Recommendation 19

HM Government Accepted in Part

The Government announced in November 2022 that the NewcastleGateshead Initiative in the North East has been chosen to lead a Destination Development Partnership (DDP) pilot with Visit Northumberland and Visit County Durham tourism boards, working across seven local authority areas with a commencement date of 14th November 2022. Tourism boards, known as Destination Management Organisations (DMOs), help businesses and visitors find out about an area and often lead the development of the local tourism sector. However, de Bois’s independent review into DMOs found the landscape is overcrowded and fragmented. As part of plans to overhaul the current DMO landscape, in addition to the accreditation scheme, which will be rolled out across the Nation in 2023, the DDP pilot will receive £2.25 million across three years to promote more strategic, consumer focused development of the visitor economy to help successfully develop and market the region as a must-visit destination while attracting further private investment and driving growth. Funding will be focused on activities that ensure their destination remains sustainable, competitive and responsive to strategic challenges identified by the Government such as those around sustainability, skills, inclusive tourism and levelling up. The aim of the pilot is to attract more investment, welcome more sporting, business and cultural events, support business growth, create new jobs and boost domestic and international tourist numbers. By working in partnership, tourism boards will be able to attract new hotels, develop major attractions, build on local heritage and cultural assets through the likes of UNESCO World Heritage bids, grow the food and drink offer and maximise the potential of the region’s natural assets, including its dark skies, beaches and national parks. Instead of rolling out funding across the Nation, the Government decided to pilot the DDP approach first to be able to collect evidence to understand the most effective way of delivering the DDP approach on the visitor economy of the area. If the pilot is successful, this will inform future spending review bids and the aim is to then roll out the DDP model to other regions across England.