Visit Bath, the city’s cash-strapped direct marketing organisation, is set to be axed and replaced by a region-wide body in a move that could save the city £2m over the next 10 years.
According to a report to Bath & North East Somerset Council’s (B&NES) cabinet, setting up a new organisation with other West of England local authorities would put the area in a stronger position to access new additional funding for the tourism sector.
It would also provide a much stronger industry and marketing presence for the region and a voice in government- while helping to support the transition to more sustainable low carbon tourism.
National tourism organisations Visit Britain and Visit England have already recommended the launch of the new body, to be called Visit West, pointing out that by working in partnership with other local destination management organisations this summer, Visit Bath had benefited by being included in national campaigns.
Visit Bath, which promotes the city globally to tourists, business visitors and the conference and evets industry, was set up in 2003 as Bath Tourism Plus, a limited company equally owned by and Bath Chamber of Commerce.
Its income is drawn mainly from subscriptions paid by tourist-related businesses to become members and from major events such as Bath’s high-profile Christmas Market with its main costs linked to the city’s Visitor Information Centre and marketing activities.
Visit Bath was taken over by the council in November 2016 after suffering a cash crisis during the year.
While it has made a loss since 2016, this year its income plummeted as many members were hit by the impact of Covid-19 and could not pay their fees while commercial sponsors put their contributions on hold.
The Visitor Information Centre was closed during the first national lockdown and most staff furloughed. But despite a programme of redundancies and cost reductions, and the involvement since last year of an experienced new management team brought in by the council, it is viewed as no longer financially viable as a going concern.
The report, to be discussed by the cabinet next Thursday, December 10, details how Visit West would continue to promote tourism across Bath and North East Somerset.
The Visit Bath consumer-facing brand would be kept, but at a reduced cost to the council through economies of scale by combining the back-office and business-to-business functions of Visit Bath with Destination Bristol.
It also says the role of the Bath Box Office would be strengthened through a new partnership with the Bath Forum.
Annual membership of Visit West would cost £75,000, saving the council £291,000 a year from the £367,000 cost of operating Visit Bath.
The report recommends the cabinet agree to wind up Visit Bath, write off the debt the council is owed by the organisation, and fund Visit Bath’s liabilities from the council’s transformation reserves.
It says the council will be able to recoup this through future savings made as a result of joining Visit West and save more than £2m over the next 10 years.
Council leader Dine Romero, pictured, said: “Tourism is a vital part of Bath and North East Somerset’s economy, employing around 9,000 people which is approximately 10% of the workforce.
“Given the devastating impacts of Covid-19 on the sector, supporting tourism businesses now and in the future is critical to securing these jobs and people’s livelihoods. I therefore welcome the report and cabinet will consider if carefully.
“I particularly welcome the proposal for us to co-operate closely with other partners across the area which builds on existing successful joint arrangements such as Invest Bristol and Bath, which operates as a single service across the West of England to support inward investment.”
VisitEngland advisory board member Fiona Pollard said: “I am delighted to see the proposed creation of Visit West which will be a ground breaking organisation that will lead the way in effective collaboration and very much play to the agenda of cooperation on a bigger scale across tourism businesses.”
If the plan goes ahead, four Visit Bath staff will transfer to Visit West along with relevant websites, IT and other systems.
