Embracing Tourism - Cambridge Tourism Strategy Review

Background and model

We live in an age of strategies and plans, of policies and proposals. Sometimes it seems as if a strategy is a necessary virility symbol for an organisation, whether quango, local authority or Department of State. Even worse, it may be a fig-leaf to cover inaction. Nevertheless, there is much truth in the adage that 'to fail to plan is to plan to fail' and, whatever field of activity we are engaged in, success is much more likely to be achieved with an agreed set of objectives at the outset.

A planned, structured approach is particularly beneficial in the case of tourism, which is a highly fragmented industry. Part of the structure for the future development of the industry at individual destinations is provided by the land use planning system, as embodied in Local and Structure Plans, and is one of the few means available for considering formally its future development. There is also a compelling case for local tourism strategies drawing together all the key players in a destination.

Important reports

Local tourism strategies are not, of course, drafted in a policy vacuum. Since the early 1990s, a series of important reports on how to plan sustainably for tourism have helped to guide destination managers preparing tourism strategies:

• In 1991 the report, Tourism and the Environment – Maintaining the Balance, recommended that local authorities, tourist boards and the industry "'take the lead in formulating and promoting collaborative policies and programmes for harmonious tourism development at a local level".
• Getting it Right... a Guide to Visitor Management in Historic Towns, published by the English Historic Towns Forum (EHTF) in 1994, described an objectives-led approach to preparing visitor management plans and said "that the most successful plan will be interlinked as much as possible to allow a coordinated programme of actions".
• The consultation paper, Tourism - Towards Sustainability (1998), raised questions about how sustainability issues might be embedded in the planning and management of tourism. It noted "that to make any progress towards sustainable tourism, the principles of sustainability must be central to tourism policy and to other sectors which impact on development patterns".
• The importance of having a clear vision for the future of tourism was endorsed strongly in 1999 by the first national strategy for the industry, Tomorrow's Tourism - A growth industry for the new millennium. It said, succinctly, "To maximise tourism's contribution to the economy and to our vision for Britain, we need to work with the industry to an agreed plan, with shared objectives and a common purpose".
• Later in the same year, the EHTF published revised guidance on a whole destination approach to tourism, Making the Connections, and pictured a tourism strategy as one of the building blocks of support for effective destination management – "Destination management will be successful only if it fits within a clear vision of how local tourism is to develop".
• Time for Action - A strategy for sustainable tourism in England (2001) identified the 'lack of joined-up planning and investment' as a key barrier to sustainable tourism in practice. The appropriate response to this was seen to be integrated action by key stakeholders (businesses, visitors, the community and the public sector) in the principal areas of impact (the economy, the environment, and society and culture).

Clear tourism strategy

Time for Action - A strategy for sustainable tourism in England (2001) identified the 'lack of joined-up planning and investment' as a key barrier to sustainable tourism in practice. The appropriate response to this was seen to be integrated action by key stakeholders (businesses, visitors, the community and the public sector) in the principal areas of impact (the economy, the environment, and society and culture).

The aim of this case study is to see how the recent review of the Cambridge Tourism Strategy fits this model and to draw conclusions about best practice for developing tourism strategies.

Background to Cambridge Tourism Strategy

There is a long history of tourism in Cambridge and it certainly predates the publication of the first guide book in 1748. However, organised tourism is a much more recent phenomenon: a private guide service and an information bureau were set up in 1951; by 1971 the city was host to over one million visitors a year; and Cambridge's first tourism officer was appointed in 1973. In 1978, the City Council recognised the need to try to manage the impact of tourism and published the first tourism strategy, Tourism in Cambridge.

The main objectives of the Strategy were:

• to increase the benefits tourism brings, while minimising any associated financial costs and other adverse impacts;
• solve day-to-day management problems; and
• maintain the quality of the environment for both residents and visitors.

All the strategies were prepared jointly by the Council's Leisure Services Department (responsible for the tourism service) and the Planning Department (responsible for land use and tourism planning).

1996 strategy

The 1996 Strategy was explicitly stated to be for "the five financial years 1996-97 to 2000-01". It set out the policy context, described the local industry and attitudes to it, and established clear objectives and an overall strategy.

