Experience Oxfordshire Highlights Brochure 2021-22

2021/22

HIGHLIGHTS AWARD WINNING DESTINATION MANAGEMENT ACROSS OXFORDSHIRE

www.experienceoxfordshire.org

About Experience Oxfordshire Experience Oxfordshire is the official Destination Management Organisation (DMO) for Oxfordshire and is the trading arm of the parent charity, the Experience Oxfordshire Charitable Trust. We are a not-for-profit partnership organisation, committed to the promotion, management, and development of Oxfordshire as a great destination to live, work, visit and do business. We work with businesses and stakeholders to improve growth and productivity across the visitor economy and lead on destination management within the county, whilst ensuring that tourism works for everyone across Oxfordshire. We have a growing Partnership of businesses spanning all parts of the visitor economy and through effective collaboration are working to ensure that Oxfordshire is a worldrenowned destination of choice for tourism, culture and business.

2021-22: A Year of Transition On behalf of the Experience Oxfordshire Board of Directors and Trustees I would like to thank Hayley and her team for their continued hard work and commitment, in what has continued to be extremely challenging times. The DMO, as with so many businesses operating in the county, was severely impacted financially by the Covid-19 pandemic. The team rallied and, under Hayley’s leadership, has maximised every opportunity offered to promote the area appropriately to visitors and to champion the visitor economy to local and national decision makers. I am confident that, as international visitors return to the city and county in the coming months, the team will continue to provide high quality destination leadership for Oxfordshire.

Thanks, in addition, to my fellow board members for the time and support they have given over the past year to ensure Experience Oxfordshire’s ongoing and future success.

Joanna Davidson CBE, Chair of Experience Oxfordshire

Reflections on 2021-22 After a year during which the visitor economy, at home and internationally, was shattered by the effect of the global pandemic, the outlook for the new financial year was bleak. At Experience Oxfordshire we re-grouped, working through another extremely challenging year.

During that year, our role as the DMO for the county (destination management organisation) had focussed on providing business support: providing guidance, signposting funding streams and lobbying government for ongoing intervention. The Economic Impact Report for Tourism in Oxfordshire, a report commissioned

by Experience Oxfordshire, showed a staggering 59% decline in the value of tourism (from £2.5billion to £1billion) and a 51% decline in trip volume (from 30million in 2019 to 14.5million in 2020).

In April 2021, as the visitor economy set out on the road to recovery, Experience Oxfordshire shifted into promotional gear and began its work to build back the Oxfordshire brand. The team delivered five distinct, externally funded marketing campaigns, designed to build confidence and awareness amongst the domestic market and get the message out that Oxfordshire was open for business.

This high-performing activity was in addition to the businessas-usual ongoing stream of social media engagement the team delivers daily.

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Although most international trade events continued to be held online, Experience Oxfordshire, ensured that meetings were held with brokers for future visits (travel agents, event managers, group travel organisers, venue finders) from key markets and new ones too.

The team represented the visitor economy at local trade events, and as in-person business and leisure tourism exhibitions re-appeared in the diary the Experience Oxfordshire team ensured the county had high visibility.

As the external operating environment continued to shift in line with the ongoing pandemic and the arrival of new variants, Experience Oxfordshire kept its Partners involved and informed through a range of virtual events. Two successful in person events were held, when the team and Partners gathered at The New Theatre Oxford in August and Bicester Hotel Golf and Spa in February.

In the final quarter of the year, we saw a glimpse of how 2022 might evolve. Surveys of domestic consumers and Oxfordshire businesses, initiated by Experience Oxfordshire, showed a pent-up desire to travel, awareness and real interest in visiting Oxfordshire. Businesses, meanwhile, were looking at changes in consumer behaviour towards last minute bookings, combined with skills shortages and difficulties in staff recruitment and retention. A challenging environment to do business in.

Experience Oxfordshire has worked hard to support its Partners and the wider sector throughout the pandemic and was recognised in the government’s de Bois DMO Review as a case study of best practice in providing business support during this time. The team engaged with local and national agencies on behalf of the Oxfordshire visitor economy, continuing to stress the need for ongoing supportive interventions. They capitalised on the opportunity offered by two English Tourism Weeks (the national publicity campaign coordinated by VisitEngland) falling during this year to raise the profile of the sector with Oxfordshire MPs, organising site visits, round table discussions and running an extensive social media campaign.

