Ten tips for Welcome to Yorkshire’s successor to help grow county’s tourism industry – Philip Bolson

I am deeply passionate 
about the tourism sector. 
More than anything the people. 
Their tenacity, creativity and humanity.

Welcome to Yorkshire can leave behind a proud legacy for the region - The Yorkshire Post says

The visitor economy touches most of our lives most days – often we are unaware as we are simply attending a meeting, picking up a coffee, meeting a potential client, or simply having a day out with someone we care about.

Every day I talk to people in this sector. Those who are investing, own, manage, are on the front line, or who aspire to work in it.

The sector deserves a champion. A champion with a place at the “top table”, and not a footnote. We know that the sector is struggling.

My challenge is simple – are the decision makers brave enough to put it at the top of the agenda?

Below I outline my “10-point plan” to help the “decision makers” get it right:

1. Get out and talk to people: Visit, understand and show that you care. From the small café through to the large hotel, from the stallholder through to the large food producer.

From the start up to the large brands.

Developers and investors, do not rely on questionnaires, polls, desk-top reports, or what you think you know.

2. Involve young people in the discussion and decisions: Talk to those who have been brave enough to start up their own business, and those working 
in it. They are the future and 
not us. You ignore them at your peril!

3. Find the right person to head up a new organisation: Do not recruit someone with experience only in the public sector.

If you do, you will fail.

Find someone who has significant experience from within the visitor economy.

Creativity, ambition, the ability to share a compelling story, and someone who will “get stuff done” must be at the top of the job description list.

4. Be serious about the sector: Not only about the economic value but also how the sector supports the “custodianship” of buildings and the countryside, and critically the wider health (mental and physical) of people working within it.

If you are serious, you will want an organisation and person at the top table “banging the drum”.

5. Make it an organisation that will influence and lobby: The perception of the sector remains poor.

Government, local authorities, the media, teachers and parents all need educating and influencing.

For example, the need to lobby for a permanent reduction in VAT, improving infrastructure to get people to work, reducing business rates, helping those who teach understand what really needs to be taught, or making it easier to access grants for B2C businesses.

6. Be very clear about what this organisation is not: Often 
a good place to start. For example, it is not about promoting individual businesses, cities, or towns, or just being a marketing organisation.

Amplify but don’t do. If you believe it is simply marketing, find an agency to do it and save some cash.

7. Make the process transparent: Share with us the plan, the journey and the “learning” as the review progresses.

I encourage you to act fast, ask for help, keep it simple and look for a fresh perspective.

The sector is waiting, the sector needs someone to have its back.

8. Develop a simple strategy: This of course cannot be done in detail until an organisation 
is formed, but the simple questions must be answered 
“in principle” – why does 
this organisation exist, 
what is the vision for the organisation, what will it do, how will it do it, who does it report to and how will its success be measured?

It must be clear, compelling, action driven, and measurable.

9. Make it relevant: Any organisation that is created must reflect the sector it represents – now and in the future.

This is in terms of personnel, energy, ambition, diversity and the very essence of what it is.

Do not spend much money on this.

The skill, the culture, its “essence” will come from within – assuming you set it up to succeed.

10. Be brave: Now is not the time to lack ambition or underestimate the size of the opportunity.

Find a way to create something truly authentic, impactful and ,most importantly, loved.

The team at Welcome to Yorkshire team has gone, some may come back.

This is also an opportunity to completely refresh.

I am intrigued as to what happens next.

Who is leading this discussion, who is around the table, what are they talking about, who has the final say?

We need to know, and I hope that these 10 points will help Yorkshire’s leaders – and the wider tourism industry – to do the right thing.

Philip Bolson led Welcome to Yorkshire’s ambassadors programme and runs business coaching company Mr B Hospitality.

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today. Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you’ll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app, receive exclusive members-only offers and access to all premium content and columns. Click here to subscribe.