As we’ve all heard, Government cuts are biting hard at local councils across the UK. They’ve led to the Isle of Wight council (IWC) not having enough money available to continue to fund Visit Isle of Wight (VIOW).
As a direct result, the organisation tasked with increasing tourist numbers is to lose £330,000 per annum in funding.
Missing money needs to be replaced
That’s a big slice of money they need to replace. It’s going to need to come from another source.
If sufficient funding can’t be found, Visit Isle of Wight (VIOW) could cease to exist – and then what? How will the Isle of Wight attract visitors?
If tourism fails – all Island businesses are hit
The thing is – and this is worth all Island businesses considering – if the tourism market is hit, the impact on the Island’s economy is widespread.
With a full quarter of the Island’s economy coming directly from tourism, if those workers don’t have money in their hand to spend, that’s a major hit to the whole Island – shops, builders, hairdressers, etc.
Businesses support is vital
Luckily VIOW have a plan – but it’s only going to work if businesses get behind it.
They’ve been looking across the country to see what’s working elsewhere and have seen the success of Business Improvement Plans (BIDs) and D-BIDs (Destination BIDs) in other areas and believe this is the right direction for the Isle of Wight.
Only 1.75% of rateable value
It will involve Island businesses paying money – with Government cuts, it’s got to come from somewhere, hasn’t it? – but luckily it’s only a small percentage, 1.75% of rateable value – and it’s only from businesses with a rateable value of £3,000 or over, that receive all or part of their income from tourism (often called the visitor economy).
Of course, if you do run a business that falls outside this, VIOW would be happy to talk to you about contributing and being involved too.
If you’re wondering how much that might be, here’s a graphic giving some guidance
How you can get involved
You can act now.
We just wanted to give you a little background – and we’re sure this is going to generate some more questions. Happily VIOW have provided a document covering this in detail and are organising a set of events to help answer these.
- Read the Prospectus (below)
- Fill in the Survey
- Book a place on Consultation Workshops
Timetable
Here’s a rundown on what’s going to be happening in the coming months:
- Nov-Jan – Consultation, inc. meetings – Businesses fill in 14 question survey
- Jan-Feb – Detailed business plan, informed by the consultation
- Feb-Mar – Launch of Yes campaign and postal ballot
If Yes, D-BID starts in May 2016.
VIOW: Open to chat
If you have any questions after reading the prospectus, Visit Isle of Wight tell OnTheWight they’ll be happy to answer questions on the telephone 01983 521555 or via email [email protected]
Image: © Visit Isle of Wight
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