I am immensely proud of the Experience Oxfordshire team. They are creative and resourceful and will continue to find effective ways to support our Partners as they deal with the current business challenges. We thank all our Partners for choosing to collaborate with us to develop and promote their business and we thank our Ambassador investors for continuing to support Experience Oxfordshire during such difficult times.

The Experience Oxfordshire team look forward to continuing our work across all sectors of the visitor economy to foster collaboration, innovation, and best practice. Together we will promote our destination, welcome back our visitors and work hard to see a return to pre-pandemic levels.

Hayley Beer-Gamage, Chief Executive, Experience Oxfordshire

Promoting Oxfordshire to visitors Experience Oxfordshire Promotion Reach

Email 400k

Web 1.75m

Social 33k

E-newsletters issued

Page views of experienceoxfordshire.org

Social media followers

Impressions 10.05m Social impressions

#openingupOx Opening up Oxfordshire Opening up Oxfordshire was Experience Oxfordshire’s response to the April 2021 reopening of the visitor economy as we moved along the Government’s recovery roadmap. Blog posts and social media offered inspiration and up to date news to welcome visitors back to the county.

Experience Oxfordshire Hospitality Guide A new initiative to support the hospitality sector was launched to showcase places to eat and drink across Oxfordshire. The new digital Experience Oxfordshire Hospitality Guide offering a free listing to all hospitality businesses across Oxfordshire and providing locals and visitors with information on venues waiting to welcome them. The publication, featuring 186 great places to eat was launched with the support of a JACKfm radio campaign.

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English Tourism Week coordinated by VisitEngland, came as the agency’s latest forecasts showed domestic tourism spending slumping to £51.4 bn,just over half of 2019’s £91.6bn. In 2021 , the Week was dedicated to showing support for re-opening tourism businesses and destinations and Experience Oxfordshire invited visitors and locals to join the conversation and help raise Oxfordshire’s profile by sharing their favourite images in an extensive social media campaign, Why I Love Oxfordshire, #WhyILoveOx. In 2022 English Tourism Week was back to its traditional pre-Easter timings and highlighted the innovation, quality and range of experiences on offer in England. Experience Oxfordshire embraced the opportunity, posting great places to visit in the county on a daily basis and offering discounts on the Oxford Official Sightseeing Tours throughout the week.

Escape The Everyday in Oxfordshire built on VisitEngland’s national Escape the Everyday campaign, supporting the tourism industry’s recovery by encouraging consumers to explore, discover and treat themselves while on a domestic short break. Running in June and July, Experience Oxfordshire’s digital campaign featured new content, including videos and photography, showcasing Oxfordshire as a world class destination to domestic, family audiences. The funding enabled the DMO to run paid media activity, drive bookings and track consumer data, resulting in its highest performing campaign to date.

Escape The Everyday in Oxfordshire Results

ROI 35:1

Clicks 166k

Return on investment

Record-breaking traffic to the website

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Hours 562

Reach 1.7m

Hours of brand exposure

Facebook saw a unique reach

Impressions 31.5 m Impressions across all channels

Inspirational Oxfordshire Inspirational Oxfordshire, presented Oxford and Oxfordshire to international and domestic visitors as a welcoming and accessible place to visit, bursting with amazing culture and talent. Promoting Oxfordshire’s internationally celebrated arts, heritage and cultural sector, Experience Oxfordshire worked with 32 cultural organisations across the county.

Re-Discover Oxford The summer’s collaborative co-campaign with Oxford City Council, ReDiscover Oxford, Eat, Shop, Play, Love, Local encouraged Oxford and Oxfordshire residents to return to Oxford city centre to support local businesses.

Visitor Guide The ever popular, Experience Oxfordshire Visitor Guide remained online in 2022, packed full of ideas and information, providing visitors and locals to Oxfordshire with the up-to-date insights and the inspiration they need to get the most out of experiencing Oxford and Oxfordshire.

