Today’s chat is with Rebecca West, Marketing Manager responsible for one of the most visited pay-to-enter visitor attractions in the UK outside London - the Roman Baths.  I was lucky enough to speak to Becca, just days before she started maternity leave to have her first baby. In fact by the time this podcast comes out, she might have some exciting news! Rebecca’s official title is Heritage Marketing Manager working for Bath & North East Somerset Council, where she is not only...

This week I've been chatting with the fascinating Naomi Miller, Acting Director at Bristol Ideas  - organisers of inspiring talks and debates which shine a light a light on diverse issues in the city. Bristol Ideas runs events throughout the year, including Festival of the Future City in October, and the Festival of Economics in November.   Join me as I talk to Naomi about how Bristol Ideas is working with Visit West on this year's Bristol 650 celebrations, commemorating all things Bristol...

This week I've been chatting with the fabulous Lewis Collins, Brand and Marketing manager of the Kaleidoscope collection - three award winning luxury boutique hotels in and around Bath and Wiltshire. The multiple award winning hotels: Homewood (just outside Bath), The Bird (in the centre of Bath) and the Bishopstrow (in Wiltshire).   Join me as I talk to Lewis about Kaleidoscope and how the character of the team has helped shape this distinct brand.  A former dancer and theatre performer...

Today’s podcast episode is with an aristocratic festival organiser, techno DJ and producer,  who has combined his passion for entertainment with his love of the environment in his family home on the River Severn in Gloucestershire.   Meet Anselm Guise, owner of Elmore Court the beautiful wedding venue and stately home just outside Gloucester.   Find out how  Anselm came to own Elmore Court and how over the past 10 years it has been developed from a 16th Century grand country residence into a...

It's been a whole year since I first launched the Elves of the Visitor Economy podcast! Whoop whoop!  Happy birthday to me As a big fan of camping, with a dream of one day owning a camper van, this feels like an appropriate time to be talking motorhome travels with Annah Todman.    Today's conversation is all about her business Uncover Britain road trips,  an online library of tour routes, places to park and things to do across the UK.    If you have an interest in accessing the camper van...

If you are interested in growing an engaged digital following,  you work for, or with a destination marketing organisation, then I’m sure you’ll find this week’s episode interesting.  I’m talking digital marketing with travel blogger turned in-house digital destination marketer for Marketing Cheltenham, Lisa Kowalkowski.   Lisa took her story telling and digital expertise to Marketing Cheltenham in 2019 and has been instrumental in growing a significant digital audience for VisitCheltenham...

Imagine setting up a restaurant with five of your friends that is so successful that within six years you have got nine restaurants!!  Welcome back to 2023, where my first episode of the year is with Rodrigo Rashinthe, Operations Director and one of five founders of The Coconut Tree chain of Sri Lankan restaurants.    In 2016, Rodrigo and his friends began their restaurant journey, after buying a flat over a pub, in an out-of-town suburb of Cheltenham.   Six years on and they are  the proud...

In today’s podcast I chat with Sophie Nash, Programme Manager of ‘Westonbirt’.   Located in the Cotswolds in the County of Gloucestershire, the Arboretum is one of the most visited pay-to-enter attractions in South West England, and is ranked amongst some of the great gardens of the world.   Over the past 10 years, Westonbirt has seen considerable development taking its visitors from 300,000 to around 600,000.    Westonbirt is close to my heart as I worked there for many years as Marketing...

For anyone involved in running an accommodation business in a city location over the past few years, times have been tough.  Todays guest Carla Brooks Owner of the Brooks Guest Houses (in Bath and Bristol) shares some useful advice,  having survived the recession of 2008.  If you have ever wandered into St Nicholas Market in the centre of Bristol, and glanced up through the iron gates to the huge shiny objects glinting in the sun, that’ll be the air stream caravans on the roof of Brooks...

Today’s podcast features my conversation with Bristol bar and restaurant owner Mike Harris, The Strawberry Thief. After many years following a career as a sustainability specialist, including time with the Eden Project, he decided to go back to his hospitality roots.  In 2016 he bought The Strawberry Thief, situated on Broad street near St Nicholas market, in the centre of Bristol.     I talk to Mike about how he has applied his years of working in the business of sustainability to the...

In today’s episode I am joined by the superb national travel PR specialist Fiona Reece, owner of Travel Tonic PR.    If you’re wondering how, you might generate more national PR for your organisation but there is nothing new happening, you’ll love this episode.    Join us as we reflect on the changing face of PR over the years,  and hear some of Fiona's top tips including:  ·      Coming up with interesting new ways (or hooks) to present stories  ·      How to understand what might be of...

In today's episode, I chat with the man in charge of culture for the city of Gloucester, Philip Walker, Head of Cultural Services, Gloucester City Council.  Where would we be without culture?  Culture is vitally important, it provides the vitality, sense of belonging and opportunity for us to come together and connect with things that light up our hearts.  For tourists, culture is the distinction which sets a place apart from another and forms ‘the experience’. Imagine a Britain without our...

