Welcome and Introduction

Sarah Stewart, Chief Executive

12 April 2023

Improving intelligence for all

Ian Thomas, Research Manager

NewcastleGateshead in numbers

• 1.6 million

• 16.2 million

• £1.2 billion

• 17,981

• 86%

• £53.37

• 2.1 million visitors

• 149,000

• 1.5 million

• 2.45 million

• £277 million

• 6332 people

• 600,000 passengers

KNOWLEDGE IS POWERSHARED

KNOWLEDGE IS EVEN MORE POWERFUL

T-STATS - better data!

• As of 1 February moved to new data collection tool:T-Stats.

• Holistic approach to measuring performance of the destination.

• Immediate benchmarking for participating businesses.

• Ability to understand true impact of events.

• Co-designed by businesses.

• Available free to partners.

Benefits to you

• Ability to benchmark your business.

• Understand what is influencing performance.

• Historic data repository.

• Instant access to data.

• 100% secure.

• Exportable for use in business reports.

See you at the bar!

London 2012 Games in the North East

Emily Till, Marketing for the London 2012 Games

It’s not all about London... or even sport

• Torch Relay.

• Football at St. James’ Park.

• Business opportunities.

• Get Set.

• Cultural Olympiad.

• Inspire Mark.

Football:

Newcastle is one of only nine places outside London that you can see Olympic sport.

Torch:

The Torch is visiting every local authority in the region.

Business

• Over £100m worth of contracts.

• Aquatics Centre = Geordie-est.

• They think it’s all over…

• CompeteFor.

• Team Tomorrow.

Torch Relay

• Visiting 62 cities, towns, villages.

• Street route not published yet.

• Go and cheer it on.

• Be prepared for it passing by.

• www.Tourism2012Games.org

Newcastle ambassadors

• Newcastle City Council and Newcastle Volunteer Centre.

• Looking for people who are enthusiastic about the Games and the city.

• During the football and probably other Games time activities (Torch etc).

• www.volunteercentrenewcastle.org.uk/ volunteer/olympics.php

Local leaders

• A way of celebrating the Games.

• For individuals or companies.

• Get ideas and tools.

• Line the streets, social activities.

• Doesn’t allow access to the brand.

• www.London2012.com

Other opportunities

• Get Set - for 3 to 19 year olds.

• www.getset.london2012.com

• Cultural Olympiad.

• Football tickets back on sale in April.

• www.tickets.london2012.com

• Healthier lifestyle schemes.

On your marks...

• Follow us on Twitter: @NE2012Games.

• Like us on Facebook: North East for 2012 Games.

• www.NorthEastfor2012Games.com - coming soon.

• Sign up for e-bulletins - One North East or via the website.

• Send us your events.

Festivals & events

Carol Bell, Head of Culture and Major Events

Cake Britain 2012:

• Opening weekend of Eat! (13 - 14 July).

• 2012 cakes that represent the best of Britain.

• Saltwell Park.

• Local engagement / National profile.

EAT! NewcastleGateshead (13 - 29 July)

Eat! Big weekend

• 27 - 29 July.

• One of the biggest outdoor markets.

• Increased footfall in Town Centre.

• Links with retail - Fenwick, Eldon Square.

• Encourage visitors who come for football to say longer.

Bridges Festival (4 - 5 August)

• Celebration of Newcastle as an Olympic Host City.

• Encourage visitors who come for football to say longer.

• Creating a festival feel & sense of pride across NewcastleGateshead.

• Great opportunities for businesses to benefit by getting involved.

Juice Festival (24 Oct - 4 Nov)

• Celebration of NewcastleGateshead.

• Opportunities to attract VFR Market.

• Creating a real festival feel in the city.

• Celebration of the creativity of young people.

• Making the most of our cultural assets.

Winter Festival (24 Nov - 31 Dec)

• Promotion of NewcastleGateshead’s seasonal offer.

