Issue - meetings

The Strategy and Communications Manager introduced and presented a mandate in respect of local tourism and the Council’s Tourist Information Centre (TIC).  The mandate addressed the following areas:

·             Introduction

·             Strategy

·             Options

·             Considerations

·             Resources

·             Risks, Assumptions and Issues

·             Dependencies, Constraints and Opportunities

·             Internal Stakeholders

·             Next Steps

The Executive Advisory Board (EAB) was advised that the TIC was located in Guildford House, High Street, Guildford.  Pre-Covid, the service had opened on Mondays to Saturdays plus Sundays from the beginning of May until the end of September.  However, the TIC was currently operating reduced hours and this was under review.  The TIC provided the following services:

·             Information and advice to visitors to the Borough.

·             Promotion of Guildford to encourage visitors to the Borough.

·             Shop offering a mix of souvenirs and local products.

(A Box Office providing ticketing services for local events had been discontinued.)

The most common requests received by the TIC were for bus timetables and maps and the most frequently asked questions included ‘what’s on’, where to eat and the location of particular shops.  Many of the functions performed by the TIC aligned with the responsibilities of Experience Guildford in the town centre area.

As part of Phase B of the Future Guildford transformation programme, the tourism and heritage marketing functions and associated budgets transferred to the Strategy and Communications Team which became responsible for leading an online visitor economy and marketing function.  Therefore a new approach would need to be developed, including:

·             Closer collaboration with Visit Surrey and other partners, such as Experience Guildford and Surrey Hills Enterprises.

·             An improved online offering to replace Visit Guildford (which was now unstable and unsupported).

·             Utilising expertise from the University’s Centre for Digital Transformation in the Visitor Economy.

·             Increased targeted promotional campaigns.

As it was facing a substantial projected budget deficit over the next four years, the Council needed to identify savings across its discretionary services.  Therefore, this mandate considered options for changes to the future delivery of visitor information services that would also secure financial savings as part of the Council’s Savings Strategy.  The strategic Options available to the Council to deliver a solution were:

(a)         Do Nothing - Continue with the current TIC and service in-situ at Guildford House.

(b)         Do Something (1) - Move the TIC and staff to another location.

(c)         Do Something (2) - Remove the physical TIC and provide an alternative digital and online communications and marketing service, incorporating increased targeted promotional campaigns.  This would be accompanied by a review of future strategy / approach and required resources.

(d)         Do Most - Close the TIC and end the visitor service offered by GBC.

When the Executive / Management Team Liaison Group considered the mandate at its meeting on 16 February 2022, it expressed in principle support for Option (c) and requested that opportunities be considered for the continued provision of visitor information at Guildford House and other town centre locations in consultation with Experience Guildford.

The Lead Councillor for Environment gave a brief overview of the mandate  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63