To review the tourism river masterplan in 2015/2016 once key environmental enhancements and interpretation and waymarking programmes are completed and update as appropriate.

To undertake a feasibility study for the future role and potential of The Old Fulling Mill, as part of the visitor experience on the riverbank which we understand is constrained in its current location. Include within this the potential benefits and opportunities of relocating the museum and collections elsewhere and identifying a new visitor use for the riverside building.

Undertake feasibility work and other necessary site plans for emerging tourism development projects.


BUDGETS AND FUNDING

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Individual conservation, regeneration and woodland programmes for sites along the riverbanks - the total value of these bids is likely to be in the region of £2.9m over a three to five year period. Each project will need to look at potential funding sources and a joined-up approach will avoid internal competition for funds and duplication of efforts

For core funding for the Durham Riverbanks Ranger we recommend an annual budget of £45,000 to retain a full time manager and £15,000 project budget to use as leverage for private sector project investment.

c.£25,000 for a waymarking and interpretation scheme around the River Peninsula, which could be funded by Durham County Council with contributions from landowners and potentially elements being included within bids for other phased projects including regeneration projects.

Allocate a small internal promotional and PR budget c. £3,000 per annum.

Facilitation of riverbank masterplan think-tank session - £3,000.

An alternative approach to funding revenue and maintenance projects is for the partners to contribute to a core budget to be annually agreed for PR, management projects and business support. This potentially provides matched funding leverage for bids.

Partners need to explore a wider range of trusts and foundations to support different aspects of activity, e.g. John Muir Awards (environmental award that encourages people of all backgrounds to connect, enjoy and care for wild places), Esmee Fairburn Foundation (arts, education and learning, the environment).

SUGGESTED DELIVERY LEADS

The university will champion the project working with the new partnership group but many other partners will be responsible for delivery.

Conservation projects – Durham University and Durham Cathedral and other land owners as appropriate

Regeneration projects – Regeneration and Economic Development Directorate, Durham County Council

Durham Riverbanks Management - Landowners

Promoting new activity on the river and along the riverbanks, e.g. rowing, canoeing, trip boats, encouraging people to use the riverside -Visit County Durham

Pedestrian signing and interpretation – Neighbourhood Services, Durham County Council

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Old Fulling Mill – Durham Cathedral

Internal promotion and PR – Durham Peninsular Partnership

Coach park meet and greet – industry leads to include Crook Hall and Durham Markets Company Limited.

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THE RATIONALE

Durham City already has some excellent events that reinforce the city’s distinctiveness and others that have growth potential. The success of Lumiere has established Durham’s reputation as a creative events city and the Lindisfarne Gospels creates further opportunities. The annual programme exists in embryo. It makes sense to build on that success to further strengthen that market positioning, especially in the first five years of this plan when other longer term projects are in their development stage.

THE CHALLENGES

Clearly communicating the distinctiveness and appeal of major events as drivers for visits

Securing sufficient funding and resources to stage the signature events to the standard and frequency we are proposing

Securing sufficient funding and resources to stage and grow the annual programme


8 EVENTS

It’s a world centre for learning and heritage …Yet it feels intimate and warm-hearted: it’s a working city, buzzing with students, that’s been welcoming pilgrims for 1,000 years.

THE RECOMMENDATION

Strengthen Durham’s portfolio of signature and annual events to profile Durham and attract additional visitors

Create opportunities to build a 2-night stay around signature and major events

Use events as a way to extend the visitor day and season

Use events to reinforce Durham’s distinctiveness and its Shared Story.

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WHATS HAPPENING NOW

We have divided the wide programme of Durham City events into three categories:

Signature events – biennial or less-frequent, with national and international appeal e.g. Lumiere

Annual events - new or long-standing, rooted in the history and heritage of the place - in which city partners are investing e.g. Book Festival, Brass

Regular events –events that principally attract a local day visitor market and some groups and can provide interest for visitors; these might be seasonal e.g. Christmas Market or thematic e.g. Food Festival, craft fairs, speciality markets

Signature and annual events provide a reason to visit now, deliver a special experience of the city to visitors, improve the profile of Durham City nationally and even internationally, e.g. Manchester International Festival, Hay Festival and Cheltenham’s Festivals. Regular events have themes and programmes similar to others across Britain, so unless Durham’s version can offer a unique take they are visitor-friendly but have limited potential to attract visitors to the City in their own right.

