
Tourism
Lead Administration –
Guernsey
Since its establishment, the British-Irish Council took forward work in the
area of Tourism due to the importance of the industry to all Member
Administrations. It was agreed that
Guernsey would take responsibility for advancing work in this area at
the second British-Irish Summit Council meeting in November 2001.
The
Council exchanged information and best practice in terms of employment,
revenue, culture and heritage aspects of tourism for each Member
Administration. Tourism was the central focus of the sixth BIC Summit, which
took place in
Guernsey in
November 2004. Click here to view the
Communiqué issued following the
Summit meeting on Tourism.
Staff training and recruitment plays an important role in the development of
the tourist industry in all Member Administrations, and this was a focus of
much of the work of the Council. Member Administrations agreed to endorse
the BIC tourism training courses in
Customer Care and Upselling, which were piloted in
Guernsey in
2005. These programmes are currently available to all Administrations
through the appointed consultants with programmes customised to meet
individual needs. In addition, to encourage mutual recognition of
certificates or diplomas, the Council agreed to exchange information on
courses delivered by training organisations throughout the BIC region.
Administrations undertook work on “Tourism Satellite Accounting” (TSA),
with the objective of measuring the value of all tourism related activities
to the economy of British-Irish Council Members. This was the focus of a
conference held in London in November 2004 Work was also undertaken in a
number of key areas including crisis management in the tourist industry and
the influence of the growing Chinese tourist market on the future
development of tourism policies within Member Administrations.
At the Council Summit held in
Scotland
on the
28 September 2008,
the Council agreed that the BIC tourism work sector had arrived at its
natural end and this view has been reflected in the Council Update of the
Strategic Review. The Council recognised the usefulness of the contacts made
in the tourism field since its adoption into the Council’s work programme in
2001.
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