Coventry and Warwickshire is ‘punching above its weight’ as a destination and ready to capitalise on the boost brought by major events to the region.
More than 100 business leaders from across the region attended a summer networking event hosted by Destination Coventry, the area’s destination management organisation.
The event at Assembly Festival Garden saw Paul Jones, Managing Director of Destination Coventry, provide an update to businesses on the successes of the DMO’s first eight months – which has included events such as Coventry City of Culture 2021 and the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
It attracted venues, suppliers and key stakeholders from across the tourism, leisure, events and hospitality sector.
Destination Coventry incorporates established brands Visit Coventry and Conference Coventry & Warwickshire.
The event follows the Government’s response to The de Bois Review of Destination Management Organisation was published – with the recommendations having been at the heart of the operating model for Destination Coventry when it launched in December 2021.
Paul Jones highlighted how Destination Coventry has been working to build the profile of Coventry and Warwickshire as a visitor destination, a process which will help it to capitalise on events such as Coventry City of Culture 2021 and Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
“We have been supportive of The de Bois Review since it was first published and we welcomed the Government’s response in July,” said Paul.
“As an organisation we have been working closely with Visit Britain and Visit England to build our national profile, and also our standing with the national tourist boards.
“The region is already punching above its weight in a number of areas, with one in particular being attracting media and buyers to the city. We’re developing a reputation with national and international visitors who know they will be looked after.”
The event also discussed the partnerships the DMO has formed with local businesses and the success of its initial marketing campaigns, for both leisure and business tourism campaigns.
Since launching in December 2021, Destination Coventry has been partnered with Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce – in a bid to ensure a wide range of voices are involved in the dialogue around the visitor economy.
This has included launching a sector specialist brokering support service, to helps businesses in tourism, leisure and hospitality access funding support in the wake of the pandemic.
It has resulted in more than 60 businesses being supported through the Additional Restriction Grants (ARG) and Community Renewal Fund.
Paul added: “The Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce has been hugely supportive of us.
“Corin Crane, the new Chief Executive, is very switched on to the importance of tourism and the visitor economy, we are excited about working with him moving forward and lucky to have someone coming in just as passionate as outgoing Chief Executive, Louise Bennett.
“Partnering with the Chamber and Coventry City Council, we’ve run two schemes through our sector specialist support service.
“This has resulted hundreds of thousands of pounds of investment in total, creating an amazing number of jobs and safeguarding jobs. We didn’t expect this to happen so quickly and it had originally been an ambition for our second year.”
Destination Coventry will be hosting its Annual Tourism Conference on Thursday, September 15 at the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC). For more information visit www.destinationcoventry.co.uk
PICTURE CAPTION: Paul Jones speaking at the event.