Joint marketing plan proposed to increase footfall at Tavistock |

Tavistock City Council has welcomed plans to create a co-ordinated approach to marketing and promoting the town with the aim of increasing its tourist numbers.

There are exciting proposals underway to create a marketing partnership between the City Council, the Tavistock Heritage Trust and the City’s BID.

Currently, the city is promoted through a range of organizations, all of which have limited budgets for marketing activities.

Any funding they have is used by these individual organizations or groups according to their specific needs.

Tavistock BID focuses on promoting business and boosting trade in the city, supporting major event-based activities like Dickensian Night and the annual Goose Fair,

Tavistock Heritage Trust promotes the new Guildhall Gateway Center and Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site and Tavistock Town Council promotes the town and uses its property portfolio.

Other agencies such as West Devon Borough Council, Visit Dartmoor and Visit Tamar Valley promote the town to the wider area.

The move is being led by Tavistock Heritage Trust, which said in a report to Council that Tavistock currently had no destination marketing plan to improve visitor numbers and lacked a multi-agency agreement on a package of objectives and the central control of marketing. budget to achieve common goals, which this new proposal aims to rectify.

Individually, the three organizations did not have the staff or the resources to fund and conduct a marketing campaign.

The establishment of a City Marketing Fund would see contributions from these organizations of £5,000 each from the BID and City Council and £3,000 from the Heritage Trust. A freelance social media assistant would develop a cohesive online presence for the city.

Geri Parlby, Chair of the Tavistock Heritage Trust: “We are delighted that this proposal has been well received. Nothing has been officially agreed yet and we are still in the early stages, but we are really looking forward to discussing and developing a marketing plan in the coming weeks.

The Heritage Trust believes that Tavistock needs this comprehensive destination marketing plan that integrates the messages of these different organizations.

With a combined marketing strategy and budget, a powerful and targeted new vision can then promote the city, they said, in addition to significantly increasing attendance, helping local businesses and increasing property income. owned by the council, thereby stimulating the local economy.

Now that this proposal has been well received, it must be finalized and confirmed at a meeting in a few weeks.

Andy Hutton, Mayor of Tavistock, said: “We want to make Tavistock an even greater town for locals and visitors. When jointly managed and coordinated, we can announce and organize events together for the benefit of all. As an information hub, the Guildhall can also direct people to local shops, cafes and restaurants, ensuring everyone has a great time.

IDB head Janna Sanders reiterated that these were early days and that all people within organizations had to agree to a collaborative plan that met all of their needs, but she said Tavistock had the potential to attract visitors from home counties and further afield because it had something for everyone.

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