The detailed policy content was organised under the headings of marketing, development and infrastructure, management and implementation (including indicators and targets). The document concluded with an Action Plan that set out policies, actions, lead agencies, costs and priorities.

The process of the review

Initiating the review

When the Council adopted the 1996 Strategy it was agreed that it should be monitored, be given a mid-term review and would ultimately be replaced as its predecessors had been. The formal trigger for a review was the 1999 Cambridge Local Plan Monitoring Report, which was drafted during the second half of 1999.

An input to this was provided by the 5th Annual Tourism Forum in October of that year, when it debated the theme 'Value not Volume – Quality not Quantity'. The Forum is made up of representatives of a wide range of bodies with interests in issues related to tourism and it meets annually.

The Monitoring Report concluded there was a need to "pursue a comprehensive approach to destination management through the review of the Tourism Strategy". The key issue was seen to be: "how to maintain the growth of tourism, balancing this with the need to protect and enhance the local life, beauty and character of Cambridge.

The emphasis will need to be on attracting high spending staying visitors throughout the year, and ensuring that Cambridge is seen as a quality tourist destination". The City Council's Environment Committee discussed this in January 2000 and agreed that a review of the Strategy should be included in the 2000-01 work programme.

Internal procedures and ownership

In June 2000, a Project Initiation statement for the review was agreed by the Planning Departmental Management Team. This set out the broad aims and scope, the contribution to Council priorities, timescales, and resource requirements (estimated at 680 hours). It was agreed that the project should be led by a core team drawn from Planning, Economic Development and the Tourism Service.

The project leader then prepared a project brief covering the purpose, objectives and scope of the review, key issues to be addressed, deliverables, constraints/risks, assumptions, consultations, resources, timescales and success criteria. The review was to proceed in three stages:

• research and analysis proceeding in parallel with pre-draft consultation;
• preparation of the Draft Strategy; and
• consultation on the Draft, amendment and adoption by the Council.

In practice, the first two stages merged into each other. The planned timescale for the project was 1st September 2000 to 27th July 2001.

SWOT analysis

The City Council has for a long time seen tourism as a corporate issue and it was recognised from the outset that the involvement of a wide range of services in the review was essential. The core project team was supported by a wider officer group, drawn from Street Services, Transport Planning, City Centre Management, Parks and Recreation, Marketing and Promotions, Local Agenda 21, Environmental Health and Protection, the Chief Executive's staff, and Planning Policy and Development Control.

Early discussions between officers focused on:

• a SWOT analysis of the existing Strategy (Table 1);
• what sort of strategy should replace it;
• the challenges for tourism in Cambridge;
• what the Council should be doing;
• the top priorities for action; and
• a strategy for consultation.

Research and analysis

Planning and Tourism staff carried out the following key elements of background research and analysis for the review:

• A comprehensive review of the implementation of the 1996 Strategy.
• A review of local, regional and national tourism policy.
• A review of best practice in destination management, especially as set out in Making the Connections (including, issues around sense of place, attractions, special events, the night-time economy, seasonality, transport, information, visitor services, marketing and how to make things happen on the ground).
• A review and analysis of regional and national tourism facts and trends.
• Assessment of a volume and value study of tourism in Cambridge, carried out by the East of England Tourist Board in 1999.
• A review of accommodation occupancy rates and trends in developing additional bedspaces, shown by an analysis of planning applications.
• An analysis of local data, especially the results of surveys of visitors to the Cambridge TIC, which have been conducted since 1994, and a 'How are we doing?' survey carried out at hotels and attractions in 2000.

The results of this research were consolidated into a working paper, which was made widely available to people involved in the review as direct contributors and consultees. Selected information was eventually included in the introduction to the published Strategy.

