Culture, Tourism and 2012 Forum
London Councils' Response to DCMS Item no: 8
‘Welcome: Legacy: The 2012 Tourism
Strategy Consultation’ - next steps
Report by:
Dianna Neal
Date:
11 December 2006
Contact Officer:
Dianna Neal
Telephone:
020 7934 9819
Summary:
Job title:
Email:
Head of Policy & Grants
[email protected]
The DCMS has undertaken its largest consultation around proposals
for a national tourism strategy for 2012. The proposals are contained in
its consultation document - ‘Welcome: Legacy’. This report outlines
London Councils’ response to the DCMS consultation and the next
steps in the process.
Recommendations:
That Members comment on and endorse the following proposed
actions for London Councils around 2012 and tourism:
 Approach Visit London and the GLA to discuss how to
improve the links between strategic agencies and local
delivery agencies and embed London boroughs in the
structures for delivering tourism and 2012;
 Lobby for the development of a strong brand for 2012 that can
be used by the tourist industry (including boroughs);
 Work through Visit London to engage boroughs in targeted
marketing campaigns linked to 2012;
 Highlight the need for resources to support tourism and the
2012 legacy through London Councils’ submission to the
Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) 2007;
 Continue work to promote London boroughs’ potential role in
delivering the Torch Relay and Cultural Olympiad.
DCMS ‘Welcome Legacy: The 2012 Tourism Strategy Consultation’
1. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport published its consultation document
‘Welcome: Legacy – The Tourism 2012 Strategy Consultation’ in July 2006. The
document sets out proposals for ensuring that the UK’s tourism industry maximises the
potential benefits from hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 20121 and seeks
comments on these. Responses to this consultation will inform the development of the
DCMS Tourism 2012 strategy to capture the benefits of the Games for tourism.
2. Whilst this is a national consultation, London is in a unique position to benefit from the
Games in terms of improved tourism revenues2 and an improved tourism product.
3. The London Councils’ response has been circulated to borough tourism officers for their
comments and their key points have been included as part of the overall response. Cllr
Chris Roberts (Portfolio Holder for Culture, Tourism and 2012) agreed on the final
response.
4. London Councils officers have also discussed the Mayor’s response to the consultation
with GLA officers to identify common messages from London to the DCMS. There is
significant overlap with the Mayor’s response in important areas, such as resources.
DCMS Consultation ‘Welcome: Legacy’
5. The consultation document sets out proposals and asks for comments in the following
areas:
Getting tourism’s Games structures right
Making sure that national, regional and local interests are fully represented
Positioning the UK as a truly world class destination
Making the most of new technologies in marketing and information and exploiting
opportunities for business tourism
Welcome: Legacy – The Tourism 2012 Strategy Consultation link:
http://www.culture.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/9666A925-33A4-4E99-B33F61E600F1B2EA/0/TheTourism2012Consultation.pdf
2 It is estimated that between 50% and 75% of the economic benefits of the Games will accrue to tourism.
This is project at between £1.4 billion and £2 billlion, pg 3, DCMS, Welcome: Legacy, 2006
1
Improving the quality of our welcome
Improving customer confidence in the quality of accommodation, local skills in the
hospitality sector and the welcome to visitors with disabilities
Making the links between tourism and the wider 2012 effort
Getting the maximum benefit from the Cultural Olympiad and Torch Relay and making
sure that tourism’s marketing and promotional work is joined-up with the 2012 plans of
cultural, artistic, heritage and media organisations in the public and private sectors.
Setting ambitious and stretching targets
In order to provide an overall context for the tourism sector’s drive to fully prepare for the
Games and exploit the legacy, the development of a new strategic target (or targets) with
the support of the industry and the understanding of the interested public is proposed.
The London Councils’ response
6. The London Councils’ response to the DCMS’s ‘Welcome: Legacy’ consultation is
attached as Appendix 1. The main points made in the response are as follows:

Boroughs are significant investors in promoting and developing tourism. In their local
strategic leadership role they have a important role to play in maximising the benefits
for tourism through the 2012 Games;

There needs to be better links and two-way communication between organisations
setting the national and regional strategies and agencies delivering tourism locally.
This communication should build on existing structures;

London needs to develop a strong brand linked to 2012 that is well promoted and
used throughout the public sector and tourism industry. The DCMS should support
the development of this brand;

The 2012 Games should be used to promote domestic and business tourism in
London using targeted marketing campaigns and linking tourism to the Cultural
Olympiad;

Staging the Games is an opportunity to improve the quality of accommodation in
London. Marketing campaigns around 2012 should include quality assessed
accommodation only.

London needs to improve skills in the hospitality sector, increase career progression
options and improve the image of the sector to stage a successful Games and
maximise the benefits to tourism. Boroughs have a role to play in this with some
boroughs already implementing employment and training initiatives for the sector.