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RECOMMENDATIONS Focus on 1 signature event and 5 annual events that can: Motivate additional visits

Support and exemplify Durham’s Shared Story

Provide an insight into Durham’s culture and heritage.

Help deliver a 48-hour stay by creating a focus around which to build a short break.

PRIORITIES Ensure they run regularly so visitors know when they

are happening

Safeguard their sustainability

Develop their appeal by extending content

Make them accessible to visitors

Market them effectively to visitors.

2012-2015

Durham Cultural Partnership champions principal events – providing advocacy including initiating, supporting or securing funding and resources, discussing and exploring ways which these events could be enhanced or developed.

Develop the Brass programme - to widen range and depth and extend appeal; performers, workshops, fringe events etc.

Extend audiences for the Book Festival beyond local markets through programming and marketing – e.g. working with the university to build a unique literary programme


Here is the suggested programme of priority events.

Signature Events

Lumiere - introduced in 2009, repeated in 2011. Evaluation of 2011 showed 150,000 visitors, economic impact of £4.3m and an editorial value of media coverage worth £2.25m. Lumiere premiered in Durham and is the largest light festival in England.

Durham Mysteries – first staged 2010, evaluation showed 4,500 visitors, economic impact of £793k and media coverage worth £402K. Mystery plays have an authentic and special lineage and are firmly rooted in Durham’s story offering an insight and experience of the city’s history.

Palace Green exhibitions – starting with the Lindisfarne Gospels Exhibition and to be followed by regular exhibitions of nationally significant objects, the new world class facilities are a focal point for the annual and signature events programme.

Annual Events Brass – a long-standing annual festival firmly rooted in the industrial heritage and social history of Durham. Evaluation of 2010 event

showed 52,000 visitors, economic impact of £1.427M and media coverage worth £695K

Durham Book Festival – a long-standing annual event which re-launched in 2009, and has benefited from recent work on a 5-year vision and business plan and a 3-year commitment from Durham County Council and the Arts Council. In 2010 attracted 3,700 attendees, economic impact of £391K and £359K of media coverage.

Choral programme at Cathedral – currently runs primarily for local residents but of high quality and would offer visitors an appealing experience of the Cathedral being used and at its best

Streets of Durham – launched in 2009 and developing into a high profile music festival combined with street shows, the event took a step forward in 2011 with a gig by the Futureheads in Durham Cathedral

Musicon - a long establishedseries of concerts from the university’s music department – many high-quality, distinctive events currently run in different faculties, primarily for the university community. These would have wider appeal and would add to the live experience Durham could offer moving beyond simply looking and reading about the buildings.

NB Events in the regular programme may develop into candidates for the annual programme as they find distinctive identities.ACTIONS

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2012-2015

Durham Cultural Partnership champions principal events – providing advocacy including initiating, supporting or securing funding and resources, discussing and exploring ways which these events could be enhanced or developed.

Develop the Brass programme - to widen range and depth and extend appeal; performers, workshops, fringe events etc.

Extend audiences for the Book Festival beyond local markets through programming and marketing – e.g. working with the university to build a unique literary programme


SUGGESTED BUDGET AND FUNDING

Much of the budgets required to deliver this is contained within existing projects or will need to be negotiated with funders (future funding for Lumiere and Durham Mystery Plays – Arts Council, European funding, private sponsors). To develop the Brass programme would need an additional £20K which could be provided in whole or part by the County Council, possibly levering contributions from Arts Council England or private sponsors. Ideally, Visit County Durham will achieve a small additional resource to work with Brass, the University and Cathedral. However, it may be necessary to prioritise existing funding if additional resources cannot be found.