If you work in promoting or bringing life to town and city centres, visitor attractions or have a dream of working for a creative organisation, you’re going to love today’s podcast.   In this episode I’m joined by the wonderful Kate Statham and Hannah McGavin, Directors of Bristol-based and award-winning theatrical events company Bakehouse Factory.  Their work takes them all over the country, working in shopping centres, town and city centres and different types of venues. The Bakehouse team...

What happens when you are passionate about people’s health and wellbeing, you love surfing, and want to create something epic that combines the two?  You create a humongous 200 meter in-land surf lake! In today’s episode I talk to Nick Hounsfield,  founder and chief visionary officer of The Wave https://www.thewave.com, the first inland surfing destination near Cribbs Causeway, Bristol only five minutes from the M4/M5 interchange.   Costing over £25 million to create,  Nick talks about how he...

The face of retail and the high street is changing and those seeing success are passionate creative businesses that have a truly distinctive personality, like Prior Shop in Bristol.     Our final episode of season one features the inspirational Beck Prior, founder of Prior Shop – 'High Street Shop of the Year' winner in the 2021 Holly & Co Independent Awards.    In 2019, Beck turned her passion for high quality, sustainable design, into a thriving business. She is a craftsperson, maker...

In this episode, Kelly chats to responsible tourism advocate and director of Gloucestershire Community Rail Partnership, Hannah McDonnell. Hannah is also Visit Gloucestershire’s lead on sustainability and social value. Responsible tourism, in which Hannah holds a master's degree, is an approach focusing on sustainability and making places better for both local residents and visitors. In our conversation, Hannah tells us how her passion for sustainable tourism began in rural Portugal. Hannah...

In today’s podcast Kelly is joined by Florence Wallace, Head of Travel Trade at VisitWiltshire and Great West Way (R).  If you work in the visitor economy, you'll know that the travel trade is another route to market – a business to business channel, so to speak, covering group travel organisers, coach companies, destination management companies, tour operators, agents and online travel agencies. This market can be really helpful to tourism suppliers and destinations for reaching overseas...

Have you ever thought about launching your own podcast?  Podcasting can be a great way to connect with your customers or visitors and it's getting easier to access all the time.  Perhaps you work in marketing within a visitor attraction that has a wealth of valuable information via your experts. Or maybe you run a chain of restaurants and you've got lots of brilliant people working with you who are constantly coming up with new ideas and have interesting stories to share. You might even...

In today’s episode, Kelly meets with Lindsey Williams, Head of Sales, at the brand new Mollie’s Motel & Diner.     Located near Cribbs Causeway in Bristol, Mollie's opened last year, hot on the heels of Mollie’s Oxfordshire (which opened in 2019). The motel-diners are the brainchild of Nick Jones, creator of the luxury Soho House brand and this influence is evident across the whole venue. With luxuries like Dyson hairdryers and straighteners alongside Cowshed products, the touches of...

In today’s episode, I chat with Kathryn Davis, Director of Tourism, Visit West and non-Exec Board member of Gloucestershire County Cricket Club and UKinbound.   Kathryn is a fount of all knowledge when it comes to tourism, leisure and hospitality in the west, having worked in the industry for more than 25 years. In 2018, Kathryn was presented with the award for Outstanding Achievement in Tourism at the Bristol, Bath and Somerset Tourism Awards. In our chat, Kathryn shares how the Destination...

In this episode I chat to Steve Gardner-Collins, Sales Director of The Hatton Collection and Director of Visit Gloucestershire. Steve talks about The Hatton Collection's business portfolio, ranging from country hotels to pubs with rooms across the Cotswolds, Somerset and Jersey. Steve shares his insights and some of the challenges of working in hospitality over the past few years and how this was felt across the different business types and locations.   We chat about the role of Visit...

In today’s episode I chat with the inspirational Vivienne Kennedy about her job as Head of Broadmead BID in Bristol. Viv joined the BID as a social media intern aged 47 and seven years later she is now running it!  Broadmead BID was one of the first Business Improvement Districts to operate in the UK and is responsible for supporting around 270 retail and hospitality businesses in the city. If you have ever been to Bristol, it is likely that you have been to Broadmead. At the heart of the...

In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking to Belinda Hunt, Operations Manager at Cheltenham BID (Business Improvement District).  The regency spa town of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire was made popular in the 18th and 19th centuries as a place the wealthy travelled to – for entertainment and to drink the spa water, said to provide ‘healing properties’. Today, Cheltenham is a cosmopolitan town with a population of 117,000, known for its horse racing, educational establishments and an...

I’m delighted to share my conversation with Donna Speed, Chief Executive of Bristol science centre and educational charity, We The Curious. Located on the harbourside, We The Curious is one of the city's leading family attractions, operating at the heart of the community.  Donna started her career at Alton Towers and moved to Bristol when We The Curious (previously named At-Bristol) opened in 2000 and has worked her way up the ranks to the position of Chief Executive. It is Donna's...

In today's episode I had the pleasure of chatting to Sammi Luxa – Sales & Marketing Manager for WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre in Gloucestershire. Sammi has been in the visitor economy for over ten years where she started her tourism career at Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm in Somerset. In this episode Sammi talks about marketing WWT Slimbridge as a visitor attraction during its 75th anniversary. Together we reflect on the changing face of marketing attractions and how TV advertising is now...