Improving the public realm is crucial to improving London’s welcome to tourists. This
should form an element of the strategy with DCMS working in partnership with other
government departments and agencies;

London boroughs should play a significant role in the Torch Relay and Cultural
Olympiad. These events provide an opportunity to attract tourists to other parts of
London and create a more diverse cultural product in London;

Sufficient resources must be made available to implement this strategy. The DCMS
should make the case for these resources.
Next steps
7. It is proposed that London Councils undertakes the following actions in relation to
tourism and 2012 and the key points made in the response:

Approach Visit London and the GLA to discuss how to improve the links
between strategic agencies and local delivery agencies and embed London
boroughs in the structures for delivering tourism and 2012;

Lobby for the development of a strong brand for 2012 that can be used by the
tourist industry (including boroughs);

Work through Visit London to engage boroughs in targeted marketing
campaigns linked to 2012;

Highlight the need for resources to support tourism and the 2012 legacy
through London Councils’ submission to the Comprehensive Spending
Review (CSR) 2007;

Continue work to promote London boroughs’ potential role in delivering the
Torch Relay and Cultural Olympiad.
Recommendations
8. It is recommended that Members comment on and endorse the proposed actions for
London Councils outlined in paragraph 7.
Financial implications:
There are no direct financial implications
Equal Opportunities implications:
There are no direct equalities implications for London Councils. However, the London Councils
response highlights how the 2012 Games can be used to develop a more diverse tourism
product in London.
Legal implications:
There are no legal implications
Background papers:
DCMS, Welcome-Legacy: The Tourism 2012 Strategy Consultation’,
2006
Appendices:
Appendix 1: London Councils’ response to the DCMS ‘Welcome-Legacy: The Tourism 2012
Strategy Consultation’
APPENDIX 1
London Councils’ response to the DCMS ‘WelcomeLegacy: The Tourism 2012 Strategy Consultation’
Introduction
This response is from London Councils (formerly the Association of London
Government).
London Councils is committed to fighting for more resources for London and getting the
best possible deal for London’s 33 councils. We develop policy, lobby government and
others, and run a range of services designed to make life better for Londoners.
This response does not address all the questions posed in the consultation paper but
focuses on important strategic issues for London. It follows the structure of the
consultation paper.
Role of the London boroughs in tourism
As the consultation document highlights, local government is a significant investor in
promoting and developing tourism. London boroughs vary in the priority that they give to
tourism activities and the number of visitors varies between boroughs. Some boroughs
are a destination in their own right; others have a mix of venues that might attract
visitors, such as museums, clubs, shopping facilities, restaurants and theatres.
However, boroughs have a local strategic leadership role and are therefore wellpositioned to promote tourism effectively at the local level, given that:



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They can pull together different partners through the Local Strategic Partnership to
work collaboratively on promoting tourism and 2012;
They have good links with local businesses and attractions;
They have a good understanding of and links with local communities within their
boundaries – crucial to improving the diversity of tourism in London;
Some boroughs provide services that enhance the tourism products, such as
funding a cultural programme and museums. This will be important in linking
promotional campaigns to activities around the Cultural Olympiad of the 2012
Games.
Some London boroughs (Croydon, for example) have already acknowledged the
potential of benefiting from the Games through tourism and are developing new tourism
strategies to try and capitalise on this.
Summary

Boroughs are significant investors in promoting and developing tourism. In their local
strategic leadership role they have an important role to play in maximising the
benefits for tourism through the 2012 Games;








