By the Visitor Manager (Julia White) RBWM.

The Visitor Manager gave Members the highlights since the last meeting.

With regard to Press & PR it was noted that there had been a lot of activity and to date there had been a reach of nearly 13million. Members were informed that  coverage was valued at approximately £300,000 .  The Visitor Manager explained that the National papers and Irish and Scottish versions of those papers had picked up the same stories and that Lastminute.com had published a piece on attractions in Windsor along with ladies and baby magazines. It was noted that with regard to the groups sector Coach Tourism Council group press trip had taken place which had been jointly hosted and had been featured in a six page spread in a magazine with a Magna Carta theme. The Visitor Manager gave everyone present a weekend break feature example of a guided walking tour, a duck tour and a walk around Windsor Castle.

The Visitor Manager explained that in the last couple of weeks she had attended the Tourism South East Media Party at the Royal College of Surgeons where she had met over seventy writers.  It was noted that the Visitor Manager had made contact with some good travel writers which included Wonderlust, the Nomadic Boys and the Lazy Travellers.    Members were informed that the Visitor Manager was also working with Visit Britain and Visit England and that two significant press trips were due to the Royal Borough.  Members noted that the Council was planning a Q& A session for the journalists with Horse Power and hoping for them to be accredited for the events on the 21^st April.  The Visitor Manager explained that the anniversary of the death of Shakespeare had also been of great interest, information about Shakespeare 400 was provided to everyone present.

The Visitor Manager explained that the final Facebook campaign had been completed in January and had received a good take up.  Members were informed that the current following on Facebook was just under 10,000, Twitter was fast approaching 4,000 and Instagram had just gone over the 1,000 mark.  The Visitor Manager urged everyone present to send through useful content (e.g. images on their route into work that had caught their eye, funny happenings, behind the scene information) in addition to long-term plans for their major events.  It was noted that the February Facebook campaign had resulted in just over 2,000 competition entries and 1,652 op-ins which were people wanting to be kept informed of what was going on.  The Visitor Manager explained that this campaign had reached an audience of 83,586 and that she was now looking at ways to deliver these campaigns in a more cost effective way. 

Members were informed that the Visitor Manager was also running the ballot for the Celebration on The Long Walk which was going very well and was due to close on Monday.  It was noted that the ballot would then go through a randomiser which would result in 50% of the tickets going to residents in the Royal Borough and the other 50% to people all over the world.

The Visitor Manager went onto explain that with regard to the Visitor Information Centre refurbishment, the Council would be looking to renew the lease for Windsor Royal Shopping centre first.  It was noted that the Royal Borough had committed £20,000 towards the refurbishment which would allow a freshening up but that the Visitor Manager was still keen to do the full refurbishment which would need sponsorship for it to be possible.

Members were informed that the concierge scheme figures last year were up on the previous year and that this was a scheme that was growing year on year.

It was noted that the website had received a complete update as it always did at the start of the year and that web pages had been re-written to include new imagery.

The Visitor Manager explained that she was currently working on a new social media strategy and that there would also have a new PR strategy from the 1^st April.  It was noted that the Royal Borough was pleased to continue with Live Tourism to deliver the Councils PR as they had done such a fantastic job.

It was noted that the Visitor Manager was producing a new brochure for the Queens Walkway which included the new 6.3 kilometre trail in Windsor to commemorate the Queen being the longest reigning monarch and that sponsors were being sought to help fund the brochure.  It was noted that the new brochure was hoped to be available by the 21^st April.

The Visitor Manager went onto explain that preparations for the Queens 90^th birthday celebrations were currently taking place and that events would be taking place on the 20^th & 21^st April.  It was noted that the Visitor Manager had been working with the volunteers to ensure there would be enough volunteers available to deal with the number of visitors expected.

Members were informed that the Council had gone into a partnership agreement with an agent who would be an extension to the Information Centre to provide a venue finding service.  It was noted that the Royal Borough might run a showcase event or might take its partners into London to do an event there.  The Visitor Manager stated that she would start to present ideas to partners very soon to get their input. 

It was noted that the Visitor Manager was also working with Windsor Festival, the Fringe Festival and Theatre Royal to look at an umbrella brand and to help extend festival events through September and October. 

The Visitor Manager explained that a report would be going to Cabinet in April about the town WiFi project.  It was noted that whilst the Royal Borough did have their own destination app it was felt that the provider bidding for the town WiFi contract could potentially provide more interactive apps which would in turn enable information to be pushed to visitors as they arrived in the borough.

Members were informed that the Visitor Manager had last week attended Explore GB in Liverpool and would send an update report out to partners ASAP. 

It was noted that the Visitor Manager had commissioned the visitor research for this year but an opportunity to change the face to face questionnaire had arisen. Members were informed that Tourism South East was also available to give the Council an insight into visitors as to reasons why they did or did not visit Windsor.

The Visitor Manager informed everyone present that on the 6^th October the Tourism Development Day would take place at Ascot Racecourse and that she would keep everyone informed as and when further details were available.

Members were informed about the Discover England Fund which was a new scheme being promoted by Visit England.  The Visitor Manager explained that more information on this fund would be available next week.  It was noted that Visit England would now be focusing on product development and Visit Britain would be doing the international and domestic marketing.   It was noted that this fund would require match funding - £6million in first year, 12million in second year and £22million in the third year.  Submissions of interest from partnerships needed to be submitted by December this year.   The Visitor Manager explained that Andrew Stokes was now the Interim Manager of Visit England and that she was hoping to hear from him at a meeting next week.  The Visitor Manager assured everyone present that she would inform them of the criteria once she knew. 

Members were informed that the Council was coming to the end of its current Visitor Management Strategy and would be looking at a new three year plan which was hoped to be a refresh of the current plan.  It was noted that the core objectives would stay the same and that it was vital the Council had industry input in this plan.  It was hoped that the final version of the Visitor Management Strategy Plan would be available in April.

It was noted that the Queen would be joined by the Duke of Edinburgh for the Royal Maundy service, which was to be held in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle for the first time since 1959.  It was suggested that this event could be promoted by the local media.   

It was noted that copies of news round-ups were distributed to everyone present at the end of the meeting.