21 February 2011

Visitor Attractions – an East Midlands insight

Nigel Skill, chairman Skills Holidays in Nottingham, has given his views on ways East Midlands attractions can maximise their visitor numbers through a better understanding of the UK coach operator business. Speaking at the grandly named East Midlands Flagship Visitor Attraction Network Meeting at Nottingham Castle, he met representatives from museums in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Northampton, Crich, Derby and Snibston. All were keen to hear how best they can increase footfall and income by increasing coach borne trade.

Nigel began by stressing the importance of the driver. “He or she is the key to how successful or otherwise any visit is. They are great gossips and pass on to their work mates both the disasters and successes. Our customers too more often than not take advice on what’ll suit them straight from the driver – whatever the glossy brochure says.”

Nigel then made a plea. “Don’t just think ‘local newspaper’ when you have surplus entry to dispose off. There’s nothing worse for a coach operator than to see their brochure entry made to look expensive with a ‘special deal’ in the paper. Offer these to us in the coach industry, and we’ll market them without raising the hackles of those already signed up. We won’t charge you an arm and a leg, we’ll reduce your car parking needs, and we’ll improve your environmental credentials.”

Next he broached the topic of co-operation between attractions. “Do you get together to create a full day out at maybe two or three compatible attractions?” he asked. “Do so, and if these can be arranged on a single ticket, and through a single organiser, all the better.

“Make things as simple as possible for coach visitors. Have a simple and well signposted welcoming area with someone ready to speed things up. Try to give the coach operator a good route to follow”, Nigel warned. “Bear in mind these coaches are 40 feet long. A coach friendly web page, perhaps password protected, would be ideal.

“And you can help us by reducing the cost of parking the coach while our customers become yours. Too many locations make access too difficult and too time consuming for us to even consider them as coach attractions.”

To end, Nigel returned to the importance of the driver. “Provide a rest room,” light-heartedly adding, “ideally with a tv and Sky Sports. The alternative is that the driver sits in the cab with the engine running using 7 litres an hour just to keep warm. This isn’t good for anyone. If there’s hospitality and a meal voucher, you’ll be backed to the hilt.

Questions on specific aspects followed with the main concern of the attractions’ organisers being the difficulty of contacting individual tour operators. Nigel highlighted the industry’s trade associations and the Guild of British Coach Operators, adding a list of likeminded operators in target areas.

Nigel’s comments were enthusiastically appreciated by the group with many asking how best they could find ways round the issues their historic buildings cause form a practical point of view. “Coach parking wasn’t a concern when most of them were built,” said one.

The Flagship Visitor Attractions is a Renaissance East Midlands project bringing together some of the largest museums in the region to develop their offer to visitors and their understanding of the tourism sector. As well as learning about the coach operator market, they have received training on marketing, improving their catering operations, providing better digital access, and retail offer improvements.

Photo: Nottingham Castle with
Nigel Skill and the seminar guests