Media Relations During the autumn and winter, Experience Oxfordshire’s Media Relations work built on the success of the spring and summer marketing activities to further raise Oxfordshire’s profile as a leisure and business destination. Features and stories placed with national media highlighted Oxfordshire’s local produce, food festivals, Christmas markets and romantic destinations; themes which were then amplified through Experience Oxfordshire’s own social media and e-news communications.

Pieces of coverage Offering a circulation of

157 182,481,7471

Advertising value of

£1,702,490

Posukuma bear Once England re-opened for travel, the team seized every opportunity offered to share Oxfordshire’s story with visiting journalists and influencers. Twelve trips were organised in response to direct requests as well as those initiated by media partners for travel and luxury-lifestyle features to hosting Posukuma bear, the Japan Post Office’s much-loved mascot as the institution celebrated its 150th anniversary!

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Promoting Oxfordshire to the travel trade & business In anticipation of post-Covid market recovery, Experience Oxfordshire was conscious of the need to keep dialogue open with the travel trade and related organisations.

Although not its traditional market, attending OxPropFest at Bicester Motion in September gave the Experience Oxfordshire team the opportunity to engage with the Science and Technology community, picking up leads for new conferencing and venues partners offering interesting and unusual meeting spaces.

November’s OxLEP Business Marketplace was another welcome return to in-person events and gave the team the opportunity to exchange news with established contacts and to reach out to new.

With the virtual Japan Travel Market, Experience Oxfordshire explored a visitor market not currently featuring in the top 10 for the county. Through individual meetings with the Japanese travel trade, it was noted that Oxfordshire was on their radar and delegates expressed a real appetite to visit the UK, once this market reopens.

Experience Oxfordshire attended ExploreGB, VisitBritain’s annual three-day flagship Travel Trade event which was once again held virtually. Experience Oxfordshire had over 25 one-on-one meetings booked with international buyers from North America, the Far East and Europe with the aim of boosting bookings as well as highlighting everything Oxford and Oxfordshire has to offer international visitors.

As part of a linked programme of familiarisation trips, the team welcomed a group of travel agents to Oxford, hosting its first Travel Trade familiarisation trip in two years.

In March, Experience Oxfordshire attended Excursions 2022 at Twickenham, London, an unrivalled opportunity to showcase Oxfordshire and Experience Oxfordshire Partners to group travel organisers, coach and tour operators specialising in day trips, short breaks and group holidays in the UK and overseas.

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Experience Oxfordshire Venues The Experience Oxfordshire venues service is the official and free venue-finding service for Oxford and Oxfordshire. The service represents a single point of contact for regional, national and international event organisers, providing bureau services and introductions to the unique venues in Oxford and Oxfordshire.

In 2022, the team developed a strategy to increase and improve engagement with the national and international MICE markets (meetings, incentive travel, conference and exhibitions). This lucrative segment of the industry differs from the leisure market in that lead times are much longer.

Experience Oxfordshire held virtual meetings with national and international conferencing and events bookers at VisitBritain’s 2022 MeetGB with a priority on bookers from North America and Europe. The team updated bookers on the latest information from our Venues service whilst promoting 28 Venue Partners together with a further 68 Venues within the University of Oxford. As expected, the strongest interest was for potential meetings and events in 2023 with the event proving useful in gathering insights in respect of future international travel and booking trends.

Through VisitBritain, Experience Oxfordshire reached out to members of the Event Marketing Association via an online event promoting the destination to EMA-UK members, corporate event organisers, showing what the county has to offer. The event was recorded and will be broadcast again later in 2022, with additional promotion on social media. www.experienceoxfordshre.org/venues

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Oxford Official Walking Tours Prior to the pandemic, the Oxford Official Walking Tours guides welcomed and entertained visitors from across the globe with an extensive programme of award winning experiences.

The most popular tour, Oxford University & City, helps visitors get behind the stonework of the magnificent institutions, sharing historical facts and painting a picture of the times, through anecdotes and stories of those who worked and lived there.

For fans of some of Oxford’s most seminal academics the C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien Tour provides an opportunity to explore the locations where they lived and taught while discussing their work. Lovers of “His Dark Materials” and “The Book of Dust” trilogies can discover Lyra’s Oxford on the Philip Pullmans’ Oxford Tour, which has been endorsed by the author himself. The Inspector Morse, Lewis, and Endeavour Tour shows visitors what skilful use TV producers have made of Oxford and the ever-popular world of Harry Potter can be brought to life on the Harry Potter Highlights bespoke tour.