SUGGESTED DELIVERY LEADS

Lumiere - Durham County Council and WHS partners

Durham Mysteries – Visit County Durham as producer and promoter

Brass - Durham County Council Events Team Book Festival – Durham County Council Events Team as commissioners of external delivery

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2015-2020

Establish Lumiere as a biennial flagship event from 2016 onwards – work to secure sustainability, explore opportunities for 3 event funding agreement (2016, 2018, 2020); explore income generation opportunities including charging for certain new or additional elements, donations, sponsorship, fringe events; re-scope the event if necessary etc

Establish new signature events in alternate years to Lumiere e.g. Mystery, Lindisfarne Gospels etc explore income generation opportunities including charging for certain new or additional elements, donations, sponsorship, fringe events; re-scope events if necessary etc


Cathedral Choral Programme – Durham Cathedral as producer University Event Programme - Durham University as producer Promotion of programme to visitor audiences – Visit County Durham in partnership with event producers.

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CHESTER CITY WALLS COMPETITIVENESS STUDY

Chester has undertaken various studies looking at the individual and collective economic impact of proposed tourism developments in the city to inform priorities and support funding applications.

The City Walls study was undertaken in 2009 and involved an economic impact assessment of the current contribution of the walls to the city’s visitor economy and an appraisal of the improvements which could be made. The study was funded through the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) Interreg IVB project PORTICO, which focuses on the urban development of historic cities.


9 PRODUCT INVESTMENTDurham City needs to invest in new product to be competitive, to provide additional reasons to visit and things to see and do. Its competitors are investing so in addition to investing in the cathedral and in the river, Durham will:

Prioritise inward investment in a new visitor attraction of national profile – this is Priority 1 for the recently revised Tourism Management Plan

Encourage investment in other new attractions in the city

Grow the volume and range of hotels.

A NEW VISITOR ATTRACTION

What’s happening now

Durham City has been proactive in pursuing opportunities to create a new national profile visitor attraction and undertaken initial feasibility studies as part of its Tourism Management Plan activities. This work provides a useful base of knowledge on which to build.

DCC is working with national attraction operators to bring new family attractions to the city.

York Archaeological Trust (YAT) worked with Durham County Council to bring the Gladiators Exhibition from York to Durham, and is working on a new exhibition with YAT for 2013.

Durham County Council’s regeneration department is actively promoting the city and main sites to potential operators and developers.

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Actions Durham City is determined to attract a new national profile visitor attraction and to do that it needs to up its game by identifying suitable sites/buildings in the city and marketing those directly to national attraction brands concentrating on brands whose collections are relatively easy to outpost. For example an art gallery might be a strong option because it is relatively easy to outpost, display and refresh an element of a picture collection rather than say a science collection. An art gallery provides opportunities to theme exhibitions that strengthen the Shared Story and has a good fit with the city’s target overnight visitor markets.

The city also needs to continue to put out strong messages more generally in the investment marketplace about its attraction aspirations to help place Durham in the minds of potential investors. This needs to happen while continuing to nurture warm leads. These actions need to take place now and build up over time.

In addition to a new national profile Durham city will continue to pursue and support the delivery of more attractions in the city centre, which add to the critical mass of things to see and do, appeal to target visitor markets and bring new and more activity into the centre.

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CRITERIA FOR NEW NATIONAL PROFILE VISITOR ATTRACTION IN DURHAM CITY

To contribute to Durham’s objective to become a 2-night destination, a new attraction should:

Reinforce Durham’s Shared Story – the attraction should build on and add depth to what is unique and special about Durham City through its theme, quality and market positioning – following on from best practice in other heritage cities

Have a good fit with target overnight visitor markets

Have a national or high profile that would help Durham City compete alongside its peers and competitors and have the propensity to attract visitors outside of North East England

Demonstrate a good return on investment in relation to the benefits for the city’s visitor economy - generating overnight stays, higher visitor spend and jobs.

2012-2015

Adopt and communicate the criteria for a new national profile visitor attraction to present a stronger and consistent message in the marketplace

To identify one or more specific buildings or sites in the city centre as preferred locations for a new national profile visitor attraction, produce a prospectus and promote them to targeted national brands and potentially commercial visitor attraction companies

To continue the visitor market testing with YAT on exhibitions including surveys of visitors and non-visitors. This will help refine thinking on what attractions will deliver the greatest return on investment

Undertake full economic impact assessment of the proposed new family attraction to test viability and sustainability, look at the extent to which it is likely to attract visitors for a short break in the city and consider the extent to which it can deliver against the criteria for a new national profile attraction for Durham City to help determine its potential and market positioning.


