Experience Oxfordshire, the county’s Destination Management Organisation (DMO), was this week delighted to welcome the CEO of VisitBritain/VisitEngland, Patricia Yates, to Oxfordshire.
Experience Oxfordshire, which recently received Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP) status from VisitEngland pulled together a tight itinerary ensuring as much of the county was showcased as possible alongside many opportunities to meet with local businesses for discussion and feedback sessions.
During the action-packed visit Ms Yates took a tour around the city with award winning Oxford Official Walking Tours and a cruise down the River Thames and River Cherwell with Oxford River Cruises. She visited The Oxford Artisan Distillery and was given a tour of Blenheim Palace alongside site visits at The Randolph Hotel by Graduate Hotels, Malmaison Oxford, the Old Parsonage, and The Bear Hotel where she was joined by Wake up to Woodstock. Transport was provided by Royal Cars.
The Chair of Experience Oxfordshire, Joanna Davidson CBE, led a roundtable discussion at Malmaison Oxford, where businesses were given the opportunity to hear from VisitBritain/ VisitEngland on national priorities and the importance of working with their official LVEP. This direct and open Q&A session with such a high-profile industry leader was a great opportunity to feedback to government on grass roots issues.
Hayley Beer-Gamage, Experience Oxfordshire CEO commented: “We are absolutely delighted that Patricia joined us on territory in Oxfordshire for a visit. It was an action packed 24 hours and we really did make the most of the opportunity. As well as discussing industry issues it was also important for us to feedback all the exciting developments and investment that are happening across the city and county and how we are supporting locally and promoting appropriately, both nationally and internationally. We will continue to work closely with VisitBritain/VisitEngland to grow back our visitor economy business post pandemic and drive productive, sustainable growth well into the future”.
Experience Oxfordshire is a partnership organisation working with local businesses to grow the value of the visitor economy in Oxfordshire, for the benefit of everyone.
VisitBritain/VisitEngland CEO Patricia Yates said: “It’s been fantastic to be in beautiful Oxfordshire, visiting businesses and attractions across the city and county and seeing first-hand the wonderful products and experiences on offer for visitors. It has also been invaluable to listen and talk to local businesses about the current challenges and opportunities and to highlight our work to support the industry.
“Tourism is an industry that can deliver growth like no other and I was delighted to work with Experience Oxfordshire on this visit and see the great activity it’s delivering with businesses and stakeholders to attract domestic and overseas visitors. It was also great to see how well engaged, informed and highly regarded Experience Oxfordshire is locally and its commitment to delivering on its recent VisitEngland LVEP accreditation, driving the visitor economy.”
Through their LVEP status Experience Oxfordshire is committed to championing the visitor economy and ensuring engagement and feedback at a local and national level takes place and this was a great opportunity to do just that.
**ENDS**
NOTES TO THE EDITOR
Businesses involved and/or attending the visit were: The Oxford Artisan Distillery, Oxford River Cruises, Oxford Official Walking Tours, The Randolph Hotel by Graduate Hotels, Old Parsonage, The Oxford Collection, Malmaison Oxford, Blenheim Palace, The Bear Hotel, Hotel du Vin Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire County Council, Wellers, Hedges, Wake up to Woodstock, Royal Cars, Bicester Village, Oxford United Football Club, Leonardo Royal Hotel Oxford, GWR, JACKfm, Keble College and Christ Church.
Images: available via the following link. Additional images are available on request.
