Tourism Strategy

Background

The last time Alresford had a visitor's survey, benchmarked against 17 other market towns, was the summer of 2000 and the topline findings are summarised in the appendix. The last Winchester survey was conducted in summer 2003 and there are many similarities between the surveys. Both were undertaken by the research unit at Tourism South East. Tourism in Alresford has evolved since 2000 and food tourism has become increasingly important as demonstrated by the success of the Watercress Festival. Our strategy should accommodate this new breed of visitor and capitalise on the town's unique position as the hub of the UK watercress industry.

Which tourists should NATC target?

The continued success of the Watercress Line with its 130,000 passengers a year will have increased tourist numbers in Alresford and probably visits by families. However, the profile of visitors is so skewed that it is unlikely to be very different to the 2000 survey results. The survey excluded residents living within a 5 mile radius of the town.

Primary Target:

Day visitors from home who are two thirds of our visitors. The majority are affluent adults over 45 who live in the South/South East. They are the core of our tourist industry because they visit regularly; three quarters of day visitors from home visit the town more than twice a year and a significant proportion of them make 5 or more visits a year. They spend more than other visitors; particularly on shopping. For comparison, day visitors (from home and holiday bases) are the majority of Winchester visitors and, again, the affluent, older adults who have previously visited the city are the majority.

Secondary Targets:

Visitors travelling on the Watercress Line come to Alresford anyway so we should aim to make their visit enjoyable to encourage them to revisit and recommend Alresford to others.

Winchester visitors as a quarter of them also visit Alresford and Winchester Tourism promotes the "Winchester Watercress Tour" and distributes "Spend a day in Alresford" widely across the city.

NATC Vision for Tourism

"The responsible expansion of sustainable and quality tourism for Alresford which enhances the visitor experience and improves economic prosperity, services and facilities for local people"

Tourism Strategy

The strategy we should adopt to achieve this long term objective is not based on driving up visitor numbers but on the following rationale.

In summary, Alresford attracts older affluent visitors who appreciate the town for the same reasons as the people who live here. Visitors like the relaxing character of Alresford, its charming buildings, shops, flowers, river/walks, the Watercress Line and our watercress heritage. In short, if we like the way Alresford is heading then there's a good chance our target visitors will also. We ignore such visitors at our peril. Witness the change in the once charming Cotswold town of Burford which is now so congested with weekend tourists from the conurbations that the locals stay away on Saturday and Sunday and the majority of shops sell bric a brac.

NATC has neither the budget nor staff needed to seriously promote tourism in the town. As such we need to focus the limited resources on the framework on which tourism can continue to flourish. We need to continue to work with the commercial members of the tourism committee and with relevant tourist destinations to develop this framework. Winchester Tourism is encouraging visitors who make a positive contribution to the District such as lucrative short break visitors. So NATC activity needs to focus on increasing the number of visitors to Hampshire who come to Alresford. Visitor behaviour supports this approach:

• Four out of ten visitors to Alresford also plan to visit places in the area with Winchester, Alton and Jane Austen's house being the most popular.
• Similarly, the most popular destinations in the area for Winchester visitors are Jane Austen's house, the Watercress Line, Marwell Zoo and Alresford.

Finally, we need to maintain and improve on the facilities available to tourists in Alresford. In the last survey, pedestrian and road signposting, cleanliness of public toilets and the streets were above average. However, the majority of visitors travel here by car and found it difficult to park. There were also requests for a greater range of catering establishments. Probably new restaurants such as Pizza Express have helped here, particularly for visitors with children. Overall, it is important to tourism to maintain and develop the fabric/facilities of the town, especially on its main tourist routes. These elements combine in the following tourism strategy for NATC.

"NATC's tourism strategy focuses on the maintenance and development of the relaxing character of Alresford and the facilities available to tourists and residents. Working with the commercial members of the tourism committee we will develop the framework on which tourism can flourish. Greater awareness of Alresford amongst visitors to associated tourist destinations will drive an increase in the number of day visitors to Alresford."

