Visit Isle of Wight will be launching their draft DBID paper at the Isle of Wight tourism conference on Wednesday this week.
The draft proposal follows months of consultation, including 19 industry meetings between November 2015 and February 2016.
The draft paper reveals some interesting statistics from the first round of consultations
- Over 90% responding said that off-Island marketing is a very high priority with domestic short-breaks and long holidays of almost equal importance.
- More than 75% said that the quality of the Island product needs attention.
- 92% said that providing award-winning quality beaches on the Island was important to the success of your business
- Some stressed the importance of first impressions and the need for our ports of arrival to look more welcoming and exciting.
- 88% want a stronger and more influential voice for the Island’s tourism sector
- Many were uncomfortable with the number of on-Island guides, pocket guides and magazines that appeared to be duplicating each other and asked for this situation to be rationalised and co-ordinated in future
Back in consultation
The DBID is now back in consultation for a further six weeks before the final plan is published in mid-April ahead of a ballot of the Industry in June-July.
David Thornton, CEO of Visit Isle of Wight explained the draft paper (embedded below) is about half the length of the full draft proposal which will be released following the conference on Wednesday.
Not a ‘gravy train’
David was keen to make clear that, as previously explained, the proposed DBID levy payments will not be spent on salaries or the operating costs of the Visit Isle of Wight (VIOW) company.
The decision was made at the outset of the project and is fundamental to VIOW’s position that the DBID will create additional activities to promote the Island.
Extra commercial activities and non-statutory donations will be raised by VIOW to fund the staff and operational costs.