There needs to be better links and two-way communication between organisations
setting the national and regional strategies and agencies delivering tourism locally.
This communication should build on existing structures;
London needs to develop a strong brand linked to 2012 that is well promoted and
used throughout the public sector and tourism industry. The DCMS should support
the development of this brand;
The 2012 Games should be used to promote domestic and business tourism in
London using targeted marketing campaigns and linking tourism to the Cultural
Olympiad;
Staging the Games is an opportunity to improve the quality of accommodation in
London. Marketing campaigns around 2012 should include quality assessed
accommodation only.
London needs to improve skills in the hospitality sector, increase career progression
options and improve the image of the sector to stage a successful Games and
maximise the benefits to tourism. Boroughs have a role to play in this with some
boroughs already implementing employment and training initiatives for the sector.
Improving the public realm is crucial to improving London’s welcome to tourists. This
should form an element of the strategy with DCMS working in partnership with other
government departments and agencies;
London boroughs should play a significant role in the Torch Relay and Cultural
Olympiad. These events provide an opportunity to attract tourists to other parts of
London and create a more diverse cultural product in London;
Sufficient resources must be made available to implement this strategy. The DCMS
should make the case for these resources.
Response to consultation questions
Getting tourism’s Games structures right
Tourism agencies are adequately represented in the structures described. However, it is
not clear how the different groups outlined in the consultation document interact and how
work around tourism and 2012 will be co-ordinated at the national and regional level.
There also should be strong links between groups setting the strategy and action plans
regionally and agencies delivering locally, such as London boroughs and the tourism
businesses. There should be regular updates and discussions with London boroughs
about the delivery of the 2012 legacy around tourism. London Councils already works
with Visit London to provide a London-wide forum and events for London boroughs. The
London Development Agency has developed sub-regional partnerships for tourism
development that include the major local stakeholders. These existing structures should
be used for a two-way communication process between the national, regional and local
levels.
As the sphere of government closest to the community, early involvement of local
government is necessary to ensure effective oversight and coordination of sporting,
community, cultural and economic strategies, conferences and programmes generated
across London.
Positioning the UK as a truly world class destination
A strong brand
London is a significant gateway to the UK – over half of overseas visitors to the capital
visit other parts of Britain as part of their trips. It therefore needs to develop a strong
brand, linked to the 2012 Games that is well promoted and used throughout the public
sector and tourism industry. London boroughs could use this brand in their marketing
activities but also encourage local attractions, museums and businesses to use this
brand too. The brand should be developed by 2008.
Itineraries linking together different parts of London and other areas of the UK should be
developed in order to encourage repeat business in the years after the Olympic Games
and Paralympic Games. This was a successful tactic used by Sydney and should be
incorporated into any Olympic marketing campaigns.
Using the Games to increase domestic tourism to London
The number of trips by overseas visitors to London has been steadily increasing in
recent years. However, the number of trips by domestic visitors has been steadily
decreasing3. Consequently, the Games should be also be used as vehicle to increase
domestic tourism to London. Activities to help achieve this could include:
 Making links between tourism and the Cultural Olympiad after 2008 (focusing on
themed years as proposed in the consultation document);
 Developing a targeted domestic marketing campaign linked to the Games.
London boroughs can use their networks and communications with their diverse
communities to deliver effective ‘visiting friends and relatives’ campaigns and making
Londoners more aware of the facilities and services near to them.
Business tourism to London should also be maximised through the Games. This needs
to link into the plans and current campaigns of Think London (London’s Inward
Investment Company).
The development of an International Convention Centre (ICC) would enable London to
capitalise on increasing business tourism in the run-up to the Games. If the scheme
goes ahead, boroughs should be included in discussions to ensure that any
development complements local regeneration and community strategies. However,
irrespective of development of the ICC, London should work to capitalise on higher
spending business tourism. London has much to offer to the business tourist – its scale
as an employment centre and a good range and diversity of business tourist venues, for
example. Business tourism is already the fastest growing sector of the UK and London’s
visitor economy. London’s tourism agencies should work to build on this trend.
Improving the quality of our welcome
Based on figures from the International Passenger Survey and UK Tourism
Survey from 2000 to 2004
3
Disability
The Games could provide a real push for improved access to accommodation and
attractions by disabled people. London Councils supports the proposal to set targets for
disabled access for all accommodation, not just those within the National Accessible
Scheme. Boroughs could promote projects to improve accessibility locally and through
the planning system, encourage disability access of new build accommodation and
attractions in London.
Product quality - accommodation grading
Improving accommodation quality in London is a long-term issue and the Games should
be used as a catalyst to encourage this process. The accommodation quality issue for
London is exacerbated by the fact that there is high demand and market forces around
accommodation enable poor quality establishments to survive. There remains lower than
average take-up of accredited quality schemes in London compared to the national
figures and this needs to be tackled. However, it is a huge challenge.
The DCMS and other agencies need to ensure that marketing campaigns related to
2012 include only quality assessed accommodation. This should create more incentives
for non-assessed accommodation to sign up to the schemes. For example, Visit London
internet booking sites will include only quality assessed accommodation from 2007
onwards.
Employment skills and volunteering
Improving skills in the hospitality sector, increasing career/progression options,
improving the image of the sector and tackling skills shortages are essential if London is
