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Meetings

Our Board and Planning Committee meetings are normally conducted in public.

All meetings are livestreamed on our YouTube channel @TheCairngorms and go live five minutes before the start time.

You can view the board committee’s responsibilities and terms of reference here 

Minutes of meetings can be provided in other languages, including Gaelic on request. Please contact [email protected] for a copy.

15th June, 2020

Location: Cairngorms Tourism Emergency Response Group - Via Video-Conference

Cairngorms Tourism Emergency Response Group 15th June 2020, 11am. 

Present: Janet, Murray, Heather, Pete, Laurie, Mark, Geva, Rhona

Apologies: Chris T, Chris F, Alistair, Grant, Colin S, Colin K

 

1.Welcome and introductions

2. RESPOND

Key issues from DMOs

VisitMoraySpeyside have now organised community conversations with Moray Chamber of Commerce.

VisitAberdeenshire should have the initial findings from their consumer research in the next few days and will share with the group.

 

VisitScotland Overview

VS are working on marketing recovery planning and will be discussing this on the 17th June with CBP and CNPA.  They are also working to identify which businesses will be open initially and to what extent, as well as re-opening messaging to visitors and communities, probably including a case study on the approach taken by CNPA and CBP. All VS covid / recovery webinars now here

 

Business Support update – Colin/Alistair/Rhona

HIE are finishing assessments of the final Pivotal Enterprise Fund applications. Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service may be able to help businesses with advice on re-opening and Rhona will make an introduction to DMOs to discuss.

Community planning partnership meetings are taking place to discuss school re-opening plans in the Highland area.  Rhona had attended one that was useful to make the link between businesses, childcare and school provision.    Murray will feed in any thoughts from CBP as Mark was invited but is unable to attend. Aberdeenshire Council are also looking at the same issues and Geva will circulate plans when available.

Local authorities are today starting work on the new B&B grant support scheme.

3. RESET

Overview of consumer insights and other research

As well as the weekly VS marketing intelligence 27/05 , VS have also published Scottish data from the new VisitBritain tracker - VB tracker – Scotland data .

The monthly Scottish Tourism Index has published its second report, and 56 degrees will run another workshop for the CBP on Tuesday 23rd June at 10 am.

4. RESTART

 Visitor Management Plans are now published on CNPA website but will continue to change.  All seasonal rangers are now in post and will be training virtually for the first week at least, before starting to work in the last weekend in June. They are very capable, locally based, and with a lot of experience.  Land manager feedback has started to come in from the weekend.  There seem to have been small numbers of incidents of irresponsible behaviour, not the same scale of issues as two weeks ago.  CNPA compile reports from reports from key land managers on a Monday morning for discussion at a regular land managers meeting on Wednesday morning. Janet and Geva raised issues around negative signage and car parking closures in Deeside.  There was some confusion about the extent to which Invercauld Estate were involved in the land manager discussions.  Pete will make sure they are involved.

 

Murray suggested that a conversation with CBP about the #CairngormTogether be included in the training for rangers. Pete will ask Al Smith to contact Mark to arrange.

 

Communications Framework rollout plans

CNPA and CBP  issued a press release at the end of the last week about #CairngormsTogether communications framework, which seemed to have been picked up well by media.  CBP, with funding from CNPA, have commissioned a 1 minute consumer-facing video featuring local businesses to welcome back visitors and get key messages across. It should be filmed this week and available for rollout on social media in advance of businesses re-opening.  There will be some paid promotion but it will focus on existing audiences not new visitors.  CBP are also investigating production of #CairngormsTogether wristbands.

 

Geva said she was very happy with the new access infographics featuring #CairngormsTogether which are getting well-shared.

 

The CBP website should have a Red / Amber / Green system for business listings up and running in the next couple of weeks, which can include car parking and toilet facilities.

 

Community meetings

Janet asked for any feedback about the meetings.  Councillor feedback was good from their meeting.  Overall there were not many new issues that we hadn’t already been aware of, and the work done to date was valued. In retrospect, it would have been good to include CNPA board members as well.

5. RECOVER

The CNPA Green Recovery Plan board discussion took place on Friday and the paper was well-received.  The recovery fund will be discussed by Management Team this week.

