Welcome to our September newsletter

Bournemouth’s Got Talent!

Are you passionate about Bournemouth’s tourism industry, bursting with fresh ideas that will help shape its future? The NCTA and Bournemouth Tourism Management Board are launching a new and unique Tourism Innovation Programme for energetic, forward-thinking tourism personalities who are fired-up about their business and excited about the future of Bournemouth’s tourism industry. 

The programme starts on Thursday October 2, and the group will meet at three further ‘Innovation Labs’ between November and March. To find out how to get involved and nominate someone, click here.

Destination FEELGOOD

The NCTA is working with Bournemouth University on an exciting new research project into the potential of health and wellbeing tourism in Dorset and the impact of knowledge transfer on its tourism businesses.

Called Destination FEELGOOD, the free project will work with at least 50 visitor-facing businesses to inspire innovation in healthy lifestyle products and services for visitors. The project launches with events in Bournemouth, Weymouth and Dorchester on 21 and 22 October. To discover more and see how this could impact your business, click here.

Stay open year round!

In a coastal resort like Bournemouth, winning business when summers are hot and long isn’t the issue. The key to long-term prosperity is courting new business in the shoulder months.  So what could be trialled to draw in new markets from September to November, or March to June? What market segments typically travel in these months and what products and services do they look for? What product development opportunities are we missing that could mean more shoulder season visitors to Bournemouth?

The NCTA has undertaken new research to explore ways of extending the season. Did you know, for example, that UK domestic short breaks have grown by 17 per cent in the past five years and more are taken in the shoulder season that at any other time? What’s more, seaside locations are the most popular overall.

To find out more, download our Shoulder and Non-peak Season snapshot here.

How well do you know your visitors?

Visitors to Bournemouth are a highly diverse demographic group, spanning different ages, socio-economic backgrounds, regional mix and family make-up.  And they come for different reasons.  But how well do you know these different sectors and what potential is there to break into new markets? The NCTA has compiled a series of free guides providing an overview of each sector. The first topics include Families, Young People Pre-family , Empty Nesters, Retirees and Business Travellers.

Each guide describes the growth potential and best practice for each sector. The pre-family market, for example, demand reliable internet access throughout their holiday and eat out more than any other age group, while empty nesters (aged 55+) like to book at short notice and view the seaside as a healthy place to visit.

The guides offer a wealth of information to help you make informed choices. We’ll be uploading the guides shortly to our website, but for more information contact Alex Moss.