Creating greatdestinations in England’sNorthwestAn introduction

Contents3 Foreword

4 Beyond Tourism

8 New Thinking on Place Making

14 The Art of Place Making

19 Key Facts

Foreword

Here in England’s Northwest, tourism isone of our most important and vibrantsectors. Growing the visitor economy isone of our primary aims.

We have realised, however, that this ismore than simply building attractions,hotels and resorts, important as they are;It’s about creating “attractive places”.

This means making places attractive forlocal people to spend time as well asproviding places that are appealing forvisitors. One leads to the other. Put simply,good places to live are good places to visit.

The Regional Tourism Strategy reflects thisthinking. It places emphasis on developingthe visitor economy, rather than a narrowerfocus on tourism. Place shaping involvesthe challenging task of creating successfuldestinations from diverse ingredients.

England’s Northwest has madetremendous progress on this agenda. Inboth our urban and rural areas, we haveseen huge improvements in the publicrealm, attractions, festivals and eventsas well as the quality and variety ofvisitor accommodation. There is a genuine

buzz about them. In the course of adecade, Manchester and Liverpool haveleapt from off-the-radar to becomingtwo of the most successful citydestinations in Europe.

There is a great deal to be proud of, butstill much to do to create destinations thatare the envy of the world.

The Tourism Team at the NWDA hasdeveloped tools to assist all those inthe region with an interest in placeshaping. The main purpose of theCreating Great Destinations conferenceand report is to publicise these tools andto encourage everyone to explore andmake use of them.

We have also been working with PlacesMatter!, the architecture and builtenvironment centre for the Northwest,to help improve the quality of designin the region.

Securing public and private sectorinvestment in place making is increasinglychallenging. A feature of our work isthat it does not focus solely only onbig-ticket investments.

Rather it focuses on working at a microlevel with businesses and otherorganisations in local areas. The “Mosaic”approach to place making builds fromthe bottom up decentralised approach.It stimulates adventurous place makingactivity by small groups in communitiesacross the region, facilitated by thepublic sector.

We all have our part to play. And we canall play our part.

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Nick Brooks-SykesDirector of TourismNorthwest Regional DevelopmentAgency (NWDA)

Annie AtkinsProgramme DirectorPlaces Matter!

Beyond Tourism

Our visitor economy is not justabout people from outside theregion; it’s about everyone wholives and works here too.

Investment in the visitor economyneeds to encompass a myriad ofdifferent elements that interact to makea successful and sustainabledestination. It includes everything thatattracts people to a place – theshops, the townscape, the landmarkbuildings, the heritage, the culture, thescenery, the natural environment, theleisure facilities, the events, and so on.In other words, all the things thatmake a place special, distinctive andworth experiencing.

It also needs to address the quality ofthe infrastructure – such as signage,transport, parking, orientation andinterpretation – that enables people toget to and around places.

Finally, investment in the visitoreconomy needs to encompass theservices that help, visitors and residentsalike to enjoy places - information andbooking services and the day-to-dayservices that make a place clean, safeand welcoming.

The feel of a destination also plays itspart in creating a sense of place. It is analmost indefinable characteristic that

has a big role in generating anemotional response to a place and astrong influence on whether it isenjoyed, revisited or recommended.

To create a successful and sustainablevisitor economy, it is necessary tomanage and nurture all of thesecomponent parts, thinking both of theinterests of residents and visitors.

Successful visitor economies are centralto the regeneration of towns and citiesand to creating economic growth andjob opportunities. The more radical thedevelopment, the more opportunities itwill bring for job creation. Employmentopportunities range from flexible,part-time jobs to highly-skilled,entrepreneurial positions in a sector thatis undergoing a genuine transformation.

Developing a thriving visitor economyrequires work by many differentorganisations. It is not the exclusivepreserve of tourist boards or classictourism businesses like attractions andhotels. It involves local authorities, townand city centre managementorganisations, developers, culturalorganisations and more.

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Tourists and visitorsA “tourist” is technically defined assomeone travelling to a place that isnot their “usual environment” for aperiod of less than twelve months.

They are called a “staying visitor” ifthey spend one or more nights attheir destination and a “day visitor” ifthey return home the same day. Theterm “visitor” is used more loosely todescribe anyone visiting a place,whether it is their usual environmentor not.