Budgets, Funding Sources and Delivery Leads

SUGGESTED BUDGETS, FUNDING SOURCES AND DELIVERY PARTNERS

Durham County Council’s Regeneration and Economic Development will lead on the inward investment of a new national profile visitor attraction pulling together inward investment, planning and regeneration teams and working closely with Visit County Durham.

HOTEL DEVELOPMENT

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2015-2020

Regularly review position in light of the economic climate and actively pursue development leads.

Undertake full feasibility studies for new concepts including full market analysis, visitor number projections and business plans

2018 – target for the opening of a new national profile visitor attraction in Durham City.

ASSESSING HOTEL DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL IN LINCOLNSHIRE

Lincolnshire undertook a Serviced Accommodation Study in 2009 to inform priorities and recommend on inward investment opportunities. This is being used by the County’s inward investment team to inform thinking.

The study looked at the trends in hotel development and implications for the County, provided an audit of current stock and identified gaps, breaking down the County into different destinations. It looked at the individual brand profiles of different hotel developers to help create a match with Lincolnshire destinations. The report proposes a number of specific initiatives to try and nurture development of specific sites.

The report was used by an existing hotel to inform their refurbishment plans and also by hotel developers to inform their decisions and location choice. Hotel developers tend to also undertake their own feasibility work to inform their decision. For example, Doubletree by Hilton in Lincoln undertook a study and then made a brand decision to invest in the City.


To grow its overnight market, Durham City also needs more places to stay and a more coordinated proactive approach to attracting new hotels. This is important for the business and leisure markets and demand will be generated by growth in both sectors.

Hotel development is market-led and follows rather than leads tourism growth. The stimulus for developing most hotels is typically driven by business tourism activity and the university is an important player in driving demand.

In the short term the focus must be on existing hotel stock working with individual attractions to offer bespoke and targeted packages to higher spend short break markets to help drive room rates and reduce the City's over-reliance on low value volume travel trade. Visit County Durham will be able to provide support. The accommodation needs survey will help inform this activity.

At the same time the accommodation sector should think carefully about how it presents value for money in the marketplace. Durham City’s advertised room rates appear higher than for some of the comparator cathedral cities, partly reflecting the smaller number and type of hotels and B&Bs in Durham.

In the longer term the priority is for Durham City to take a coordinated and proactive approach to attracting new quality developments to meet growing demand. It is important to be clear about what hotel development the city wants and why. This needs to consider business and leisure tourism needs. The viability of hotel developments will be influenced by the recommendations in the Durham Conference and Meetings Study and the accommodation study that will set out the best investment prospects for the city.

The target leisure markets suggest that over time Durham City would benefit from a boutique and/or additional 3-star or 4-star equivalent branded hotel.

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Developers and hotel companies prefer destinations which offer good market opportunities and where liaison with destination managers is efficient and effective, so it is important that Durham takes a systematic and proactive approach to hotel investment.

Actions Regeneration and Economic Development (including the Planning section) in Durham County Council will work with Visit County Durham to deliver the following actions:

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2012-2015

Agree and set out the objectives and approach to hotel development and agree how to nurture warm leads for hotel development and who will be responsible in leading on this.

Produce and market a portfolio of potential hotel development site opportunities to target hotel development companies

Deliver a coordinated response to developer enquiries

Undertake an accommodation study to help provide focus and refine priorities, undertake a product audit, review market demand and set out the main hotel brands to target and why they provide potential for Durham City. This should be incorporated within the accommodation stock survey and will highlight any gaps in current provision.

THE RATIONALE

To become a successful 2-night destination Durham needs to offer more to see and do that appeals to its higher spend target markets. It makes sense to make more of what you have already first. Improving the existing offer will help position Durham as a confident and happening city. That will attract more visitors now and help present the city as a good place to invest in tourism. So it helps deliver longer term plans for new visitor attractions and more hotels and encourages diversity in shopping and eating places.