6. Any Other Updates

None

7. Date of next meeting

Monday 22nd June

8th June, 2020

Location: Cairngorms Tourism Emergency Response Group - Via video-conference

1st June, 2020

Location: Cairngorms Tourism Emergency Response Group - Via video-conference

25th May, 2020

Location: Cairngorms Tourism Emergency Response Group - Via Video-Conference

Cairngorms Tourism Emergency Response Group 25th May 2020, 11am.

1.Welcome and introductions

Present: Janet Hunter, Heather Trench, Murray Ferguson, Pete Crane, Francoise van Buuren, Grant Moir, Chris Taylor, Mark Tate, Alistair Reid, Geva Blackett, Laurie Piper Apologies – Colin Simpson, Chris Foy, Rhona Fraser, Colin Knight

2.RESPOND

Scottish Government roadmap announcement and industry response.   STA response ASSC response   The roadmap has been published but no changes have yet been made with the key message still to stay at home. Phase one of lockdown easing is likely to commence on Thursday 28th, but there is no firm timetable for any of the 4 phases and changes need to be evidence based. The STA response to the roadmap has asked for 4 things: some sectors to open earlier; urgent short-term support; longer term support; and a ministerial taskforce to consider STERG recommendations. In phase 1 the guidance allows travel for a short distance with a guideline figure of travel up to 5 miles for exercise.  Communications at that stage will focus on a Stay Local message.

Key issues from DMOs

VisitMoraySpeyside last week met with HIE around the Pivotal & Hardship funds as very few Moray businesses seem to have been successful.  Laurie is writing letters of support for rejected businesses. The DMO itself is also falling between gaps in support, and likely to lose business BID contributions of an estimated £40k through business failure. Discussion are going on with communities, some of who are still reluctant to welcome visitors back. 2019 STEAM figures show an increase of £5million in the local visitor economy.

VisitScotland Overview

The tourism industry many questions about the roadmap and re-opening speeds.  Some sector groups are pushing for their sectors to open more quickly, while generally destination organisations are being more cautious and interested in a co-ordinated approach of sectors opening at the same time to provide a wider visitor experience. Applications have been received for the destination support fund and decisions will be made shortly. The Year of Coast and Waters will likely be rolled into 2021 and discussion is ongoing with event organisers.  The Year of Scotland’s Stories may still be in 2022. STERG guidance on sector re-opening will be available shortly.  It’s currently with government to consider and they are aware of the lead times necessary for re-opening.

Business Support update

Aberdeenshire Council are still dealing with small business grants, which are quickly being turned around.  The newly self-employed hardship fund is seeing a high level of applications being turned down, at around 40%. Some applications are from limited companies, or self-employed trading earlier than cut-off date. Cash businesses are also applying but are struggling to provide the bank statements needed. Numbers applying are also low, at about 200 applications so far when around 900 were anticipated, so communications about the scheme are being increased. The Environmental Health team are looking at business re-opening issues. The Aberdeenshire Town Centres Phoenix fund has been approved to support village /small town centres. Braemar & Ballater area able to apply for funding of £5k and £10k respectively. A business resilience and sustainability scheme has also been approved, and is not restricted to key sectors.  A job creation scheme also being considered. Rangers & access officers are working on similar messages to CNPA.

3.RESET

Overview of consumer insights and other research

The latest  VS marketing intelligence 20/05 is now available and echoes much of the Scottish Tourism Index report discussed last week.  A CBP workshop with 56 Degree Insights, who carried out the research for the index is scheduled for Thurs 28th May. A second wave of the ALVA tracker has also been published, showing a decrease in the number of people looking to attend an attraction in the near future. Pete Crane will circulate plans for SNH outdoor access research. The CBP visitor survey has been drafted and will be circulated to potential visitors later this week.  It will be open for 7-10 days. An initial discussion has taken place with Cambridge University on the proposal for Socio-Economic Pathways to Recovery research, which was circulated after the last meeting. If successful, funding should be agreed in the next week or so.

