Tourism boards are to undergo a radical restructuring to make it easier for holiday makers to discover a wide range of English destinations

Tourism boards are to undergo a radical restructuring to make it easier for holiday makers and visitors to discover a wide range of English destinations, Tourism Minister Nigel Huddleston announced today.

The government wants a simpler structure where tourism boards, known as Destination Management Organisations (DMOs), are a one-stop shop for visitors to find all they need to know about a local area and will accredit the best tourist boards as the place to go for that information.

DMOs, such as Visit Cornwall, Marketing Manchester and Cumbria Tourism, have the power to drive investment for new attractions, bring in visitors from around the world and boost the local economy. DMOs are often used by tourists to plan trips, book accommodation and find local attractions.

However, last year’s independent review into DMOs, carried out by Chair of VisitEngland’s Advisory Board Nick de Bois, found that the landscape is over-crowded and fragmented. For example there are 46 DMOs of all shapes and sizes in the South-East alone, which makes it confusing for tourists planning breaks and businesses looking to invest.

To streamline DMOs, support the tourism sector and drive more local investment, DCMS will provide £4 million over the next three years to fund a new accreditation scheme, developed and administered by VisitEngland, for the highest performing DMOs.

This funding will also be used to create a pilot in one region of the country, giving one top-tier DMO or a group of local DMOs the opportunity and investment to restructure under a new model, to show the best their region has to offer.

This plan will make sure that tourists know where to go to find quality, trusted information, tailored to the local area. It will mean that a family holidaying in the Lake District, for example, will be able to easily find a high-quality campsite or hotel, good local food options, information on where the landscape is well-maintained and what range of local activities are on offer for their children from an expert DMO. With streamlined DMOs, it will be easier for tourists to know what is available when planning their breaks, and for local businesses to work together to provide an excellent tourism offer.

Tourism Minister Nigel Huddleston said:

Our brilliant tourism sector is vital to our levelling-up agenda. It creates jobs, helps drive local economies and promotes pride in place, making villages, towns and cities more attractive to visit, live and work in.

This new scheme will show people where to visit and help them plan the best possible trip, supporting our tourism industry to be bigger and better than before.

At their best, DMOs can make a real difference to their local areas. Visit Cornwall, for example, helped to secure over £40 million investment for the Eden Project, which has welcomed more than 18 million visitors and generated £2 billion for the South West.

Marketing Manchester has generated almost £400 million a year for its local economy in visitor spend as well as promoting new international air routes, and Cumbria Tourism was instrumental in winning the coveted UNESCO World Heritage Status for the Lake District National Park.

Under the new accreditation scheme, DMOs will be renamed Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs). The scheme will streamline the sector so holiday-makers and visitors can more easily understand what is on offer in a region and plan trips, and make sure local businesses can come together to successfully develop and market their local area as a must-see destination.

The scheme will also bring together local businesses with the local authority to successfully pitch for funding to develop the area’s visitor economy, and efficiently and compellingly market the area to visitors.

The accreditation scheme will run alongside the pilot of a tiering model in a region of England. This pilot will run over the next couple of years and will give one top tier partnership or a collection of partnerships (known as a Destination Development Partnership) funding and the opportunity to focus on activities that ensure their destination remains sustainable, competitive and responsive to challenges such as boosting skills, accessibility and levelling up.

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