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THE FUTURE OF

TOURISM IS IN YOUR

HANDS

A Brighter Future For Tourism In Moray Speyside

Draft Business Plan 1 April 2020 – 31 March 2025

www.morayspeysidetbid.com

HELLO...Since 2014, Moray Speyside Tourism have promoted our region to visitors from around the world, supported local tourism businesses and represented the region’s tourism industry at national and international level.

As a result of these efforts, and those of many others, annual visitor numbers have grown to almost 800,000 with tourism now contributing £130 million per year to the Moray Speyside economy.

For that reason, now is the time to build on the achievements of recent years and work together to secure the future of tourism in Moray Speyside.

A Tourism Business Improvement District (Tourism BID) is the right way to ensure continued growth of the area’s tourism industry. It will empower local tourism businesses, putting the industry at the heart of the decision-making process, remove reliance on public sector funding and open up a new world of opportunity.

Following an extensive period of consultation with tourism businesses we have produced this draft business plan outlining a blueprint which will deliver a brighter future for tourism in Moray Speyside.

Later this year, a final business plan will be published which tourism businesses will be asked to vote on.

By voting YES to the Tourism BID, we will begin to write a new chapter for tourism in Moray Speyside – one that will enable the area to thrive as a world-class tourism destination for years to come.

I am delighted to present this draft business plan for your consideration.

Laurie Piper

Operations Manager, Moray Speyside Tourism

“ ANNUAL VISITOR

NUMBERS HAVE GROWN

TO ALMOST 800,000 ”

Photography credits:

Kim McIntyre, Ace Adventures, Moray Speyside Tourism, Colin Nutt

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ABOUT BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTSWhat exactly is a Business Improvement District (BID) and how will it benefit your business?

BIDs were invented in Canada in the 1970s. The BID concept has proved popular and there are now more than 130 BIDs in place across the UK and Ireland. Since first coming to Scotland in 2006, there are now more than 40 BIDs in existence. The UK’s first tourism-specific BID, Visit Inverness LochNess, has recently been re-elected for a second 5-year term.

A Business Improvement District is a private sector led initiative that sees businesses within a defined geographical area invest in the delivery of a five-year business plan. Once that period is over, there is a renewal ballot to see if businesses would like to continue for a further five years.

The strength of the BID lies in its simplicity. By pooling and sharing resources, local businesses, working with private, public and third-sector partners, take a leading role in improving local economic conditions through the delivery of an agreed package of investment and initiatives over and beyond what is delivered by local and national government.

All money raised is ring-fenced for the delivery of projects detailed within a business plan agreed by local tourism businesses. In our case, the Tourism BID is about local tourism businesses of all shapes and sizes working together to build on Moray Speyside’s growing reputation.

As well as having the financial resources to deliver a vibrant and exciting business plan, the Tourism BID company will be able to leverage additional funding from a range of sources, lobby the council and government on behalf of tourism businesses and work collaboratively with tourism organisations for the benefit of Moray Speyside’s tourism industry.

“ The Tourism BID is about local tourism businesses of all shapes and sizes working together to build on Moray Speyside’s growing reputation. ”

All money raised is ring-fenced for the delivery of projects

detailed within a business plan agreed

by local tourism businesses

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“ More than 130 responses were received from the electronic survey, a further 44 people took part in focus groups, with 12 ‘depth interviews’ also conducted. ”

With these results in hand, the past months

have seen a period of further consultation and engagement aimed at refining and focusing

the Tourism BID proposals which will be presented in the final

business plan.

BASELINE BUSINESS SURVEYAn initial survey of tourism businesses took place between November 2018 and January 2019.

The survey was carried out by a respected market research company, STR who have huge experience in the tourism industry.

The initial survey confirmed there was sufficient support for a Tourism Business Improvement District concept among the region’s businesses and established key priority areas for tourism development in Moray Speyside:

That Marketing the visitor offer was the

key priority

They wanted an organisation to

provide support for Events and Festivals

They wanted a collective tourism

voice and advocacy

They wanted an organisation which would help deliver

a better visitor experience

They wanted help and advice on extending the visitor season and

improving the night-time economy

They wanted training, advice and support to help deal

with digital and online challenges and opportunities

Tourism Businesses told us…

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“ Without the Tourism BID, there will be no organisation dedicated to promoting our region to visitors ”

Marketing of Moray Speyside as a destination to both consumers and the travel trade is crucial. Competition amongst areas is fierce and without Moray Speyside, there will be no organisation working to ensure that there is continued and increasing interest in our region. The combined resource of the Tourism BID will see more activity than ever before directed towards marketing and promotion of the region.

The Tourism BID will work to support your tourism

business – building a stronger industry with a comprehensive

programme of business support, digital training and

advice, the introduction of a tailored Moray Speyside

customer service standard and formation of hyper-

local tourism networks to ensure every part of Moray

Speyside feels the benefit of the Tourism BID. The Tourism

BID will ensure that Moray Speyside’s tourism businesses have a strong, unified voice –

representing our industry with local, regional and national

agencies and fighting for you and your business interests

and lobbying for service and infrastructure improvements.

The Tourism BID will work to improve the experience of visitors to the area in a range of ways including the introduction of an annual visitor guide, development of a destination ‘App’, provision of funding and support for events and festivals, including the introduction of a region-wide Moray Winter Festival, aimed at attracting visitors out with the main tourist season.

