North Somerset Visitor Economy Update - Sept 23

On Thursday 21st Sept, Explore North Somerset held its latest event at Tyntesfield – National Trust.

At the event, Weston College gave an insightful presentation about the value of the Purple Pound and how businesses can improve their accessibility and become disability confident in their customer services approach. The full presentation on the support offered through Weston College can be found here.

Dan Mills from Visit West and John Turner from Visit Somerset presented key updates on the importance of improving accessibility for businesses within the Visitor Economy and Simon Lawrence and Paula James from Tyntesfield gave an exciting overview of the house and its gardens, offering exciting details on how they will grow moving forwards, as well as providing attendees with an opportunity to take part in an exclusive tour .

Hosted by North Somerset Council, Explore North Somerset is a series of networking and familiarisation events that take place across the county to showcase the distinct offer that North Somerset presents to visitors and provide a space for Visitor Economy businesses to connect, develop and grow.

The next event is set to take place on 4th December at The Grand Pier, so please do keep an eye out for further information and invites!

If you have any questions about the event, please contact business@n-somerset.gov.uk and use the link below if you would like to be added to the newsletter.

Christmas 2023 at Tyntesfield

Take a step back in time and immerse yourself in nature with Tyntesfield’s very Victorian Christmas. Follow the family reindeer trail, try your hand at craft workshops, experience a festive horse and carriage ride and soak in the Christmas spirit with festive decorations across Tyntesfield Estate.

Christmas lino printing on Christmas cards

Fancy something festive and crafty? Lino printing your Christmas cards is the perfect activity to get you feeling Christmassy. Come and enjoy the grounds of Tyntesfield and take inspiration from the festivities at this time of year. These workshops will demonstrate each step and at the end of the day you’ll have some beautiful handmade cards to wow Father Christmas with under the tree.

Wreath making workshop

Make your own stunning Christmas wreath using fabulous foliage gathered from the Tyntesfield estate. With oodles of festive cheer and guidance from expert florist, and Tyntesfield’s own decorating angels from local florists Barley and Mabel. Tickets include hot drinks, mince pies and all materials. Suitable for beginners, no experience required.

Make a festive reindeer with the Somerset Bodgers

Join the Somerset Bodgers for this family favourite where you can make your own festive reindeer, complete with a red nose and winter scarf. Working in pairs, as an adult and child, you will make a festive reindeer using local timber. Under the careful tuition of the Somerset Bodgers, everyone will go away with a festive reindeer complete with a red nose and winter scarf. This event gets booked up very quickly so we recommend booking early if possible.

Tyntesfield reindeer trail

The reindeer have escaped from Tyntesfield stables and are running riot across the estate! Father Christmas needs your help to track down them down so he can round them up to pull his sleigh. Using a map of the locations they were last seen, explore the Tyntesfield estate and see if you can find all 9 reindeer.

Click the link below for more information, dates, and booking

Weston College Neurodiversity and Inclusion Support

Weston College’s Faculty of Inclusive Practice’s aim is to support businesses that are looking to learn more about how they can enable individuals thrive within their teams, businesses that want to foster a true inclusive workforce by recruiting more openly and looking to hone their strategies around retention.

The college can help you asses your inclusivity goals in the tourism sector and by doing so, open up a potential future workforce and income opportunity.

The below workshop are designed to support employers/colleagues/managers/business owners etc in a relaxed setting where the team can share knowledge and training around how to effectively support autism, dyslexia, dyscalculia, ADHD (+ more).

The aim is simple, the team’s expert knowledge shared, will help employers instil and support your business culture. Enabling you to thrive in offering support to all types of employees and customers, especially Neurodivergent individuals. They also have a new conscious inclusion training workshop this academic year and recommended individuals start with the Day 1 Neurodiversity training first. The conscious inclusion workshop is designed as a day 2 option, as it aims to go a little deeper and explore EDI with our educational expertise – they have an exceptional team delivering on this workshop too.

Training workshops:

Day 1 – Neurodiversity for Business

Day 2 – Conscious Inclusion

Location

Individuals can attend the training days listed  in Weston or at the Bristol Training centre (opposite the Bristol Hippodrome at 12 Colston Avenue). Both workshops are led by some truly exceptional experts at the SEND Centre for Excellence from the college.

Who is it suitable for?

It is available to all individuals of ability and to companies of any size and sector.

Cost & Delivery

Both workshops’ cost £99 per person, per course, from 9.30am-4.30pm

Dedicated Training options for your business

Both trainings can be delivered at your business location as a 1-to-2-day bespoke training day for up to 20 people

Lunch and Learn webinars are £300 and will be delivered via teams as an introduction to your staff.

Supported Internships: Want to help a young person with additional needs find sustainable and meaningful work? Start with an Into Work supported internship. This pathway helps 16 to 24 year olds with special educational needs and/or disabilities who have an education, health and care plan who want to move into employment and need extra support to do so. Employers can be pivotal in changing life chances and offering opportunities for young people to achieve their aspirations.

Lynsey from Weston College would be delighted to help with an initial discovery session to establish what would work best for you and how you can get involved – please get in touch via lynsey.mckinstry@Weston.ac.uk

About Visit Somerset

Visit Somerset is dedicated to promoting Somerset as a holiday destination for visitors from the UK and around the world, offering key information on how to get to Somerset, where to stay, what to do in Somerset, and how to get around once you’re here.

Visit Somerset has been working hard in collaboration with North Somerset Council and now features regional sub platforms from its main Visit Somerset platform for; Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon, Nailsea and Portishead. Since their creation, they have gained huge authority in Google’s organic rankings. If you reside or own a business in any of these four towns, it’s simple to upload all your event information by filling in the following application form HERE Visit Somerset will then authorise the details and your event will appear automatically!

If you’d like to find out more about Visit Somerset, please visit them directly via Visit Somerset or check out their latest update below.

About Visit West

Visit West is the Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP) for the West of England, representing the four unitary authorities, Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, businesses within these areas and members beyond working to maximise the potential of the visitor economy in the region.

Visit West Business Support

The Visit West Business Support service shares resources for businesses, information on the regional tourism economy and some of the ways we are working to support the region. They works closely with local, regional, national, and international stakeholders, including local councils, Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), VisitBritain, Visit England, the travel media and travel trade.

Together with the South West Tourism Research Company, they collect and share research and insights on the current state of the visitor economy, find their latest Research here along with an overview of the regional visitor economy.

If you’d like to find out more about Visit West, please visit them directly via Visit West or check out their latest update below.

About Visit Weston-super-Mare

Visit Weston-super-Mare is the official destination website for the original British seaside resort of Weston-super-Mare that provides detailed information on the town’s attractions, accommodation options, and events.

For more information about Visit Weston-super-Mare, click the link below.

Update to the Visitor Economy Action Plan

North Somerset Council has put together an update to their Visitor Economy Action Plan. Please use the following link to read the full report.