10 DELIVERING A QUALITY EXPERIENCE

It’s a world centre for learning and heritage …yet it feels intimate and warm-hearted … a working city layers of history to explore, a top university at its core …and famously described as “one of the great experiences of Europe”… still straightforward and unpretentious

THE RECOMMENDATION

Make more of what there is; big up the experience and deliver a well-managed experience at every stage of the visitor journey which exceeds the expectations on quality of target visitor markets. This will meet the Tourism Management Plan objective to implement a step change in the quality of the visitor experience post arrival. That means:

Investing in your existing attractions – to create an engaging interactive experience with excellent customer service, optimise their potential now

Use open spaces for a regular programme of quality food and craft events - adding to a distinctive shopping offer, which overtime can encourage specialist retailers to take leases on permanent units

Improving the gateways, signing and interpretation of the city and the presentation and the management of the public realm.

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THE CHALLENGES

Finding funding to help smaller attractions achieve their potential and finding funding for tourism infrastructure.

Managing expectations for lead in time for investment in attractions, hotels, retail and evening entertainment.



There have been investments in individual attractions, in events and in the public realm but the experience remains fragmented. Durham City is a compact place and it is relatively straightforward to join it up more effectively through waymarking, marketing and information. The city partners need to take a big picture view of the destination and work together to deliver and manage a joined up visitor experience.

Becoming a 2-night destination increases the importance of the evening economy. So the city needs to think about how that can be developed and managed well to deliver entertainment and places to eat and drink.

ACTIVITY AND ANIMATION IN THE CITY CENTRE

Durham City should develop activities to augment the specialist shopping experience and animate the city centre. This should include a regular programme of small scale events, such as craft and food fairs. These smaller events can be variously held in Market Place, Palace Green and Millennium Place.

Palace Green is already used as an event space for Lumiere and will also be a focus for activity during the Lindisfarne Gospels. Its World Heritage Site status, and regular use by landowner Durham University, means any visitor activity needs to be carefully balanced with the needs of the student, academic and religious communities of the World Heritage Site.

The Market Place sits at the centre of the retail area and originally the commercial trading centre of the city offers opportunities to develop more events and street animation during the day and in the evening to build on what is already happening.

Millennium Place is rather open to the elements and is a modern hard landscape environment. There are various pieces of fixed street furniture which restrict the uses you can make of the open space. It is also slightly off the main leisure visitor routes and it is used as a thoroughfare rather than as a place to congregate. Some animation and dressing of the buildings would help draw people to that space and soften the hard architecture.

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RECOMMENDATIONS Set up a tourism business support programme for 12 months that offers bespoke specialist advice to up to 12 attraction

businesses including audit, recommendations and an action plan tailored to their needs. Focus on practical and deliverable actions that enhance the visitor experience and the business profitability. Recommendations might range across business presentation, arrival and welcome, exhibition themes, stories and presentation, quality control, marketing and secondary spend opportunities in museums (e.g. cafe and shop);

Establish a visitor attraction mentoring scheme with larger successful attractions across the County offering insights and expertise to smaller attractions in the city. Ideally run in parallel with business support programme;

Get people to the attractions and around the city – give the electric bus which runs between Durham Railway Station and Palace Green a much higher visitor profile to deliver a better service for visitors, help increase use and reduce the subsidy of the service. Review its route to maximise use of the service and potentially include other attractions e.g. Botanic Gardens, Oriental Museum and Crook Hall;

Improve pedestrian signing to attractions outside the city centre - including clear information on distances. Wherever possible these routes should include the riverbank peninsula to reinforce its role as an essential Durham city experience;

Back up directional signing with clear and easy to find information - at the new Visitor Information Points and on individual


MAKING MORE OF THE CITY’S ATTRACTIONS

This is about polishing the many visitor experiences in the city to meet the quality expectations of target markets and ensure that there is a quality offer to support the main visitor hubs and big attractions. These experiences are the visitor attractions and museums, boat trips, guided tours and trails, markets and small events – ensuring quality, making them more accessible and presenting them in a joined up way that appeals to target audiences and contributes to strengthening the offer to create the choice required to support a 2-night break.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

Small events and specialist markets in the city squares

Attractions and cathedral host occasional events and activities

Make use of vacant shop units for pop-up shops, exhibitions and events – creates interesting indoor venues for visitors, creative spaces for the organisation hiring them and potentially commercial opportunities for the venue.