Strategic Objectives for the NATC Tourism Committee

1. To attract day visitors to Alresford; especially from Winchester and associated tourist destinations
2. To develop joint projects with current stakeholders which celebrate the town
3. To support NATC initiatives which improve facilities
4. To establish relationships with other local organisations

Action Plan

Further development of the action plan by the tourism committee is planned. Following this we will prioritise the action plan over time to ensure the programme is feasible for a small committee with a very limited budget of less than £10000 per annum

Objective 1:

To attract day visitors to Alresford; especially from Winchester and associated tourist destinations

• Continue the supply of literature about Alresford and optimise distribution
• Contribute to the development of tourist information on the Chamber of Commerce, Watercress Line and Visit Winchester web sites.
• The linkage to Alresford on the Watercress Line web site is in the small print and very likely to be overlooked amongst countless other links. A more obvious link would communicate to visitors what's on the doorstep when they arrive at Alresford.
• Contribute to the current updating of the Visit Winchester site.
• Develop a 6 month rolling calendar of events on Alresford site.
• Develop schemes to enhance the attractiveness of the town; e.g.,
• Enter the "Best in Bloom" competition.
• Run a quarterly "Best Shop Window" competition e.g. Victorian theme for the 140th anniversary of the railway line in October.
• Expand the weekly market and/or have a monthly farmers market.

Objective 2:

To develop joint projects with current stakeholders which celebrate the town

• Continue to develop and publicise a limited number of popular events working with Alresford Chamber of Commerce, The Watercress line, Winchester Tourism and the Watercress Alliance.
• Aim to have one significant event each quarter which Winchester Tourism is also keen to promote, e.g.
• Watercress Festival in May.
• The Watercress Line has indicated it would be happy to develop a promotion with the town, possibly in July.
• Alresford Show in September.
• Christmas market linked to late night opening in December.
• Winchester Tourism is committed to developing tourism across the District. NATC's ongoing partnership with WCC's tourism service should develop and dovetail mutually beneficial plans and communication programmes and identify the potential impacts of the new South Downs National Park.

Objective 3:

To support NATC initiatives which improve facilities

• NATC is acutely aware of the need for more parking and better facilities would benefit tourists and residents alike. It becomes a particular problem when large numbers visit the town and will be an on-cost in staging events attracting thousands of visitors. In the 2000 survey, over a fifth of our visitors found it difficult or very difficult to park and the situation has deteriorated since then.
• The walks in and around the town are one of the main attractions for tourists. Ensuring that these walks are well maintained and signposted is an important activity for NATC and some of the town's societies.
• Work is in hand to repair the pavements on Broad Street. During the Watercress Festival there were four accidents caused by the uneven paving stones
• The town has limited toilet facilities for visitors and the main toilets in Station Road lack baby changing facilities. The tiles and grouting are also showing their age. Whilst this is not a key priority, as parking is, we need to be mindful to maintain our standards.

Objective 4:

To establish relationships with other local organisations

There is a need to gain the support of the retailers, some of whom are not represented on the Chamber of Commerce. As a generality, our shops do not support tourism initiatives either financially or by using events to generate extra business. It is proposed to gain their involvement by schemes such as the "Best Shop Window" and Christmas late night opening mentioned above.

Only the Alton Town Council website has a simple link to the Jane Austen Museum at Chawton. Alresford and Winchester's websites have no links whatsoever to this Museum. Yet our research shows that it is one of the three most popular places which visitors combine with a trip to Alton. For an overseas visitor researching Chawton, the chances of ever finding the Alresford Chamber website is slim. Discussions with the Jane Austin Society are needed.

Discussions are planned with Alton Council to see what mutual benefits can be identified through closer cooperation on tourism.

Appendix

Who visits Alresford?

Source: Alresford Destination Benchmarking Survey July - Sept 2000

The definition of a visitor in the 2000 survey excluded:

• A resident living within a 5 mile radius of the town centre
• Those studying or working in the town
• Those on regular / household shopping trips

250 visitors were interviewed, excluding visitors who had just arrived and people who refused to participate.

