English Tourism Week is an annual celebration of the tourism industry showcasing its economic importance to local economies and communities. This year, the week is running from 17 – 26 March, and the theme is ‘Celebrating amazing experiences and amazing people’. The aim is to highlight the role played by all our visionary and hard-working people and businesses working in the sector to ensure visitors to our local area ‘have amazing experiences and add to the vibrancy of local communities’.
£100.8 billion was spent on tourism in England in 2019, with £13.1 billion in the South East, and pre-pandemic, the industry supported 2.6 million jobs in England. Locally, in Rother District, we see around £329.2 million spent in the local area as a result of tourism, supporting around 7,837 jobs for local residents and those living nearby. In Hastings, the total value of tourism activity is estimated to have been around £385.9 million (based on 2019 figures), supporting around 7,030 jobs locally.
Tourism to Hastings and Rye is vital for our local economy and the sector has plenty of room for growth. In my Rye News piece for September last year, I wrote about tourism, and touched on the need for local authorities to provide policy support and an environment in which tourism-related businesses can flourish. I also wrote that all levels of government have an important role to play in the delivery of tourism and they need to work closely with the private sector. I am, therefore, disappointed at Hastings Borough Council’s decision to withdraw its funding to Visit 1066 Country – a vital and long-standing local tourism partnership (destination management organisation), which has a good reputation locally and nationally. I have, of course, raised my concerns with Hastings Borough Council about its short-sighted and somewhat parochial decision, but it is not for turning.
In my capacity as chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Coastal Communities, I was instrumental in steering a report by the organisation, Pragmatix. This report, unlike previous reports on coastal communities by various governments, looked at the opportunities as well as the challenges coastal communities face. One of these opportunities is in tourism and a recommendation made in the Pragmatix report to government is to provide additional assistance for destination management organisations (DMOs) and businesses to develop products and experiences to suit changing consumer needs and extend the seasonality of the tourism season. The report highlights how important collaboration and partnership working is between businesses, local authorities and DMOs. I wholeheartedly agree with Sarah Broadbent in her recent article for Rye News (23rd February), especially her comment that together, the 1066 region is stronger.
I recognise the issues Hastings BC and Rother DC have as regards the current local government funding formula and I am campaigning to change this, to better reflect deprivation and the needs of coastal communities. Long-term, sustainable funding to support projects and strategies across their lifespan is very much needed. However, Hastings BC should prioritise its largest economic sector - leisure, tourism and hospitality; 1066 Country marketing is vital in this sector’s survival and growth, irrespective of current or future government funding.
We live in a stunning part of the UK, so let us remember to open our eyes to our amazing experiences offer and the amazing people which make up our local tourism sector and take advantage of the charm and adventure right on our doorsteps, to support our local businesses and people, especially during tourism week.