Making friends and influencing people as a DMO TMI/SLAD May 2012 Melanie Sensicle, Chief Executive

Company basics Established in June 2006 Fully operational by Sept 2007 Board of Directors 10 – 8 private sector, 2 public sector Funding over five year period £3.2m from RDA £547k from public authorities £275k from private sector

Destination basics Core product 500 accommodation providers 100 attractions 20 activity providers County divided up into: Dales Vale City Coast They all belong to Durham!

RDA era 2006-2010 RDA interested in what we do, not how we do it Create main relationship with tourism businesses Create main relationship with local authorities Generate income as contribution to activity Generate income to pay for core costs Deliver regionally designed activity

Challenges What the RDA wanted didn’t always match what the businesses wanted or destination needed RDA wanted main relationship with big boys RDA went direct to industry when it suited

Challenges LAs expected to pay but have no say LA expectations on delivery exceeded level of contribution Business confused about who they were working with DMO – piggy in the middle!

What we did Provided evidence base Represented visitor perspective to all Tailored regional activity to Durham Got close to the LA, esp members Said ‘no’ when necessary Did a few things well

What we did…continued Became the experts on visitor economy Articulated why DMOs are important Celebrated our successes Acknowleged our mistakes Led from the middle

Impact We used a lot of staff resource on relationship building and maintenance rather than delivery We spent a lot of money on research rather than delivery We were unpopular sometimes We also gathered a lot of support from public and private sectors

Local authority era 2011… Local authority interested in how we do things, not what we do Deliver activity that reflects well on the LA – provide the good news Deliver more for less Integrate strategic with operational Take on more functions, esp festivals and events and place marketing

Challenges How LAs do things is often incompatible with what we do Local politics can be incompatible with destination development – the focus is visitor not resident and visitors don’t vote Integration of public and private difficult – operationally and culturally

Challenges LA are big and complex to navigate Working with an LA has slowed us down Keeping the private sector on board – literally on the board Ensuring the private sector have a genuine role

What we do Maintain our service brand Continue to deliver good work Resist LA organisational culture, esp communication hierarchy Challenge processes where necessary Ask for forgiveness more often than permission

What we do Go the extra mile for members Join in LA corporate activity that is most important to the LA Ensure LA gets credit for supporting the visitor economy Involve members in media work

Impact We are sometimes seen as ‘the council’ by business We are struggling to deliver in some areas due to complicated processes We are more influential within the local authority We are more secure

Impact We have integrated strategic services with visitor services – eg sales and marketing sit in the same room We have modernised visitor services – eg centralised enquiry handling, new information network We have integrated destination marketing and event marketing to mutual benefit

The key to our survival Relationship building at all levels by all staff Effective communications An evidence base that is difficult to argue with High level of delivery for public and private Maintaining high standards at all costs Innovation – daring to do things differently Approach to risk – embrace it Courage – to do the right thing by the destination

Our biggest successes Writing the tourism section of the county plan…at the request of planners! Getting the pocket guide paying for itself Getting the private sector to lead and pay for group travel promotion Replacing the visitor guide with the visitor website as the main marketing platform

Our biggest successes The establishment of business networks Our summer garden party – highlight of the tourism social calendar ‘Our DMO’ Leader of Durham County Council The destination brand

We have been lucky BUT You make your own luck Conclusion We have been lucky BUT You make your own luck