Pre-draft consultation

The pre-draft consultation had two main objectives: to raise awareness about the review and tourism issues; and to gather information and views on the content of the revised Strategy. There were six main aspects to the consultation:

1. A discussion of the Strategy review by the 6th Cambridge Tourism Forum. The Forum concentrated on two questions:
   • What are the main challenges for tourism in Cambridge over the next two years and next ten years?
   • What should be the top five priorities in each case?
   Five high priority areas were identified for action: improvements to service quality; action to tackle traffic and parking problems; diversification of attractions; improved range and quality of accommodation; and improved gateways, eg bus and railway stations.
2. Discussions of the issues for the review (including recruitment, training, congestion, public transport, service quality, management of coaches, and local authority support for tourism) by the Cambridge Tourism Group, a standing body comprising representatives of the industry locally that meets every two months. These discussions largely reflected the views expressed by the Forum, but also stressed the difficulties faced by the tourism industry in an area with a buoyant economy with strong competition for labour and high house prices.
3. A 'Mini Forum' organised in conjunction with the Cambridge Regional College for local students studying tourism. This reviewed the key features of Cambridge as a destination, discussed issues like accommodation occupancy and length of stay, and considered future career opportunities.
4. Ad hoc briefings and discussions with key interests, eg the College Bursars' Tourism Committee and members of the Council.
5. A review of recent surveys of local residents' attitudes towards tourism and tourism services. This showed that residents understood both the positive and negative impacts of tourism. It also showed that there was support for tourism services, though at a lower level than support for other core services, like public toilets, housing and tackling crime and vandalism.
6. Publicity for the review through newsletters and bulletins circulating in the city, such as Sustainable City Newsletter, City Centre Management Newsletter, and Disability Newsletter.

At no stage during the consultation was there a serious challenge to the importance of tourism to the city and the need for what might be termed positive management and selective development that was embodied in the 1996 Strategy. Hence, the exercise became one of rolling forward the existing Strategy, rather than developing a radical set of options for alternative futures.

Consultation on the Draft Strategy

The results of the research and consultations were incorporated into a five-year Draft Strategy (2001-2006) and an annual Draft Action Plan (2001-2002). Both were the subject of detailed and extensive internal consultations. On 23rd April 2001 they were published for public consultation, which included the following:

• A media release and photographs (illustrating tourism-related services, eg coach parking, key attractions and Blue Badge Guides at work) were sent out to a wide range of local and national media contacts. A feature article appeared in the main local newspaper, Cambridge Evening News, accompanied by a short questionnaire asking readers to say how strongly they supported the vision and four aims. Interviews were given on local radio and an article appeared in Urban Environment Today.
• Around 240 copies of the Draft Strategy and action plan were sent out with a questionnaire to stakeholders in the industry, including the colleges, hoteliers, attractions and local authorities. The questionnaire asked respondents to indicate how strongly they supported the vision and aims in the Strategy and which were the most important actions under each aim.
• Details of the Strategy were posted on the tourism page of the Planning Department website.
• The Draft Strategy was sent to all members of the Council and a special briefing session was held for members on 23rd May, to give headline results of the consultation and answer questions in anticipation of the pending discussion of the Committee.

Responses

A total of 33 formal responses were received, some of these joint submissions, representing approximately 60 individuals and organisations outside the City Council. This represents a response rate of 25% from the 240 organisations consulted, which is reasonable for this kind of exercise. Seven questionnaires were returned from the Cambridge Evening News article alone; a separate questionnaire with Freepost reply would probably have elicited a more useful response.

The full results of the consultation were included in a report to the Environment Committee on 19th June 2001. This set out the Council's response to each comment received and any proposed amendment to the Draft Strategy and Action Plan. The majority of respondents supported the vision and aims: 50% strongly supported them, 38% supported, 9% had no opinion and 3% strongly objected. The aim most strongly supported was marketing Cambridge as a quality destination, followed closely by providing a high quality visitor experience.

The top ten actions identified were:

1. More and better quality toilets
2. Site for a coach park
3. Improved range of visitor attractions
4. Information for people with disabilities
5. Signing to attractions
6. Development of theme packages
7. Free welcoming leaflet
8. Central place for meeting/picnic eating
9. Promotion of museums and attractions
10. Taking needs of disabled into account in improvements in city centre

Sustainability appraisal

During the consultation on the Draft, a Sustainability Appraisal was carried out to ensure that the Strategy is in line with the ETC's national strategy for sustainable tourism (Time for Action). This was done in two phases.

• First, a check for compatibility between the ETC's sustainable tourism objectives and the objectives of the Cambridge Tourism Strategy.
• Second, a comparison between the detailed proposals in the ETC strategy and the policies and actions in the Cambridge Strategy.