4.RESTART

Follow up communications discussion CNPA, VA, VMS, and CBP met to agree draft messages for residents, employees and visitors (in order of precedence).  The key message remain ‘stay home’ until Friday. It was agreed that the priority was to pick up the four key messages as discussed: - Follow government guidance –‘Stay Local’ (at Phase 1) - Plan Ahead – advice on visits and facilities available - Adapt – guidance on 2-metre distance.  If it feels too crowded, it is too crowded. - Be Kind – show consideration & respect for one another These messages were also the focus of discussion at CBP’s ‘Code of conduct’ subgroup, and there was agreement with them, but a struggle to find an appropriate name for the campaign that avoided the idea of a firm pledge or code.   The communications plan, and ‘code of conduct’ details will be included as annexes to the revised Visitor Management Plan along with two sub-area management plans for Deeside and Glenmore.  It will be discussed and hopefully agreed on Friday by a meeting of DMOs, councils and land managers. The ENFOR group will also discuss it on Wednesday, and discussions with the 5 access authorities on the Park boundary will also take place. SportScotland are  working with outdoor sector groups on plans for recovery and there were concerns that this wasn’t joined up well enough. Grant has asked them to join the STERG countryside sub-group.   To encourage community involvement with the messaging, Mark has suggested arranging two community open meetings on Zoom, jointly hosted by Janet, Grant and Mark, with the capacity for up to 30 people to get involved in each. Grant will also send the revised Visitor Management Plan to community councils and will mention the meetings in the letter. The letter will go out early next week, and the meetings will be scheduled for towards the end of the week or the start of week after.  Murray will discuss wider promotion of the meetings with the Community Development Officers at a meeting on Wednesday. Mark & Murray to confirm meeting arrangements. Francoise noted a letter in the Strathy accusing B&B and hotels of continuing to accept visitors, which the Grantown Initiative are planning to respond to.   Visitor Management Planning and SOAC The seasonal ranger post have now been advertised, and a good number of applications have already been received. The post will be managed by Mike Woolvin and Lucy Ford. The interviews will take place on 9th June and the team should be on the ground in early July. Cairngorm Mountain have said they are closed for the summer, but that raises issues around toilet provision and Grant is going to follow up with Douglas Cowan of HIE. Janet will ask Glenshee Ski Centres about toilet provision there, though it was noted that at both centres staff have been furloughed.   Business Sector plans for re-opening Mark said that while in phase 2, F&B businesses can open outside facilities, it was unlikely that many would be in a position to open. Laurie is speaking to FSB and Moray Chamber of Commerce about re-opening issues, and is closely following discussions within CBP.

5.RECOVER

CNPA Green Recovery Plan

A new draft of the plan will be available shortly but there are no major changes apart from re-prioritising budget into recovery fund, seasonal rangers and a business plan for the potential dark skies observatory development in Tomintoul.  CNPA board will discuss it on 12th June and it will be in the public domain from 5th June. In addition, shovel ready money of around £150m may be available for Glenmore NMU route. Grant will circulate the plan when finished. A further stage will look at integrating with future plans from partner organisations. Highland Council have a recovery board set-up, working closely with HIE.

6.Any Other Updates

7.Date of next meeting

Monday 1st June.

18th May, 2020

Location: Cairngorms Tourism Emergency Response Group - Via Video-Conference

1.Welcome and introductions 2.Respond: - Business Support update – Colin, Alistair, Rhona - Key issues from DMOs – Mark, Laurie, Chris F - VisitScotland Overview – Chris T 3.Reset: - Visitor management planning & land manager discussions – Grant / Pete - Overview of consumer insights and other research VS marketing intelligence 13/05 Update from VisitAberdeenshire’s workshop on 14/05 – Chris F 4.Restart - Communications discussion - Francoise - Update on CBP working groups - Mark 5.Recover 6.Any Other Updates 7.Date of next meeting. RESPOND (March 2020 – May 2020) Immediate provision of information and support to businesses RESET (June 2020 – September 2020) Support, planning and preparation for restart RESTART (June 2020 – February 2021) Support and guidance for safe re-opening RECOVER (September 2020 – December 2022) Guidance and support for operating in a new post COVID-19 environment