Success Stories
Sustainable Bowland
The Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is the first protected area in England to have been awarded the prestigious European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas. The Charter is awarded to protected areas that are following a best practice approach in delivering tourism that takes account of the needs of the environment, local communities and the local economy. The Forest of Bowland AONB joins an elite group of just 25 other protected areas across Europe.
LCDL is working with the AONB team to implement the high priority actions identified in the recently produced Forest of Bowland Sustainable Tourism Strategy, in conjunction with the local community, tourism enterprises and other partners. This project is the main vehicle for delivering the strategy, on behalf of the AONB team and the partners. The project aims to raise the level of sustainable tourism activity in the AONB area by supporting the development of new activities and accommodation, and by improving the awareness of the AONB amongst the visiting public, local people and tourism enterprises.
The Riverside Barn Bed and Breakfast in Ribchester
The Riverside Barn Bed and Breakfast in Ribchester received a National Accessible Scheme Mobility 2 rating from Visit Britain in November 2006, which is held by only five other tourism accommodation businesses in the sub-region. LCDL helped Andy and Sue Talbot with the cost of their Visit Britain NAS assessment by offering a grant from the Lancashire Tourism Quality Initiative scheme which it is operating, in conjunction with Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board and Blackpool Council. The scheme has been introduced to encourage tourism businesses to improve quality, thereby making the sub-region more competitive and establishing it as a leading tourism destination. The Mobility 2 Level is awarded to tourism accommodation establishments that satisfy the VisitBritain assessor that they are suitable for a person with restricted walking ability and for those that may need to use a wheelchair some of the time and can negotiate a maximum of three steps.
At the same time the VisitBritain assessor awarded the top, five-star rating to the Riverside Barn Bed and Breakfast for the overall quality of its accommodation.
Riverside Barn's attention to quality was rewarded at the Lancashire and Blackpol Tourism Awards 2007/08 when it won the Bed and Breakfast of the Year category.
Incidentally, Andrew Talbot has also been successful with his photographs 'River Ribble at Riverside Barn Bed and Breakfast', runner-up in the Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board photography competition for the 2007 Lancashire and Blackpool Calendar.
Tourism undergraduate scheme comes highly commended
LANCASHIRE County Council and Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board have been highly commended for a work experience scheme.
The recognition was awarded to LCC and LBTB by the National Council for Work Experience at an awards ceremony in London. County Councillor Niki Penney and Chair of Lancashire County Developments Ltd, LCC’s economic development company, who supported the scheme on behalf of the authority, said: "We're thrilled to have received the Highly Commended Award for Best Work Experience Provider in the Public Sector. To see LCDL's idea be recognised in this way is excellent and shows how LCC and LCDL are originating new projects which are off enormous benefit to Lancashire.
"We entered the Awards because we felt the project offered students a chance to make a real contribution to Lancashire's tourism industry. Students come away with the confidence to enter the graduate job market with valuable practical experience on their CV. The award also recognises our staff's efforts to firmly embed work experience into the company culture and the hard work they’ve put in to making the placements a success for everyone involved."
Mike Wilkinson, chief executive of Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board, said: "We are so proud to see the undergraduate scheme recognised in this way against very tough competition from the likes of the BBC Radio Newsroom, The Cabinet Office and The Welsh Assembly. This is a real tribute to not just the students that took part but also my colleagues at the tourist board and the many businesses who have supported them.
"Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board leads on skills across the whole of the North West's tourism industry. One of our challenges, as an industry, is to encourage our undergraduates studying tourism related courses to stay in the county after graduation and to apply their newly found skills and knowledge to businesses here. Winning this award certainly helps to publicise this ambition and encourage students to 'think Lancashire' when embarking on their careers."
A key aspect of the placements scheme has been the involvement of two mentors, Katy Moussaada and Viv Cuthill, two local freelance tourism consultants. They have provided guidance for the students at every stage, as well as liaising with the businesses providing the placements, organising a two-week induction course, job-shadowing and regular training sessions for all the students.
The Rural Tourism Undergraduate scheme places students with tourism organisations so that they can put their skills into practice. The initiative is open to students who are studying for degrees in tourism, business studies, management, marketing, PR or events. In the last three years 26 students have been taken on for the scheme during which they were placed with tourism organisations throughout Lancashire after the second year of their degrees.
For the first three months the students are placed with large organisations where it is intended they develop their marketing skills and build contacts within the tourism industry. After the three months they then work for a smaller rural organisation where they put their skills, talent and experience into practice for nine months.
The placements are great opportunities for smaller tourism businesses to develop marketing activity that they do not have the resources for. The students are employed and paid for by LCDL but a contribution is asked for from the company where the student is placed.
The project is funded by LCDL and from the Lancashire Rural Tourism Initiative, which is funded through the Lancashire Rural Recovery Action Plan supported by the Northwest Regional Development Agency and Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board.