AN ORGANISATION has helped businesses in Coventry and Warwickshire access £300,000 in grant funding.
The Destination Management Organisation’s (DMO) achievements were revealed during a meeting at the Coventry Building Society (CBS) Arena, attended by 100 leaders from across the areas’ tourism, leisure and hospitality sector.
Paul Jones, managing director of Destination Coventry, spoke about the strides Coventry and Warwickshire’s visitor economy had made and the continued growth of the DMO’s offer since its launch in 2021.
Attendees also heard about the plans for the future of the CBS Arena from its commercial director Paul Michael, who is also chairman of Destination Coventry’s oversight board.
Mr Jones discussed how the DMO was working to ensure the visitor economy continued on an upward trajectory set by the recent tourism figures.
The value of the visitor economy has soared by £265million between 2020 and 2021.
He also highlighted how the DMO, in partnership with Coventry City Council and Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, had brokered sector specialist support to 60 businesses and secured around £300,000 in funding.
Mr Jones added: “2022 marked our first full calendar year as a DMO and we’re proud of the role we have played in driving the economic impact of tourism in Coventry and Warwickshire.
“It was great to see a full room at Coventry Building Society Arena for our winter networking event and to have the opportunity to share our successes from the last 12 months.
“We’re up to nearly 100 members now and have seen significant growth across a number of areas of the organisation, including in our marketing reach which has grown to more than 5.5million across all channels.”
He said partnership was at the heart of everything being done as the visitor economy continued to recover from the impact of the pandemic.
Destination Coventry also set out its plans for the year ahead.
These included increasing the number of destination marketing campaigns, help for businesses struggling with recruitment and skills, driving sustainable tourism across the region and continuing to broker grant funding and business support for the leisure, tourism and hospitality sector.
And Mr Jones added while as a region, Coventry and Warwickshire had made a strong start, there was still a lot of work to be done.
Issues which needed addressing included recruitment and sustainability.
Visit destinationcoventry.co.uk for more on Destination Coventry which incorporates established brands Visit Coventry and Conference Coventry and Warwickshire.
