Mentoring
More than 80% of tourism businesses employ less than 10 people. The proportion is even higher in most rural holiday destinations. It follows that any appreciation of tourism on the ground depends upon familiarity with Small to Medium Sized Enterprises [SMEs] in every sector of tourism and leisure. Since 1985 Barrie Foster has deliberately sought to maintain contact with the grass roots through the delivery of subsidised business counselling and mentoring programmes. Less formally, many of our community and regional projects have included workshops and counselling to ensure that stakeholders are aware of the implications of strategic proposals for their individual businesses.
The problems to which small tourism businesses are exposed are well documented. Every tourism operation, whatever its size, requires a range of complementary skills, a fact which new entrants often fail to recognise and which in part explains the high turnover of tourism businesses in some areas. A significant proportion of operators have limited knowledge of tourism sectors other than their own, and hence a limited appreciation of the products and markets on which their enterprises depend; over-reliance on traditional marketing practices can lead to diminishing returns; and the assumption that this year’s visitors will return in subsequent years is a dangerous form of complacency.
As importantly, external factors are continually changing the trading environment. Competition, exchange rate fluctuations, recession, political conflicts, fuel prices, climate change, in any permutation, can produce threats and opportunities. And catastrophic single events — a coastal oil spill, a foot and mouth disease epidemic, an unprecedented outrage such as 9/11 — can change the regional and global trading climate overnight. More recently the dominance of the Internet and the growth of mobile technology has been a game-changer for tourism development and marketing. Cloud-based software and content management systems bring new command and control possibilities to small businesses at low or no cost, and open the doors to creativity. A little guidance on the palette of opportunities can set the owner-manager on track towards a totally responsive Internet strategy, while eliminating design and development fees and agency commissions.
More than 80% of tourism businesses employ less than 10 people. The proportion is even higher in most rural holiday destinations. It follows that any appreciation of tourism on the ground depends upon familiarity with Small to Medium Sized Enterprises [SMEs] in every sector of tourism and leisure. Since 1985 Barrie Foster has deliberately sought to maintain contact with the grass roots through the delivery of subsidised business counselling and mentoring programmes. Less formally, many of our community and regional projects have included workshops and counselling to ensure that stakeholders are aware of the implications of strategic proposals for their individual businesses.
The problems to which small tourism businesses are exposed are well documented. Every tourism operation, whatever its size, requires a range of complementary skills, a fact which new entrants often fail to recognise and which in part explains the high turnover of tourism businesses in some areas. A significant proportion of operators have limited knowledge of tourism sectors other than their own, and hence a limited appreciation of the products and markets on which their enterprises depend; over-reliance on traditional marketing practices can lead to diminishing returns; and the assumption that this year’s visitors will return in subsequent years is a dangerous form of complacency.
As importantly, external factors are continually changing the trading environment. Competition, exchange rate fluctuations, recession, political conflicts, fuel prices, climate change, in any permutation, can produce threats and opportunities. And catastrophic single events — a coastal oil spill, a foot and mouth disease epidemic, an unprecedented outrage such as 9/11 — can change the regional and global trading climate overnight. More recently the dominance of the Internet and the growth of mobile technology has been a game-changer for tourism development and marketing. Cloud-based software and content management systems bring new command and control possibilities to small businesses at low or no cost, and open the doors to creativity. A little guidance on the palette of opportunities can set the owner-manager on track towards a totally responsive Internet strategy, while eliminating design and development fees and agency commissions.
Business counselling and mentoring cannot provide instant solutions to every business problem. But specialist advisers can address pressing issues from the perspective of individual businesses; identify weaknesses and threats and point the way to opportunity; and provide objectivity and a sounding board for the perceptions and ideas of operators. In turn, dialogue with the grass roots feeds back into the wider picture and creates a virtuous circle. Barrie Foster’s formal work in business counselling includes the following:
Wales Tourist Board Business Advisory Service, 1985-92
Independent adviser on development and marketing across all sectors of tourism and leisure. More than 300 advisory sessions delivered over the period together with support workshops and seminars.
Department of Trade & Industry Marketing Initiative, 1989-94.
The Marketing Initiative was one of the range of consultancy initiatives which made up the DTI Enterprise Initiative. Barrie Foster completed 20 full projects and a number of marketing audits during the life of the initiative.
West Wales Training & Enterprise Council Diagnostics, 1993-97
Sole contract for the delivery of business diagnostics to the tourism and leisure sector in West Wales. Almost 200 diagnostics completed over the period together with support workshops and seminars.
Tourism Innovation Programme, 1998-2000
Programme Director, West Wales, for this EU funded pilot programme. Participating businesses had access to individual mentoring, group workshops, a telephone helpline and an information web site.
Welsh Development Agency Diagnostic Support, 2001-03
Support programme for the tourism and leisure sector in Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire.
Visit Wales : Share Wales, 2012-14
Editor. Content sharing, guidance and horizon scanning web site, part of the Welsh Government's Digital Tourism Business Programme under the Business, Enterprise, Technology and Science Department and Visit Wales.
Wales Tourist Board Business Advisory Service, 1985-92
Independent adviser on development and marketing across all sectors of tourism and leisure. More than 300 advisory sessions delivered over the period together with support workshops and seminars.
Department of Trade & Industry Marketing Initiative, 1989-94.
The Marketing Initiative was one of the range of consultancy initiatives which made up the DTI Enterprise Initiative. Barrie Foster completed 20 full projects and a number of marketing audits during the life of the initiative.
West Wales Training & Enterprise Council Diagnostics, 1993-97
Sole contract for the delivery of business diagnostics to the tourism and leisure sector in West Wales. Almost 200 diagnostics completed over the period together with support workshops and seminars.
Tourism Innovation Programme, 1998-2000
Programme Director, West Wales, for this EU funded pilot programme. Participating businesses had access to individual mentoring, group workshops, a telephone helpline and an information web site.
Welsh Development Agency Diagnostic Support, 2001-03
Support programme for the tourism and leisure sector in Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire.
Visit Wales : Share Wales, 2012-14
Editor. Content sharing, guidance and horizon scanning web site, part of the Welsh Government's Digital Tourism Business Programme under the Business, Enterprise, Technology and Science Department and Visit Wales.