• Creation of unique events:

– Enchanted Parks (Saltwell Park).

– New Year’s Eve Carnival Parade.

• Both attracted record numbers.

Opportunities

• Join-in to ensure your business benefits from increased visitors.

• Promote these activities through your own marketing networks.

• Sponsor events.

• Encourage staff to volunteering.

• Tell your colleagues friends and family.

• Access to and use of the NewcastleGateshead Cultural Planning Calendar.

Business Tourism

Adrian Evans, Senior Business Tourism Manager

Current position: 2011-2012

• Enquiry value circa £4m.

• Accommodation bookings up by over 15% vs. 2010.

• CB of the Year nomination.

• Identified gaps for 2012/13.

• Confident of short lead time business.

Profile increased:Record participation in new Conference Guide.

Record partners:Confex 2012 sees best ever participation.

Opportunities

• IMEX 2012, Frankfurt.

• EIBTM 2012, Barcelona.

• Trade magazine supplement.

• Discover NewcastleGateshead.

• 2 x Creative Conferencing mailing.

• Ambassador events.

Moving forward in partnership

• Currently we have 169 active partners.

• Estimated nearly 250 sales and events staff.

• Innovation rather than budget.

• Increasingly competitive market place nationally.

Future concerns:2012 -2013 will be a challenging year.

Opportunities:With shorter lead times there is still time to attract the right business.

• Presuming we know best.

• Additional expertise.

• Rejuvenate the events we do.

• Think about our target market.

• Nurture existing contacts.

• Entrepreneurial approach.

• Raise destination profile.

“Partners in success”

NewcastleGateshead 2.0

Steven Gibson, Senior Marketing & Communications Manager

Progress so far…

Website:• Unique visitors per month up 144%.

(Jan 2010: 32k / Jan 2012: 78k).

• Total site visits per month up 100%.(Jan 2010: 47k / Jan 2012: 94k).

SEO / PPC:• Ranked 1st for host of key terms. • Google trusted site.• PPC campaign integrated with SEO.

Social networks:• Facebook: 2,100 likes.• Twitter: 2,300 followers.• LinkedIn: 800+ members.

Data management:• New CRM in place to deliver dynamic &

tailored e-comms.

E-comms:• Total email subscriptions up 108%.

(Jan 2010: 48k / Jan 2012: 100k).

Opportunities for you:

1. Help us promote you effectively:•Product records.•Imagery and video.•Events.

2. Engage with our digital platforms:•Our Blog.•Monthly emails.•Social networks.

3. Be proactive & think of us:•Banner advertising.•Hotel bookings.•Restaurant bookings.

Help us promote you effectively

Product records:•Check and update your information regularly.•Business tourism records are separate.

Imagery and video:•Provide us with good quality images.•We can embed video onto our site.•You can access FREE images in our Media section.

Event promotion:•Send us your event details and imagery.•Our listings feed directly on to other sites.

Engage with our digital platforms

Blog:•Develop ideas for content .

• Give previews & behind the scenes tours.

E-comms:•Offer competition prizes.•Put forward special offers & deals.

Social networks:•We are active on:

–Facebook (NewcastleGateshead).–Twitter (@altweet_pet).

• Join our LinkedIn group:Connected: NewcastleGateshead.

Be proactive & think of us

Banner advertising:•Now get 500k impressions across our site:

– Gold partners: £428– Silver partners: £465– Bronze partners: £500

Hotel bookings:• Any commission is reinvested in the destination.• Widgets available for integration with large events

& relevant websites.

Restaurant bookings:• Online table bookings using ‘Toptable’ &

‘GoingOutUK’.

Discover deals & special offers

Changes to Discover Pass

Back to basics:• Add value to the visitor experience.

• Generate additional income for partner organisations.

• Educate as many people as possible to do new things in the area.

• Collect consumer data.

Our aim:

To create the online hub for special offers in NewcastleGateshead.

What are the benefits?

