Tourism Development Overview

Introduction

North Norfolk District Council has over a long period of time recognised the importance of tourism to the local economy and community. This recognition is reflected in the long-standing role of the Council as a provider of facilities such as tourism marketing, tourist information centres, beach lifeguards, street cleaning, provision of public toilets, parks and gardens, Cromer Pier and Pavilion Theatre. A new North Norfolk Tourism Strategy is being developed which links into the Council’s Economic Development Strategy. While it incorporates issues evolving around the tourism industry, it will also take strides to cover issues which address/involve all tourism stakeholders, including visitors, the industry, the community and the environment.

The Importance of Tourism to North Norfolk

• The prosperity and welfare of North Norfolk and its community is irrevocably linked to the success of its tourism sector.
• Tourist expenditure, recorded as an export measure, contributes an estimated £391 million to the economy, underpinning 8,500 jobs. 72% of these jobs are provided directly as a result of visitor spend activity, with the remainder being supported indirectly through tourism business linkages, and through the resultant expenditure of employees on local goods and services.
• Moreover, the cross-cutting nature of tourism means that these effects are felt on a whole range of employment and economic activities over and above the ‘front-facing’ accommodation and attraction enterprises normally associated with the hospitality industry, namely:
  
  • the arts and crafts, with the visitors actually promoting this sector as they look for unique and locally produced goods or experiences, or whereby specific traditional skills are employed for the preservation and conservation of important heritage sites that are supported by visitor spend and entrance fees;
  • leisure, through the pursuit of activities that have a participation fee such as golf, sailing, tennis, swimming, and other such sports;
  • retail, through the purchase of clothes, gifts, specialist products such as antiques and arts and crafts, more general consumables, and food and drink for consumption off-site. Tourism can particularly sustain and improve the viability of markets and local shops that could otherwise struggle if reliant on the local population alone;
  • catering, particularly pubs and restaurants in more vulnerable locations such as small villages in rural surroundings that have limited local markets;
  • transport, with both day visitors and overnight visitors who use local transport helping to support routes that are a valuable resource for local residents that otherwise may have no other means of travel;
  • agriculture, through the sale of produce to local businesses, and increasingly through helping farmers diversify their income through accommodation provision or opening up as attractions/activities;
  • construction, through both maintenance works and new build developments that specifically cater for the visitor market;
  • Real Estate, through land and property purchase specifically for tourism enterprises, and through second home ownership.

Partnership

Tourism is an industry in which partnership is essential. Between the decision to make a visit and the return home, a visitor will use a multitude of suppliers, many which are small and independent and may not be considered – or consider themselves – tourism businesses (EETB Tourism Strategy 2000–2010).

Norfolk Tourism

Norfolk Tourism is the county's established public and private industry partnership.  Funded by its 55 partner organisations, the partnership is designed to act as a forum for all Norfolk's tourism businesses and local authorities.

The Norfolk Image Library provides images free of charge for non-commercial use.  

Visit Norfolk Tourism Quality Training offers a one-stop shop for information on training and mentoring opportunities available for tourism businesses in the county.  Find out more about new training schemes, guidance on fire and food and hygiene regulations, information on the quality grading schemes, and the One2One mentoring service – find out how to improve the quality of your offer by booking a confidential assessment of your business.  

North Norfolk Tourism Forum

In recognition of the importance of tourism as an industry in the District, the North Norfolk Tourism Forum was the first sector round table established by North Norfolk Business Forum (NNBF) which is intended to be the voice of tourism locally and to influence how the Council spends its limited budget on tourism. Money will also be passed through NNBF to the group in order to deliver actions where appropriate.  All partners around the table bring their own particular skills and interests but have a common purpose, a better tourism industry in North Norfolk.

Conclusion

The tourism industry in North Norfolk is almost entirely dependent upon the high quality of the District’s natural and built environment, and will continue to be so. Tourism is such an important component of the District’s activity and economy, that if we are to move towards sustainable growth of the industry, or at least maintain share of the present market, it is essential that business efficiency (alongside the development of new products and services) is addressed through the economic development function. What is needed is action across a broad front to generate and sustain quality employment.

Looking to the future, there is no reason why further adaptation and growth should not be possible. In economists’ jargon, spending on leisure and travel is ‘income-elastic’ – in other words, as people become more affluent they spend a higher proportion of their income on things such as leisure and proportionately less on basics such as food. Potentially, there is enough room in the market for both rising foreign travel and rising domestic tourism.