Harrogate Borough Council spent £2,224,000 on Destination Harrogate in its first year operating — almost a million pounds more than budgeted, figures reveal.
The council’s draft statement of accounts, which will be discussed at a meeting this evening, lists income and expenditure for the year ending March 31, 2022.
Destination Harrogate was officially launched as the council’s destination management organisation last year.
It has four streams aimed at promoting tourism, hosting events, bringing in investment and supporting culture and was launched amid concerns the authority had a “fragmented” approach to tourism and marketing.
Its campaigns have focused on promoting the district as a health and wellbeing destination to capitalise on Harrogate’s spa town heritage.
Campaigns in 2021 included ‘Destination Christmas’, which saw a giant helter skelter installed in the town. In summer 2022, the organisation helped organise a four-day celebration on the Stray for the Queen’s platinum jubilee.
Destination Harrogate’s website also provides details about how businesses can invest in the district, including at the new Harrogate West Business Park on Burley Bank Road.
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The report found the organisation generated £342,000 in income during 2021/22 and there was an overall net spend of £1,942,000.
However, it says the authority spent an additional £946,000 more than budgeted.
As reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service last week, the council paid out £220,000 in exit packages last year with the majority due to the Destination Harrogate restructure that merged marketing teams at Visit Harrogate and Harrogate Convention Centre.
A council spokesperson said:
Head appointed to lead new Harrogate district tourism body“Aside from investment to premises, funded through reserves, much of the expenditure during the destination management organisation’s early stages was in staffing the new service to ensure the organisation was fit for purpose and suitably flexible to respond to changing customer expectations/market developments and seasonal demand.
“While the 2021 restructure enabled the right mix of skills and experience to be in place to deliver the destination management organisation’s vision and strategy, the new service was no greater in size, in terms of employees, staffing costs or departmental budget than the previous service that it replaced.
“Prior to March 31 2022 the destination management organisation launched a new events bureau, Events Harrogate, and implemented successful marketing activity to increase awareness of the Harrogate district as a visitor destination and boost subsequent visitor expenditure – for example, the award-winning Destination Christmas campaign in 2021.
“Industry data shows that visitors to the Harrogate district were staying longer and spending more money with local businesses in 2021 than they did prior to the pandemic.
“Throughout 2022, Destination Harrogate delivered a wealth of successful events to bring more visitors into the Harrogate district, alongside successful marketing campaigns promoting the district as a first choice health and wellbeing destination, destination for garden-themed holidays and Christmas destination.
“In addition to visitor-facing marketing campaigns, the destination management organisation has also, through Events Harrogate, been working to bring more events into the district, while Invest Harrogate continues to attract inward investment in the district to encourage long-term growth in the economy. We can look forward to further successful outcomes for Destination Harrogate as we move forward into 2023 and beyond.”
A new head of destination management has been appointed by Harrogate Borough Council.
Gemma Rio will create a new destination management organisation (DMO) for the Harrogate district, driving tourism among both leisure and business visitors.
The DMO will bring together Visit Harrogate, Harrogate Convention Centre’s marketing team, and the district’s tourist information centres. It will work with other public and business organisations including HBC, Harrogate BID and Think Harrogate, as well as sector-specific groups including Harrogate Hospitality and Tourism Association.
Gemma Rio, Harrogate Borough Council’s new head of destination marketing
Ms Rio, who joins HBC from Tees Valley Combined Authority, will take up the new role in early October. She said:
“The Harrogate district is home to some genuinely excellent visitor experiences and I’m delighted to have the opportunity to establish its new destination management organisation to ensure those experiences attract more and more high-spending visitors.
“This is undoubtedly a challenging time for the visitor economy but there are already promising signs of recovery in the Harrogate district, with the Visit Harrogate website seeing record web traffic in recent months.
“I’m looking forward to supporting the sector in navigating these uncertain times, maximising the opportunity in increased domestic travel, and preparing for what we hope will be a robust 2021 spring/summer season.”
‘Not financially sustainable’
Visit Harrogate was established in 2013 as the district’s first DMO, funded through HBC as well as selling private advertising space on its website and brochures. In a report to HBC’s cabinet in September 2019, it was recommended to create a new DMO combining its functions with others including marketing of HCC, operating Tourism Information Centres and more. The report said:
“To maintain the current structures for Destination Marketing and Visitor Services is not recommended. There is a need to streamline and update the Tourist Information Centres, the Convention Centre future business strategy requires the development of a convention bureau and the current Visit Harrogate model is not financially sustainable.”
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Ms Rio’s experience at Tees Valley included establishing the area’s first destination marketing service in more than seven years, as well as successfully bidding for a significant group game of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. She has also developed a covid recovery programme for the Tees Valley visitor economy.
Prior to working in the North East, she worked at a senior level in an Australian economic development and destination management organisation. She also had roles in bringing business and leisure events to Townsville, North Queensland, to increase visitor expenditure in the area.
Paula Lorimer, director of Harrogate Convention Centre
Paula Lorimer, director of Harrogate Convention Centre, said:
“Gemma will bring a wealth of industry knowledge and experience having held leadership posts in destination marketing in Townsville Australia and as tourism manager at Tees Valley Combined Authority.
“I am sure the whole district will join me in welcoming Gemma and wish her every success here in Harrogate.”
A spokesperson from Harrogate Hospitality and Tourism Association said:
“Gemma’s appointment recognises the importance of a strong destination strategy for Harrogate district and can only be good news for the district’s hospitality sector, especially in the current economic climate.”