Dr John Elsom

Cultural Tourism in Central Europe

Dr. John Elsom

Director, Arts Interlink,

Hon. President, IATC

Dr John Elsom

Four Motives for Tourism

• Leisure and recreation,

• Visiting friends and relatives (VFR),

• Business/ Professional

• Other.

Cultural Tourism is a vital element across the market.

63% of leisure tourists to London include a visit to a heritage site in their stays.

Cultural Tourism• Festivals,

• Conferences,• Heritage,

• Academic exchanges, • Ecology and

• The arts

Two London examples ~

Dr John Elsom

Five Palaces and a Dome

The Tower of London, Hampton Court , Kew, Kensington and the Banqueting House.

• 1 profitable, 2 viable and 2 needed restoration and roles.

• In 1989, bundled as a Charity, Historic Royal Palaces.

• An independent management company now runs them

• with a public service mandate.

• Now self-supporting as a group.

• Income: £33.8 million (US$48.43)

• Administration and fund-raising: £16.1 million.

• Visitor numbers:– Tower: 2.3 million

– Hampton Court: 630,000

• Funds for restoration, new exhibitions and marketing: £17.7 million (US$25.36)

Dr John Elsom

The Millennium Dome

• Built to celebrate 2000.• Cost $1 billion - mainly

from National Lottery.• Intended to boost tourism, • provide local employment,• Regenerate Greenwich

area and• create a permanent centre

for exhibitions and events.

• 6.5 million visitors came, but –

• 12.5 million visitors were required to cover the costs.

• The low income led to losses and political unpopularity,

• Future plans are still unclear.

• No developments are apparent.

Further information from:

www.nao.gov.uk/pn/9900936.htm

What were the lessons?

Dr John Elsom

GAINSGAINS AND LOSSESLOSSES

Historic Royal Palaces

• A good public-private partnership.

• Clear public service guidelines.

• Economically viable bundling

• A developing tourist market,

• More restoration,

• broader spread of events and• A demand-led approach.

The Millennium Dome• 3 managements were involved,

• All government supervised,

• Sponsorship but no partnerships,

• Political controversies,

• Financial losses and

• A supply-led. approach

• Too much of a theme park?

• Under-used as state amenities?

• 6.5 million an achievement? • Development infrastructure in

place?

Dr John Elsom

We Are All Agreed – that more Cultural Tourism in Central Europe would

be a Good Thing -

• UNESCO thinks so,• The EU thinks so, • The CECTA countries

think so,• Travel companies think

so, obviously, • Business conference

organisers think so and • so do most economists –For many reasons, among

them

• The world’s trade in cultural goods is $388 billion (rising)

• Tourism & Cultural Trade account for $800 billion.

• 5 countries dominate this trade.

• 4 are among the top 6 tourist destinations – China, France, UK and US. Germany lies 12th.

• Cultural trade and tourism support each other.

More reasons

Dr John Elsom

The Enlargement of the EU

4 CECTA countries plan to join the EU – with unique opportunities for tourism.

• Lower costs,

• Exciting locations,

• Beautiful landscapes,

• Rich in arts and history.

But we must also expect a difficult transition.

• A decline in traditional industries and crafts.

• More Western money seeking cheaper labour.

• Loss of national identities,

• The exclusion of minority cultures and traditions,

• Loss of literatures, art forms and ways of life.

How is tourism doing?

Dr John Elsom

International Arrivals

0

10

20

30

Aus

tria

Cze

chR

ep

Ger

man

y

Hun

gary

Pol

and

Slov

akia

UK

1999

mn

19991998

Dr John Elsom

International Visitor Spending

0

5

10

15

20

Au

stri

a

Cze

chR

ep

Ger

man

y

Hu

nga

ry

Pol

and

Slo

vak

ia

UK

1999

US$mn

19991998

Dr John Elsom

What has gone wrong?

• Patchy or poor transport,• Lack of management

expertise,• Poor marketing• Lack of investment,• Effects of 2 World Wars

and Cold War, leading to • “Top-down” leadership

and • A supply-led approach.

Solutions?Public-private partnerships provide

• management expertise

• And investment.

• Investment through partnerships is better than grant funding.

• Transport infrastructures can be developed piece by piece.

• The supply-led approach should shift to the demand-led.

Dr John Elsom

From Supply- to Demand-Led

Growth in tourism starts with the study of the markets.

The shift in emphasis is from

• “we have historic sites that tourists should visit”, to

• “tourists want a holiday that we can supply.”

The solution is not “The Habsburg Experience”.

32% of the market lies with short-break holidays of 2 to 3 days.

Central Europe is ideally placed to take advantage of this demand.

Through short-breaks, the wider market can be developed.

Growth in tourism may not come as an invasion but in the form of a fleet of small boats -

How can this be helped?

Dr John Elsom

Lessons from the Historic Royal Palaces

PPPs mean partnerships between the state and private companies.

• The government defines the public service guidelines.

• Private companies do not accept if the project is not viable.

• PPPs bring private money to the public sector and

• The deals may be struck on a local, national or international level.

PPPs often require “bundling”, which may combine -

• Similar projects,

• dissimilar projects,

• or different companies

into one franchise to decrease costs and improve viability

Bundling is the key to effective PPPs, but needs matchmakers.

The skills of matchmaking ?

Dr John Elsom

Matchmaking in Cultural Tourism

The matchmaker requires two specialist skills ~

• An understanding of the culture concerned and of its local and international significance,

• A knowledge of management and the travel industry.

In the case of the historic royal palaces, these were found in an enlightened civil servant, but

There are many examples of where matchmaking has gone wrong - by pairing

• managements that do not respect the culture, with

• Artists or curators that do not respect managements.

But the principles are clear and remain the same.

Dr John Elsom

The Way Ahead

• Good Bundling,• Good PPPs,• Good Public Service

guidelines• Matchmaking and• Demand-led approach

That is the way ahead. www.artsinterlink.com