The adopted Strategy

Form and content

Early on in the review, it became clear that the format of the Strategy needed to be changed to make it on the one hand more succinct and on the other more flexible to deal with year on year changes to circumstances. The consultations showed wide agreement on a focused medium-term (five-year) strategic statement, supported by an annual action plan, and this is the approach that was adopted.

The strategic document, which runs to 16 A4 pages, has the following sections:

• An Introduction - the reason for having a strategy.
• 'Where does Cambridge fit in?' - the national and regional context.
• 'Tourism in Cambridge' - an overview of the local tourism industry, links to other policy areas, prospects for the future and key issues.
• 'The Overall Strategy' - a vision for tourism in Cambridge and four key aims for quality, marketing, sustainability and accessibility.
• 'The Policies' section sets out a total of 15 policies under the four aims.
• Quality: standards in accommodation, attractions, services, employment and teaching English as a foreign language.
• Marketing: Cambridge as a year-round destination and emphasises the inherent attractions of the area.
• Sustainability: protecting the environment, maximising the benefits and minimising the problems, use of more sustainable modes of transport, minimising congestion in the city centre, better management of coach-based tourism, sustainable business practice, developing accommodation, and improving the understanding of tourism in Cambridge.
• Accessibility: accessibility at all attractions, services and accommodation and the availability of information.
• Appendix 1: summarises the sustainability appraisal.

The Action Plan is a 12-page A4 document that identifies 82 specific actions under the policies. Although the main purpose is to focus on one year at a time, the Plan sets out both 'Actions to be achieved in 2001/2' (45) and 'Actions to be achieved in the longer term' (37). Each action is allocated a priority (high, medium, low), resource needs are stated (eg money, existing staff resources) and the partners for implementation are identified (City Council, other local authorities and the industry).

Implementation and next steps

The real test of the Strategy and its Action Plan will be the success of its implementation. There are, however, three elements of this process which require closer attention.

• First, progress in implementing the Action Plan, any changes in circumstances and a new annual Plan will be reported to the Council committee for adoption in June of each year. Adoption at this time will allow its proposals to be built into the autumn budgetmaking cycle.
• Second, apart from the activities identified in the Action Plan, the Strategy does not set out targets and indicators against which progress towards greater sustainability will be measured (a deficiency resulting from resource constraints); this was identified as an area for future work. Cambridge has subsequently offered itself as a pilot destination for testing an approach to Local Sustainable Tourism Indicators that is being developed with the DCMS. There is a similar concern about the ability to monitor and enforce standards effectively.
• Third, it is essential that the aspirations of the Strategy are reflected in the Business Plan for the Tourism Service. Ideally, the Business Plan should have been revised in parallel with the Strategy and adopted at the same time, but other commitments did not allow staff resources to be released to do this. From 2003, the Business Plan will be reviewed and adopted in parallel with the Annual Action Plan.

Lessons learned

Following the model

Table 2 summarises an evaluation of the Cambridge Tourism Strategy Review against the model set out earlier in the article.

Strengths

There are four areas where the case study shows particular strengths in following the model:

• the ability to build the new five-year Strategy on the local authority's existing long-term strategic approach to planning for tourism;
• the use of ongoing rather than ad hoc surveys to assist with research and review;
• long term engagement with stakeholders through the Cambridge Tourism Group and the Tourism Forum; and
• embracing a comprehensive range of issues and seeking links with other policy areas.

Weaknesses

Conversely, there are three weaknesses compared with the model where things should have been done differently:

• achieving a higher level of input from the wider public on the Draft Strategy and Action Plan through more targeted consultation;
• carrying out the sustainability appraisal as part of the process of developing the Strategy from the outset, rather than appraising the draft after it was published; and
• reviewing and adopting the Tourism Service Business Plan and a statement of indicators and targets at the same time as the Strategy and Action Plan, which would have ensured consistency, established a clear overall picture and linked the Strategy more directly with the Council's budget-making process.

