Agenda item

The Director for Tourism – Culture and Inward Investment submits a report providing an overview of the progress made on the actions outlined in the Leicester Tourism Action Plan 2020-2025 since the last report tabled in April 2024.

The Director for Tourism, Culture and Inward Investment submitted a report providing an overview of the progress made on the actions outlined in the Leicester Tourism Action Plan 2020-2025 since the last report tabled in April 2024.

The City Centre Director presented the report.  Key points other than those on the slides (attached) included:

• Progress had been made in positioning the city as a sustainable and attractive destination.
• There had been more focus on people since the last report.
• The Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP) included both the city and county and was an opportunity to promote the region nationally and opened up opportunities for future grant funding.
• The new destination management plan would start in 2026.
• STEAM collected information from attractions, so there was a delay on when figures were available.  Therefore, the figures for 2024 would not be available until Summer 2025.
• The value of Leicester tourism had surpassed its target.  This was particularly positive considering the disruption that had been caused by Covid-19.
• In terms of overnight stays, there were an additional 47% of bed spaces with five new hotels opening.
• In terms of visitors to Leicester, there was confidence that figures would be met in the data from 2025 once it was available.
• External factors such as Brexit had affected job figures.
• New attractions such as the Jewry Wall museum would help the city become stronger as a destination.
• The Old town festival would be an interactive participatory initiative and would hopefully attract a lot of media attention.
• The Cathedral was an important location due to the tomb of king Richard III and there had been a civic event celebrating ten years since the reinterment.
• Festivals brought people together and promoted a sense of belonging and community as well as promoting cultural heritage and unity and boosting the local economy.  Examples included the Monsters trail, Diwali, the Storm Puppet, which attracted the largest footfall seen on a Saturday, Light up Leicester and the Brew Beat beer festival.
• The Blue Tower street art was the tallest street art in Europe.
• The city had a safe night-time economy and had accreditation on Purple Flag (surpassing excellence) and Best Bar None.
• The ‘Walk Away’ campaign was funded by the Home Office and was delivered by the Violence Reduction Network, this aimed to reduce violence by changing behaviours and had led to a 16.4% reduction in incidences in the city between 2023-2024.
• St John’s Ambulance night time service located in the city centre reduced pressure on emergency services and hospitals.
• Place marketing had established Visit Leicester as the go-to website for tourist information in the city.
• It was important to have character areas such as the Old Town and the Cultural Quarter, and guides had been produced for such areas.
• The 400^th interpretation panel was being installed.
• There had been a good response from local people with regard to volunteer tourism ambassadors.  This initiative focussed on the ‘visiting family and friends’ market, and was done in partnership with Leicester College. 
• An additional scheme for Tourism Ambassadors for employees in the city centre with customer-facing role had been set up.  All those training as ambassadors had passed their training with a 99% success rate.
• With regard to the skills network, Leicester College had strong industry links.  De Montfort University had two programmes designed with input from tourism forum members.  The Leicester & Leicestershire Business and Skills Partnership (LLBSP) had partnerships with schools, colleges and business networks.
• Future priorities included a Leicester management plan for 2026-2031, which stakeholders would help to shape.  This would line up with Visit England Priorities.
• Additionally, a ballot for an Accommodation Business Improvement District (ABID) would be considered, led by the city’s hotel and serviced apartment providers to help create new events and additional activities that will attract more people to stay and visit Leicester. The additional room per night charge would go into a fund managed by a private company and would be put into initiatives such as large events to bring people into the city, or cleanliness in the city centre, or on conference and business events.

The Committee were invited to ask questions and make comments. Key points included:

• It was suggested that in future it might be better to hold Light up Leicester outside of Ramadan to increase attendance.
• With regard to points made about the closure of businesses in the city centre, such as Marks and Spencer (M&S) and Blunt’s Shoes, it was noted that in the case of M&S, the closure of the Leicester store was part of their survival strategy.  The Leicester store had received little investment, and they had an additional store in Fosse Park.  With regard to Blunt’s Shoes, it was suggested that this could be to do with business continuity. 
• It was noted that from March 2020 there had been a net gain of 39 businesses and the vacancy rate was at its lowest.
• It was recognised that online sales were growing, and consumer behaviour was changing.  Leicester was a young city with a high birth rate, this put the city ahead of the curve for the future.  The reasons behind business decisions did not necessarily reflect badly on Leicester.
• With regard to M&S operation in Fosse Park, it was necessary to acknowledge different retail habits.  Fosse Park was sub-divided, so units were smaller.  Leicester was a multi-experience city which involved more than retail.  Attractions included food and drink and heritage and culture.  It was important to acknowledge challenges, and as such businesses would be worked with and supported in changes.
• The methodology behind obtaining visitor numbers was a system known as STR, which hotels used to gain monthly figures.

The Chair state that areas such as Granby Street had recovered having faced challenges, and as such he was confident that the city could also recover from challenges.

AGREED:

1) That the presentation be noted.

2) That comments made by members of this commission to be taken into account.