Inovative Ways To Improve Tourism On Mann?

[Gladys]

you're still not making yourself clear.

 

Are you trying to say that if we sold cheap booze and cigs people would come to the airport / seaport just because of that and go home again ?

 

wouldn't happen because of too many reasons some of which include VAT, cost of transport here, aeroplanes can only carry so much weight, fat bloke at the airport would drink all the booze and smoke all the tabs before he let you off the Island again, etc etc

 

Getting people here is the key to tourism. - Cambon for Minister of Stating the Bleeding Obvious!!!!

Basically, yes. People in England/ UK cross the channel on a daily basis for this sort of thing. Ferrys from Portsmouth, plymouth etc. do trips to Spain (24 hours there, 12 hours in port, 24 hours back) just so people can get cheap fags.

 

As for VAT etc. all it would be is an extention of what happens at the Freeport.

 

People cross the channel to go to the hypermarkets and stock up on booze there. The boats don't really carry bargains. The IOM needs the VAT income, so duty free other than in a very small way is unlikely, I don't think it is possible in any case as travellers will be moving within the same VAT area.

[The Bastard]

The IOM could succeed, but it needs investment and marketing to exploit niche markets effectively.

 

The naysayers will always run it down, without understanding why the market is different - "Why would people go to Florida when they could go to Blackpool Pleasure Beach ?", "Why go to the Caribbean when it's cheaper to go to Skegness ?" etc. etc.

[Mike]

Has anyone mentioned a monorail yet? - Or an escalator to nowhere perhaps?

 

-

 

 

 

 

I think Hazell Hannan beat you to the monorail idea Albert!

 

 

 

P.s. Is that her on the right ?

 

Nope, that was Tim Crookall, who turned up for election night wearing a stripey suit, twirling a cane & singing 'Monorail, Monorail, MONORAILLLL!!!' all the way to the Keys. Come on Tim, Thats the only reason why Peel voted you in! Where's our monorail?

[Grianane]

A few years ago one of our MHK's, think it was David Martin, came up with an idea for a road tunnel from England to the IOM.

 

Now there's a thought.

[Mike]

There's a clue to why he's no longer an MHK there, I think

[Langweilig]

It's all very well talking about this activity and that activity, but surely if we are talking about bringing visitors over, we have to decide some very basic points first?, namely:

• Is tourism on the island realistic? - especially given the opportunities people have to travel elsewhere on the same (or less) budget in the UK? i.e. why should people pay extra to come here - when the same facilities are available usually via a (much cheaper) train/car ride away?
  
• Are we just paying lip-service to tourism - is it just a nostalgic discussion - when we could perhaps concentrate on diversifying the existing economy by attracting different businesses?
  
• If tourism is a realistic prospect - then what is the 'minimum' number of visitors that are required per year to retain a tourist infrastructure on the island (hotels etc.) e.g. is it 0.5 million, 1 million or X million additional visitors? What percentage of GDP should it be? - i.e. set a target.
  
• What activities are likely to encourage that number of visitors?
  
• What can we do here, that others cannot easily replicate in the UK, or that we can do as well or better, but which justifies the extra expense of coming here for that activity
  

Many of these ideas like dry ski-slopes etc. are all very well, but IMO I wouldn't invest my own money on such schemes, as I consider them unrealistic business propositions. People do have facilities in the UK (I learned to ski on one myself). The reality is that people have better places and facilties to do these things in the UK e.g. the Lake District, Devon, Cornwall etc. In others words the UK has lots of sea and hills too!!! ...but no expensive ferry journey to get to them - which for the same price they could fly off and do their activities on the med coast. If there aren't too many facilities in the UK - you have to ask yourself why? - and you'll find the chances are the answer is that because they don't pay.

 

In answer to your first point -Tourism on the island lacks some realism. I for one am fed up with sitting about in airport departure lounges and going through numerous security checks. I go on holiday to take stacks of photos and I do not want to put my camera equipment on a plane only to never see it again on arrival. I'm sure there are many more like me who would prefer a short ferry journey to hours and hours of inconvenience in an airport. Those are the people you need to encourage.

 

Secondly - You are paying lip service to tourism. I was amazed at the number of luxury apartments that have sprung up in Douglas. One converted hotel, a cinema facade preserved for more apartments and yet more apartments in Central Promenade. All you seem to want now are the very wealthy-and lots of them. I'm sorry to say that the "Jewel of the Irish Sea" is now nothing more than a tax haven.

 

What activities are likely to encourage a considerable number of visitors? You say that you're the road racing capital of the world. Good! If it ain't broke don't fix it. The reason why I've travelled to the IOM is to see the Rally IOM. I found the final day at the TT grandstand very well organised and extremely enjoyable. If you look in the photographic press you may see photographic holidays advertised in the Scottish Highlands, Cumbria or Wales for example. So why not the Isle of Man?