The NWDA has been leading inproviding more accurate informationabout the size and nature of thevisitor economy. The agencycommissioned major surveys, usinginnovative on-line methodology, ofthe day visitors and staying visitorsin 2007.

This provided a wealth of newinformation about the visitoreconomy in the region as a whole,the sub-regions and individualplaces. The research is beingrepeated over 2009 and will beavailable in summer 2010.

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6

1 Figures from Understanding Tourism’s Economic Impact’ NWDA 2009

All £m Tourist type

Industry DayVisitors

UK-Domestic

Outbound Business International Total InternalTourism

Consumption

%

1.1 Hotels, motels & otherserviced accommodation

0.0 597.0 0.0 320.8 355.8 1273.5 14.6

1.2 Hostels and non-servicedaccommodation

0.0 306.4 0.0 3.2 16.0 325.7 3.7

2.1 Restaurants, cafés and bars 1811.4 203.9 0.0 237.7 255.7 2508.8 28.8

3.1 Railway transport 96.1 22.0 0.0 4.3 8.0 130.4 1.5

3.2 Other land transport 78.6 52.2 0.0 3.3 24.3 158.3 1.8

3.3 Water transport 0.0 8.7 0.0 0.0 3.3 12.0 0.1

3.4 Air transport 0.0 3.6 925.3 0.3 9.6 938.8 10.8

3.5 Ancillary transport & travelagencies

0.0 0.0 216.9 0.0 5.0 221.8 2.5

4.1 Recreation and entertainment 409.0 51.7 0.0 12.3 28.8 501.9 5.8

5.1 Retail and distribution (incfuel retail)

725.5 66.9 0.0 28.0 42.7 863.2 9.9

6.1 Fuel Refining 719.3 224.7 0.0 56.0 3.0 1003.0 11.5

All identified industries 3840.0 1537.0 1142.1 665.9 752.2 7937.3 91.0

7.1 All other regional industries 681.1 38.7 0.0 21.7 45.3 786.8 9.0

All regional industries 4521.1 1575.7 1142.1 687.5 797.5 8724.0 100.0

Percent 51.8% 18.1% 13.1% 7.9% 9.1% 100.0

Tourism Consumption in England’s Northwest (2007)

Key Sources: NW Day Visitor SurveyNW Business Tourism SurveyNW Staying Visitor SurveyInternational Passenger Survey UK First Steps Tourism Satellite Account

How much isthe visitoreconomy worth? The economic benefits speak forthemselves. In 2008, an estimated£14.3 billion was generated byvisitors to the region; the largestproportion of this revenue was fromday visitors (£9 billion).

The Northwest Tourism EconomicAccount (2007) estimates that visitorspending was directly responsible forthe creation of £3.7 billion of valueadded plus a further £2 billionthrough supply chain and wageeffects, bringing total tourism valueadded in the region to £5.7 billion.

Tourism dependent employmentaccounted for an estimated 6.7%of the region's workforce(225,000 workers).

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Liverpool’s place making success

Liverpool has transformed its appeal asa destination, creating a series ofexceptional experiences in differentparts of the city.

Retail is an important part of the offer ofany town and city, and Liverpool One isan exemplar of a modern city centreshopping development. It followscurrent best practice of beingintegrated into the street pattern ratherthan an inward facing mall, and aselection of architects were used togive variety and interest to thebuildings. It was planned as a mosaicof different experiences, withconcentrations of like-minded shopsand restaurants in different parts.

King’s Waterfront is the single largestdevelopment on Liverpool’s Waterfront.Its centrepiece is the new LiverpoolEcho Arena and BT Convention Centre.Situated on the banks of the RiverMersey it has had a substantial – andhighly visible - impact on the city’seconomy. It has underpinned largescale investment in hotels andrevitalised the Waterfront, with newbars and restaurants opening up.

Liverpool’s City Centre Public RealmImplementation Framework is a designcode to guide public realm. Preparedby Liverpool Vision and the CityCouncil, the Framework has ensuredthat the many public realm works join

up as a whole to reinforce thecharacter of Liverpool and its localidentity. Liverpool One, the LiverpoolEcho Arena and BT Convention Centreand Central Village are all showcaseexamples where factors such as theemphasis on pedestrians, newsignage, street furniture andlighting have come together tocreate distinctive and attractivepublic spaces.

As recognition of the work carried outat the Waterfront, the Pier Head PublicRealm and Canal Link won the PublicSpace Award at the NorthwestTourism Awards 2009.

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New Thinking on Place Making

Great places to live and work are great places to visit

We live in a world where people canchoose where they go, when they goand how they get there. We can movebetween different towns, cities andcountries with ease.

Place making has a major role to play inattracting more visitors to our regionand in ensuring that people who livehere enjoy their localities.

For many of our bigger towns the mainchallenge is to persuade a larger andmore diverse mix of people who livewithin a few miles to visit their towncentre more regularly, rather thantravelling further afield for shopping,recreation and work. Doing this willimprove the quality of life for allresidents and will help towns and citiesto attract more investment and alsoreduce carbon emissions.

The primary aim for any town or city isto be an attractive place to live in, with arange of places to shop, eat and avibrant cultural scene, all set within anappealing townscape or landscape.Professionals who think about how tomake towns and cities better placesoften say that it is about making themmore “liveable”.

The towns and cities worldwide that arerated as the most “liveable” have placesfor people to live, work and stay in theircentres, places to socialise, eating anddrinking venues and a rich cultural andentertainment programme. They arepedestrian and cycle-friendly, with goodpublic transport.

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The ‘Mosaic’ approach to place shaping

The NWDA has been working with anumber of towns and cities around theregion to generate approaches toimproving the visitor economy in thecontext of the particular diversity.

This work has been based on the“Mosaic” approach. It is explained indetail in the Guide to Place Shaping inTowns and Cities, and you can see howit works in the context of a specific cityin the report on Place Shaping inChester. (Shown on page 12).

The approach starts with the basicprinciple that all towns and cities aremade up of a “mosaic” of differentexperiences which are created by like-minded businesses and organisationsclustering together.

Taking Manchester city centre as anexample, the Northern Quarter ispopulated with independent shops,restaurants and bars; Market Street andthe Arndale Centre are dominated by

high street shops; Chinese shops andrestaurants congregate in Chinatown;gay-orientated businesses cluster onand near Canal Street; and manyfashion boutiques congregate on KingStreet. Clustering like this can be seenin even the smallest town.

The most appealing towns and citieshave a mosaic of experiences which areeach different and distinctive but whichare of high-quality in their own right.

To use an analogy, the differentexperiences are like the differentsections of the orchestra. The challengeis to get them to each sound goodindividually, and to play in harmony.

The mosaic approach is, essentially, tobreak towns and cities down into smallbite-sized chunks and then to work withthe property owners and tenants ineach of them to nurture a strong anddistinctive sense of place.

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People have differing preferences in places

The reason that businesses of similartype tend to congregate together isbecause they are trying to attract similartypes of customers.

The way that estate agents locatetogether is an obvious example of this –they are making sure that anyone whois looking to buy a house is likely tofind them.

The same sort of effect is at play ininfluencing where different sorts ofbusinesses decide to locate in townsand cities. This, in turn, determines theexperiences that towns and cities offer.

There are many factors that drive whatpeople are looking for in a destination.Age and life-stage are two of the mostobvious. Families with children typicallylook for different things than oldercouples or groups of young friends.

The ArkLeisure model (see box) is analternative, psychographic approach tounderstanding differing preferences,specially designed for the visitoreconomy. It categorises peopleaccording to the type of leisureexperiences that they like.

COSMOPOLITANSStrong, active, confidentStyle & brand important, but as an expression of their selfmade identityHigh spenders especially on innovation and technologyLooking for new challenges, new experiencesGlobetrotters

STYLE HOUNDS‘Young Free Single’, impulsiveFashion countsBrand countsLooking for fun with friendsMost not seriously sporty

HIGH STREETMain stream early adoptersFollowers of high street fashionCare what others thinkHappy to buy packaged options

FOLLOWERSStrongly influenced by what others will thinkDon’t want to be seen as old fashionedLess activeSlow to adoptAvoid risk

HABITUALSLargely inactive, low spending groupVery traditional, stronglyresistant to changeRisk adverseValue relaxation, peace and quiet

FUNCTIONALSSelf reliantPrice drivenValue function over styleTraditional values, but interested innew experiences, not risk adverse

DISCOVERERSIndependent in mind and actionLittle influenced by style or brand but interestedin new optionsBuy on function and value to themLooking for new and educational experiences

Innovators

Mass Market

Sustainers

IndependentMarket

TRADITIONALSSelf reliant internally referencedSlow to adopt new optionsStrong orientation towards traditional valuesValue individual attention & service

The ArkLeisure model was developedby Arkenford Ltd on behalf ofVisitBritain, the national tourismagency, to provide a better way ofunderstanding the preferences thatpeople living in the UK have forspending their leisure time. It dividespeople into eight categories. TheNWDA used this model to analyse theresults of two major research studies,the 2007 Northwest Day Visitor Survey

and the 2007 Staying Visitor Survey,and is doing so again with theintegrated 2009 Day and StayingVisitor survey. The model has alsobeen used in catchment area surveysin places like Southport and Bolton toshow what type of people theycurrently appeal to, and to show therelative appeal of different sectionsof their town centres to different typesof people.

ArkLeisure model

HighPrices

Corporate

THE PLACE MAKING MOSAIC

Corporate – Independent Independent

MidPrices

LowPrices

PREMIUMINDEPENDENTS

BOHEMIAN

PREMIUMBRANDS

HIGHSTREET

VALUEBRANDS

TRADITIONALTRADITIONAL

INDEPENDENTS

COSMOPOLITAN

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The Place Making Mosaic

Towards the left of the model areexperiences dominated by corporations– the commercial offer is largelybranded chains and property tends tobe owned by larger propertycompanies and financial institutions.

Towards the right of the model areexperiences dominated byindependents – the commercial offer islargely locally owned businesses andproperty tends to be in multi-ownershipby relatively small companies.

Towards the top of the model areexperiences dominated by high-endbusinesses – businesses here tend tocompete on quality rather than price.

Towards the bottom of the modelare experiences dominated byvalue-orientated businesses – priceshere are a large factor in how theyposition themselves.

© Locum Consulting & David Geddes

The Place Making Mosaic

Whereas the ArkLeisure model showsthe preferences of people, the‘Place Making Mosaic’, developedby Locum Consulting with the supportof the NWDA, is a place makingtool that concentrates on thephysical experiences that attractpeople to places.

It’s a simple way to model the varioustypes of experiences that a destinationoffers, such as its hotels, restaurants,and shops. It gives a richer picture than,for example, simply measuring the floor

space of the retail offer or the numberof hotel rooms. The Guide to PlaceShaping gives examples of how it canbe used in this way.

The Place Making Mosaic is also a wayof assessing the range of experiencesoffered by different parts of a town orcity. By mapping the different parts onthe grid, it is possible to identify existingclusters, and where there are strengthsand gaps. That makes it easier toidentify where interventions can best bemade and what they should be.

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The importance of heritage townscapes

There is often a clear demarcationbetween the places in towns and citieswhere the main multiples congregate(‘flagship zones’) and areas whereindependents, niche multiples andculture orientated organisations gather(‘oasis zones’). Both need attention inany city or large town.

The quality of the oasis zones oftendetermines how attractive a placeis to visitors. In nurturing this, manyNorthwest towns and cities canperhaps look to make progress inthe short-term.

Often, conservation zones, or otherplaces where there are older buildings,are the best places to nurture attractiveoasis areas. They are often the placesmost conducive to distinctiveindependent businesses and to creativeand cultural organisations. The NWDA,in partnership with English Heritage,recently commissioned research intothe economic importance of heritage.It differentiated between heritage“landmarks” - museums, cathedrals,and other heritage attractions - andheritage “townscapes” made up ofcollections of historic buildings andstreetscapes. The researchdemonstrated that, although thelandmarks have great economic value,

it is dwarfed by heritage townscapes.This is because people like to spendleisure time in places where they cansense the past and have a distinctcharacter. Destinations with a strongheritage element are often moresuccessful than those without.

