Convincing the Town Council to promote Tourism
This Monday 6th September 7:15 pm in the Town Hall, Queens Street, in the Council Chamber which is upstairs
We have run a very successful campaign with the public who are fully behind us in their wish to preserve a prestigious Tourist Information Centre and for the town to be better represented on the Internet.
The response from the commercial sector however has been very disappointing: only a handful of very concerned people attended the meeting 10 days ago; only one from accommodation and four from the shops in town.
Cllr James Airey will be addressing the councillors in their meeting this next Monday in order to persuade them to take action.
He needs support from every sector to help him convince some very stubborn councillors who wish to let matters just take their course without intervention.
The public however think very differently. Already 350 have signed a petition on Market Day mornings at the Market Cross. Over half of these want the Town council to raise their rates by between £5 and £20/year in order to fund support for the TIC and an effective web site. Many are coming to the above meeting as a result of an appeal by word of mouth and by post that arrived today, Friday.
If we are to convince the Councillors, we need as many people to be physically there at the meeting. This really is a very effective way of communicating and persuasion. You need only stop 15 mins though most I would have thought will want to listen to the debate between the councillors.
There is also the opportunity for the public to comment on the conclusions reached at the end of the meeting.
2 comments:
Why on earth are you bangin' on about tourism Geoff? As per usual you've got yourself all worked up about summat which most folk couldn't care less about!
People I talk to really do not give two rows of sheep s**t whether there is a TIC here or not,they see tourism as a total irrelevance to Ulverston. One comment I heard on Friday night, in the pub was "Why come here when the Lakes are nearby and more accesible?"
I'd hazard a guess that those getting their knickers in a twist are, by and large, offcomers such as your good self, who see the town as being "lake district" and just love the perceived kudos and "status" that goes with that tag. For them, tourism a la Windermere would enable them to say "O yes, we live somewhere desirable and rather posh." There's a kind of snobbery involved here.
The major downside of that is : if you market a town as somewhere attractive you not only attract tourists but also rather rich folk who buy property here, push up prices and condemn our kids to life on estates in Barrow & Dalton coz they simply can't afford to buy in their home town. Look at Hawkshead, Bowness, Keswick etc. Its already happening here.
Tourism brings few benefits to few people. How many more tea rooms (?!!) do we need in town, how many more staff can you fit behind the pub bars, where are you going to site the Ulverston Holiday Inn to accommodate tourists?
In my (ever so) 'umble opinion this town suffers because it cannot make up its mind if its a tourist town or a town that wants to thrive off industry and proper, 40 hours a week, well paid jobs. It suffers because people such as those who signed your petition would move heaven and earth to have this once cracking town classed as being in the same league and having that air of "exclusivity" that lake district towns "enjoy."
Do summat really useful Geoff and throw your indisputable energy behind attracting INDUSTRY here. And if your "lakes set" really can't put up with the sight of flat caps, mucky overalls and proper factories in the town, then they can up sticks and pee off to Keswick where they really want to belong anyway.
Sorry, but I do feel very strongly about this.
You may be surprised, Paul, but I agree with a lot of the sentiments that you express.
In no way would I wish for Ulverston to become a 'tourist attraction'in the way Bowness, Ambleside, Keswick etc have become.
The attraction of Ulverston is because it is not a 'tourist' town and because it is not in the Lakes.
I'm passionate about this because I've run a business for 15 years that attracted what I called discerning tourists.
I was fully booked for most of the year which meant that there was a steady flow of people visiting the area and not just in school holidays. These people often had money to spend - I wasn't cheap - nowadays many of them would be earning £50,000. They loved places like Birkrigg, South Walney, Beacon Tarn, the Duddon Valley. They would support activities like a Poem and a Pint, walk the Cistercian Way to Furness Abbey. They enjoyed Smith and Harrisons and our pubs where they got talking to people.
Unlike the visitors to the Dickensian Festival, they didn't come just for the day but the week or fortnight.
These kind of people can make a real difference to the local economy especially if there are quality shops like Rhubarb and Custard, the doll house maker, Appleseeds with their specialist knowledge and eating places like the Stan Laurel. The old Greatrex Model shop was a great draw.
They provide jobs for those providing the service and for those creative enough to run an interesting business.
They are attracted to the area first by the Internet and their first port of call when they arrive is the TIC.
True we need to attract manufacturing businesses they are another important part of the jigsaw.
As in real life nowadays we need as many strings to our bow as possible and quality arrows to hit the mark of survival.
I'm just focussed on one of them:
One I'm familiar with.
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