National Coastal Tourism Academy championed in Tourism Select Inquiry Government Response!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

National Coastal Tourism Academy championed in Tourism Select Inquiry Government Response!

The National Coastal Tourism Academy is delighted to be included in today’s Government response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee’s Report on Tourism which praises our work to date.

The response states: “We agree that the National Coastal Tourism Academy (NCTA), supported by a £2 million grant from the Coastal Communities Fund, has made a good start and is already delivering valuable outcomes in terms of spreading learning and best practice in promoting coastal tourism.”

Underlining its support for coastal destinations, the response goes on to say: “This Government will continue to work on a national scale to help coastal towns and communities to thrive, supporting their development and sharing best practice by engaging with businesses and destinations around the coast.”

Acknowledging the recommendation, Jason Freezer Interim Director commented: “We’re extremely pleased that the challenges facing coastal resorts have been highlighted in this response, coastal tourism is a crucial facet of domestic tourism, worth more than £7bn and offering significant untapped potential.

“From our very outset two years ago we have worked with the coastal tourism industry to unearth the significant new opportunities as well as the barriers for economic growth on the coast using Bournemouth as a test-bed.

“As we roll out our work across England, sharing the important lessons learnt to date, we want to continue to develop the understanding of how the visitor economy in coastal communities can thrive and be prosperous. All our work is freely available on our website’s Resource Hub which will build into a unique online asset featuring best practice, case studies, training and toolkits for coastal destinations.

”We’ve only just scratched the surface and have finite time left in the current project. With additional funding we could continue to address some of the major blocks to tourism growth, skills shortages and job creation on a bigger scale.”

The NCTA provided oral evidence to the Inquiry, identifying two key factors that present a barrier to growth for coastal destinations.

Firstly that the high concentration of SMEs and very low corporate and national brand representation, particularly in the accommodation sector, makes innovative reforms and widespread improvements difficult to deliver.

Secondly, that cuts in local authority funding are having a detrimental impact and there is no clear route for securing additional funding.

The combined effect is a cutback in promotion, services, business support and market research for coastal towns.

The NCTA was established in 2013 by the Coastal Communities Fund. In July the government announced an extension to CCF to 2020-21 with a further £90 million to unlock the economic potential of coastal communities.

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Notes to editors: The National Coastal Tourism Academy is a Coastal Communities Fund project that analyses the nature of coastal tourism to help boost jobs and the coastal tourism economy. It works with academia and the tourism industry to bridge gaps in research, visitor experience, training and skills. Having worked initially in Bournemouth in partnership with Bournemouth University and the local tourism industry, the NCTA is now working with coastal resorts nationally.

To see the NCTA’s work, visit its Resource Hub:

Click here to visit the Resource Hub

For further media information, please contact Sheron Crossman, Marketing and Communications Manager, Sheron.crossman@coastaltourismacademy.co.uk or tel: 01202 962565.