More than half the Isle of Wight businesses who voted in the recent Wight BID (Business Improvement District) ballot have given the thumbs up for another five years.
The ballot came to a close at 5pm on Thursday and the results were announced today by the Isle of Wight council.
The stats
The turnout for the vote was 36.8 per cent. There were a total of 578 votes cast. Of those 323 voted in favour of the Wight BID continuing for a second term.
The total aggregate rateable value of valid votes cast was £14,333,690, whilst the total aggregate rateable value of valid votes in favour of the BID was £10,272,090.
Nine ballot papers were rejected.
Griffiths: We’ve demonstrated that together we are stronger
Visit Isle of Wight Chair, Ian Griffiths, said he was pleased to see that businesses saw the importance and value of working together to ensure the Isle of Wight maintained its high standing in the ‘hearts and minds of potential visitors’:
“We are over the moon that businesses recognise and appreciate the work that Visit Isle of Wight has carried out on their behalf over the last five years.
“By working with local businesses, we have demonstrated that together we are stronger, and we look forward to developing closer ties with even more of the Island’s hard-working tourism-based firms.
“This yes vote is confirmation that work of Visit Isle of Wight is valued, however we will not be resting on our laurels. We have been given a clear mandate to continue and we are already redoubling efforts to develop the work further, ensuring that the Island can continue to hold its place in the hearts and minds of potential visitors.”
Jones-Evans: It’s crucial we have a visible and vibrant presence
Cllr Julie Jones-Evans, the cabinet member for tourism said,
“This result will give reassurance to our vital tourism industry that the Isle of Wight will continue to be marketed as a visitor destination, especially important during this resurgence in staycations.
“We must remember we are in competition with other visitor destinations so it’s crucial we have a visible and vibrant presence. A comprehensive business plan has ‘been given the seal of approval with this result and we look forward to seeing this being rolled out over the next 5 years and seeing our number of visitors increase.”
What’s next?
Visit Isle of Wight say a series of themes, including attracting visitors for life, working together and sustainability will be developed, focusing on accessibility tourism, promoting the Island as a day visitor destination, and advocating sustainable travel.
Ian Griffiths says that the stamp of approval from Island business owners means that the team will continue to work hard on behalf of the tourism industry here,
“Throughout this BID process, Visit Isle of Wight has not been distracted by naysayers and has continued to perform its core task of encouraging visitors. The recent Isle of Wight Walking Festival, which is managed by Visit Isle of Wight, has been hailed a great success and we are now looking at calls to increase its presence to two events next year.
“Now, with the support of businesses and by working together even more closely, we will continue to ensure the Isle of Wight benefits from the BID process.
“Following comments from local businesses, we will also be looking at how we can extend the success of the BID to include businesses in the retail sector and develop even further the incredible offer that the Island has – not just to visitors but to everyone living here.”