Image 1: (L to R) Patricia Yates, CEO of VisitBritain/VisitEngland and Hayley Beer-Gamage, Experience Oxfordshire CEO
Image 2: (L to R) Joanna Davidson CBE, Chair of Experience Oxfordshire; Patricia Yates, CEO of VisitBritain/VisitEngland; and Hayley Beer-Gamage, Experience Oxfordshire CEO
Image 3: Roundtable discussion with Patricia Yates, CEO of VisitBritain/VisitEngland, led by Joanna Davidson CBE, Chair of Experience Oxfordshire at Malmaison Oxford
Image 4: (L to R) Dave Smith, CEO of The Oxford Artisan Distillery; Patricia Yates, CEO of VisitBritain/VisitEngland; and Hayley Beer-Gamage, Experience Oxfordshire CEO
Image 5: (L to R) Hayley Beer-Gamage, Experience Oxfordshire CEO; Patricia Yates, CEO of VisitBritain/VisitEngland; and Giles Dobson, Owner of Oxford River Cruises
Image 6: (L to R) Richard Sonley, Oxford Official Walking Tours Guide; Patricia Yates, CEO of VisitBritain/VisitEngland; and Hayley Beer-Gamage, Experience Oxfordshire CEO
Image 7: (L to R) Patricia Yates, CEO of VisitBritain/VisitEngland; Hayley Beer-Gamage, Experience Oxfordshire CEO; and Ayub Sheriff, Director of Sales at The Randolph by Graduate Hotels
Image 8: (L to R) Patricia Yates, CEO of VisitBritain/VisitEngland and Padhraic Flavin, General Manager at Malmaison Oxford
Image 9: (L to R) Rebecca Mofford, Director of Operations at The Oxford Collection; Jeremy Mogford, Owner of The Oxford Collection; Patricia Yates, CEO of VisitBritain/VisitEngland; and Hayley Beer-Gamage, Experience Oxfordshire CEO
Image 10: (L to R) Sarah Jayne Beasley, Partnership Manager at Blenheim; Dominic Hare, CEO of Blenheim and Experience Oxfordshire Board Director and Trustee; Patricia Yates, CEO of VisitBritain/VisitEngland; Hayley Beer-Gamage, Experience Oxfordshire CEO; and Heather Carter, Managing Director – Blenheim Palace Visitor Attraction
Image 11: (L to R) Patricia Yates, CEO of VisitBritain/VisitEngland and Aisha Murrell, Hotel Manager at The Bear Hotel
Image 12: (L to R) Networking lunch with Patricia Yates, CEO of VisitBritain/VisitEngland and Experience Oxfordshire, Blenheim, Wake up to Woodstock and Royal Cars at The Bear Hotel, Woodstock
Experience Oxfordshire is the official Destination Management Organisation (DMO) for Oxfordshire. We are the trading arm of the parent charity, Experience Oxfordshire Charitable Trust, and are a not-for-profit partnership organisation that is committed to the promotion, management, and development of Oxfordshire as a great destination to live, work, visit and do business whilst improving growth and productivity across the visitor economy. The DMO provides essential business advice and support to visitor economy businesses across Oxfordshire. More information can be found here https://experienceoxfordshire.flywheelstaging.com
In March 2023 Experience Oxfordshire was announced as one of 15 English destinations to gain Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP) status. Developed and administered by VisitEngland, the national portfolio of strategic and high-performing LVEPs support collaborative working locally and nationally on shared priorities and targets to grow the local visitor economy. The creation of LVEPs was part of the UK Government’s response to the recommendations of ‘The de Bois Review: an independent review of DMOs in England,’ to reshape destination management across England, reducing fragmentation and bringing coherence to its DMO landscape.
For more information on Experience Oxfordshire go to experienceoxfordshire.flywheelstaging.com/partner or contact partnership@experienceoxfordshire.org
Contact: Lesley Wright / press@experienceoxfordshire.org / 01865 686433
You can keep up to date with Experience Oxfordshire’s activity by following:
Facebook – Experience Oxfordshire
Instagram – @experienceoxfordshire
Twitter – @ExperienceOx and @ExperienceOxBiz
LinkedIn – Experience Oxfordshire
VisitBritain/VisitEngland
As the national tourism agency – a non-departmental public body funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), VisitBritain/VisitEngland plays a unique role raising Britain’s profile worldwide, increasing the volume and value of tourism exports and developing England and Britain’s visitor economy.
Oxfordshire’s Visitor Economy
The current status, as per the 2021 economic impact survey results, shows a significant recovery in volume of trips and related expenditure compared to 2020 but remains below the levels seen in 2019.
- Value: £1.6bn = 56% increase in value on 2020 (36% down on 2019)
- Trips: 23.3m = 56% increase in trips on 2020
- Day trips expenditure is down 26% on pre-pandemic levels and overnight expenditure down 51%
- Employment: 28.8k = 13% increase in jobs supported (33% down on 2019)