The Tourism Scrutiny Inquiry Panel met on 17 November 2014 to consider the impact report of the Tourism scrutiny inquiry which concluded in June 2013. The purpose of this meeting was to assess the impact of the report and its recommendations. The panel’s role was to assess what has changed since the report was presented to Cabinet, whether the agreed recommendations had been implemented and what had been the impact of the inquiry.
The Panel were pleased to see the completion of the Destination Management Plan and recognised the importance of it being a living document and were encouraged to see Tourism being more widely recognised as a cross cutting issue.
The Panel were interested to hear about the refocusing of marketing activity this year from the FA Premier League to Dylan Thomas Centenary events and celebrations and how this has been successful in reaching out internationally. It was further agreed that it is very important to be more ‘out there’ digitally. After the investment in the website we are encouraged to see that the online success in the number of online visits and particularly unique visitors to the website increasing dramatically.
One important aim of the meeting was to find out how much impact the inquiry had had. To this end the panel was pleased that the report had made a useful contribution to an important debate about the Tourism in Swansea. They were particularly pleased to hear that the inquiry had contributed to the Destination Management Plan moving forward particularly in relation to developing a cross cutting approach across the council and with stakeholders more widely. They were also encouraged to hear that the review was found to be comprehensive in nature and a positive experience which has resulted in the momentum moving forward.
Overall the Panel were pleased that the majority of recommendations had been completed and were satisfied that the work of the Panel can now be concluded.
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