In the spring a new booking system was introduced, offering the benefit of direct links via API to online travel agencies. Experience Oxfordshire’s own online shop was refreshed and affiliate relationships were established with local hotels. As the first quarter of 2022 closed, visitors were returning, although due to the varied array of Covid restrictions continuing to be imposed by some of Oxfordshire’s key international markets, visitors were mostly from the UK. Walking tours offer visitors an introduction to local businesses, experiences and attractions and are marketed as a key element of an enjoyable overnight stay. EO’s popular tours consistently receive 5-star TripAdvisor reviews, and to build on this and their ability to promote all that the city and county offers, the team has plans for an exciting new product in summer 2022. www.oxfordofficialwalkingtours.org

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Pre Covid-19 Oxfordshire’s Visitor Economy: Jobs Provided

Visitor Spend

Day Visitors

Overnight Stays

Overnight Domestic

Overnight International

42,000

£2.5bn

28m

2.8m

£446m

£378m

Championing the visitor economy The impact of the pandemic on Oxfordshire’s visitor economy was severe. The Economic Impact Report for Tourism in Oxfordshire, a report commissioned by Experience Oxfordshire, showed a staggering 59% decline in the value of tourism (from £2.5billion to £1billion) a 51% decline in trip volume (from 30million in 2019 to 14.5million in 2020) and a substantial decline of 39% in jobs supported by the sector (from 42,000 to 25,000). These figures reinforced both the importance and the vulnerability of the visitor economy throughout Oxfordshire and raised concern for post pandemic recovery at a time when the pandemic continued to impact tourism and hospitality businesses.

Experience Oxfordshire seized every opportunity to champion the sector and speak on its behalf at local, regional and national level; commenting on developments affecting the visitor economy to broadcast, print and online media (including BBC South Today and ITV Meridian, BBC Radio Oxford

and national titles) and attending local business meetings.

During English Tourism Week in May 2021, the DMO hosted an exclusive cross party round table with MPs and businesses to discuss the visitor economy, how it had been impacted by the pandemic and the support it needed for recovery. Hosted MP visits took place in their respective constituencies across the county to raise the profile of the importance of the industry to the local economy.

In 2022, English Tourism Week returned to its usual pre-Easter position and the team were delighted that Oxfordshire MPs expressed their support for the sector, again stepping out to meet with local businesses. The national focus was on the range of jobs and careers the sector offers, and the Oxfordshire MPs heard first-hand of the current and critical issues faced regarding skill shortages, staff recruitment and retention.

Experience Oxfordshire regularly contributes to national and local surveys relating to the development of the visitor economy and gathers information and insights from businesses and consumers to formulate its strategies and plans. Keep in touch and hear more of its activities through Twitter, @ExperienceOx and @ExperienceOxBiz, LinkedIn, @/experience-oxfordshire.

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Working in Partnership Experience Oxfordshire works with a growing Partner network of some 200 businesses spanning a variety of sectors linked to the visitor economy: attractions, accommodation providers, public and private transport, retail, restaurants, language schools, tour companies, executive transport service and many unmissable events and experiences. It delivers a Partnership Programme aimed at supporting, developing, and promoting all types and size of business and through effective collaboration together works to ensure that Oxfordshire enhances its reputation as a leading destination for tourism, culture and business.

Partners see a range of exclusive benefits from a website presence, social media and marketing opportunities through to networking events, research & insights and ‘Perks for Partners’, our discounts programme available to Partners and their teams. In response to current staff recruitment issues within the hospitality and leisure sectors, a free facility for advertising vacancies has been introduced.

The joint ambition is to make tourism work for everyone and to drive growth across the visitor economy by increasing the value of the visitor expenditure year on year. Experience Oxfordshire is working with its Partners to deliver a joint vision of pride of place across the city and county that engages with both residents and visitors to improve their experience and welcome.

