Measuring the Local Economic Impact of Tourism Jo Hendrickx Sustainable Destinations Manager Manchester University, 22 nd Jan 2014

The Local Label Effect 2

3 How does it work? Based on the Travel Foundation’s ‘Greener Excursions Checklist’ Resorts identify current excursions and assess them against this checklist Resorts can create new excursions and base them on this checklist The checklist is then reviewed by an internal panel with 1 in 5 applications also being reviewed by the Travel Foundation Once all the component parts of the excursion comply, it can be promoted using the Local Label logo and strapline

The Local Label Effect 4 Where can you find them? Greek Islands 18 Turkey 2 Bulgaria 1 Montenegro 1 Italy 2 Malta 1 Spain 2 Canary Islands 2 Sri Lanka 1 Portugal 2 Mexico 2 India 1 Djerba 1 Egypt 1 Kenya 3 40 Local Labels in 23 destinations

The Local Label Effect 5 By using the Local Label on events planners and having reps talk about it in meetings, we were able to promote the added value from authentic, traditional and local experiences to our customers Sales of these pre-existing excursions increased by 17% Arrivals into the destinations were down by 4% Is it good for business? 17% increase in sales due to the Local Label

The Local Label Effect 6 The ‘Local Label’ Reach 40 agency offices 126 suppliers Over 1000 TC employees

The Local Label Effect 7 Social and Economic Impacts

The Local Label Effect 8 Impacts – Survey Responses We asked all customers the following questions and received 1,459 responses: Generic questions regarding rep service, timings, and overall satisfaction with event Motivations for taking the excursion (culture, food, shopping, religion, convenience) Discretional spend on: Local, traditional souvenirs Imported souvenirs Refreshments Entrance Fees Tips Donations

The Local Label Effect Responses per destination 9

The Local Label Effect 10 Information gathered via Local Label customer questionnaire Responses are collected via survey monkey Average spend per person was multiplied by 63,156 (customers that did a ‘Local Label in summer 2013) The impact from discretional spend Key Indicator Average Discretional Spend per UK Customer (£) £9.14 Average Discretional Spend per European Customer (€) €13.33 Potential discretional spend in local economies(£) £663, Almost £665K discretionary spend in local economies by TC customers Based on 1,459 questionnaire returns £1 = €0.84

The Local Label Effect UK Customer Spend – All excursions 11

The Local Label Effect 12 In summary: The Local Label has certainly proved that sustainability sells and that customers want it, perhaps they just didn’t realise The positive impacts reach a wide ranging audience and also support many community initiatives in destinations We would like to continue this approach and strengthen the quality and range of measurements in future seasons

Jo Hendrickx Sustainable Destinations Manager The Thomas Cook Group 13 THANK YOU