[To include an update on the Cultural and Visitor Economy covering:
· Visit to the Custard Factory - verbal update on key areas;
· Verbal update on visitor information and footfall;
· The Visitor Economy Strategy.]
Minutes:
Visit to the Custard Factory
Officers confirmed that work was being carried out regarding the creation of a creative hub in the City and that a bid had been submitted in relation to this for the Gen-Y City project which included activities dedicated to diagnosis and support for young, creative businesses as the means of reviving city centres. Officers confirmed that representatives from the University were also involved in the Gen-Y project and that a more detailed report would be provided for the Panel in March.
The Visitor Economy Strategy
The Hotels Study had been circulated to members prior to the meeting, the study included information relating to overnight stays in the City and the length of time visitors were staying.
The Visitor Survey had been completed and contained some interesting information regarding the cultural and creative sector. A piece of work was also being finalised to benchmark the City’s cultural offer and it was thought that the offer provided by Wolverhampton was strong in relation to similar areas.
Visitor information and footfall
Officers stated that the recording of footfall was expected to be carried out by the BID and that staff were currently struggling to collate data and evidence in a meaningful way. The Service Director confirmed that agreement had been reached regarding the production of a Strategy for the Visitor and Creative Economy.
Officers stated that the last Strategy had been produced in 2011 and there had been a lot of changes since then and that the new piece of work would be carried out over the next 5 months. It was stated that the new strategy would require a strong evidence base and that this would be time consuming to pull together in the first instance. The Strategy would include detailed sections on areas such as the visitor economy and the creative industries and would link into work across the entire Council including the City Wide Financial Strategy.
Councillors considered that it might be useful to have information regarding who was visiting the City. The Service Director stated that some work had been carried out regarding this during the refurbishment of the Civic Halls when focus groups had been consulted.
Members queried how the Council would drive the project through the Communications Framework and it was stated that the communications strategy would be refreshed and that partners would be involved in the process. Officers stated that backing from Partners was crucial in relation to the future branding of the City and that it was vital that information was provided to residents to enable them to know what was going on in the City and the future benefits.
Councillors stated that information was now becoming more available to Members and that they were now able to start to understand how the building blocks of the visitor economy fitted together and worked. The Panel thanked Officers for the provisions of the information.
Members also considered that the information available would improve further once the new Civic Hall box office had been installed, this would enable Officers to record where people were visiting from and for what purpose. Unfortunately this system would not be available in the Grand Theatre but officers considered that this could be worked around. Officers stated that the ultimate aim would be to have One City Economy Budget which would include information on non-Council run organisations as well as those run by the Council.
The Panel noted the improvements that were being made and the investment that was coming into the City such as the recent opening of an H&M store in the City Centre and the on-going refurbishment of the Mander Centre.
Councillor Phil Bateman had carried out a survey at Bentley Bridge Moorings
on the Wyrley & Essington Canal in Wednesfield. Boaters were spending in total of £20,000 during their stay in Wednesfield. There had been three organised cruises and around 120 Narrow Boats overnighting in this mooring. Boaters had suggested that the noise generated by the ring road and the railway in Wolverhampton made Wednesfield more attractive.
The Panel were pleased to see a growing relationship with the Canal and River Trust.
Resolved: That the matters arising be noted.