Tourism Industry Structure

Who's Who and Who does What?
There are a number of organisations involved in Tourism at many different levels........

Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)
 Manages Government Policy on/or the management of all areas concerning culture, media and sport, including tourism
 The DCMS launched "Winning: A Tourism Strategy for 2012 and Beyond", following the widest-ever consultation of the tourism sector on 17 September 2007. It is intended to maximise the potential of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
 The Government’s new strategy for tourism was published on 4 March 2011.

VisitBritain
 VisitBritain is a public body funded by the government. The funds come from the DCMS.  Its remit is to market the whole of the United Kingdom to the rest of the world.
 It also works in partnership with other organisations, which have a stake in British and English tourism. This includes Visit England, STB, WTB and NITB.

VisitEngland
 Newly formed VisitEngland’s remit is to promote England to domestic visitors
 The VisitEngland team will seek to deliver its objective through three key activities: marketing; the quality of the visitor experience and joint strategy development.
 VisitEngland has launched its Strategic Framework for Tourism 2010-2020

Scottish Tourist Board
 STB has responsibility for tourism and marketing in Scotland

Welsh Tourist Board
 WTB has responsibility for tourism and marketing in Wales

Northern Ireland Tourist Board
 NITB has responsibility for tourism and marketing in Northern Ireland

Also separate Tourist Boards for London, Guernsey and Jersey

Quality in Tourism (QiT)
 From April 2005 delivery of the quality assurance scheme was contracted out by VisitBritain to GSL Limited.
 They operate under the name of Quality in Tourism.
 They administer the applications, renewals, complaints etc for the quality assurance grading scheme.
 They employ the quality assessors throughout England
 They are based in Broadway – Worcestershire.

RDA  Regional Development Agencies
 The new coalition government formed in May 2010 has reviewed the funding of the RDA’s and decided to withdraw funding.

Tourism South East (TSE)
 TSE is an amalgamation of the old South East England Tourist Board (SEETB) and Southern Tourist Board (STB)
 TSE Tourism South East is the delivery partner which supports and fosters the interests of tourism in the South East 
 It is a Company Limited by Guarantee
 Up until the removal of the RDA's it received core funding from the RDA (SEEDA) and income from its members (members include hotels, guest houses, attractions and local authorities). 
 Because of the withdrawal of funding from SEEDA the organisation has undergone a massive restructive and reviewed its objectives. This includes a change in the way they support the destinations within the region. This has yet to fully emerge.
 TSE are based in Eastleigh, Hampshire.

Sussex Tourism Partnership (STP) 
 The STP is charged with putting in to place a local strategy and working towards increased business in the two counties & unitary authority
 It runs marketing campaigns and promotes tourism initiatives
 Owns and runs the Visit Sussex website
 Bids for funding and carries out initiatives for the promotion of county wide projects
 Funded from TSE & Local Authorities
 As of 1st April 2011 this partnership has been dissolved.

SDMG Sussex Destination Managers Group
Chairperson, Claire Onslow, Tourism & ED Manager, Lewes DC - 01273 484401
 Consists of a representative from each local authority, normally a Tourism Manager
 Work together to share best practice, support each other and work on county wide projects including research

Local Authorities
 Tourism is a non-statutory function
 Most local authorities, however, choose to operate tourism services of some kind. 
 These tend to focus on marketing activities and information provision via Tourist Information Centres
 They can extend to a wide range of other support services including facility management, event organisation, training for tourism businesses etc.
 Most local authorities operate DMS Destination Management Systems which ultimately means accommodation may be bookable on line via DMS’s 
 Councils also support the tourism industry in many other ways; for instance, through street cleaning, the provision of visitor facilities and planning policies that protect the quality of the environment on which much of tourism is based
 Most local authorities in the region are partners of TSE and pay an annual subscription for the benefits and services of partnership.  This partnership is crucial to the successful management of tourism in the region

Adur District Council and Worthing Borough Council
 2 political councils
 Services merging and provided by 1 joint officer structure

Regeneration Team
Contact: Janice Fraser, Tourism Development and Marketing Officer Tel: 01273 263022 or janice.fraser@adur-worthing.gov.uk
 Provides one Officer
 Carries out all national, regional and local tourism destination marketing and promotion
 Member of TSE, BRADA
 Provides bi-monthly newsletters to the local industry
 Provides Tourist Information Services
 Maintains website www.visitworthing.co.uk
 Manages a contract awarded to the Together Agency to formulate and deliver a tourism destination marketing strategy for Adur and Worthing
 Offers support to Tourism businesses

DMS Destination Management System
 A computerised database system
 Holds rich, high quality information about the accommodation, attractions, eating out, meeting and conference venues, shopping and events products of the destination and which is visible via the RDR (regional data repository) on regional and national tourism websites including VisitBritain, VisitEngland and VisitSoutheastEngland.
 Can be easily accessed on line by potential visitors, also collates data on visitors for niche marketing

Tourist Information Centre (TIC)
Contact: Eileen Suchodolski Tel:01903 221170 or eileen.suchodolski@adur-worthing.gov.uk
 Services visitors, local businesses and residents with information on accommodation, attractions, facilities, events and other related topics
 Offers advertising opportunities to local accommodation providers
 Offers bed booking services
 Provides advice and information to those setting up new tourism businesses
 2 offices in Worthing; Chapel Road – open September to May and Marine Parade – open May to September
 Awarded Official Partner status in 2008

Together Agency
 Awarded a new two year contract by WBC in April 2010 to develop and deliver a new tourism marketing strategy for Adur and Worthing
 The current contract will run until March 2012

Worthing & Adur Chamber of Commerce
 Work in partnership with Adur & Worthing Councils
 As the hub of the local business community, they are committed to helping support, develop and promote local business in the Worthing and Adur area.
 They are recognised as the business heartbeat of the community, and as such they represent a strong voice in the Worthing and Adur business community.
 Their membership is diverse, ranging from sole traders to medium and large organisations. This allows members to benefit from sharing information, knowledge and business opportunities with companies of all different sizes, sectors and industries.

Tourism Organisations
 There are a host of other tourism organisations including;
 Tourism Management Institute (TMI) is a membership organisation of Tourism Managers to share issues, best practice, ideas etc
 British Resorts & Destinations Association (BRADA) is a membership organisation pulling together resorts and destinations to help with common issues and goals
 Tourism Alliance seeks to establish and maintain a favourable operating environment for all businesses involved in the delivery of tourism
 Destination Performance UK (DPUK) is the membership organisation for local authority tourism services committed to the principles of performance management and best practice