WHAT WILL THE TOURISM BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT DO? Following a successful ballot outcome, the Tourism BID’s work will focus on three priority areas, each of which will inform a detailed, measurable and fully costed annual activity plan:

Market Moray Speyside

nationally and internationally

1

Improve the visitor

experience - from inspiration

to arrival and beyond

3

Supporting your tourism business & our tourism

industry2

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“ The Tourism BID will operate

within the geographical

boundary covered by the

Moray Council. ”

WHO IS INCLUDED?There are four main criteria that determine if a business is included in the scope of the proposals:

1 Your business is registered in Moray Speyside,

the designated geographical area covered by the proposed Tourism BID.

2 Your business has a non-domestic rateable value of £2,000 or above.

3 Your business is eligible to pay non-domestic rates,

as detailed on the Moray Council Valuation Roll by the local Assessor (even if exempt).

4 Your business operates in one of the following tourism-related sectors:

• Accommodation Providers • Breweries and Distilleries with Visitor Centres • Golf Courses • Heritage / Cultural Organisations • Museums / Historic Buildings • Tourist Shops (as designated by VisitScotland QA) • Visitor Attractions incl. activity & outdoor centres

Businesses primarily acting as retail outlets are only included if recognised by VisitScotland as a ‘tourist shop’ through their visitor attraction Quality Assurance scheme.

Businesses primarily acting as food & drink outlets (cafés, pubs, takeaways, restaurants) are only included if recognised by VisitScotland as a ‘visitor attraction’ through their quality assurance scheme.

Activity and tour businesses without premises, or below the RV threshold, but who would still like to participate in the Tourism BID, will be able to pay an ‘opt-in’ fee.

Non-tourism specific businesses can also opt in as supporters as part of their wider corporate social responsibility commitments.

Businesses within the existing Embrace Elgin town centre BID will not be included in the Tourism BID and will not be eligible to vote in the postal ballot.

Businesses / organisations operated exclusively by volunteers will not be included in the scope of the Tourism BID.

The Tourism BID levy will only be paid by the occupiers, with the exception of vacant premises, in which case the property owner will be liable for the levy payment.

HopemanBurghead

FindhornLossiemouth

Buckie

Elgin

Fochabers

Keith

Huntly

Du�town

Keith toDu�townrailway

Inverness toAberdeen

railway

Craigellachie

Ballindalloch

Tomintoul

RothesForres

Aberlour

GrantownOn Spey

Cullen

A96

A96

A95

A98

A941

Boundary covered by the Moray Council.

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“ To me MST have successfully put Moray Speyside on the map of tourism within just 15 months. ”

“ However, there is still a long way to go to establish Moray Speyside as a strong region for tourism development comparing it to other strong competition like the Isle of Skye, Loch Ness, Oban/Fort William area, NC500, etc.”

Wilfried Klopping, Der Schottland Berater (The Scotland Advisor)

German Travel Trade Expert www.schottlandberater.de

WHAT WILL IT COST?With around 400 participating tourism businesses, it is anticipated that the levy fees (see table below) will generate an income of around £170,000 a year (or £850,000 over the five-year period).

This amount is very much a start rather than an end point as we will be able to leverage match funding from the public sector and other sources, as well as maximise joint funding opportunities and ‘in kind’ support that will benefit tourism throughout Moray Speyside.

In formulating the proposed levy scale, the Steering Group looked at every other Scottish Business Improvement District, the nearby Inverness Tourism BID and took on board feedback from business that a ‘banded’ scale of charges was their preference.

The levy bands are based on the non-domestic rateable value (RV) of each participating business at the time of the ballot. The threshold RV level has been set at £2,000.

“ Your investment will make sure we deliver for your business ”

Our finances will be clear and our activities accountable and measurable.

The levy is set so as to create enough revenue to cover the costs of the activities set out in the business plan and apportioned across all eligible levy payers in a fair and transparent manner that is judged to be affordable by the businesses.

Band Rateable Value Annual Levy Cost Per Day

1 £2,000 - £4,999 £273.75 75P

2 £5,000 - £14,999 £365 £1

3 £15,000 - £99,999 £730 £2

4 £100,000 and above £1460 £4

The levy rates will, other than increases for inflation, be fixed for the 5-year duration of the Tourism Business Improvement District.

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THE TOURISM BID STEERING GROUPA Steering Group to assist with the development of the Tourism BID has been formed with representatives from tourism businesses across Moray.

The group is led by Laurie Piper of Moray Speyside Tourism – the organisation currently responsible for tourism development in Moray Speyside.

The Tourism BID proposals have been developed by Moray Speyside Tourism, the Tourism BID Steering Group and with the support of tourism businesses, the community and stakeholders, including Highlands and Islands Enterprise, who have funded Moray Speyside Tourism since 2014. www.morayspeyside.com

Steering Group Members

Shona DonnellyMoray Speyside Tourism

Fraser EdgarMarketing Professional & Angel Investor

Brian FordHistoric Environment Scotland

Lynn FyvieArdvorlich Guest House

Oliver LyonSpeyside Gardens Caravan Park

Sarah MedcrafMoray Chamber of Commerce

Stevie MilneMoray Speyside Golf Ambassador

Stephanie MurrayDowans and Archiestown 1881 Hotels

Steve OliverDufftown 2000 / former CBP Board Member

Laurie PiperMoray Speyside Tourism

Gill ReidSpeyside Cooperage

Alastair RossThe Sunninghill Hotel

Kevin SmithCraigellachie Hotel

Jacqui TaylorMoray College UHI

Joanna TaylorForres Events & Rafford Consulting

Linda MellisDirector - Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival

“ The Tourism BID proposals have been developed with the support of tourism businesses, the community and stakeholders ”

...Lets keep this great relationship going.

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#BACKTHEBID

for

#ABRIGHTERFUTURE

@MoraySpeyTBID

www.morayspeysidetbid.com

Please send feedback to tbid@morayspeyside.com

or give us a call on 01343 610383