“Tourism isn’t just for Tourists…” – Dr Douglas Gyte

THIS SEEMS QUITE DIFFERENT FROM TRADITIONAL TOURIST DESTINATIONS, WHERE RESIDENTS AND TOURISTS TOLERATE EACH OTHER BUT DON’T REALLY INTERACT

I don’t think that’s generally true – certainly not today where the economic value of visitors to economy and employment is understood more. We have already  formed a strategic relationship with VisitEngland, who lead the Visitor Economy approach nationally as part of the strategy for England. I can’t personally deliver all the things that will need to be done, but together as partners we’ll be able to. Destinations that are successful in the future will be those that focus on future sustainable growth rooted in the community. This is the council’s vision, and I will continue to build and contribute to this. The sustainable growth bit means it must be harmonised and integrated and accepted and wanted by the people that live there, otherwise you get conflict.

IS THERE A NEED TO CHANGE PERCEPTION OF PETERBOROUGH?

It’s one of the key things that makes or breaks a place in terms of whether people will come to visit, live, invest, work or indeed study. I talk to people who don’t live here, who live miles away, often they struggle to have an image of Peterborough at all. Sometimes they know there’s a cathedral. Sometimes they know it’s grown a lot and ask “Isn’t it a new town?” Generally they think of it as a nice enough place, but the good thing, from my perspective, is having a clear canvas, without much negative baggage.

A lot of people do know it has the cathedral and that it is a heritage city, and do know it’s a successful “expanded” town with good road networks, but it is so much more. That message hasn’t got out as well as it might. So the message we need to get out is that we’re a burgeoning, vibrant 21st century city with a wonderful, historic past and a wonderful environment. That’s the image I want to promote, because it’s real – there’s substance behind it. Key to this image will be that it’s a city – and region – that offers an attractive, varied and quality visitor experience. City destinations of substance must develop and promote all these aspects.

SO, THIS IS ABOUT PUTTING PETERBOROUGH ON THE MAP?

Peterborough will be taking its place as an important, regional city. The issue with  Peterborough is that we’re not at the centre of a region like Norwich in East Anglia, or like Lincoln, Cambridge, Leicester and Nottingham which are regional, county-based centres. We’re at the centre of a region that influences the edges of four counties. But we’re still a key, growing region for the future and our influence is set to increase as the council’s plans for the city and its region “grow in the right way“.

I am already having discussions at a national level with VisitEngland to develop nationally in the right way and one of the immediate benefits is that we will be part of the 2014 national campaign. To make this sustainable the key thing is to develop the relationship with our own region, and we’re already doing that on lots of levels. I want to consolidate that and bring it all together, retain more of our regional spend and ensure we deliver a great visitor experience. And who is going to benefit? First and foremost, the people who live here, and those who come will go away with a fantastic tale to tell, and an improved and distinct image of Peterborough. They, along with the people of Peterborough, will start to be the ambassadors for the city to put it, and keep it, on the map this next ten years.

THERE HAS BEEN A BOOM IN THE CULTURAL LIFE OF THE CITY IN THE PAST FEW YEARS – WITH THE SUCCESS OF THE BIG FESTIVALS, FOR EXAMPLE…

One of the reasons I came here was because I looked at what had already been done in the past five years, and there was a conscious policy on the part of the council to promote sustainable communities with heritage and culture as key to the quality of place in which to work and live. I see events as the key to unlocking the experience of not only heritage and culture, but also the experience of our wonderful environment. We have the highest percentage of green space of any UK city, for example. The City Council has been a key part of developing that pride and passion for the place in which we live, and that has enabled people to come forward and create this feeling of dynamism, a feeling of ‘can-do’. Things do happen.

Good ideas do get taken forward. So we’re trying to create this positive environment in which “the right things grow”! That’s it at its simplest and it’s now going to be planned strategically to develop the visitor economy of the region based on a strong visitor experience both in the city centre and across our region. It’s not just about the big events, either; we’re also facilitating at a smaller level, like the Jazz in the Square. With partners we are seeking to create a sustainable core major events programme but events of all types and sizes go on all the time across the Peterborough region. We compile an exhaustive list to capture and promote them all, and that goes on the website. I’d encourage people to use it. We’re reviewing this and many ways to make them even more widely used and understood.