• Offers are FREE to download.

• Meets a change in consumer habits.

• Increases exposure of your offer.

• Online vouchers are measurable.

• More flexible around offer dates.

• Integrates with VisitEngland’s 2012 campaign.

We need your offers

Suggestions:• Buy one get one free / Children go free.

• Free entry.

• 20.12% or better discount.

• Deals (e.g. two for one or three for two).

What to do next:1. Complete our sign up form.

2. Send it back to us before close of play tomorrow (FAO Roisin Cook).

3. Email us a relevant image and company logo (to discoverpass@ngi.org.uk).

SIGNUP

NOW!

National marketing & Pocket Guide

Tina Snowball, Director of Marketing & Communications

National campaign:

Campaign proposals - Pocket Guide

• Showcase the very best of our destination.

• Inform visitors of the range of things to see and do.

• An informative and practical guide.• Encourage visitors and local residents to

make the most of destination.• Generate business for the advertisers

and businesses listed in the guide.

Activity in hand - international:

• Holland. • Ireland.• Norway.

Media activity and visits

Imagery area:

23.6cm wide x 9cm high

Kathie Wilcox, Senior Marketing & Communications Manager

Making headlines

• Media relations.

• Pitching the story.

• Bringing the destination to life.

• Making it easy: media packs, images, footage, events listings, itineraries, etc.

• Working with partners; cross-promoting stories and news.

“Hipster capital of the North East”

Toon breaks into Expedia Top Ten destinations

Turner Prize pulls in record crowds

Sizzling summer of celebrations

20.12 is GREAT

Media visits

What works:

• Fast and flexible response.

• Exclusive access, tours and experiences.

• Meeting real people - not just ‘suits’.

• Seamless service - from enquiry, to visit, to coverage.

“We’ve built a strong and mutually beneficial relationship which can only come from actually seeing a place and meeting the personalities behind the press releases.”

Janet Watson, freelance travel writer.

Get involved

• Ask for help with your media visit ideas and opportunities.

• Put forward hosts and ambassadors.

• Highlight foreign language speakers or ‘experts’.

• Update on your news and stories.

• Give us ‘stuff’! Free rooms, free meals, free tickets...

• Make the most of a visiting journalist and make sure they remember your business.

Visitor information & partnership

Cath Hindle, Head of Development

Visitor information

Information partners:

• Based in areas of high visitor footfall.

• Additional profile and customers.

• Flexible offer.

• Digital information as well as face to face.

Partner updates

• Thursday, 21 June (8.30am - 10.00am).

• Thursday, 18 October(8.30am - 10.00am).

Venues TBC.

Open to all partners.

Imagery area:

1 image at 7.86cm wide x 10cm high

Business leaders’ briefing

• Wednesday, 18 April(9am - 10.30am)@ Marriott Metrocentre.

• Wednesday, 12 September(9am - 10.30am)@ Copthorne Newcastle.

Open to Gold and Silver level partners.

Imagery area:

1 image at 7.86cm wide x 10cm high

Welcome to NewcastleGateshead

Induction evenings:

• Tuesday, 13 March (6.00pm – 8.00pm).

• Tuesday, 9 October(6.00pm – 8.00pm).

A warm welcome to NewcastleGateshead and the work of our partnership.

Open to all partners.

Distribution 2012

• The biggest B2B tourism showcase in the North East.

• Your last chance to find out what’s happening in 2012 and to shout about what you are doing.

• Friday, 16 March(11.00am - 1.00pm) @ Newcastle Centre for Sport.

Celebrating

Leap into local produce for 2012

• Tuesday, 29 February (11am - 5pm) @ Marriott Metrocentre.

Discover quality local producers and create a showcase for regional food in your business in 2012.

Imagery area:

1 image at 7.86cm wide x 10cm high

Partnership 2012

• Partnership pack.

• 5% prompt payment discount.

• Key contacts.

• Get involved!

Thank you