PRIORITIES

Build up annual programme of small events for the city coordinated by key partners responsible for developing, managing and marketing Durham City

Make sure activity has strong fit with target markets

Focus on weekends, extending the visitor day and season

Focus on quality control.

.

RECOMMENDATIONS Set up a tourism business support programme for 12 months that offers bespoke specialist advice to up to 12 attraction

businesses including audit, recommendations and an action plan tailored to their needs. Focus on practical and deliverable actions that enhance the visitor experience and the business profitability. Recommendations might range across business presentation, arrival and welcome, exhibition themes, stories and presentation, quality control, marketing and secondary spend opportunities in museums (e.g. cafe and shop);

Establish a visitor attraction mentoring scheme with larger successful attractions across the County offering insights and expertise to smaller attractions in the city. Ideally run in parallel with business support programme;

Get people to the attractions and around the city – give the electric bus which runs between Durham Railway Station and Palace Green a much higher visitor profile to deliver a better service for visitors, help increase use and reduce the subsidy of the service. Review its route to maximise use of the service and potentially include other attractions e.g. Botanic Gardens, Oriental Museum and Crook Hall;

Improve pedestrian signing to attractions outside the city centre - including clear information on distances. Wherever possible these routes should include the riverbank peninsula to reinforce its role as an essential Durham city experience;

Back up directional signing with clear and easy to find information - at the new Visitor Information Points and on individual


Actions

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2015-2020

Develop a coordinated pedestrian signing plan led by the needs of visitors, incorporating edge of city attractions and delivering attractive walking routes (linked to recommendations for Palace Green as the visitor hub, see Section 6 above).

Extend the visitor bus service on successful routes as a regular service. Depending on the results of the pilot this may be seasonal. Explore cross-funding and joint-ticketing opportunities.


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2012-2015

Develop a 12-month tourism business programme for 12 businesses – ‘12 for 12 tourism business programme’ to help businesses achieve their business development potential and deliver excellent quality for visitors now.

Recruit a company of specialist tourism advisers to help develop, deliver and monitor the programme

Develop and manage a visitor attraction mentoring scheme including matching volunteers from successful attractions e.g. Beamish, with local smaller museums and attractions. Mentoring activity might include staff exchanges or work shadowing.

Review the route and timetable for the electric bus and identify opportunities to fine-tune that to benefit from potential visitor customers (see recommendations for improved signing at Durham railway station at Section 6)

Promote the route as a visitor bus at the railway station and in tourism marketing

Explore the viability, funding and route for a visitor bus service between attractions close to the City and then set up a pilot and monitor e.g. Beamish, Durham County Cricket Ground and pilot for 2013 during the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Ashes at County Durham Cricket Ground.


Suggested Budgets, Funding Sources and Delivery Partners Visit County Durham will be the delivery lead for the tourism business support programme. To develop and deliver the programme

requires a budget of £20,000-£25,000 and stakeholders need to identify potential skills and business support funding programmes to make this happen. Visit County Durham will also oversee and manage the attractions mentoring programme.

Durham County Council Transport Departments will lead on working together with Durham University to develop the potential of the electric bus for visitors during 2012 and use the Lindisfarne Gospels in 2013 as an opportunity to measure and consolidate the service.

The Transport Department will also develop the visitor attractions link bus and pilot during 2013

Durham County Council will lead on the signing programme supported by Visit County Durham. Budget will be dependent on the number of attractions and fingerposts. There will be a degree of overlap with these schemes and we recommend costs are incorporated in signing for the visitor hub and the river. It may be necessary to include a small additional budget.

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PURPLE FLAG IN WINCHESTER Winchester is one of two heritage towns to have signed up to Purple Flag so far. The town found the process offered real value to the destination partners. It brought together the diverse interests in the night time economy and joined up their thinking around a set of shared objectives. Here are some of the points of interest that came out of the Purple Flag overnight audits for Winchester:

the night time economy is not uniform – there are different markets at different times of the evening bringing different needs, challenges and opportunities

pubs are a key part of the visitor economy – they need to know what is happening because it impacts on their planning and opportunities to become involved

confirmed there may not be sufficient evening economy activities for visitors.

