Council joins tourism association in new bid to boost visitors

HENLEY’S new membership of a tourism association is hoped to boost the number of visitors to the town.

Kim Hallett, the town council’s tourism consultant, said she had signed up to the Coach Tourism Association at the end of the summer.

The body represents the interests of companies including coach operators, tour wholesalers, hotels, attractions and destinations.

Ms Hallett, who was hired by the council in May on a six-month contract, said there would be multiple opportunities throughout the year to network with the association’s membership.

In a report to the council’s town and community committee, she said: “We have access to their membership list and will be targeting buyers regularly with e-newsletters, outing opportunities and offers to visit the town and bring groups on short breaks.”

Councillor Tony Hoskins told the committee at its meeting on Tuesday last week that he was unsure how the number of tourists visiting the town could be quantified.

He said: “The question I have is how do you measure success? That might be things like reviewing how many buses are parked in the area, including in the station car park.

“It also might be talking to the owners of the premises about how many extra people they’ve had. We should be asking local organisations. Are they seeing anything?

“We need to actually ensure that we can talk about success. This is a great story but it doesn’t say anything about success.”

Paul Carey, the town centre manager, said it could be subjective to ask businesses and organisations if they had seen an increase in footfall. He said: “Metrics in this kind of thing are very, very difficult to quantify”.

But Mr Carey said Ms Hallett was doing a “brilliant” job, adding: “It’s like having someone out there banging the drum for Henley and not just in the UK.”

Councillor Sarah Miller said that the effects of the promotion would likely become obvious in time. She said: “This hasn’t gone on for that long, has it? This is going to take a while to gather pace.

“I think with most things in Henley, we only get to hear when things aren’t going right or it’s empty. Give it some time and we will know just from being in Henley, just from speaking to people in the hotels, the restaurants.

“You get a feel when things are happening when it’s buzzing and tourism is higher than normal, apart from the obvious times like Henley Royal Regatta and the literary festival.”

Councillor Gill Dodds told the meeting that she chatted with a group of American tourists visiting the town as part of a Beatles tour.

They had looked at Friar Park, the home of the late George Harrison, the Row Barge pub, his local, and the grave of singer Dusty Springfield in the churchyard at St Mary’s before heading by coach to Liverpool.

Mr Carey said that he would like to see Ms Hallett’s contract with the council extended. He said: “I think she is only just getting started and we are also going to attend a tourism event in February at Wembley with lots of tour operators.”

Later in the meeting, Mr Carey provided an update on the sponsorship that had been raised for this year’s Christmas festival, which will take place on Friday, November 29.

A total of £18,000 had been raised for it so, £7,000 lower than was raised last year. Mr Carey said: “It’s a bit of a tougher sell this year. Things are a little bit harder out there I think but we still have another month to go.”