 

What can you do that can't be replicated elsewhere? You need to actively promote the Manx language. I've seen it in its written form at Cregneash and on Peel fire station for example. But I've never heard it spoken. I've visited Cregneash fully expecting to see a little bearded man in one of the cottages, muttering and singing to himself in Manx. No chance! It must've been his day off. When you arrive at the sea terminal, the first thing you notice is the Triskelion flying from the tower of refuge, the Triskelion woven into the carpets in the the terminal and proudly flown from every flagpole on Douglas promenade - ditto: Peel, Port Erin and houses in Foxdale. That's what makes the difference.Oh yes Toto. We're not in Kansas anymore. Why not have the people of Duke Video produce DVD's on speaking the Manx language? Here's a major bone of contention. Change the name Isle of Man to the Manx Ellan Vannin. If it's good enough for car number plates then it's more than adequate for the whole island.

 

Tourists love things like the IOM Steam Railway, the Manx Electric Railway and the horse trams. Don't change these for any reason. I really enjoyed places like Laxey and Bride and Nairbyl Bay. You could do more by way of promotion though. I found the Waterfall Hotel at Glen Maye by complete accident. A superb place to eat and a great little scenic glen. I only found out about the Tynwald Mills shopping centre due to an entry in a guide book. I found Hizzy's Place because I was literally out chasing rainbows over Douglas Bay. Please do something about Jurby and Port Soderick. I visited both and nearly lost the will to live.

 

More investment is needed as far as the hotel, B&B industry is concerned. Some hotels in Douglas are either closed down or just run down altogether. It really is unsightly. I was amazed to find that The Carousel is no more.

 

Finally, encourage your Government to tell all the PC hand-wringers and the EU to go and knit fog and bring back the no-nonsense style of Manx law and order. I want to visit the Isle of Man to get away from drunken hoodie youths, not encounter more of them.

[Millman]

The Isle of Man now lacks the basic facilities to even keep its local populace entertained never mind any visitors. Money should be spent on this before wasting it on attracting tourists. We need:

- A decent small sized cinema Multiplex

- More medium \ large sized entertainment venues to supplement the Villa and replace Summerland and the Venue.

- More leisure facilities like a bowling alley (again we used to have one), ice rink, dry ski slope, better playgrounds, replacement for things like what used to be in Laxey glen gardens (boating lake), or down in the village like crazy golf, etc

- Better pubs. Cleaner, better run, offering good food and reasonably priced drinks.

- More cafes, and a better range of eating establishments (although this is pretty good).

- More and better run night clubs. Including youth night clubs like the cave used to hold.

- An indoor children's play area like the one that used to be in Summerland only better.

Over recent years developers have been allowed to scrap leisure facilities to build nothing but flats. The brewery has been allowed to close or run pubs into the ground, and precious little has been done to invest in any leisure facilities outside of the NSC and the Villa.

 

Compared to 20 years ago or even 5 years ago the leisure industry has seen a marked decline on the island. To the point at which a massive investment is now required, just to bring it upto acceptable modern standards found in other areas of Britain.

 

Action is needed to force investment. Areas should be zoned exclusively for leisure development (i.e the Ocean Ford area). Developers should not be allowed major housing developments unless they commit to separate leisure developments. Tax breaks should be granted to the building \ running of these facilities. The pub market should be opened up and competition should be encouraged.

 

All of this makes the whole Isle of Man experience better and provides much needed poor weather and nighttime facilities.

[manxman8180]

Many of your ideas are a bit 'horse and cart'. They may well have some merit, but what comes first, the visitors or extra facilites.

 

It is quite right to say that there are not enough facilites for people to make a visit to the Island worthwhile. However, who, in their right nmind is going to invest in the provision of first class tourist facilities (cafe, bar, cinema, crazy golf etc) when they do not have an active market to engage.

 

We are picking up the pieces from the fuckwits who were in power years ago. It would have been infinitely wiser to invest whilst we still had tourists, rather than throw money at it now, when the tourists are long gone and sadly, I fear, never to return.

 

A good portion of the current MLC's have watched the steady demise of such facilites, and the connected tourism and done exactly bugger all about it. Perhaps they should answer for their actions? Over reliance on our being the 'road racing capital of the world', which in itself is over zealous marketing mumbo jumbo, has cost us more than we could have ever realised.

 

Short Breaks are the only thing left for the Island. And frankly, unless you like quirky museums and quaint trams etc, you're going to be bored shitless if you come here. Unless, of course, you're 85 and it seems like a reasonable alternative to spending the weekend in your rocking chair knitting booties for your pet cat.

 

The ills of today lie firmly at the feet of yesterdays politicians. Tossers.

[Albert Tatlock]

So where does 'Branding' and 'Freedom to flourish' sit in all this? Things seem to have gone very quiet recently, plus there seems to be little information on the gov branding website - though you can still find the original branding reports on searching.

[Billsmurf]

Cheap air travel and ferry crossings and the people will come - maybe not for long holidays but certainly for weekend and short breaks.

 

I have not long returned from the Island after spending two weeks on holiday there.I would agree that, if it is possible fares to the Island be reduced but, also i noticed that there seems to be a lack of accomodation for what may be termed working class folks. This was my visit in well over twenty years, yet i still found places to go and things to do that i had never done before. As my son was with me with his car it made this possible.

