A report into seaside tourism has been launched by Sport, Tourism and Heritage Minister, David Evenett MP, who visited the Academy鈥檚 offices at 天美传媒鈥檚 Executive Business Centre.
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Coastal Tourism 2016 was presented to the Minister by Academy Director Samantha Richardson, who was joined by members of the NCTA Board including BU鈥檚 Professor Keith Wilkes, Dean of the Faculty of Management. Local business owners and tourism industry representatives were also invited to the meeting, including restauranteur James Fowler and Bournemouth Tourism Management Board Chair Des Simmons.
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The report鈥檚 findings highlighted the importance of seaside tourism to the UK鈥檚 economy; worth more than 拢8billion a year, as well as the benefit of sharing advice and research across destinations, as the Government released its plans for a four-year Coastal Communities Fund, which will invest 拢90million to revitalise seaside areas.
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Dean of the Faculty of Management at BU, Professor Keith Wilkes said: 鈥淭his is a unique project that started three years ago with a joint bid to the funding body. It engages academics, undergraduates, post-graduates, and we currently have three PhD students funded by the project.
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鈥淎 lot of our students have also independently become ambassadors for Bournemouth since they live here and use the facilities. We host the project on 天美传媒鈥檚 campus, and it鈥檚 worked very well.
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鈥淭he three key markets in the UK are coastal, rural and cities, and from the latest figures produced by the NCTA, coastal has gone back to top place.
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He added: 鈥淕one are the days where people went for 14 days by the seaside. Now it鈥檚 about trying to develop the short-break market either side of the peak summer months, developing products for empty-nesters for example, and upping the quality of the seaside/coastal offer.鈥澨�
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Sport, Tourism and Heritage Minister, David Evenett MP said: 鈥淏ritain鈥檚 coastline is a beautiful and valuable asset and this report underlines the importance of seaside tourism not only to local communities but the nation鈥檚 economy as a whole.
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鈥淭he Discover England Fund, on top of Government鈥檚 investment in coastal communities, will provide further opportunities for seaside towns to grow local tourism and make sure visitors from home and abroad know about the wonderful attractions on offer.鈥�
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NCTA Director Samantha Richardson said: 鈥淭here鈥檚 no doubt that our coastline is much-loved and cherished by the nation and yet for many, visiting the coast isn鈥檛 a high priority - this is fundamentally because of a lack of awareness. What鈥檚 needed is stronger communication with clear messages, carefully-targeted for their audience.鈥�
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鈥淭o thrive for the next generation, each destination needs to match its product to the appropriate market, whether that be wellness breaks, shoulder season holidays or to attract a younger audience.鈥�
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The full report, Coastal Tourism 2016, produced by the NCTA, is available here:
