Lincolnshire’s Annual

Tourism Conference 2010

DELEGATE INFORMATION

‘Success through Quality’

Welcome

Welcome to our fourth ‘Success through Quality’ Conference. The take up of delegate places

has been fast and furious and we are delighted that businesses from all over Lincolnshire

have carved out time to spend the day with us.

We have an exciting and wide ranging agenda focussing our attention on a great visitor

experience, careful financial planning and being creative with your marketing. Once again we

are allowing plenty of time for businesses to meet up, share ideas and come up with ideas

for the future.

Philippa Forrester is our keynote speaker. She is known for her lively interest in the outdoors,

friendly upbeat personality and we look forward to an inspiring address from her.

Alex Holmes will be our Master of Ceremonies during the day and his charming but incisive

style will keep us all on our toes!

It will be my last Lincolnshire Conference as I move on to pastures new in March. May I take

this opportunity to thank you one and all for your lively support of tourism in Lincolnshire and

wish you all success for the future.

Best wishes

Penny Baker

Chief Executive

North Kesteven District Council

Agenda

9.45am Arrival

Registration and tea/coffee

10.15am Welcome and Introductions

Alex Holmes, Tourism Engineers

10.20am Lincolnshire an Award Winning and Fabulous Place

Penny Baker, Visit Lincolnshire

10.40am Thinking About The Family

Ruth Hyde, East Midlands Tourism

and Paul and Flora Bennett,

Brackenborough Hall Coach House Holidays, Louth

10.55am Questions

11.00am Refreshments

11.30am Striking a Balance

Philippa Forrester, Keynote Speaker

12.15pm Questions

12.30pm Lunch and Networking

2.00pm WORKSHOPS

Have Your Cake and Eat it too

- How to Make Savings and Maintain Quality

Jason Freezer, VisitEngland and Jackie Ellis, LiveTourism

Top Marketing Tips - Smart Marketing for Tourism

Emma Tatlow, Visit Lincolnshire

A Step in the Right Direction!

Jude Sefton MBE, Access Unlimited

3.35 pm Welcome Back

3.40 pm Questions

3.45 pm Close

BiographiesPhilippa Forrester

Philippa Forrester has presented

some of the landmark series of the

past two decades. The majority of the

shows were live and in many cases

unscripted. She has evolved from

Children’s CBBC via ‘Tomorrow’s

World’ and ‘Heaven and Earth’ series,

interspersed with the high rating

‘Robot Wars’ and the emotional ups

and downs of ‘Zoo Watch’. She also

co-presented the trail blazing Natural

History series on Radio 4 called

‘World on the Move’, which weekly

followed animal migrations worldwide.

Philippa’s success in front of the

camera and on radio has morphed

into equal acclaim in Production for

wildlife series. She co-created

Halcyon Media and was the producer

of the multi-award winning ‘My

Halcyon River’ which remains one of

the most requested repeats received

by the Radio Times. She also

produced ‘The Wild Wood’, ‘On the

Trail of Tarka and Animal Planets’

‘Saving Grace’ for Halcyon Media.

Philippa was also Executive Producer

of ‘Wye, Voices of the Valley’ and ‘An

Otter in the Family’ which has had

numerous repeats on BBC2. As well

as scripting these productions, she

has also provided the voice over for

many of them.

Philippa also is a regular contributor

to the travel section for the Mail on

Sunday, Travel Magazine, BBC

Wildlife Magazine and the Times

Property Supplement. Her first book,

the autobiographical ‘The River’ is

being re-published by preface in

2010.

Philippa somehow manages to also

fit in her charity work and

environmental campaigning. She has

been Vice President of St

Tiggywinkles Wildlife hospital, which

cares for British Wildlife and is the

largest Wildlife teaching hospital in

Europe. Her experience is much sort

after and she is Patron of the

Seahorse Trust alongside Nick Baker

and Vice President of the Avon

Wildlife trust alongside Simon King.

Other charities Philippa is associated

with are: The RSPB, WWT,

International Otter Survival Fund, The

Woodland Trust.

Philippa was also part of a four year

high profile campaign working with

the Government on the wrap

recycling campaign specifically

encouraging and educating people to

home compost.

She was also part of a two year

campaign working with the canned

Food Industry helping to educate and

remind people to recycle their cans.

I am looking forward to my stay in Lincolnshire immensely, I have travelled all over the world filming

wildlife and writing travel articles about some of its most beautiful places and yet most of the natural

history programmes that I make are about the wildlife and beauty here in the UK, on our own doorstep.

I am continually fascinated by those places where luxurious accommodation and care for a visitor

combine successfully with showing off the wildlife of the area yet at the same time contributing to

ongoing care of the local environment and community. I truly believe that this is the only future for

tourism.

Philippa Forrester

“

”

Alex Holmes is Managing Director of

Tourism Engineers, an independent

tourism consultancy company which

he established in 2005. The company

specialises in providing destination

and visitor services management

advice to organisations in the travel

and tourism sector. Before this he set

up and ran one of the country’s first

Destination Management

Organisations in Shakespeare

Country, where he was Chief

Executive for over 9 years.

Alex has a wide range of tourism

management and marketing

experience gathered in both the

public and private sectors with

organisations as diverse as Thomas

Cook (where he was Ski and

European Products manager for 5

years) and Cheshire County Council

(where he ran the tourism, arts,

museums and sport department)

Penny has been Chief Executive for

Visit Lincolnshire since March 1998.

Over the last twelve years she has

championed Lincolnshire as a visitor

destination and developed a highly

regarded, professional marketing

team.

She has introduced major new

initiatives in online marketing,

enthusiastically promoted the quality

agenda and driven forward the ‘Big

Skies’ branding for the county.

Penny started her career in

corporate finance and international

banking in London. She has also

worked in arts and sports

sponsorship leading on projects as

diverse as Egon Ronay Guides, the

NatWest Cricket Trophy and the

Times Sponsorship of Museums Year.

Penny believes that any small

business needs to trade on quality

rather than price and that we all need

to try to delight our customers but

only if we get the basics right first!

2010 will continue to be a

challenging year for Lincolnshire’s

tourism businesses but offers great

potential to get more UK visitors to

holiday at home and discover the

delights of Lincolnshire.

Penny Baker has been involved in

regeneration and tourism initiatives,

including shaping destination

marketing agencies for both Leicester

and Lincolnshire.

Ruth Hyde joined East Midlands

Tourism, emda’s tourism arm, as

Tourism Director in May 2008. She

manages the team in delivering East

Midlands Tourism’s (EMT’s) three-

year strategic plan, which aims to

significantly increase the economic

value of the region's visitor economy.

She is responsible for liaising with a

wide range of stakeholders including

the region’s Destination Management

Partnerships as well as public and

private sector organisations such as

VisitBritain, Britain's national tourism

agency.

She has over 14 years experience

in managing, promoting and

delivering both front-line and strategic

tourism services in urban, rural and

coastal destinations.

Ruth was previously at

Scarborough Borough Council, where

she was Head of Marketing and

Communications, responsible for

destination marketing and visitor

services. She brings to the table a

wealth of tourism knowledge and

expertise.

Prior to this, Ruth was Head of

Tourism and Arts at the Borough

Council Kings Lynn and West Norfolk,

where she managed the promotion

and development of West Norfolk as

a tourism destination. She has

experience of delivering a broad

range of successful marketing and

PR campaigns, and has been

involved in introducing a number of

tourism initiatives aimed at increasing

visitor numbers and improving the

quality of the tourism product.

Penny BakerChief Executive

Visit Lincolnshire

Ruth HydeTourism Director

East Midlands Tourism

Alex Holmes

Managing Director

Tourism Engineers

Paul and Flora Bennett live at

Brackenborough Hall near Louth with

their three teenage children. Paul

farms there, as his family has done

for 102 years. Flora is a solicitor and

is a partner at Grange Winteringham

Solicitors in Grimsby and Market

Rasen. Two years ago Paul and Flora

converted the listed Coach House at

Brackenborough Hall to three self-

catering holiday apartments,

operating as Brackenborough Hall

Coach House Holidays.

In 2009, Paul and Flora won the

East Midlands EnjoyEngland Gold

Award for Think Family and in 2008 a

Silver at the National Awards in York

for Self Catering accommodation.

Jason has worked in the Quality team

at the national tourist board since

October 2005. Prior to joining

VisitEngland his experience in the

industry includes running hotels and

restaurants for over 12 years and

being a senior Hotel and Restaurant

Inspector for The AA, assessing circa

500 serviced accommodation

providers and restaurants per annum.

During his time at VisitEngland his

work has covered the implementation

and monitoring of support

programmes to integrate both quality

and sustainability (Green Start) into

businesses. Other key aspects of his

responsibilities include the

development of a sustainable tourism

accreditation strategy for

VisitEngland, assisting colleagues

with the monitoring of Common

Standards and the introduction of the

Spa accreditation scheme.

Paul & Flora Bennet Jason FreezerOwners, Brackenborough Hall Sustainable Project Manager

Coach House Holidays VisitEngland

Biographies

Jackie Ellis Emma Tatlow Jude Sefton MBE

Associate Head of Marketing and Director

LiveTourism Business Development Access Unlimited

Visit Lincolnshire

Jackie manages Visit Lincolnshire’s

Shades of Green project. She has

twenty years experience of working in

sustainable tourism, and a particular

interest in local foods and cultural

events which make destinations

stand out from their competitors. She

works with support groups and

organisations to develop practical

solutions where resource efficiencies

and business excellence go hand in

hand. This approach enables

business owners and managers to

see results whilst delivering high

quality standards and a first class

customer experience.

Emma Tatlow joined Visit Lincolnshire

in June 2009 as Head of Marketing

and Business Development. Emma

has a career in tourism spanning 13

years, having studied Leisure and

Tourism and Marketing.

Emma began her career working

overseas for Tour Operator

Eurocamp, and later Holidaybreak.

Spending seven years overseas

working in a number of roles including

Area Manager; Emma gained

experience of operations and

management on holiday parks across

France, Italy, Croatia, Corsica and

Spain. Emma also spent some time

as Manager of a Tourism Information

Centre in Suffolk. Following this, in

2004 Emma joined the newly

established Destination Management

Partnership Visit Chester and

Cheshire. For four years Emma was

an integral part of the VCC team as

they established themselves as one

of the leading DMPs in the North

West, and as Marketing Manager

delivered various marketing

campaigns as well as contributing to

the strategic development and growth

of the businesses. Emma also has

experience within a marketing agency

as Marketing Manager, where her

clients included accountants,

pharmaceuticals and an Italian

Tourism Board.

Emma is passionate about the

tourism industry and is enjoying her

current role of raising the profile of

Lincolnshire as a short break

destination.

Jude is a Director of her own

company and provides consultancy

and disability equality training on

behalf of many local authorities and

major organisations throughout the

UK. She is an experienced trainer,

accredited by Stonebow of London –

a division of the Hospitality Training

Foundation, and clients past and

present include VisitBritain, London

Development Agency and Historic

Royal Palaces to name but a few. As

a musician, she gained her

accreditation as a disabled

‘Workshop Leader’ from the Liverpool

Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA) and

now also works closely with various

arts related services. She is

particularly passionate about the

provision of accessible tourism

opportunities and has been involved

in various Lincolnshire accessibility

related initiatives for several years.

Jude works within the principles of

‘Tourism for All’ and promotes the

social model of disability at all times.

Having been awarded an MBE for her

services to disabled people, she

continues to use her life experiences

to hopefully make a positive

difference to the lives of others.

Workshops

Petwood Suite

Petwood Annex

TerraceBar

TerraceTerrace

DrawingRoom

Gibson

Cheshire

SquadronBar

TheWoodland

Suite

Entrance

Tennyson’sRestaurant

GardenRoom

Petwood Hotel Floor Plan

Have Your Cake and Eat it too -

How to Make Savings and

Maintain Quality

If you’ve ever wondered “Is it really

possible to make savings and not

affect quality” this is the workshop

for you. We’ll explore practical ways

that tourism and hospitality

businesses can make efficiencies

and save money. We’ll look at other

businesses and learn how they

maintain high quality standards;

protecting their customers’

experience and business

reputation. This workshop will also

serve as a ‘taster’ for ‘How to save

money & increase market share’ on

10 March 2010.

Top Marketing Tips - Smart

Marketing for Tourism

Pick up some useful and practical

tips for effective marketing within

online, social media, customer

profiling and PR. Our team of

marketing professionals at Visit

Lincolnshire will provide you with

inspiring and helpful advice to give

you marketing edge. You don’t need

any big marketing budgets to

succeed – we’ll tell you about the

key tricks of the trade to improve the

profile of your business and attract

more visitors. An introductory

session will be followed with three

mini workshops; Online, Customer

Profiling & Marketing planning and

PR.

A Step in the Right Direction!

This workshop will introduce

delegates to VisitBritain’s ‘One Step

Ahead’ campaign which aims to

increase the number of businesses

that meet the criteria to achieve

National Accessible Scheme –

Mobility Level 1.

The session is designed to inform

and inspire and will enable those

who have already taken this positive

step forward to share their

experiences. The workshop will also

serve as a ‘taster’ for a more

detailed course to be held on 25

March 2010.

Delegates

Have Your Cake and Eat it too

Jason Freezer VisitEngland

Jackie Ellis LiveTourism

Sara Blair-Manning Alford Manor House Alford

Wendy Cresswell Caxton House Skegness

Margaret Lockyer Chaplin House B&B Martin

Jo Finlow Coastal Action Zone Skegness

Cllr D Edginton East Lindsey District Council Manby, Louth

Stuart Davy East Lindsey District Council Manby, Louth

Fran Wilson East Midlands Tourism Nottingham

Louise Smith Freshney Place Shopping Centre Grimsby

Tim Downing Hemswell Court Hemswell Cliff

Peter Overton Hilltop Farm Holidays Welbourn

Claire Lineham Kirkstead Old Mill Cottages Woodhall Spa

Louise Bowyer Lincolnshire Agricultural Society Grange de Lings, Lincoln

Dave Harrigan Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Lincoln

Cllr Peter Robinson Lincolnshire County Council Lincoln

Justin Brown Lincolnshire County Council Lincoln

Jon Grubb Lincolnshire Media Group Lincoln

Mike Clark Newport Guest House Lincoln

Chris Jones North East Lincolnshire Council Grimsby

Deborah Roberts North Kesteven District Council Sleaford

Elaine Walker Park Lea B&B Boston

Sally Harrison South Holland District Council Spalding

Amanda Allford Tastes of Lincolnshire Lincoln

Fiona Anderson The Food and Drink Forum Nottingham

Steve Cooney The Paddock at Scamblesby Scamblesby, Louth

Julie Hall Uncle Henry's Farm Shop Grayingham, Gainsborough

Edward Herring Washingborough Hall Washingborough, Lincoln

Miranda Thompson Westbrook B&B Alford

Linda Mellor Whisby Natural World Centre Whisby

Irene Ward-Kendall Wold View B&B and Tea Rooms Tealby, Market Rasen

Janet Stubbs Woodthorpe Hall Leisure Park Alford

Lyndis Lancaster Y-Not Guest House Boston

Emma Tatlow Visit Lincolnshire

Alan Darby Visit Lincolnshire

Gillian Richardson Visit Lincolnshire

Celia Lacy Visit Lincolnshire

Charlotte Goy Visit Lincolnshire

Audley Sommers Evivvo

Paul Bennett Brackenborough Hall

Coach House Holidays Louth

Lily Charity Bulldog Hotel Group Boston

Coral Wilcox Business Link East Midlands Lincoln

Paul Seabrook Caxton House Skegness

David Lockyer Chaplin House B&B Martin

Cllr Edward Mossop East Lindsey District Council Manby, Louth

Ruth Hyde East Midlands Tourism Nottingham

Carol Emerson Elms Farm Cottages Hubberts Bridge, Boston

Ray Biggs Grimsthorpe Castle Grimsthorpe, Bourne

Mark Elvidge Helsey House Cottages Hogsthorpe, Skegness

Barbara Hodgkinson Kirkstead Old Mill Woodhall Spa

Sarah Poucher Lincolnshire Agricultural Society Grange de Lings, Lincoln

Judy Bell Lindsey Action Zone Louth

Peter Hayman Natural England Lincoln

Laura Meadows North Kesteven District Council Sleaford

Cllr Iain Colquhoun Waltham Windmill Waltham

Kayleigh Michael North Lincolnshire Council Scunthorpe

Mark Kirk North Lincolnshire Council Scunthorpe

Jill Makinson-Sanders Number Nine Louth

Abigail Clark Paper Mill Cottages Tealby, Market Rasen

Terence Slater Quality Holiday Apartments Skegness

Vivienne Klockner Redhurst B&B Holton-cum-Beckering

Hannah Gould Renaissance East Midlands Manby, Louth

Denise Spearman Sleaford TIC Sleaford

Sue Bolter South Holland District Council Spalding

Bob Walker Southview Hotel Skegness

James Pinchbeck Streets Chartered Accountants Lincoln

Lydia Rusling Tastes of Lincolnshire Lincoln

Tim Charlson The Churches Conservation Trust York

Jonathan Stamp The Grange B&B East Barkwith, Market Rasen

Sherry Forbes The Manor House Stables Martin

Frances Bowen Uncle Henry's Farm Shop Grayingham, Gainsborough

Lucy Herring Washingborough Hall Washingborough, Lincoln

Cllr Malcolm Parish West Lindsey District Council Welton, Lincoln

Stewart Thompson Westbrook B&B Alford

Margaret McGarry Y-Not Guest House Boston

Delegates

Top Marketing Tips

Jude Sefton Access Unlimited

Stuart Sefton Access Unlimited

Andrew Keeling ACK Tourism Bassingham, Lincoln

Flora Bennett Brackenborough Hall

Coach House Holidays Louth

Jenny Ramsdale Business Link East Midlands Lincoln

Karen East East Lindsey District Council Manby, Louth

Valerie Downes Grange Farm Salmonby, Horncastle

Elizabeth Elvidge Helsey House Cottages Hogsthorpe, Skegness

Pat Mewis Ivy Lodge Scotter, Gainsborough

Mark Farmer Lincolnshire Agricultural Society Grange de Lings, Lincoln

Phil Bonner Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Lincoln

Helen Tomkinson Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce Lincoln

Cllr Mrs Marion Brighton OBE North Kesteven District Council Sleaford

Cllr Peter Burley North Kesteven District Council Sleaford

Alan Gray North Kesteven District Council Sleaford

Cllr Colin Eastwell North East Lincolnshire Council Grimsby

Margaret Price North Lincolnshire Council Scunthorpe

Sue Newall Petwood Hotel Woodhall Spa

Cameron Taylor Seabridge Consultants Moray

Angela Palmer Sleaford TIC Sleaford

Andrea King South Holland District Council Spalding

Rosi Lister The Churches Conservation Trust York

Sarah Stamp The Grange B&B East Barkwith, Market Rasen

Fiona Thomas Visit Lincolnshire Lincoln

Marion Thomas West Lindsey District Council Gainsborough

Jane Corden Woodthorpe Hall Leisure Park Alford

Delegates

A Step In The Right Direction

Philippa Forrester

Alex Holmes Tourism Engineers

Jodie Bradshaw Barclaycard Northampton

Sohil Ahmad Barclaycard Northampton

Vicki Holmes Gibraltar Point Nature Reserve Skegness

Lorraine Heyes Lincolnshire Waterways Partnership Lincoln

Sally Porter North Kesteven District Council Sleaford

Penny Baker Visit Lincolnshire Lincoln

Sarah Gravelle Visit Lincolnshire Lincoln

Sharon Stone Visit Lincolnshire Lincoln

Emma Wheeler Lincolnshire Trading Standards Lincoln

Heather Bellamy Lincolnshire Trading Standards Lincoln

Useful Websites

Date for your Diary: Next year’s Conference scheduled for 22 February 2011Date for your Diary: Next year’s Conference scheduled for 22 February 2011

Date for your Diary: Next year’s Conference scheduled for 22 February 2011

www.qualityintourism.com

Accommodation providers on becoming star rated

www.tourismtrade.org.uk

General tourism business advice

www.accommodationknowhow.co.uk

Legislative advice for tourism operators

www.eastmidlandstourism.co.uk/q-book

Practical advice on accessibility and family

markets, think access and think family

www.visitbritain.com/green

Sustainable tourism information and news

www.green-business.co.uk

Information on the Green Tourism Business Scheme

www.vaqas.org.uk

VisitBritain’s visitor attraction quality assurance

scheme

www.coastalcommunities.co.uk

Coastal funding opportunities

www.lindseyactionzone.gov.uk

Rural (East and West Lindsey) funding opportunities

www.businesslink.gov.uk

Business support and resource efficiency grants

www.tastesoflincolnshire.com

For Tastes of Lincolnshire

www.lincolnshiretourism.com

Visit Lincolnshire’s Help Centre to the tourism

industry

www.tripadvisor.com

Unbiased hotel reviews, photos and travel advice

www.washfens-Rdpe.co.uk

Funding opportunities in the Wash Fens area

www.enjoyengland.com

Official website for tourism in England

(All information correct at time of print)

Useful Websiteswww.vaqas.org.uk for VisitBritain’s visitor attraction quality assurance scheme

www.qualityintourism.com for accommodation providers on becoming star rated

www.tourismtrade.org.uk for general tourism business advice

www.accommodationknowhow.co.uk legislative advice for tourism operators

www.eastmidlandstourism.co.uk/q-book practical advice on accessibility and family

markets, think access and think family

www.visitbritain.com/green for sustainable tourism information and news

www.green-business.co.uk for information on the Green Tourism Business Scheme

www.coastalcommunities.co.uk for coastal funding opportunities

www.lindseyactionzone.gov.uk for rural (East and West Lindsey) funding opportunities

www.businesslink.gov.uk for business support and resource efficiency grants

www.tastesoflincolnshire.com for Tastes of Lincolnshire

www.tripadvisor.com unbiased hotel reviews, photos and travel advice

All information correct at time of print

The Visitor Journey takes acustomer’s view of the six stagesthat make up the whole visitorexperience. These stages rangefrom their first decision to plan avisit through to returning homeand remembering their trip.

The Visitor Journey takes a

customer’s view of the six stages

that make up the whole visitor

experience. These stages range

from their first decision to plan a

visit through to returning home

and remembering their trip.