Contact the Partnership team for more information on partnering with Experience Oxfordshire: partnership@experienceoxfordshire.org or visit www.experienceoxfordshire.org/partner/partner-benefits/partnerpackages

Website

Media

Social Media

All partners have a dedicated page on our website, experienceoxfordshire.org, which had over 1.75m page views in 2021/22

Hundreds of press enquiries are serviced each year from local, national and international journalists, bloggers and social media

Promoting Partners businesses through our Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts

Partner Discounts

Advocacy

Networking & Events

Our Perks for Partners programme offers exclusive Partner only discounts on things to see and do in Oxfordshire

Championing Oxfordshire’s visitor economy at local, regional and national level

Exclusive access to our year round programme of Partner meetings, seminars and networking events

Business Support

Discounted Marketing

Venues

Partners receive discounts on marketing campaigns including the annual Oxfordshire Visitor Guide

Promoting Partners’ meeting, conference or event venues through our dedicated buyer website

Offering practical advice and expert guidance; signposting funding sources and grant streams; identifying productive leads and brokering introductions

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Partnership in Practice Bicester Hotel Golf & Spa “Continually, throughout the partnership, Experience Oxfordshire has helped us drive all areas of our business to create a broader brand image to reach more potential clients, both in the corporate and leisure industry. Having the inside knowledge of market trends, they support us in driving campaigns and upcoming events, allowing our events to reach their full potential. Along with their professionalism, Experience Oxfordshire offers a personal touch, which now more than ever is extremely important as we aim to get back to the busy hospitality world that we are all used to. Thank you so much for your continued support and we look forward to what the future holds” Lee Wood, Resort Sales Manager Mercure Eastgate Townhouse Hotel “We love working with Experience Oxfordshire, it’s fantastic knowing we have them supporting us, so we can get the best out of our local area, whether it be attending the events we host, attending their amazing events, business forums online or in person or helping out with Fam trips.

The insights and knowledge we get to share is so valuable, we will always work with Experience Oxfordshire, and look forward to what the future holds for us”.

Bradlee Pillay, General Manager, Mercure Eastgate Townhouse Hotel

Fairytale Farm “We have found Experience Oxfordshire to be a vital partner when operating a small tourism business. As well as the obvious marketing benefits, they have a very personalised approach to working with small attractions like Fairytale Farm. They have been very proactive at identifying grant funding sources, assisting with lobbying, organising networking, and training events and providing advice when we have needed it. I would wholeheartedly recommend that any small tourism business in Oxfordshire joins this organisation.” Nick Laister, Director

The Randolph Hotel by Graduate Hotels “The Randolph Hotel by Graduate Hotels is delighted to work alongside Experience Oxfordshire. The DMO plays a vitally important role in supporting local businesses and bringing visitors into the city. We look forward to continuing to support the invaluable work of Hayley as we create experiences that celebrate the optimistic energy of the local community and pay homage to the city’s heritage and history.”

Phillip Lewis, General Manager Royal Cars “Being a part of the local community is very important to Royal Cars and our partnership with Experience Oxfordshire allows us to be a bigger part of that community. Experience Oxfordshire plays a considerable role in enhancing Oxfordshire’s standing within the tourism industry and enabling connections throughout the county and beyond. We are honoured to be a partner with Experience Oxfordshire and their expertise and vast network have been a priceless resource for Royal Cars over the years and long may it continue”.

Nick Breakspear Business Development Manager

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Experience Oxfordshire Events - #ExOxEvents Expience Oxfordshire’s Events are a benefit valued by Partners, as they offer the opportunity to hear from other operators in the visitor economy, share experiences and insights and network with Partners from different business types.

Due to the pandemic-imposed restrictions, over the last two years the Experience Oxfordshire team has maintained contact with the Partnership by moving the Events programme into an online environment, offering a range of online seminars and meetings.

During 2021, virtual events included three of the four annual Partner Events; EO Venue Partners meeting and a Q&A session with Oxfordshire MPs, Anneliese Dodds and Robert Courts. The Evergreen Agency, Ambassador Partner and leading creative SEO & PPC agency also delivered a series of three online marketing seminars. We were delighted to bring Partners together again in August, when over 70 Partners came together face-to-face at a Networking Event to celebrate the reopening of the New Theatre, Oxford.

