General Discussion
Devon is Open for Business - a series of FREE local conferences for tourism businesses
Tourism businesses across Devon are being offered expert advice and support in a series of ‘Open for Business’ conferences organised by Visit Devon as part of the Government backed extreme weather recovery programme. The conferences are open to all tourism businesses across Devon and neighbouring counties. Each conference will commence at 9:00am until 4.30pm to include a morning programme of presentations from leading experts followed by an informal afternoon session of Business Advice and networking. Refreshments and lunch will be provided free of charge.
Supported by Visit England the conferences have been devised to help businesses that have been affected directly and indirectly as a result of the extreme weather, including flood and storm damage, as well as those that have concerns about forward bookings for Easter and the summer.
The conferences are being held in four locations across Devon as follows:
Torquay - Monday 24th March - The Riviera Centre
Exeter – Tuesday 25th March - Exeter Corn Exchange
Plymouth – Wednesday 26th March – Holiday Inn
Braunton – Friday 28th March - Croyde Unison
The conferences will provide FREE professional advice on a range of helpful topics including:
- Social media and digital marketing - Stuart Devlin
- Business planning and business continuity - Guy Price
- How to turn crisis into a PR opportunity - Dawn Bebe & Simon Whittam
- Customer care and customer service - Rick Turner
- Marketing and your marketing messages - Robert Baldry
- Trading legally – Stephen’s Scown
- Managing your Finances – Francis Clark
The event format will be:
0900 Arrival and registration
1000 Welcome from Visit Devon
Series of morning presentations
1330 Networking and lunch
1430 One to one Business Advice sessions and networking
1630 Close
FREE places can be booked at: http://www.devontourismsupport.org.uk/
"The conferences, paid for by the Government, offer a golden opportunity for tourism businesses to get top class FREE advice and support from a range of carefully selected experts." said Carolyn Custerson, Chair of Visit Devon. "The conference programme has been designed to help ensure that Devon tourism businesses are well briefed to deal with any current or future challenges presented recently by the extreme weather. In addition the conferences will give businesses the opportunity to learn more about crisis PR and how to improve their PR and Social Media skills in addition to providing advice about future Business and Financial Planning and advising them on how to trade both legally and profitably."
Visit England has also published a practical online free guide that covers everything from assessing the situation, communicating with customers, reviewing marketing activity, government support and legal considerations.
James Berresford, Chief Executive, VisitEngland said: “We welcome this additional funding from the Government to support the tourism industry. It has enabled us to act fast, and together with our destination partners we are providing vital on the ground support to help businesses become more resilient against severe weather conditions in the future. A price-led advertising campaign in March will support our efforts to reassure visitors that England remains a beautiful and exciting destination to visit this Spring and Summer.”
One to One Business Advice Programme
In addition to the conferences One to One FREE Business Advice sessions will also be available at businesses own premises as part of this programme of support.
Anyone interested in arranging an appointment for one to one advice should email:
advice@devontourismsupport.org.uk specifying the areas of advice and support they require and one of the team will be in contact.
Anybody wishing to support the conferences on social media is encouraged to use the hashtag #WatertightBiz and include @visitdevon and @VisitEnglandBiz where possible.
Claire Toze
Tourism Promotions Officer
(t) 01392 265209 | (f) 01392 265625
claire.toze@exeter.gov.uk | www.heartofdevon.com
Exeter City Council, Economy & Tourism, Civic Centre, Exeter, EX1 1JJ.
