UPDATED: Bournemouth wins £2m to create first coastal tourism academy in Europe (From Thisisdorset)
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UPDATED: Bournemouth wins £2m to create first coastal tourism academy in Europe
9:00am Wednesday 15th August 2012 in Latest By Julie Magee
Bournemouth wins £2m to create first coastal tourism academy in Europe
A NEW national coastal tourism academy will create 165 jobs for Bournemouth and more than 2,000 nationwide.
Communities secretary Eric Pickles yesterday announced that the “virtual” academy would receive £2million from the Coastal Communities Fund; the largest grant in the first round of successful bids by seaside towns.
He told the Daily Echo how he hoped some of Bournemouth’s “magic” would rub off on other coastal towns with Europe’s first coastal tourism academy providing businesses with much-needed access to education and professional training.
Once established, the academy will be rolled out nationally and offered to other resorts through virtual training alongside face-to-face interaction.
Designed and delivered by Bournemouth University ’s internationally acclaimed School of Tourism, in collaboration with Bournemouth council and local tourism businesses, the academy will be university-based.
Tourism director Mark Smith said it would focus on customer care, provide easy access to tourism data and would include setting up the UK’s first coastal activity park at Boscombe beach.
He added: “Because it is a virtual academy there is no building work involved and we are ready to go.
“Extra funding will come from the council and tourism trade. The academy will enable us to share our secrets with other resorts.”
Dr Keith Wilkes, Dean of School of Tourism at Bournemouth University , said the academy would benefit local and national coastal destinations as well as international resorts.
Announcing that Bournemouth council’s funding bid had been a success, Mr Pickles said it would ensure that the town “continues to be at the cutting edge”.
He added: “We are hoping to use Bournemouth as a catalyst and that a little bit of your magic will rub off on the rest of the country.”
Bournemouth council leader John Beesley told Mr Pickles: “Your investment is going to make a very significant difference.
“Jobs and economic regeneration are crucial; coastal towns have so much more to offer than traditional attractions.”
Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood said: “This is a wonderful vote of confidence in our wonderful seaside resort.”
Comments(47)
BmthNewshound
says...
1:02pm Tue 14 Aug 12
.
the release starts "Bournemouth is to host Europe’s first National Coastal Tourism Academy (NCTA), a ground-breaking new knowledge transfer institution which will set a gold standard in customer care for the tourism and hospitality industry."
.
The rest of the press release is very wishy washy, making claims that Bournemouths tourism industry will grow by 2.3%. Just sounds like another public sector quango creating non-jobs with no way of measuring performance.
roysses
says...
1:16pm Tue 14 Aug 12
That will allow the council to produce puddles when there is wet weather. If they did something about the back of the building, a full size mural and trees behind that, they could have real wet weather attractions in this building.
There are 160,000 residents and millions of visitors in Bournemouth, but 3,000 NIMPY's want a waste ground!
kingstonpaul
says...
2:08pm Tue 14 Aug 12
There will be a special module looking at the tourism impact of erecting an articficial reef. Can anyone point me towards a suitable case-study?
bornINpoole69
says...
2:09pm Tue 14 Aug 12
Huey
says...
2:21pm Tue 14 Aug 12
Lesson 2 - don't let someone spoil views by building a massive ugly building in the way that will then sit empty and cost millions to demolish
BBC Escapee
says...
2:33pm Tue 14 Aug 12
muscliffman
says...
2:40pm Tue 14 Aug 12
By studying the full history of the Council's financial and other contributtons to tourism during the past decade or so students will be well educated in exactly how NOT to do it!
Basically sounds like non- jobs, another 'nice little earner' for the public sector - at our expense of course one way or another.
gerbil112
says...
2:41pm Tue 14 Aug 12
wonderway
says...
2:43pm Tue 14 Aug 12
just look at tourisms attempt at bringing people to Bournemouth during the Olympics and rain in last few months big slide in hotel bookings and everyone of them screaming poverty
I think its time to outsource tourism to atoddlers day nursery cost few farely's rusks and better ideas .............. and use eric pickles as a replacement for damaged bags on surf reef.
boverboy
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3:11pm Tue 14 Aug 12
BIGTONE
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3:47pm Tue 14 Aug 12
penhale
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4:31pm Tue 14 Aug 12
Lindley Owen
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4:33pm Tue 14 Aug 12
PaulRaffle
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6:28pm Tue 14 Aug 12
Will they? Probably not.
retry69
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6:33pm Tue 14 Aug 12
Phixer
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6:56pm Tue 14 Aug 12
whataboutthat wrote:You weren't expecting 'journalism' were you? In the Echo? Never!