Come the autumn, however, events were back online as the Covid Omicron variant spread across the country, putting the visitor economy’s recovery at serious risk. The November Networking Event gave Partners the opportunity to hear the latest updates from Experience Oxfordshire, and to discuss together longer-term expectations regarding the return of the international market.

The new year brought new hope and February’s in-person event at Bicester Hotel Golf and Spa marked a return to normal business with upbeat presentations and an overall expectation that 2022 would be a year of opportunities.

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Experience Oxfordshire Ambassadors The Ambassador programme is essential to ensuring there is a Destination Management Organisation (DMO) for Oxfordshire. Experience Oxfordshire extends its thanks to all Ambassador Partners for their continued investment and support during such challenging times.

Bicester Village “Oxfordshire is an exciting destination for culture and shopping enthusiasts alike. Bicester Village is proud to work closely with our partners at Experience Oxfordshire to develop luxury products and itineraries, and, together, to show Oxfordshire to be the world-class destination it is. The role of Experience Oxfordshire in facilitating connections, as well as in cementing Oxfordshire’s reputation within the global tourism industry, is invaluable.”

Clive Doble, Tourism Director

Blenheim Palace “We are proud to work together with many iconic attractions in partnership with Experience Oxfordshire to ensure that our wonderful heritage-led destination continues to draw visitors to the area and to generate economic value for local people in the future”.

Dominic Hare, CEO. Cherwell District Council “Tourism in many ways supports jobs locally and provides enhanced services for residents. Cherwell District Council strongly supports Experience Oxfordshire and the great work they undertake on behalf of the district, and we wish to ensure that local businesses can gain full advantage from the services and expertise offered by this valuable partnership” Councillor Lynn Pratt, Lead Member for Estates and the Economy

The Evergreen Agency “We’re hugely proud of our Oxfordshire heritage and have strong local roots here with our client base and team, so partnering with Experience Oxfordshire is a natural and obvious step to be involved even more on a local level. We’re looking forward to sharing our SEO expertise and helping grow its site reach and online visibility, as well as being an ambassador for such a credible organisation!”

Aaron Rudman-Hawkins, Founder and Managing Director

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GWR – Great Western Railway “As a transport provider we see our role in destinations as an important one. We are delighted to be Ambassadors of Experience Oxfordshire and help to encourage visitors to come to the city, county, and Cotswolds. These strategic relationships are extremely important for us as we further strengthen our network and services.” Gauthier Hardy, Regional Marketing Manager

Hedges Law “With our strong and historic links throughout Oxfordshire, personal, professional, and commercial, our collaboration with Experience Oxfordshire makes perfect sense. It’s a pleasure to support Experience Oxfordshire and its partners while they work to showcase the richness and diversity within our city and county.”

Nicola Poole, Managing Director

JACKfm “JACKfm is committed to being at the centre of all things local, and our partnership with Experience Oxfordshire enables us to do that. We are able to share across all three of our stations, JACKfm, JACK 2 and JACK 3 all the exciting work and events that Experience Oxfordshire is working with and promoting throughout the county.

We are delighted to work alongside Hayley and her team to help maximise Oxfordshire as a destination”.

Ian Walker, Managing Director

Oxford Bus Company “We are proud to have been a founding Ambassador of Experience Oxfordshire. We believe passionately in working with partners to deliver high quality bus and coach services for our county, and Experience Oxfordshire helps us to connect with new partners, to promote the services we offer to both domestic and overseas tourist markets and to help make tourism in our county more environmentally sustainable. As a major attraction operator in our own right - through our City Sightseeing tours - Experience Oxfordshire is always there to provide advice and useful trends and tourism statistics for us to ensure that we stay up to date with what appeals to both domestic and international markets, so we can tailor our products accordingly.”

Phil Southall, Managing Director Oxford City Council “Experience Oxfordshire plays a central role in the city’s rapidly growing tourism and hospitality economy. Their ability to bring together the many businesses involved across the sector, and to promote tourism to both international and domestic visitors makes a vital contribution to the Oxford brand across the globe.”

Cllr Mary Clarkson, Cabinet Member for Culture, Tourism & Leisure.