The upshot of this is that all towns andcities should look carefully at wherethere is potential created by historictownscapes to nurture attractive oasisstyle areas. The Guide to Place Shapinggives many examples of where this hasbeen done well.

COSMOPOLITAN

TRADITIONAL

PREMIUMINDEPENDENTS

TRADITIONALINDEPENDENTS

BOHEMIAN

PREMIUMBRANDS

HIGHSTREET

VALUEBRANDS

HighPrices

Corporate

THE PLACE MAKING MOSAIC

Corporate – Independent Independent

MidPrices

LowPrices

Flagship Zones

St Michael’s Row

St Werburgh St

Grosvenor SC

Foregate St East

Northgate St South

Forum Shopping Centre

Eastgate St St John St

Bridge St

Frodsham St

Watergate St West

Indoor Market

Brook St

St Werburgh Row

Pepper t

Foregate StWest

Watergate St East Godstall Lane

Friars Gate

Commonhall St

Lower Bridge St

Northgate St North/Rufus Ct

Oasis Zones

Using the Place Making Mosaicin Chester

The Place Making Mosaic has beenused to map the centre of Chester andsuggest ideas for how the city cannurture distinctive experiences indifferent parts of the centre. In thecity’s main streets and shoppingarcades, national multiple brandsdominate. When you reach theextremities of the main streets, eachhas its own character – they aredominated by value-orientatedmultiples, independents, or a mix ofindependents and smaller nationalmultiples. Bars and restaurants arelocated on the ends of the flagshipstreets. There are also “oasis” areassuch as Godstall Lane. There is a needto focus on polishing the offer,expanding flagship zones and nurturingthe mixed-use oases.

© Locum Consulting & David Geddes

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The Destination Checklist

The Destination Checklist in A Guideto Place Shaping provides a simpleway to assess the nature and qualityof the different elements of thedestination offer in your area.

It involves rating each aspect of thedestination offer – from transport links,shopping and accommodation to artsand culture, restaurants, bars andvisitor information services.

There are various approaches an areamight take - it could organise

workshops to go through each step ofthe checklist; or it could commissionsome research prior to completing thechecklist, to give more information onits visitor offer and how it is perceived.

The Destination Checklist is one of thefirst steps to improving a place’stourism offer. It is a quick and easyway to identify priorities forimprovement and investment whichwill help create distinctive andsustainable places.

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The Art of Place Making

Conducting a place making “orchestra”

Local government's role in placeshaping is crucial.

Sir Michael Lyons’ inquiry into LocalGovernment outlined the importance ofplace making and the fact that localgovernment can use its powers andinfluence creatively to promote the well-being of a community and its citizens.This is fundamental to improvingsatisfaction and prosperity.

But place making is not easy. It involvesmany different component parts, fromsmall things, like the design ofindividual shop fronts and availability ofinformation about events, to largethings, like revamping the public realmand building new cultural facilities.

Improving all of these cannot be the jobof a single organisation but, to continuethe orchestra analogy, a local authorityis the conductor.

Civic leadership is the essence of theconductor’s role. Leaders and chiefexecutives of local authorities set the

pace. The Guide to Place Shaping inTowns and Cities has examples ofplaces that have been transformed as aresult of dogged determination of civicleaders, often requiring a degree ofcourage in the face of opposition.Furthermore, many of the mostsuccessful towns and cities in the worldhave got that way because their leadershave been able to inject and embed acertain impetus and momentum.

Local authority planners have aparticularly crucial leadership role. Theyhave been encouraged and required totake a more proactive approach toplace making in the development ofLocal Development Frameworks andArea Action Plans. Many places in theNorthwest have been transformedas a result of progressive work byplanning officers. The Place MakingMosaic tool is intended to be ofparticular use to planners and toencourage them to nurture distinctiveand attractive experiences.

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A role for many players

Because the visitor economy affects somany aspects of life in towns and cities,there are roles for many people indeveloping, managing and marketing it– and there are lots of opportunitiesto work in a more integrated andeffective way.

Teamwork, for example, betweenplanners and officers responsible foreconomic development, culture, leisureand tourism can pay big dividends.