Very cryptic Julie - what does this mean?
She wouldn't have had so much time for filing her nails.
muscliffman
says...
7:20pm Tue 14 Aug 12
retry69 wrote:I would normally assume your comment was ironic but I believe you probably mean it.
According to Mr.Pickles on tv tonight we need to spread the Bournemouth magic to other towns, what they have done wrong to deserve our wave of moaners and groaners i dont know.
Your often recorded optimism and faith in life and people's intentions is something I once shared.
Sadly like it or not those rose coloured glasses you are using will be stolen from you as you gain experience, and perhaps if you are young, get older.
'What have they done wrong?'
One day retry69 you will see as others here also do - for that day will come, I am sorry.
retry69
says...
7:32pm Tue 14 Aug 12
muscliffman wrote:As Pete Woodley says "you prove my point"
retry69 wrote:I would normally assume your comment was ironic but I believe you probably mean it.
According to Mr.Pickles on tv tonight we need to spread the Bournemouth magic to other towns, what they have done wrong to deserve our wave of moaners and groaners i dont know.
Your often recorded optimism and faith in life and people's intentions is something I once shared.
Sadly like it or not those rose coloured glasses you are using will be stolen from you as you gain experience, and perhaps if you are young, get older.
'What have they done wrong?'
One day retry69 you will see as others here also do - for that day will come, I am sorry.
Bournefre
says...
7:39pm Tue 14 Aug 12
muscliffman
says...
7:47pm Tue 14 Aug 12
retry69 wrote:Likewise then - no offence intended.
muscliffman wrote:As Pete Woodley says "you prove my point"
retry69 wrote:I would normally assume your comment was ironic but I believe you probably mean it.
According to Mr.Pickles on tv tonight we need to spread the Bournemouth magic to other towns, what they have done wrong to deserve our wave of moaners and groaners i dont know.
Your often recorded optimism and faith in life and people's intentions is something I once shared.
Sadly like it or not those rose coloured glasses you are using will be stolen from you as you gain experience, and perhaps if you are young, get older.
'What have they done wrong?'
One day retry69 you will see as others here also do - for that day will come, I am sorry.
step up
says...
9:36pm Tue 14 Aug 12
retry69
says...
9:46pm Tue 14 Aug 12
step up wrote:Easy Tiger we have a 5 star adult shop what more do we need,and i get accused of wearing rose coloured glasses,i ask you BE POSITIVE
Bournemouth hasn't even got 5* hotel because they all hire causal seasonal untrained staff which is shy the service is always dire. Could understand it if anywhere in this town you got exemplary service but it's always unbelievably bad. I was stood next to a bloke from London last week with steam coming out of his ears he just couldn't believe it,
Cmdr Kryll
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9:14am Wed 15 Aug 12
bornINpoole69
says...
9:38am Wed 15 Aug 12
step up wrote:Clearly step up you have not enjoyed the exemplary service at the Cumberland Hotel or the Harbour Heights, or the Captains Club or the Christchurch Harbour Hotel ......there are many more - and English may not be the staff members first language but they have all received excellent training and are all customer focussed.
Bournemouth hasn't even got 5* hotel because they all hire causal seasonal untrained staff which is shy the service is always dire. Could understand it if anywhere in this town you got exemplary service but it's always unbelievably bad. I was stood next to a bloke from London last week with steam coming out of his ears he just couldn't believe it,
bornINpoole69
says...
9:39am Wed 15 Aug 12
bornINpoole69 wrote:sorry - forgot the Norfolk Royale Hotel
step up wrote: Bournemouth hasn't even got 5* hotel because they all hire causal seasonal untrained staff which is shy the service is always dire. Could understand it if anywhere in this town you got exemplary service but it's always unbelievably bad. I was stood next to a bloke from London last week with steam coming out of his ears he just couldn't believe it,Clearly step up you have not enjoyed the exemplary service at the Cumberland Hotel or the Harbour Heights, or the Captains Club or the Christchurch Harbour Hotel ......there are many more - and English may not be the staff members first language but they have all received excellent training and are all customer focussed.
Old Colonial
says...