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Oxfordshire County Council “Oxfordshire County Council recognises the significant contribution tourism makes to the economic success of the county. We’re pleased to maintain our long-standing support for Experience Oxfordshire in their work to promote the visitor economy to national and international markets by forging the partnerships that make Oxfordshire a top choice for visitors to the UK.” Cllr Neil Fawcett, Cabinet Member for Community Services and Safety, Oxfordshire County Council Stagecoach Oxford Tube “Stagecoach in Oxfordshire is committed to connecting people and places, so our role in our destination is an important one. We are delighted to be Ambassadors of Experience Oxfordshire to support the county’s visitor economy. Our strategic relationship with Hayley and the team is extremely important for us as we invest in our services to commemorate 40 years of Stagecoach proudly serving its customers.” Rachel Geliamassi, Managing Director Westgate Oxford “Westgate Oxford has transformed Oxford bringing a new dimension for tourists. We work closely with our partners at Experience Oxfordshire. Their critical role in bringing partners in Oxford together and presenting Oxford to the world is invaluable. We are proud to support Experience Oxfordshire and their efforts to inspire the rest of the world to discover and explore all that our marvellous city has to offer.” Brendan Hattam, Centre Director PYE homes “We are delighted to be an Ambassador Partner of Experience Oxfordshire. We chose to develop our portfolio of properties across Oxfordshire because of our passion for the county. Experience Oxfordshire are working hard to ensure that Oxfordshire is promoted as a great destination to live, work, visit and do business – so it was an obvious fit for us. It is a pleasure to be able to support the DMO for Oxfordshire”. Graham Flint, Managing Director of Pye Homes.

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Our Ambition Statement As an award-winning Destination Management Organisation (DMO), Experience Oxfordshire has been working to develop the Oxfordshire visitor economy since its creation in 2011. Experience Oxfordshire has worked hard to support its Partners and the wider sector throughout the pandemic and was recognised in the Government’s de Bois DMO Review as a case study of best practice in providing business support during this time.

Experience Oxfordshire’s Ambition Statement was developed before the global pandemic impacted, at a time when Oxfordshire welcomed 31 million visitors each year generating an annual value of more than £2.5bn for the local economy and supporting some 42,000 jobs. The principals outlined in the Ambition Statement remain equally relevant, if not even more critical, today as we look forward, with hope, to a recovery of the sector and a return of domestic and international markets to Oxfordshire for business and leisure tourism.

Experience Oxfordshire’s ambitions are to:

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Work with businesses and stakeholders to improve growth and productivity across the visitor economy; leading effective destination management, whilst ensuring that tourism works for everyone across Oxfordshire Encourage visits that offer the best balance of impact and contribution to the county Work to deliver a joint vision of pride in place across the city and county that engages with both residents and visitors to improve welcome and experience

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Spread the tourist season throughout the year to decrease the impact of seasonality and to encourage visitors to explore the whole county of Oxfordshire

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Increase overnight stays from both international and domestic visitors ensuring an increased spend per visit

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Advocate for the importance of the sector and influence stakeholders to address issues that hinder productivity and growth and to encourage skills development and job creation

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Drive growth across the visitor economy by increasing the value of visitor expenditure by 5% year-onyear

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Encourage long term investment and support from the public and private sector to ensure that the county has a sustainable DMO that can deliver on destination management ambitions and drive growth

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Grow the Experience Oxfordshire partnership and make it work for small and large businesses, offering a flexible value for money proposition

Encourage and enable the exploration of cultural treasures across the county by local people

Experience Oxfordshire will deliver this by seeking investment from partners and stakeholders and providing a range of services for partners. The organisation prides itself in being a partnership where every business has a place and everyone can benefit.

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Experience Oxfordshire www.experienceoxfordshire.org Experience Oxfordshire Venues www.experienceoxfordshire.org/venues Experience Oxfordshire Partnership www.experienceoxfordshire.org/partner Oxford Official Walking Tours www.oxfordofficialwalkingtours.org

partnership@experienceoxfordshire.org 01865 686439 @/ExperienceOxfordshire @ExperienceOxfordshire @ExperienceOxBiz @/experience-oxfordshire

Experience Oxfordshire, Langford Locks, Kidlington, OX5 1HZ