Highway engineers are another set ofimportant players, especially wherethey are willing to challenge conventionand support the progressiveapproaches seen on the continent -and increasingly in the UK - givingprecedence to the needs ofpedestrians. There are many places inthe Northwest where step changeimprovement in the place depends onbig, difficult, changes to traffic systems.

On a day to day basis, there is need forprofessional town and city centre

management. Increasingly, a towncentre management partnership takesthe form of a Business ImprovementDistrict, where businesses vote for asupplement to business rates oncondition that it is spent on additionalactivity to improve and promotetheir area.

Sometimes, a developer becomes thedestination manager. Liverpool One is agreat example of privately managedpublic space, setting new standards fordestination management in an opencity centre environment. There are greatexamples in London – some, likeMarylebone High Street, featured in theGuide to Place Shaping – of how privatecompanies can manage areas of citieswith great panache.

Finally, there is an important role for thetourist boards, both in terms of being anadvocate for the visitor economy, and inmaking sure that the services providedfor visitors are exceptional.

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Investment in character, block-by-block

The principles of nurturing distinctive areas 1. Focus on micro areas that have a distinctive character in terms

of the nature of the built environment and the experiences thatcluster there.

2. Establish an appropriate partnership vehicle in each micro area forpushing through improvements.

3. Be clear as to the type of experience that is being created and the type ofcustomer that is the primary target.

4. Develop anchors that will attract the right type of person to eachsub-destination.

5. Be selective in accepting tenants, aiming for those that will enhance theexperience that is being created.

6. Give each micro area a name and style.

7. Invest in built realm that is consistent with the nature of the experiencethat is being created and provides signals as to the type of area it is.

8. Encourage a programme of events and festivals that is of a style andnature that fits the vision for the area.

The Mosaic approach to place makingputs emphasis on trying to buildpartnerships of like-mindedbusinesses in localities of townsand cities.

It advocates looking at towns andcities on a block-by-block basis. Fromthis, strategies for investment and

improvement can be drawn up andagreed, working with the businessesoperating there.

This could be as simple as gettingneighbouring businesses to gettogether and smarten up their area orset up a joint letting scheme.

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Celebrating Lancashire’s local produceLancashire has some of the bestregional produce in the UK. The TasteLancashire campaign, co-ordinated byLancashire and Blackpool TouristBoard, is a great example of promotinglocal food and drink and making surethat visitors’, and residents’, eating anddrinking experiences are the very bestto be found in the area. A TasteLancashire quality scheme, events,festivals, farmers’ markets, themedmonths and short breaks are all used

to promote the sub-region and what itcan offer. Businesses can display theTaste Lancashire logo and marketingmaterial to show they’re part of thescheme and signpost people to othervenues worth visiting.

Celebrating the area’s food and drinkoffer is a great way to showcase thequality and diversity of the region andprovides a way to attract and retainvisitors eager to experience more.

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Conferences in ManchesterManchester is reinforcing its brandby dressing the city during highprofile events.

During the Conservative PartyConference in October 2009, dropbanners were placed in St. Anne’sSquare and Albert’s Square anddressing around the main conferencesite and the secure zone promoted thecity’s cultural offer.

This was complemented by a bannerabove Manchester Town Hall andadditional lamppost banners at various

sites throughout the city centre. Mostof the artwork for the lamppost anddrop banners depicted Manchesterlandmarks with the trademarkManchester ‘M’ at the bottom.

Six-sheet posters were also placed inselected sites, particularly aroundManchester Central and the Town Hall.

These include ‘Back the WorldCup Bid’ posters to encouragevisitors to back Manchester’s bid to bea host city for the 2018 FIFA WorldCup bid.

£14.3bn £50,000the value oftourism toEngland’sNorthwest

spent by visitorscan create onenew job

30m 6.7%staying visitorsto the regionevery year

of the regionsworkforce intourism dependentemployment

225,000 £5.7bnfull-time jobssupported bythe visitoreconomy acrossthe Northwest

a year valueadded fromtourism

Renaissance House, Centre Park, Warrington, WA1 1QN Tel: +44 (0)1925 400 100 Fax: +44 (0)1925 400 400

www.nwda.co.uk www.enw.co.uk/visit www.nwtourism.net

October 2009NWDA j10-24

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