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November
17, 2005
Tourism
bosses unveil plans for 2006 holiday
season
promotional push
Tourism
bosses from Burnham-On-Sea, Berrow and
Brean gathered together to look back at a busy summer holiday
season and discuss plans to further promote the area during 2006.
 Speaking
in front of a packed audience at the annual general meeting of
Sedgemoor Tourism Association on Tuesday November 15th, chairman
Bob Nicholson (pictured) said: "2005 hasn't been a bad year."
"We've
seen lots of people visiting our area and accommodation bookings
have generally been good. Only the retail spend has been down
on previous years."
His
comments were backed by new figures - highlighted at the meeting
- which show tourism is rapidly growing in the area. Of 6,500
tourism jobs across Sedgemoor, 1,500 of these are based along
the coastal strip between Burnham-On-Sea and Brean.
A
number of activities overseen by the group during 2005 helped
to promote Burnham, Brean and Berrow to potential holidaymakers
- and more are planned for next year. A brochure called 'Somerset
2005' was hailed as a great success which would be repeated.
 Mr
Nicholson said: "With a print run of 100,000 copies, the
brochure was distributed nationwide and attracted a good deal
of attention."
The
association also attended holiday fairs in Cardiff, Manchester
and Birmingham, and worked with local councils to publish promotional
material.
During
2006, the Sedgemoor Tourism Association will revamp its Web site,
attend more holiday trade fairs across the UK, and host a major
three-day holiday trade show at Brean Leisure Centre.
To
be held on March 7th, 8th and 9th, the event will allow holiday
and travel companies to promote themselves, discuss tourism issues,
and give away literature.
John
Denbee, chairman of Sedgemoor District Council, pictured above,
pledged his support to the group, saying: "We understand
your business is very important to this area and we'll do our
very best to support you."
 Graham
Mottram, Director of the Fleet Air Arm Museum, pictured right,
also welcomed the plans, but sounded a warning about promoting
the name 'Sedgemoor'.
He
said: "Somerset is a wonderful county, we've just got to
tell this to those outside the county.
"We
need to understand, though, that areas like the Mendips and Sedgemoor
often mean nothing to people scanning through the holiday adverts
in national papers like the Daily Mail. If we don't effectively
promote our area, we risk losing out to the likes of Cornwall
and Devon," he said.
The
event concluded with praise for the Association's work from Paul
Buchanan, SDC's Portfolio Holder for Economic Development, who
said the group was "flying the flag for Sedgemoor,"
and Anne Fraser, SDC's Portfolio Holder for Tourism, who called
it "incredibly refreshing".
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