9:43am Wed 15 Aug 12
So that could be the secret of Bournemouth's continued success as a major tourist resort! No need to visit, just go on-line to read the Council's 'vision' statements, and view all the proposed developments and hype etc.
There you have it; rain or shine, enjoy Bournemouth in the comfort of your own home.
mpdor
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10:02am Wed 15 Aug 12
retry69
says...
10:20am Wed 15 Aug 12
BBC Escapee
says...
11:15am Wed 15 Aug 12
Bournemouth's Magic?
Bournemouths at the Cutting Edge?
Expensive parking, a town centre in decline because of lack of vision and it's easier to shop at Castlepoint.
Town Hall services outsourced to a private company with financial problems but set to pay their chairman a £600,000 bonus! (Thank you for your support Bournemouth Council!)
Town Hall staff that vanish into thin air if they speak out of turn.
A town that has it's fair share of alcohol problems that says it's a family holiday resort not wanting to promote it's stag/hen market image but having Corona Lager as a sponsor of its Air Festival!
A failed Honeycombe Chine development (another holidaymaker car park gone) A Surf Reef that doesnt work - with a council that seems to have no powers under the construction contract to get the contractors back to carry out any further work - its easier to have ghost boats supposedly damaging it and make insurance claims (Then it will be we can't understand why our insurance premiums have gone up so much - but it's a good smoke screen diversion to confust the council tax payers!
An Imax cinema that never worked but now bought by the council to give everybody the view of the purbecks back - until they slip out that money is tight for long term development so a great opportunity is there for Bath Road Car Park to be developed with the Imax site thrown in for somebody! (another holidaymaker car park gone)
Boscombe in terminal decline with The Crescent gardens looking more like a piece of wasteland that it ever has done - the three old gate pillars in the middle still adding an air of the modern open plan urinal look though!
What is going wrong - it could and should be so much different Bournemouth has the basics, lovely beach, gardens and parks kept looking great and set in a lovely area but everything around the town being set to detract from the natural beauty and to deter the family bucket and spade holidaymakers that the town was built up on the back of.
Now 2 million for a "virtual academy" and a "coastal activity park" on Boscombe beach.
Somebody had better keep an eye on this 2 million in case it gets lost under our virtual surf reef!
Somethings not adding up here can anybody work it out?
High Treason
says...
11:52am Wed 15 Aug 12
9:43am Wed 15 Aug 12 Posted the following;
"NOTE: This is a 'virtual' academy. That is...it doesn't exist except on the internet"
Bournemouth Council should be done under the trade descriptions act. The photos on their main page are noting like the actual places. Photoshop at its best.
ekimnoslen
says...
12:42pm Wed 15 Aug 12
georgina dean
says...
1:21pm Wed 15 Aug 12
er round the shops.....families being directed to Littledown at astronomical prices...We cant rely on good weather so surely someone one day in Bournemouth will wake up and cater for families not night clubs and booze outlets and give them SOMETHING TO DO WHEN THE WEATHER IS INCLIMENT....we could become an all year round resort if someone would LEARN..............
bornINpoole69
says...
2:05pm Wed 15 Aug 12
Humf
says...
2:28pm Wed 15 Aug 12
bornINpoole69
says...
2:31pm Wed 15 Aug 12
Humf wrote:underneath the Imax is of course the old swimming pool!
For £2m they could build a nice swimming pool, keep the costs down and put it in the BIC perhaps ?
I think there is a spare one in London now too!
BBC Escapee
says...
2:39pm Wed 15 Aug 12
Even on a lovely sunny, hot day in the middle of August with lots of people on the beach.............wh
at happens in cutting edge Bournemouth?
We look after the tourists needs by not opening ice-cream kiosks. (The one we saw closed was at the bottom of Toft Zig Zag) When we were stood there in amazement that it was closed another family said that they had seen others closed and had given up as they did not want to walk all the way to Boscombe Pier to find one that may be open as their children were too tired to walk any further and they thought that the land train was too expensive to keep using as they had already been on that earlier in the day!
Of course Bournemouth Council will say that they had staffing issues or that they were not expecting it to be sunny or they thought that the middle of August on the beach would be quiet!
Customer Care at its best and we think that we can teach others how to do it.
Smoke and Mirrors Bournemouth!
Humf
says...
2:44pm Wed 15 Aug 12
bornINpoole69 wrote:I was going to suggest that instead of returning the IMAX site to the old pool, this may be controversial but would sort out another of the town's problems :
Humf wrote:underneath the Imax is of course the old swimming pool!
