Tourism and leisure sector

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The National Forest is not only providing a wide range of leisure, environmental and recreational facilities for local people, it also presents a unique opportunity to grow a new tourism destination, as now recognised by the national tourist body VisitEngland.

Major attractions within South Derbyshire include Rosliston Forestry Centre, Calke Abbey, Sharpe's Pottery Museum, Swadlincote Ski & Snowboard Centre, Mercia Marina, Foremark and Staunton Harold Reservoirs, and Melbourne Hall.  The amount of tourist accommodation is steadily growing and now ranges from large hotels to cosy bed & breakfasts, self-catering cottages and timber lodges, and caravan and camping sites.

Within just a few miles there are other major draws for visitors, including Conkers, Twycross Zoo, the National Memorial Arboretum, the National Brewery Centre, and the Donington Grand Prix Collection.  Slightly further afield are the Alton Towers Resort and the Drayton Manor family theme park.  The National Forest & Beyond area has also started to see significant growth of rural activities such as horse riding, walking and cycling, llama trekking, woodland crafts, and survival schools.

In recent years new National Forest branded events such as the Wood Fair, the Folk Festival and the Walking Festival have been highlighted by publications such as the Sunday Times as being among the best in the country – and are attracting more and more visitors.

As well as the obvious tourist businesses listed above, many other local businesses are already benefiting from the growth of tourism, as visitors spend their money in pubs and restaurants, local shops and petrol filling stations, to give just a few examples.  Rural businesses in particular can be kept viable and open for local residents through the additional spending of visitors, helping to retain important services for local communities; farm diversification enables farmers to access additional sources of income.

We work closely with neighbouring areas and the National Forest Company to produce, promote and distribute the National Forest & Beyond Visitor Guide and an Attractions leaflet each year.  We are also an active partner in Visit Peak District and Derbyshire, the ‘tourist board’ for the county, which produces a range of brochures and maintains the www.visitpeakdistrict.com website.

Recognising the importance of tourism we, in partnership with Sharpe’s Pottery Museum in Swadlincote, opened the first ever Tourist Information Centre in South Derbyshire, which is already exceeding targets for numbers of visitors.  We have installed the latest electronic information and booking systems and a touch-screen information kiosk.

The most recent figures show that more than 2,200 people are employed by tourism and related businesses within the district, and more than 3.7 million visitors spent £139.3 million in the area in 2009.  (Updated figures, for 2011, will be published when they become available, mid-2012).  In almost every key indicator tourism growth in South Derbyshire 2003-2009 was much stronger than the average performance for tourism in Derbyshire and the East Midlands. In particular:

• Employment supported by tourism 2003-09 (+9%) increased at more than twice the East Midlands rate (+4%) and three times the rate across Derbyshire (+3%).
• Overnight trips increased by 34% compared to an increase of 12% across Derbyshire as a whole.
• The increase in Day visitor trips (+2%) was double the increase regionally (+1%) and compares very favourably with Derbyshire (-3%).
• Spend by all visitors within South Derbyshire, comparing 2008 to 2009 (+6%) was the highest of any district in Derbyshire, double the figure for Derbyshire as a whole (+3%), and 6 times the figure for the East Midlands (+1%).

If you are an existing business interested in attracting tourists or are considering setting up a new business and would like further information please contact the economic development team on 01283 595755 or email economic.development@south-derbys.gov.uk

The National Forest & Beyond

The National Forest & Beyond Visitor and Attractions Guides have been produced since 2003 by a partnership of local authorities and the National Forest Company.  The partnership publishes the only cohesive guides to the destination, and has sought to also integrate its work with the Destination Management Partnerships (DMPs) – see below.

The organisation of Destination Management Partnerships on a county basis has meant that The National Forest is divided between the Derbyshire and Leicestershire DMPs in the East Midlands and the Staffordshire DMP in the West Midlands, with none having overall responsibility for the emerging forest brand/destination.

Conversion research to provide an estimate of the value of tourism arising directly from the marketing and promotional work of the National Forest and Beyond partnership was undertaken in 2006 and again in 2010.  The study concludes that the Partnership is effective and represents good value for money, and indicated the value of short breaks arising directly from the work of the partnership to be almost £650,000 giving a ‘Return on Investment’ (RoI) figure of 24:1 (£24 to every £1 spent).  Expenditure generated from those who took a day visit was a further £67,400.  These findings are based on the responses of 8,754 enquiries, so expenditure generated by the whole campaign (43,000 Visitor Guides) will be significantly higher.

During 2010 the www.visitnationalforest.co.uk website underwent a major upgrade and is the destination’s main source of online information.

A second edition of the Group Visits guide to the National Forest & Beyond area was produced at the beginning of 2011.

Visit Peak District and Derbyshire

Within Derbyshire and the wider Peak District area the official tourism body is 'Visit Peak District and Derbyshire', which uses the Peak District as its 'attack' brand with the aim of dispersing visitors across the whole of the county.

The main marketing and promotional tools of Visit Peak District and Derbyshire are the Peak District Visitor Guide and the www.visitpeakdistrict.com website.  The organisation has assumed overall responsibility for the management and future development of the Destination Management System (a database of visitor information that feeds websites, kiosks and Tourist Information Centres).

The Visit Peak District and Derbyshire website has been developed to facilitate online accommodation booking using the Destination Management System.  The website also includes pages relating to The National Forest.

However, recognising The National Forest as an iconic emerging sub-regional brand, the National Forest & Beyond Visitor Guide continues to be produced by the local partnership.

Swadlincote Tourist Information Centre

In April 2006 the first ever Tourist Information Centre (TIC) in South Derbyshire was opened in partnership with Sharpe’s Pottery Museum in Swadlincote, where the new facility is located.  A kiosk provides out-of-hours access to information.  Accreditation and acceptance as a member of the English Tourist Information Centre network was achieved in July 2006.  [TICs are a one stop shop offering visitors (and residents) information on places to visit, where to stay, tickets for tourist attractions, and help with travel arrangements.  Staff are friendly and knowledgeable and are happy to give advice to visitors to help get the most out of their time at a destination.  TICs offer excellent distribution of leaflets and have a good selection of locally produced gifts and produce, as well as maps, books and guides.  Staff also help produce local guides, maintain databases and provide support and advice for local tourism businesses].

This service development underlines the increasing importance of tourism to the local economy and is seen as an important contribution to the continuing development of The National Forest as a new destination.  The TIC provides a customer-facing service for the benefit of visitors and residents, and in so doing promotes local businesses including accommodation providers, food & drink businesses and attractions.

Numbers of people using Swadlincote TIC are running ahead of projections, and feedback about the service provided has been complimentary.

Swadlincote Tourist Information Centre also compiles the “What’s On in South Derbyshire” leaflet which is published three times a year.  If you have an event that you would like to be included in the next edition, please contact the TIC on 01283 222848.

For further information

If you would like to find out more about tourism, or about setting up your own tourism business, please contact us (details below), or alternatively there are a number of sources of information including:-

www.visitengland.org/busdev/bussupport/
www.nationalforest.org/visit/industry/
www.visitpeakdistrict.com/industry/business-support/
www.accommodationknowhow.co.uk
www.businesslink.gov.uk

Contact details

South Derbyshire District Council
Economic Development Service
Civic Offices
Civic Way
Swadlincote
Derbyshire
DE11 0AH

Tel: 01283 595755
Fax: 01283 595760
Online: contact form
email: economic.development@south-derbys.gov.uk

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