We always welcome a Letter to the Editor to share with our readers – unsurprisingly they don’t always reflect the views of this publication. If you have something you’d like to share, get in touch and of course, your considered comments are welcome below. This from Matt O’Crowley, former owner of the Paddle Steamer Monarch. Ed
In response to the awful news of not just Seaview Wildlife Encounter but also the aquarium at Yarmouth closing, I thought that I would add the reasons why we decided to stop operating the Paddle Steamer Monarch.
At the time of purchasing the vessel, she was in a particularly poor state of repair and an extensive restoration had to be undertaken, but we were heartened that at the time we had the support of tourist information offices and a free basic advert in the tourist magazine. The free advert offer was taken away whilst we were working hard to rebuild the boat and fuel costs began to spiral.
A loyal following
Even so, the boat launched and eventually found a loyal following, many of whom remain good friends today.
Whilst we operated the TICs were in contact almost daily with public enquiries, the events team coordinated with them, and we very much felt like part of the IW tourism team.
Change in attitude
Rumours of the TIC closures quickly led to a change of attitude, advertising rates went beyond our budget, other groups became inward looking and the larger attractions started to take over marketing the Island, unintentionally pushing the small people out as we could not afford to be part of their well meaning but expensive schemes.
I cannot say that we had a good experience with the IW Council, as we had a constant battle with them over whether the vessel was ‘welcome on the river’ as voiced by one of their officers. But in the main we tried to offer our time and services to support local events such as Riverfest, Cycling Festival etc as a thank you for the TIC support.
Small operators need support
More and more attractions will close if the smaller operators are not supported as these are the attractions that visitors love to ‘discover’ as opposed to heading to the larger, richer attractions that can afford slick marketing. But I am afraid, without the little guy, the big boys will suffer too as the Isle of Wight has always been a place of discovery and local shops/restaurants/small, unique businesses that cannot be found elsewhere.
The final nail for Monarch was, in fact the school reorganisation as one of the partners was a part time school teacher and we felt that with the potential loss of his job we could not protect her throughout the lean months. This coupled with prickly council departments and a lack of confidence for the future of Island tourism policy ended the adventure.
“Computer says no”
Places like Seaview Wildlife and the aquarium need support and friendliness in order to operate, yet quite often all that one receives from IW licensing and other offices is a computer says no response…if you are lucky.
Therefore, we must reopen Tourist Information and start to offer concessions to small tourism enterprises to both protect jobs and maintain the Isle of Wight’s viability, unless we have reached the point of no return already.
Referendum on raising council tax
Conservative led Local authority cuts have had an appalling effect on our fragile economy, and our council need to take the brave decision to hold a referendum on raising council tax to relieve the burden and restore some services before we start seeing our beautiful Island decline any further.
Image: TaxRebate.org.uk under CC BY 2.0