For £2m they could build a nice swimming pool, keep the costs down and put it in the BIC perhaps ?
I think there is a spare one in London now too!
1) Build large pub on the site of the IMAX, (similar proportions of the old Quarterdeck where Harry Ramsdens is)
2) put a huge fence all the way around the site and build a large boxing ring in the enclosure outside the pub
3) close all pubs on Fir Vale, Christchurch Road - compensate owners with a share of the profits of the pub perhaps ?
4) let punters drink and fight to their hearts contents, beat each other to a pulp etc. (think "Escape from new York"). You could even set up a grandstand on the flyover and charge an entrance fee
5) at 23:00 sharp, open gates of purpose built bridge that is fenced and leads directly to a jetty with a large barge
6) tow barge to sandbar just off of the Haven and let the little darlings sleep it off
7) (Optional) pick up drunken, violent punters and bring them back to Bournemouth to collect belongings
EGHH
says...
5:41pm Wed 15 Aug 12
Ebb Tide
says...
6:31pm Wed 15 Aug 12
EGHH wrote:Will the future Academy (and existing opinion formers) really support an off shore windfarm likely to mean unfortunate modifications to current shipping facilities and the withdrawal (by UNESCO) of Heritage Status to The Jurassic Coast. Le Mont St Michel experience refers to the latter point !
BBC South Today reporter asked Pickles why only resorts who have offshore wind-farms planned are getting the handouts. He refused to answer. My feeling is it is a reward for the Council for letting the wind-farm go ahead, even though no decision has been made publicly. Watch this space. The wind-farm will now be built!
Ebb Tide
says...
6:38pm Wed 15 Aug 12
Ebb Tide wrote:It is hoped that we can retain world heritage status for our magnificent coast despite the various types of subsidy (direct and indirect) that are being applied to inefficient windfarms : subsidies (declared or stealth) that are insensitive to such an idea !!
EGHH wrote:Will the future Academy (and existing opinion formers) really support an off shore windfarm likely to mean unfortunate modifications to current shipping facilities and the withdrawal (by UNESCO) of Heritage Status to The Jurassic Coast. Le Mont St Michel experience refers to the latter point !
BBC South Today reporter asked Pickles why only resorts who have offshore wind-farms planned are getting the handouts. He refused to answer. My feeling is it is a reward for the Council for letting the wind-farm go ahead, even though no decision has been made publicly. Watch this space. The wind-farm will now be built!
Yankee1
says...
12:10am Thu 16 Aug 12
BarrHumbug
says...
10:16am Thu 16 Aug 12
EGHH wrote:Do you really think the local council has any real say on what gets built 10 miles out at sea?
BBC South Today reporter asked Pickles why only resorts who have offshore wind-farms planned are getting the handouts. He refused to answer. My feeling is it is a reward for the Council for letting the wind-farm go ahead, even though no decision has been made publicly. Watch this space. The wind-farm will now be built!
DorsetFerret
says...
3:08pm Thu 16 Aug 12
Yankee1 wrote:Oh what a lovely mixed bag of post. Forgive me kingstonepaul if I don't join your course, the reference to 'punters' put me off. These are defined as people who enjoy a gambel and for most tourist I know, that is the last thing they want when they spend their hard earned cash on holidays.
I think this is great! Students will study Bournemouth to learn how to avoid the mistakes.
As for the rest, this has to be good news for the university and the local area. BU has a great reputation in the field of tourism with one of the highest post course employment records of any HE institution. Don't lets confuse the work done here with the performance of the local council.
DorsetFerret
says...
3:11pm Thu 16 Aug 12
kingstonpaul wrote:Not sure what happened there, the above post should relate to this quote.
So, lots of public dosh to teach people how to do good customer care. It's really very simple. Be pleasant, helpful and responsive to punters. Simple. I've written the syllabus. ...And hopefully bagged a nice £50K job as course director.
There will be a special module looking at the tourism impact of erecting an articficial reef. Can anyone point me towards a suitable case-study?
scrumpyjack
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4:19pm Thu 16 Aug 12
bornINpoole69 wrote:genius
I have looked at the photograph - Is Mr Pickles a MP or a peer?
O'Reilly
says...
5:46pm Thu 16 Aug 12
whataboutthat says...
12:55pm Tue 14 Aug 12