Prior to crossing my son was saying that i should have gone to Spain but two hours after discharging in Douglas he had fallen in love with the Island and wishes to return next year as i do.There are a lot of lovely walks to be had on the Island and some wonderfull views. There is a wealth of history attached also. Maybe the time has come to start pushing this and the other good points of the Island, i.e. the Steam Railway,MER and the Horsetram.

I have only one critism,as a disabled person i find diffulculty walking when in the Glens, however this did not spoil my enjoyment of my time on the Island.

Bill

[cheeky boy]

Many of your ideas are a bit 'horse and cart'. They may well have some merit, but what comes first, the visitors or extra facilites.

 

It is quite right to say that there are not enough facilites for people to make a visit to the Island worthwhile. However, who, in their right nmind is going to invest in the provision of first class tourist facilities (cafe, bar, cinema, crazy golf etc) when they do not have an active market to engage.

 

We are picking up the pieces from the fuckwits who were in power years ago. It would have been infinitely wiser to invest whilst we still had tourists, rather than throw money at it now, when the tourists are long gone and sadly, I fear, never to return.

 

A good portion of the current MLC's have watched the steady demise of such facilites, and the connected tourism and done exactly bugger all about it. Perhaps they should answer for their actions? Over reliance on our being the 'road racing capital of the world', which in itself is over zealous marketing mumbo jumbo, has cost us more than we could have ever realised.

 

Short Breaks are the only thing left for the Island. And frankly, unless you like quirky museums and quaint trams etc, you're going to be bored shitless if you come here. Unless, of course, you're 85 and it seems like a reasonable alternative to spending the weekend in your rocking chair knitting booties for your pet cat.

 

The ills of today lie firmly at the feet of yesterdays politicians. Tossers.

 

 

The last year we had anything like mass tourism was our millenium in 1979, business declined rapidly after that and by 1984 the government only had a million quid in reserves.

So it was more a case of having nothing to invest rather than a lack of will to invest

 

I was brought up in a small hotel and even in the sixties when we had hundreds of thousands of visitors it was still necessary for many locals, including my dad, to find work in the UK during the winter

 

Even if we implemented some of the better suggestions on this forum, I doubt that tourism would ever generate anything like the income from the finance sector

[Gladys]

How long was the summer season? IIRC it was little more than three months (from TT week to end of August) with Glasgow Fair being the busiest (and most troublesome) time outside of TT week. It was a very short time to make your money for the whole year, which is why, as Cheeky Boy said, most people involved had to find alternative work over the long winter months. I doubt we will ever see tourism like that again, but niche markets have to be the way to go.

 

I would also argue that the Department of Tourism should be closed and a new marketing department set up to market the IOM in all its guises (tourism, sports, finance, exports, film, space, yacht and aircraft registries etc.) externally. You would hope this would achieve economies and also a consistent and coherent message to the outside world.

[VinnieK]

The ills of today lie firmly at the feet of yesterdays politicians. Tossers.

 

That's assuming that whatever facilities the government invested in would be enough for the Island to compete with low cost package holidays to parts of Europe that have better weather and are (or at least were at the time) more exotic destinations, which I doubt would have been the case. In hindsight it was probably wiser that the Government saved the money it had and concentrated on cultivating the finance sector instead of propping up an ailing industry that had been definitively undermined by the changes of the tourism market.

 

It's interesting that the issue of tourism attracts such a lot of attention, given that since the early 90's it's counted for about 6% of the economy, making it a fairly minor contributing industry. Indeed, scientific and professional services are stronger running at 12%, and I suspect efforts and resources would be better spent trying to encourage these businesses than trying to revitalise tourism, which I suspect would take more time and effort than it's worth.

[Max Power]

The ills of today lie firmly at the feet of yesterdays politicians. Tossers.

 

That's assuming that whatever facilities the government invested in would be enough for the Island to compete with low cost package holidays to parts of Europe that have better weather and are (or at least were at the time) more exotic destinations, which I doubt would have been the case. In hindsight it was probably wiser that the Government saved the money it had and concentrated on cultivating the finance sector instead of propping up an ailing industry that had been definitively undermined by the changes of the tourism market.

 

It's interesting that the issue of tourism attracts such a lot of attention, given that since the early 90's it's counted for about 6% of the economy, making it a fairly minor contributing industry. Indeed, scientific and professional services are stronger running at 12%, and I suspect efforts and resources would be better spent trying to encourage these businesses than trying to revitalise tourism, which I suspect would take more time and effort than it's worth.

 

The trouble with investing too much in one area is that it leaves us vunerable to any legislation changes which are beyond our control. Gordon Brown has finally announced that he will be chasing down the 'UK non dom's' in the near future for example!

 

I think that the suggestion which I made regarding the Motorsport venue would not take too much time and effort and would revitalise tourism, the infrastucture through private investment and the economy at a stroke!

[Gladys]

And the Conservatives have announced a £25K tax on non-doms for the privilege. Either way, it looks like that class of UK resident may be chucking more into the UK's coffers; scope for a few to move here?