Council go-ahead for Tourism BID ballot
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MORAY Council today enthusiastically got on board with ambitious plans to position Moray Speyside as a world-class tourism destination.
The council’s policy and resources committee considered proposals to introduce a region-wide Tourism Business Improvement District (or Tourism BID) – which would remove Moray’s tourism sector from reliance on public funding.
The councillors' backing means the proposal, led by destination marketing organisation Moray Speyside Tourism (MST) and developed by a steering group of 14 businesses, will now proceed to an official ballot.
Some 378 tourism businesses will be invited to vote in the postal ballot to run for six weeks between early December to January 15 next year.
Under the funding system, local tourism businesses would be asked to pay an annual levy and the funding pot would be managed by a board of directors elected from the levy payers.
Tourism BID campaigners say this would more than double the amount of funding available to invest in the region's tourism to around a million pounds over a five-year period. They say similar schemes elsewhere have significantly boosted visitor numbers.
Following a successful ballot, the Tourism BID would focus on three main areas: marketing Moray Speyside nationally and internationally; improving the visitor experience; and supporting businesses.
Committee chairman Councillor Aaron McLean said: "With the council's budgets reducing over the last few years, it's good to see MST looking to make themselves a viable entity in its own right and not reliant on local government finance."
Council leader Graham Leadbitter said: "There has been a huge amount of engagement and a huge amount of positivity towards the idea of a Tourism BID.
"MST has done a tremendous amount over the last few years to promote tourism in Moray. There are figures backing that up that show increasing tourism in Moray while neighbouring areas are not seeing either as big increases or are seeing decreases while tourism in Moray continues to rise.
"MST has engaged with the travel trade in a way that we've not really seen before in Moray and I think that's making a tremendous difference for our tourism industry."
Councillor John Cowe (Heldon and Laich) wholeheartedly backed these sentiments. He added: "When I became a councillor tourism in Moray was worth £94 million a year – now it's worth over £130 million – which is actually more than the benefit to the economy of Moray than RAF Lossiemouth is at the moment.
"Hopefully it will be a successful ballot. It will take in £151,000 per annum to Moray Speyside tourism to make an even better job than what they're doing at the moment. That will give them considerably more funding than what they have had from HIE and from the council and they will be a standalone organisation, so there will be no cost to the council.
"Moray is a great place to live, to work, to play and to retire. So onwards and upwards, I hope."
Laurie Piper, operations manager at MST, said the future of tourism in Moray Speyside will now rest in the hands of the businesses who will cast their votes.
He added: "Our region’s tourism industry is in the best shape ever, but the only way to ensure this continues is for businesses to support the Tourism BID. Without it, our region will no longer be marketed to visitors and our tourism industry will no longer have a voice.
"I’d encourage any tourism businesses in the region who want to know about how the Tourism BID will benefit them to attend the Moray Speyside Tourism Conference on November 8. Tickets are free this year and it will be a great way to see what we do to support and promote the region."
All tourism businesses are invited to attend the 2019 Moray Speyside Tourism Annual Conference at Elgin Town Hall on Friday, November 8.
Last year tourism was worth £130 million to the Moray economy, with the region welcoming almost 800,000 visitors who supported more than 2,800 local jobs.
