"Worcester, where's that then?"
A phrase I hear quite often. So why, when I can write reams of information regarding all of the wonderful things you can see and do in Worcster and discuss all of the historical facts that were pivotal in the history of this entire nation, do we seem to have a relatively small number of tourists compared to places like York, Stratford Upon Avon, Bath and Chester? I believe there are several reasons why and these are the emphasis of this particular campaign.
Reason 1 - Simply not enough exposure
There is simply not enough done to promote Worcester, if you look at most tourist guides for the UK, you'll be lucky if Worcester gets a mention. Do a search on the web for Worcester, and you won't get much returning. The council have done a sterling job getting the Visit Worcester website up and running, but is this alone really enough?
Solution
We need to pull the stops out, the council need to continue to encourage people to get more involved, especially local business. Not least the likes of Lea and Perrins, Worcester Porcelain and Kays. We need to focus attentions in getting the sort of spreads in magazines such as the CSMA (Civil Service Motoring Association) magazine and the English Tourist Board media that the likes of the bigger tourist pulls like York get.
Reason 2 - There's not enough to see here
This is a problem that I hear exclaimed from people that are even local to the area. The fact is that we are not at all short of attractions. The whole problem is the exposure issue as stated above, there is loads to see in Worcester, you just need to know it's there. The cathedral itself takes several hours to look around but in addition to that you have:
- The Commandery
- Worcester Porcelain
- The Museum of Local Life
- Grey Friars
- Guildhall
- Elgar's Birthplace
You also have a variety of fantastic shops (such as Pratleys), great walks around the city, loads of fantastic architecture, great events such as the:
- Three Choirs
- The Worcester Festival
- Victorian Christmas Fair
- The Ghost Walks
There are also several great sporting venues such as:
- New Road (Cricket)
- Sixways (Premiership Rugby)
- Pitchcroft (Worcester Race Course)
Solution
Well the solution lies in the solution for the first problem, more publicity and then even more publicity of these attractions! But there is a second element to this and that is that we need more attractions. We have other places in the city that people don't even know about such as the Bishops Palace and King Charles Restaurant and there are places that people would love to see but can't such as the Sauce Factory. Surely we should aim to get some of these venues open to the public in someway shape or form. After all Cadbury's make a mint from opening their factory and whilst Worcester Sauce may not have quite the same appeal, it certainly has appeal nonetheless.
Reason 3 - No focal point
There is no focal point for visitors coming into the city. No visitor centre no fantastic tourist centre or attraction. No tour.
Solution
I think there are several things that would be great for the city. The first and something I would just love to do, that is to build a a tourist centre, maybe somewhere out of town as a fantastic piece of modern architecture with a park and ride or in a renovated old building in the centre of the city. We have loads of old fantastic derelict warehouse type buildings that would be perfect. Somewhere like this you could tell the whole story of the area using technology to dazzle your visitors and give a real feel for the culture and atmosphere in the city. You could incorporate this with another attraction such as a digital art gallery or a state of the art museum. This would provide a focal point for visitors and a start point for bus tours or walking guided tours of the town. The tourist centre itself would become an attraction into the city.
Lets make people want to pull off junction 7/6 of the M5 to come and have a look and more importantly, lets make people want to come here and appreciate this wonderful place which has played such an important part in this countries history. And more importantly come and spend their money in our local businesses!
So support the idea of putting Worcester on the tourist map where it belongs and support this campaign, give some ideas if you can think of anything I have missed! Thanks in advance...
Campaign by Andi Ching, 24th May 2005
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