BUSINESS FOCUS: Julie gives tourism a break

THE past couple of years have been disastrous for the tourism industry.

Foot-and-mouth, terrorist attacks, torrential rain and floods have all done their best to bring the sector to its knees.

So why was the Lothians the only Scottish region to show an increase in tourism numbers over the last year?

One reason may reside in the offices of Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothians in Haymarket Terrace where Julie Franchetti is working hard to encourage local companies to adopt innovative approaches to their business.

She was recently recognised for her hard work as a runner-up in the Individual Excellence category at Scottish tourism’s Thistle Awards - the first person ever to have been nominated from the public sector.

But personal glory seems unimportant to her as she continues her quest to improve the service for tourists, and the profits for business, across the sector in the Lothians.

Having graduated from Leeds University with a degree in sports science, she worked in the leisure industry in England and Australia before returning home to Edinburgh to take up a position with SE seven years ago.

She began as a business development manager for the Investors in People programme, then moved into the tourism sector two years ago and has since helped pioneer the organisation’s Innovation in Tourism plans.

Her arrival in the job coincided with a change in the focus of SE’s help in the local tourism sector.

"Up to two years ago, we were concerned with big development projects such as Dynamic Earth, the Scottish Seabird Centre and getting the Britannia to come to Leith," she explained.

"But we now try getting the already-established businesses to look at themselves and how they can grow through technological development, delivering a better service and promoting collaboration between companies.

"We want to spread the word that innovation is not just about technological development but also applies to innovation in attitude to meet changing customer demand."

The tourism sector is worth £1 billion a year to Edinburgh and the Lothians, with an average of 4.5 million visits and more than 14 million overnight stays annually. Almost 33,000 people, one in 12 of the local population, are employed by the industry.

While VisitScotland and the area tourist boards look at destination marketing - how to attract people first to Scotland and then to their own areas - SE is more focused on individual businesses.

And by sharing market intelligence with the tourist boards, SE has become involved in initiatives to create products and services that customers want.

One major success has been the Fully Booked programme which came about as a result of the tourism slump following the outbreak of foot-and-mouth and the attacks of September 11 last year.

Ms Franchetti said: "The idea was to develop a one-day, dynamic and inspirational training programme and to follow it up with a series of one-on-one consultations with the companies who attended.

"We were trying to get business to adapt to a changing market place and, very importantly, to promote collaboration between businesses who wouldn’t have thought about it before."

One example was the creation of Gems of Midlothian where three bed and breakfast providers - normally seen as being in direct competition with each other - came together to think of ways in which they could increase their occupancy rates.

Pooling their resources, the guest houses started a marketing campaign inviting journalists from London, Birmingham and other areas to stay. Within a short period, Gems had dramatically increased the numbers of people staying and picked up a Thistle Award for best marketing campaign.

The success has been mirrored across Fully Booked. More than 200 companies have attended the course and 47 per cent have been successful in attracting new customers within three months of finishing it.

More importantly, this has translated into financial success with an average 15 per cent growth over the six months after the course. The initiative has now been shortlisted for a Scottish Marketing Award, to be handed out in a ceremony this Friday.

"These growth rates have been great, coming at a time when the tourism industry has taken a hammering," said Ms Franchetti. "Most of the companies have said the course has given them the confidence to do something different and given them a place where they can go to get help."

Quin Dunlop, of Carlethan House, one of the members of Gems, said: "Fully Booked gave us the motivation and skills to do things differently and, as a result, we have all achieved increased occupancy and that has had a real spin-off for local shops, restaurants and taxis."

But, while the course has been aimed at the mid-range of companies involved in tourism in the Lothians, there is another part of Ms Franchetti’s work collaborating with the higher earners in the industry and encouraging them to percolate their knowledge downwards.

She explained: "When I first started we held focus groups within the industry to try and identify the key players. We looked at outward success and how successful they were perceived within the industry.

"Then we picked 40 companies, now risen to 45, which we would use as Key Account Companies (KACs). They all deliver a very good product and service and they have aspirations for further growth.

"We supply a an individual business manager to work with them eight or ten days each year and the reciprocal deal is that they mentor other companies and share their message with them." Groups of "ambassadors" from the KACs have been on trips overseas to attend courses at internationally renowned business schools, such as the Disney Institute, where they have been taught fresh approaches to customer service.

The messages learnt have then been brought back and adapted to suit the Scottish sector.

The latest initiative for which Ms Franchetti is responsible is the Tourism Innovations Toolkit which is being piloted by a number of companies in the Lothians before being distributed across Scotland.

"The kit comprises 18 different business tools including videos and learning games which will help create a culture where everyone in a business contributes to its future," she said.

The kit contains successful case studies with contacts who can be called on for advice; role-playing games so companies can see what each nationality expects and requires from Scottish tourism; and ways that businesses can recognise their weaknesses and try to improve.

Initially, the KACs will use the kits to relate their experiences at a seminar called The Innovation Day, to be held in January, when 350 delegates from across Scotland will gather to receive their own kits and talk about the most effective way to use them.

Ms Franchetti said: "We have a lot of interest in this from other sectors but tourism is definitely leading the way.

"Success definitely breeds success and now, when we develop new ideas, we find it easy to recruit people willing to take them on because of good word-of-mouth reports from our satisfied customers."

Visitors through the ages

TOURISM in Scotland was initially the preserve of writers looking for inspiration.

A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland, published in 1698 by Martin Martin, inspired the famous tour by Dr Samuel Johnson, which brought Scottish scenery to the attention of the upper and middle classes south of the Border.

In the 19th century mass tourism was made popular by writers such as Sir Walter Scott - the man credited with the invention of clan tartans.

As Queen Victoria made Scotland her own, rail links reduced travelling time and tourism flourished. The West Highland line, running from Glasgow to Fort William, opened up some of Scotland’s most dramatic countryside to visitors.

Even in the 1890s there were concerns that the country was being spoiled, by railways driven across trackless bog and extensive building of castles and shooting lodges.

Conservation-versus-progress arguments continue to affect the sector, which also faces increased competition from abroad in one of the world’s hardest-fought markets.