• 68% of visitors were day visitors from home, 27% were day visitors from holiday bases outside the area and only 5% were staying in Alresford.
• Three quarters of all visitors had previously visited Alresford. 40% of day visitors from home visited Alresford more than 5 times in the previous year and a further 36% visited the town between 2 and 5 times that year
• 77% of the groups encountered were adults only, 23% contained 1 or more children.
• 73% of visitors were aged 45 or over compared with the UK average of 47%. This appeal to older visitors had increased from the 1997 survey.
• Alresford has an affluent visitor profile. 52% were ABs (professionals, managers), which is 3 times the average in the UK population, and the AB visitors were significantly higher then in the 1997 survey. Including white collar visitors (C1s), three quarters of our visitors are ABC1.
• Virtually all day visitors from home live in the South and South East. The same two regions account for just over one third of day visitors and staying visitors on holiday. 11% of visitors on holiday were from overseas. Very few visitors came from London.
• Day visitors from home spent more in a 24 hour period than other visitors; particularly on shopping.
• The majority (78%) of visitors came by car/van. The next most popular form of transport was the Watercress Line(11%).
• The majority of day visitors on holiday were staying in Hampshire, a quarter of them used Winchester as their base.
• Only 13% of visitors staying in Alresford were in commercial accommodation in which they stayed for an average of 2.5 nights. 70% stayed with friends and relatives (for an average of 5.3 nights) and the remainder were camping or in caravans.

Purpose of their visit

• Visiting the Watercress Line was the single most important reason for coming to Alresford (23%). General sightseeing (21%) and special shopping trips (19%) were the other main factors. 19% of visits were to find somewhere to eat and drink or use a specific service such as a bank.
• One third visited/intended to visit the Fulling Mill or riverside walk, 28% of visitors saw the Watercress Line and the majority travelled on the line. Other destinations were the Millennium walk, Old Alresford Pond and the Parish Church.
• Four out of ten visitors also plan visits to places around Alresford (down from 50% in 1997). Winchester, Alton and Jane Austen's house remain the three most popular places to combine with a trip to Alresford.

Promotional Materials

• One third of visitors recalled seeing a specific leaflet of guide for Alresford before arriving in town. The Watercress Line was the most frequently mentioned guide (25%) with Spend a Day in Alresford recognised by 1 in 10 visitors.
• 43% of visitors who had obtained Spend a Day in Alresford got it from a tourist information centre and half of them from the Winchester TIC.
• Only 23% of visitors had seen these promotional leaflets during their visit to the town.

Visitors Opinions

• Alresford scored higher than the average for market towns on:
• Places to eat and drink
• Shopping
• Attractions and other places to visit
• On accommodation, quality and service were below average but value for money was above average.
• Pedestrian and road signposting were above average and an improvement on 1997.
• The cleanliness of public toilets and the streets were also above average.
• The cost of parking (2 hours free) was scored above average. However, the ease of finding a car park was below average with 22% of visitors finding it difficult or very difficult to park. Alresford scored above average for ease of getting around the town by car.
• The general appearance and atmosphere of Alresford was the highest of all market towns.
• Virtually all visitors felt safe or very safe from crime and 4 out of 5 felt safe from traffic.
• Alresford had the highest scores of all market towns surveyed for overall enjoyment of the visit and likelihood of recommending.

Visitors Likes:

• Quaint / charming / architecture / old buildings (35%)
• Nice place / atmosphere / character (32%)
• Shops / individual / specialist (13%)
• Flowers / hanging baskets / colourful (9%)
• Quiet / relaxing (7%)
• Watercress Line (6%)
• River (6% )
• Walks (6%)
• Small town feel (5%)

Visitors Dislikes:o 90% said nothing had spoilt their visit but

• Car parking provision (4%) and early closing / shops shut on Sundays (3%) were the most commonly referred to issues
• Additional Facilities Desired
• More car parking and greater range of shops and services (5%)
• Greater range of catering establishments (3%)