Developing the model

The experience of Cambridge shows that the model is very helpful in guiding the preparation of a tourism strategy. Future reviews should build on the positive and negative experiences outlined above and take the lessons into account. The model could be further refined by taking into account the following considerations:

• The Review should have achieved a much higher level of input from all interested parties on the need for and scope of a strategy. This should be an explicit part of the first stage of preparing a strategy.
• It would be invidious to suggest that any one aspect of this approach to the development of tourism strategies is more important than another. However, a necessary condition for success is the long-term engagement of industry stakeholders. Local authorities must invest time in developing this and use other partnerships, such as Town Centre Management, Local Economic Partnerships or Chambers of Commerce, to extend and reinforce contacts and interest. The Cambridge experience suggests that this is not easy, but it is well worth the effort.
• The Cambridge Strategy contains policies that touch on land use and transportation planning issues through the development of attractions and accommodation, encouraging sustainable means of transport, coach parking and access to buildings. However, this is not directly framed as planning guidance and the chance has been missed to use the Strategy to develop formal planning guidance. This could be particularly important given the ideas for reforming the planning system set out in the Government's Green Paper, Delivering Fundamental Change. This proposes to replace Local Plans by Local Development Frameworks and Action Plans and may lead to the cancellation of national Planning Policy Guidance: Tourism (PPG21), (see Insights, January 2002, A-85).

Conclusions

Value of strategy

The value of having a strategy to guide the development of tourism is now widely accepted and a range of studies give some advice on how a strategy should be approached, in terms of both process and content. A rigorous approach to the process is not an optional extra, but rather an essential component of any move towards greater sustainability of tourism.

Some aspects of the process, particularly consultation and engagement with stakeholders, are much easier if they are part of a long-term, ongoing engagement, not one off exercises. The review of the Cambridge Tourism Strategy has followed this model and provides practical examples of how the various requirements at each stage can be interpreted - there is good practice to follow and pitfalls to avoid.

Local authorities are able

The study shows that local authorities can carry out what is often complex work without resorting to consultants. Indeed, this is likely to be the preferred option because it allows long-term working relationships with stakeholders to be developed. However, it is important to be clear about the resources that will be required – about 250 hours of Council officer time in this case – and ensure that there is full support from all the key local authority departments.

Equally, it is important to ensure that the effort needed to engage local interests, especially residents, is properly understood – proper participation absorbs time and money and must be planned and budgeted for. Even input from the local industry cannot be taken for granted.

Cambridge

The long history that Cambridge has in championing a tourism strategy since 1978 is unusual, if not unique in the UK. This means that the process has been more consultative than developmental. Cambridge also has the advantage of a buoyant economy and a successful tourism industry, and to this extent is very different from a city seeking to develop tourism as a new impetus to urban regeneration or a destination needing to revive a tourism industry in decline.

In these cases, the local authority and the industry will have to work with the community to achieve jointly a strategy in which the role of each sector is developed clearly. However, the model still applies and the techniques used will have broad relevance.

When work started on the Strategy Review in September 2000, the world in general, and tourism in particular, were rather different from how they are today. The FMD crisis and the terrorist attacks of 11th September 2001 have changed political, social and economic perspectives on tourism. If the Strategy was being prepared now, it would reflect a more pessimistic outlook and place more emphasis on marketing and diversification.

However, the events of 2001 do not require the carefully-crafted Strategy to be torn up, because it provides both a clear strategic view of the longer term and a short-term action plan that can be adjusted to changing circumstances. Ensuring resilience to unexpected events is, indeed, one of the main justifications for having a strategy in the first place.

Further sources

• English Tourist Board, Employment Department. (1991). Tourism and the Environment - Maintaining the Balance
• Department of the Environment. (1992). Planning Policy Guidance: Tourism (PPG21)
• English Historic Towns Forum, English Tourist Board. (1994). Getting it Right: a Guide to Visitor Management in Historic Towns, Donaldsons
• Grant M, Human B, Le Pelley B. Involving local communities - a sustainable destination management resource. Insights, May 1998
• Department for Culture Media and Sport. (1998). Tourism - Towards Sustainability, A consultation paper on sustainable tourism in the UK
• Department for Culture Media and Sport. (1999). Tomorrow's Tourism - A growth industry for the new millennium
• English Historic Towns Forum, English Tourism Council, English Heritage. (1999). Making the Connections - A practical guide to tourism management in historic towns
• English Tourism Council. (2001). Time for Action - A strategy for sustainable tourism in England