to stage a successful Games and to increase tourism to London and the UK as a result.
Proposals have already been developed in London through the London Employment and
Skills Taskforce (LEST) for 2012. However, it is important that links are made between
regional and local activities – particularly to borough training and employment schemes,
so that any additional activity builds on existing structures and networks locally.
Some boroughs are already undertaking local initiatives to get their residents into jobs in
the hospitality industry and working with employers to develop career paths. For
example, the London Borough of Hillingdon is using Section 106 monies to promote
training and careers in the tourism and hospitality sector. One scheme works with 90
residents currently employed within entry level positions to gain their first supervisory
qualification and enhance their career prospects. A second initiative has employed a
Hospitality Link worker. In one term, 115 year 10 students have benefited from a 30hour hospitality careers programme incorporating visits to hotels, celebrity chefs, handson taster days within the London School of Tourism and an accredited Food Hygiene
qualification. Hillingdon is developing these and some related training initiatives into their
Local Area Agreement (LAA).
The London 2012 bid was promoted on the fact that virtually every language is spoken in
London. However, London needs more people in the tourism industry that can speak
different languages. The 2012 Games could be an important milestone to increase and
diversify the languages spoken to visitors in London and an opportunity to develop a
sustainable legacy for tourism in London.
There is significant potential to make links between participants on the pre-volunteering
programme and encouraging more people to enter employment in the hospitality sector.
In Manchester, participants who completed the scheme for the Commonwealth Games
were guaranteed interviews with a range of employers. The DCMS, GLA and Visit
London should encourage employers in the hospitality sector to participate in the prevolunteering scheme in this way. The pre-volunteering scheme should include
information on developing a career in the hospitality sector – what this might mean and
opportunities for career development, to overcome some of the negative perceptions
about the industry. Boroughs in the pilot areas are already working with the GLA and
LDA on setting up pilot pre-volunteering schemes.
Public realm
The consultation document states that ‘general issues of the environment are outside of
the scope of this consultation’. However, London and its landmarks will be the focus of
intense media and visitor scrutiny during the Games. The quality of the public realm will
need to be enhanced, particularly in key areas in central and east London, along major
transport routes and gateways into London. A safer, clean and easy to navigate
environment will be an intrinsic part of the 2012 welcome. This should be an element of
the DCMS strategy, working in partnership with DCLG and other delivery agencies
including boroughs.
The wider welcome
Improvements to transport network could include:
 To continue and increase investment in disability access, particularly for the London
Underground;
 To make links between the Cultural Olympiad and initiatives such as integrating 2012
into the national curriculum so that artwork and cultural events are planned at key
transport nodes and entry points to the UK during the four year Cultural Olympiad.
Boroughs could assist in developing these projects and involve local communities.
The Games will also provide an opportunity to improve the face to face welcome of
visitors to London. Westminster City Council is planning to train and use its street
wardens as part of the ambassadors Olympic welcome programme. This could be
replicated across London.
Making the links
In London, the Games should also leave a legacy of:
 A more diverse tourism product in London;
 An increase in the number of tourism visits in Outer London;
 Greater use of the River Thames as part of London’s tourism offer.
The Torch Relay and the Cultural Olympiad could help achieve these aims.
Torch Relay
It is important that the London leg of the Torch Relay covers inner and outer boroughs
and is not just confined to venue boroughs. The relay could be a celebration of diverse
communities and cultures across London and consequently, an opportunity to reinforce
the brand of London as a culturally diverse, global city. London boroughs could have a
key role to play in developing local events with their communities as part of the torch
relay. London Councils will be working with boroughs and approaching LOCOG to
develop this concept and the boroughs’ role. In Sydney, local government played a
major role in organising events around the torch relay and engaging local communities in
the relay.
The Cultural Olympiad
The Cultural Olympiad provides an opportunity to attract tourists to other areas of
London apart from central London and create a more diverse tourism product in London.
Events should celebrate different communities across London and be linked to 2012
marketing and branding. Boroughs can use their existing links with communities in their
area to promote and support these communities and work towards creating a more
diverse tourism product in their area. Boroughs have developed tourism packages for
people with a specific interest, such as those looking for a specific shopping experience,
theatres, sport tourism, tourism for lesbian and gay people etc. Cultural Olympiad events
could provide a focus and opportunity to market these packages to a much wider
domestic and overseas market.
Cultural Olympiad events could also make good use of existing parks and open spaces,
where appropriate. Some London boroughs have developed successful strategies to
improve the use of parks and open spaces through staging cultural activities. The
London Borough of Tower Hamlets’ programme of events around Mile End Park is a
good example of this.
London’s Riverside and the Thames
Despite improvements in recent years, the Thames and London’s riverside is still an
underused tourism asset. The Games could be used to maximise the use of the
riverside. It could be used to link the Olympic Zones across London and consequently,
be a tool to spread the benefits of the Games and its tourist opportunities to different
areas of London. The river should feature significantly in the Cultural Olympiad too.
Ambitious and stretching targets
Any targets set for tourism should be based on robust and up to date data, with
commitment from the industry to meet those targets.
Resources
Sufficient resources must be made available through central government and other
funding streams to implement the final DCMS strategy. Additional resources will be
needed to implement the ambitious plans in the draft strategy. The DCMS cannot rely on
local and regional agencies to provide all of these or redirect existing resources to a
significant extent.
November 2006
London Councils
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London SE1 0AL
Tel: 020 7934 9909
[email protected]
www.londoncouncils.gov.uk