PRIORITIES

Durham County Council’s Planning Department takes a positive view of applications for new evening venues but ensures the type of application is appropriate for the city and reinforces the principles of its Shared Story.

Partners improve and manage the night time environment to create the right environment for investment and ensure visitors receive a safe and quality experience.

Durham City applies for Purple Flag status as a structured way to bring together common interests in the evening economy and work together effectively to assess and manage the night time economy of the city, using nationally approved criteria and processes.


THE NIGHT TIME ECONOMY

Improving the choice and number of eating and entertainment venues in Durham City is a long term. Commercial operators will respond to perceived demand and new opportunities.

Purple Flag aims to raise the standard and broaden the appeal of centres after 5.00 p.m. The scheme is managed by the Association of Town Centre Management (ATCM) working alongside the Purple Flag Advisory Committee - a partnership of key stakeholder groups, including central and local government, police, business and consumers.

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2012-2015

Durham County Council champions Purple Flag in partnership with the Business Improvement District and the Area Action Partnership;

Register for a Kickstart Workshops - which accesses materials and advice at a discounted rate – immediate action;

Register for Purple Flag at the next application opportunity – April-June 2012;

Initiate and coordinate delivery of Purple Flag - involve relevant groups including the city’s Balanced & Sustainable Communities Group;

Implement recommendations that come out of process.


The scheme aims to create a safer city centre and promote a more successful mixed use economy. Purple Flag is relatively new with 16 cities having so far achieved a purple flag including the heritage towns of Bath and Winchester. It has recently introduced performance indicators which will help to formalise activity and ensure momentum is maintained. ATCM provides toolkits, advice and support to help cities apply for the scheme. ATCM run Kickstart Workshops and these would be a good way of engaging the City in the programme. .

Actions

Suggested Budgets, Funding Sources and Delivery Partners

Kickstart workshop is £500 (includes a Purple Flag Advisor, background materials, presentations, paperwork and a brief summary report)

Entry fee for Purple Flag for cities with under 50,000 population £1,500

Annual ‘light touch’ fee £500.

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Durham County Council to provide funding for Purple Flag.

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11 DURHAM+

perfect little city... a beautiful place in a striking rural setting…balanced between the Pennines and the sea…layers of history to explore

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THE CONTEXT & RATIONALE

The scale of potential for a 2-night stay in Durham City is limited by what there is to do in the city. There is however additional capacity within the county as a whole and given the role the city plays in supporting the visitor economy of the county it makes sense to combine Durham City with other quality leading attractions and experiences to present a stronger offer especially for repeat visits or for particular target markets. Repeat visitors are often looking for new or additional experiences and certain target markets will be looking for other activities or attraction beyond those available in the city. Implementing a ‘Durham +’ approach will increase the likelihood of keeping visitors in the county for longer and avoid losing them to other areas.

The actions necessary for Durham+ are relatively simple and straightforward to deliver, and are primarily concerned with marketing and promotion, providing appealing offers for visitors and making it easy for them.

THE CHALLENGES

Offering something different and appealing in the face of the growing competition – the need to take a creative and innovative approach, making the most of what is distinctive and being prepared to try out new ideas.

ACTIONS

Consider giving each offer its own name and Durham+ its own identity.

Continue to create mini-packages and market to visitors and to the media - each ‘mini-package’ could comprise a description of an itinerary involving Durham and the specific attraction, with suggestions of what to see and do, when to go, how to get there. This can already be done using the itineraries part of the This is Durham website.

Exploit opportunities for creative and dynamic packages – creative promotions e.g. ‘if you like that you will like this…’ types of approach; dynamic packages – where there are events taking place in either city or attraction these could be included as the hook for the offer.

Durham+ Bowes - work with Bowes Museum to present a mini-package of City + Bowes trip providing appropriate visitor information. Promote to all target market segments. Bowes could also promote these directly in its marketing communications.

Durham+ Beamish – Work with Beamish to present a mini-package of City + Beamish trip providing appropriate visitor information. Beamish has strong appeal to the family market, while Durham City is limited in this. This partnership would offer potential for increasing attractiveness to the family market outside the County and the region. Beamish could also promote these directly.

