Tourists Flock To Islands In Midst Of Recession

[Freggyragh]

There is a constant trickle of tourists / academics who come here for the traditional language and culture all year round. I have met three Americans in the last fortnight who have come here specifically to study the language.

[manshimajin]

I think we all agree that the Steam Packet have to play there part in attracting tourism, will they? that is the question, but if any potential visitors read out blogs here it could also just put them off.

All the more reason for keeping the discussion going. There is so much potential to improve access for tourists. We do have a lot to offer too.

[Frances]

There is a constant trickle of tourists / academics who come here for the traditional language and culture all year round. I have met three Americans in the last fortnight who have come here specifically to study the language.

there are also quite a number who come to research their family history - I usually see or hear several from futher afield than UK each week whilst working in museum.

[VinnieK]

There is a constant trickle of tourists / academics who come here for the traditional language and culture all year round.

 

True, though in the case of academics I'm not sure how this fits in with the general discussion. Most if not all of those will be over on research grants which pay their expenses, and I don't imagine that steam packet prices really factor in the allocation of these (especially since I suspect that most fly). Also, wouldn't the main draw for them be the facilities on offer (access to museum archives and records, language resources, the centre for Manx studies, etc.) rather than the contemporary culture and lifestyle?

 

Interestingly, Skye seems to have been enjoying a nice little line in academic conferences for a while now (in disciplines unrelated to Skye's history or culture) that brings in a fair number of people each year or so. Unfortunately we can't offer the same thing since the funding bodies are probably not going to support hosting such events outside of the UK or EU.

[bluemonday]

Just had lunch at the Terminus.

A fairly large group were avidly photographing the trams and trains - in the rain.

Something ( trams on the prom in particular ) we sometimes see as a nuisance has enough appeal to draw visitors.

[kevster]

Just had lunch at the Terminus.

A fairly large group were avidly photographing the trams and trains - in the rain.

Something ( trams on the prom in particular ) we sometimes see as a nuisance has enough appeal to draw visitors.

 

Probably something to do with the Manx Heritage Transport Festival (30th July - 5th August)

All available horse trams are on static display at the Terminus today.

[Frances]

Interestingly, Skye seems to have been enjoying a nice little line in academic conferences for a while now (in disciplines unrelated to Skye's history or culture) that brings in a fair number of people each year or so. Unfortunately we can't offer the same thing since the funding bodies are probably not going to support hosting such events outside of the UK or EU.

One of the perks I looked forward to as an academic some 30 years ago were the annual NATO summer schools (in computing not soldiery!) - 10days to 2 weeks in some isolated French or Italian chateau with good food, not always so good accomodation but with another 80 or some academics, often top in their profession (along with a few visiting spooks on 'recruiting drives') all discussing the latest research and bringing you upto date with current research - the larger hotels dating from the Victorian highland craze days with some modern conference facilites attached sound a worthy competitor. The Island doesn't really have any similar sized conference centres though at one time it did attract quite a number of trades union congresses.

[thebees]

There is a constant trickle of tourists / academics who come here for the traditional language and culture all year round. I have met three Americans in the last fortnight who have come here specifically to study the language.

 

 

The medieval scripture lot? What lovely people.

[manshimajin]

In fairness the results for the IOMSPC are almost up to last year's numbers as of end June:

 

Passengers: 281,779 (+2.4%)

 

Vehicles: 86,067 (-1.3%)

[VinnieK]

One of the perks I looked forward to as an academic some 30 years ago were the annual NATO summer schools (in computing not soldiery!) - 10days to 2 weeks in some isolated French or Italian chateau with good food... The Island doesn't really have any similar sized conference centres though at one time it did attract quite a number of trades union congresses.

 

Aberdeen organize a yearly (I think) week long international maths conference in Skye complete with whiskey tasting evenings and a ceilidh (I dread to think what that looks like). Even with conference facilities, I'm not sure we'd get the support from bodies like EPSRC, NSF, and the LMS who are essential in funding things like transport and accomodation. It's a pity really, because otherwise I'd have thought we're in quite a good geographical position for things like academic conferences for people from the UK and Ireland - sure it requires a flight or a ferry, but it beats trundling along on a train for hours and having to eat the godawful food and accomodation made available by most university catering services. Having said that, I may be biased as I despise conferences and would do anything to have the chance to slip off home instead of standing around making small talk in a conference room!

