Visit The Malvern Hills Tourism Forum
Last week we had the pleasure of speaking at Visit The Malvern Hills Tourism Forum, hosted by Michelin Star restaurant Pensons.
We were joined by many local businesses in the tourist sector, which was a great opportunity to network and share ideas.
We heard from Peta Darnley, managing partner of the Netherwood Estate and owner of Pensons who talked of the successes including Michelin & Michelin Green Star status, as well as the challenges facing rural businesses. From supply chain issues to issues around the difficulty of reaching ‘sustainable’ status when living rurally.
We then had an update from Visit The Malverns about upcoming grants and plans for the towns and local area. A big theme for this was ‘Green’ With sustainable tourism grants available as well as the chance to be awarded the ‘Green Mark Accreditation’. Lots of things are planned for the coming year to raise the profile of The Malverns and its towns.
We had the opportunity to talk about Tenbury Wells Open For Business and our plans going forward. We explained the importance of marketing and keeping up conversations with potential customers through Social Media as well as having a strong brand and presence. Our business directory and marketing services offer just that, so we were proud to explain what we do! (And what we love to do!)
We thoroughly enjoyed listening to Bev Haywood, from Astley Vineyard, tell her story about their family business which has turned into a thriving tourist favourite! It was interesting how they have grown to expand into tourism more over the years, and now it is a huge part of their business. From Vineyard tours, hen parties and even collaborations with other businesses locally – they are doing it all!
Lastly, it was a marketing workshop from Paul Vincent @ Hot Source Creative – giving us all some effective tips to increase bookings. Covering some really important points around SEO, website optimisation, blogging as well as recognising what content your customers want to see
Visit The Malvern Hills Tourism Forum was a fantastic event, great to hear other businesses doing so well despite the events of the past few years. We also enjoyed the most fantastic cake (thank you Pensons!)