Durham+ tour - Develop themed itineraries based from Durham City with independent days out around market towns, villages, scenic spots etc. Promote to all target market segments.

Durham+ countryside - Develop two-centre breaks of city & countryside based on stays of 4 nights. Promote to all target market segments.

SUGGESTED BUDGETS & FUNDING

This activity should be met within existing Visit County Durham resources as part of their responsibility for marketing of the destination and in line with the recommendations of the visitors’ segmentation study taking place.


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12 DELIVERY FRAMEWORKThe partners involved in developing the city will champion the plan, with one partner to lead, and support the other partners in delivery of their parts in it. Progress will be reported through the delivery champion, with a clear review and refresh strategy for updating the plan over time.

The delivery mechanism will be agreed by all partners, once the DDP has been signed off by key partners..To deliver this role we propose:

The Champion establishes a small working group comprising key people from their development team, from events and from Regeneration and Economic Development.

That members of the group meet quarterly to monitor progress to ensure the plan remains on message and on target

That each delivery partner provides Visit County Durham with a short progress report in advance of each quarterly meeting to help do this. In addition, the group may ask different delivery partners to attend particular meetings to discuss a project in depth at key stages in the project development.

That the working group will provide an update report for the Visit County Durham Board and for the DTMaP meetings and will arrange the timings of its own meetings and delivery partner contributions to facilitate that.

Undertakes a mid-point progress review of the plan at 2015 and reviews activities for 2015-2020 in the light of the economy and other external factors at that time.

Visit County Durham will be directly involved in implementing some of the actions not being taken forward by others.

MAKING IT HAPPEN - DELIVERY PARTNERS

The main delivery partners for the Plan are:

Durham County Council– planning, hotel and attraction development, public realm and signing

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Durham University – the World Heritage Site, the river, cultural events

Durham Cathedral – the World Heritage Site, the river, cultural events

Durham tourism industry, e.g. attractions, retailers, accommodation providers, the hospitality sector - business mentoring, marketing, visitor services.

Visit County Durham – support to partners, marketing activity for Durham and Durham +

If Durham City businesses vote in favour of a BID then it will be important to align the actions in this plan and those of the BID Business Plan. The BID could lead on retail, eating out, night time economy, events and City animation activity.

The Action Plan provides an annual breakdown of tasks and lead partners.

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13 APPENDIX ONE Strategic Conversations

We undertook one-to-one consultations with:

Keith Bartlett, Programme Director, Lindisfarne Gospels Exhibition 2013Maggie Bell, Crook Hall and GardensRoberta Blackman-Woods, MPSarah Robson – Head of Economic Development and HousingPeter Coe – Regeneration and Development ManagerCarol Feenan, Durham City Centre Manager, Durham County CouncilCouncillor Foster, portfolio holder for Economic Development and RegenerationNeil Hillier, Strategic Manager Heritage & Culture, Durham County Council Neal Holloway, General Manager, Radisson BLU, Chair of the Durham Hoteliers AssociationKate James, Festival & Events Manager, Visit County Durham John Murphy, Area Action Partnership Coordinator – Durham City AAPRuth Robson, Head of Marketing and Events, Durham CathedralPaul Ryan, Community Development Project Manager - Durham City Area Action PartnershipMelanie Sensicle, Chief Executive, Visit County DurhamHelen Strangward, Commercial Director, Event DurhamCouncillor Les ThomsonStuart Thompson, Chair City Development Group, Durham City Area Action PartnershipPauline Walker, Senior Civic Pride Officer, Durham County CouncilNick Whitton, Head of Commissioning, Durham County Council Colin Wilkes, Durham Markets Company LimitedCraig Wilson, Destination Development Manager, Visit County DurhamMichael Hurlow, Principal Project Manager, Durham County Council

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Disclaimer: All information and analysis supplied by Blue Sail Consulting Ltd and our sub-contractors is done in good faith and represents our professional judgement based on the information obtained from the client and elsewhere. The achievement of recommendations, forecasts and valuations depend on factors beyond our control. Any projections, financial or otherwise, in this report are only intended to illustrate particular points of argument and do not constitute forecasts of actual performance

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