[manshimajin]

It looks as if the number of conferences here has been slipping - or maybe the data base is not kept up to date?

Past, Present, Future Conferences

IMO whilst conferences are nice to have the competition is fierce. Unless we have a very dedicated marketing effort to attract them to the IOM we are not a 'natural' venue because of the access issues.

 

Maybe the DoTL needs to focus its efforts on general tourism from the British Isles and Europe (where, as some UK regional tourism authorities have discovered, they speak languages other than English....)

[VinnieK]

It looks as if the number of conferences here has been slipping - or maybe the data base is not kept up to date?

 

That doesn't actually look that bad though. 2009 has been a bad year it seems, but the schedule for 2010 looks like the numbers of actual delegates are up compared with previous years.

 

Maybe the DoTL needs to focus its efforts on general tourism from the British Isles and Europe (where, as some UK regional tourism authorities have discovered, they speak languages other than English....)

 

Sure, but isn't that kind of the problem we're already discussing (as a sideline to the main thread on steampacket prices)? More to the point is how the Island does this, and what we can reasonably expect from such efforts. I'd say that the DoTL is already targeting the UK market with those "Island Lives" adverts where they show people skipping through glens and whatnot. I could be wrong, but I get the sense that none of us are really 100% sure what we want from tourism on the Island.

 

The government say we're getting something in the region of 100,000 visitors (I have no idea what this represents in terms of how much tourism contributes to the economy). The questions that I think need to be asked are, is this a satisfactory level of visitors and what would we like in terms of tourism? We should also ask if what we want from tourism is actually possible, and if so, how can it be achieved/what kind of return could we expect on investing heavily in tourism?

 

I think it's important to be realistic in these kinds of discussions and recognise that our tourist industry does face something of an uphill battle. For scenery and the whole natural environment angle we've got places like the West Country, the Lake and Peak Districts, and areas of Scotland and Wales to compete with. As for the whole celtic wonderland/unique culture image we're up against Scotland (particularly the highland areas and Islands), Wales, and Ireland. The important thing to remember about such competition is that such holiday destinations are very versatile. A holiday in Ireland for instance could incorporate a few days enjoying the bustle and atmosphere of Dublin, spend a bit of time visiting a quaint village and enjoying the rural aspects, and take in things like museums and the history. That's a pretty big advantage and not to be dismissed lightly. All too often discussions regarding the Island's tourism industry focus entirely on what we have to offer, and yes we do have a fair bit, but crucially they sometimes neglect the issue of what potential tourists actually want and how well our Island can meet with such expectations.

[cassettiespagetie]

Just had lunch at the Terminus.

A fairly large group were avidly photographing the trams and trains - in the rain.

Something ( trams on the prom in particular ) we sometimes see as a nuisance has enough appeal to draw visitors.

 

 

Quite a few were taking pictures of the oldish bus we were on down there...

[Freggyragh]

There is a constant trickle of tourists / academics who come here for the traditional language and culture all year round.

 

True, though in the case of academics I'm not sure how this fits in with the general discussion. Most if not all of those will be over on research grants which pay their expenses, and I don't imagine that steam packet prices really factor in the allocation of these (especially since I suspect that most fly). Also, wouldn't the main draw for them be the facilities on offer (access to museum archives and records, language resources, the centre for Manx studies, etc.) rather than the contemporary culture and lifestyle?

.

 

Only one was on a research grant and they were all here to meet fluent speakers. Non EU status does rule us out from holding a lot of potential conferences, but shouldn't be too much of an issue for Americans.

[VinnieK]

Only one was on a research grant and they were all here to meet fluent speakers. Non EU status does rule us out from holding a lot of potential conferences, but shouldn't be too much of an issue for Americans.

 

There's a difference though between research funding and conference funding. An academic can get funding to travel and use the facilities of another country if their project depends on it (this will probably be how the Centre for Manx Studies funds some of its research and activities over here), but conference funding consists of a funding body stumping up all or part of the cash for accomodation and travel for speakers and some attendies and for the facilities. For anything other than manx studies and related disciplines, in which we'll pretty much always get only a trickle (since it's a comparitively minor area of study at the moment), it's hard to think of a decent justification for funding this kind of thing.