Elves of the Visitor Economy: Recent Episodes
Kelly Ballard
There are thousands of amazingly talented people working behind the scenes in tourism, hospitality, events and destination marketing. Are you one of them?
Join visitor economy marketing specialist Kelly Ballard every fortnight. She'll be chatting with award-winning business owners and those working relentlessly to attract and delight visitors in the West of England, UK.
If you're wanting to connect with and learn from other small business owners and organisations in the visitor economy, this show is for you.
For more information about the show, visit: http://elvesofthevisitoreconomy.co.uk/.
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Welcome to today’s episode! I’m super excited to chat with Charlotte Laing, the amazing founder of The Content Emporium. Her agency is thriving, with a team of 46 talented people, and they’re doing fantastic work for clients, including 20 shopping centres across the UK.
Who’s This Episode For?
If you’re creating content for businesses, especially in the visitor economy (think shopping centres, town or city centres), this one’s for you.
Charlotte’s sharing some great tips and insights to help you up your content game.
What You’ll Learn
🤿 The Why Behind Content: We’re diving into why it’s more important than ever to invest in content creation and how businesses can make it work for them.
🔮 Looking Ahead to 2025: Charlotte shares her thoughts on the big content trends coming up and what you should be preparing for.
💡Tips You Can Use Right Now: Need a boost for your content strategy? Charlotte’s got some super practical advice to help you nail it for 2025.
Grab your notebook, get comfy, and let’s get into it!
For a summary, full transcription, and links mentioned in the episode, head to Visitor Elves.
Find out more about host Kelly Ballard and the Visitor Elves here.
This episode is sponsored by Hello Starling.
Hello Starling, is an award-winning Media Planning and Buying agency that specialises in delivering advertising campaigns with great results for visitor attractions and destinations.
They've work with brands such as Bristol Zoo Project, Visit Shropshire, Visit Conwy, Visit Herefordshire and the National Tourism Office for Poland. If you want to be the centre of attention, visit hellostarling.com today.
Subscribe to the Visitor Elves newsletter, to receive the latest podcast releases and inspirational tips to help you with your visitor economy business.
To share your views on this subject and ask questions about the episode, head over to:
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If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please take a moment to give me a few stars on Apple podcasts or Spotify, it helps to encourage more people to listen and learn from our stories. 🙏
Send us a text
Welcome to Series 4 of The Visitor Elves Podcast!
We’re back, and I couldn’t be more excited to kick off Series 4 of the Visitor Elves podcast.
Whether you’re a long-time listener (you’re a total rockstar!) or it’s your first time tuning in, I’m thrilled to have you here. We’re two years in, with 46 episodes and over 4,200 downloads—so what’s next?
This series is packed with insightful guests, actionable tips, and real stories from those on the frontlines of tourism, hospitality, and experiences. Expect new episodes around every two weeks, so be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already!
Starting Strong with a Visit West Collaboration
I’m thrilled to launch this season with a special collaboration episode featuring Visit West—the Destination Management Organisation for Bristol, Bath, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire.
If you’re short on time or can’t attend industry events, this episode is perfect for catching up on what’s happening.
In today’s episode, we’ve got speakers from the Food and Drink Forum that took place on 18th September, sharing ideas and opportunities that can benefit businesses across the board.
Heloise Balme from Bristol Food Network, introducing their sustainability guide for hospitality as part of the Bristol Good Food 2030 programme.
Louisa Jackley-Davis from Virgin Experience Days, showing how you can promote your business.
Jon Chamberlain from Visit West, discussing group dining opportunities with the travel trade.
Natalie Clayton from AA Media, presenting the new and free Visitor Ready assessment scheme.
Dan Newman Managing Director of Hospitality Rewards, the first benefits platform for UK hospitality workers.
Find out more, check out the transcript and speaker links here.
Stay tuned, and as always—enjoy the episode!
Find out more about host Kelly Ballard and the Visitor Elves here.
Subscribe to the Visitor Elves newsletter, to receive the latest podcast releases and inspirational tips to help you with your visitor economy business.
To share your views on this subject and ask questions about the episode, head over to:
Instagram
LinkedIn
If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please take a moment to give me a few stars on Apple podcasts or Spotify, it helps to encourage more people to listen and learn from our stories. 🙏
Send us a Text Message.
In my final episode of Series 3, I have a special guest, the wonderful and oh-so-stylish Lorraine Jarvie, General Manager of the Royal Crescent Hotel in Bath.
This hotel has a five-star (red) rating and is one of the top 2% in the country. With 40 bedrooms and 140 staff (180 during busy periods), the Royal Crescent is not only one of the West's most impressive hotels, it is also one of the ultimate jobs in the UK for a hotel manager.
In our conversation, we talk about:
- Lorraine's career and how she came to work at the Royal Crescent.
- The wonderful history of the hotel and how the Royal Crescent was one of Bath's roughest areas in the 1980s and 1990s.
- How the American and Middle Eastern markets are busy with the Chinese market definitely coming back.
- Types of guests willing to pay upwards of £1,100 for a junior suite.
- The impact of Bridgerton and film tourism on the hotel and Bath as a visitor destination.
- Getting trained staff to the service level required.
- Going into schools to talk about her job to inspire the next generation of hospitality recruits.
- The launch of a new set of toiletries with Jo Loves - the first hotel range in association with Jo Malone outside of London.
- The Golden Keys concierge team who can access pretty much anything their guests require in the UK - no one else has this status in the West Country.
- Her favourite places Iford Manor and Castle Farm, Midford.
It was such a pleasure chatting with Lorraine. My only issue was the sound quality of my microphone. I am so sorry.
Please stick with it, as Lorraine is who you most want to hear from, and she shares some wonderful insights into life as a General Manager in a luxury hotel.
Enjoy the episode.
Huge thanks to podcast sponsor Noble Performs.
Noble provide Unstoppable digital marketing to maximise your performance. From SEO to Paid Social and more, we have the tools you need.
Find out more about host Kelly Ballard and the Visitor Elves here.
Subscribe to the Visitor Elves newsletter, to receive the latest podcast releases and inspirational tips to help you with your visitor economy business.
To share your views on this subject and ask questions about the episode, head over to:
Instagram
LinkedIn
If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please take a moment to give me a few stars on Apple podcasts or Spotify, it helps to encourage more people to listen and learn from our stories. 🙏
Send us a Text Message.
Welcome to this week's podcast, where I’m going behind the scenes of Bristol City Centre and talking to Tom Swithinbank.
Tom's work involves helping businesses become more sustainable and making the city a more appealing place to visit. Tom works for Visit West, specifically for the Business Improvement Districts,which support around 1,200 businesses in the city centre.
In this episode, we talk about:
- How Tom’s work contributes to the Bristol City Council’s ambitious target to be carbon neutral by 2030.
- A free bike check service called Dr Bike
- An initiative for city centre workers to bring their own lunch boxes to Finzels Reach food market to cut down on packaging waste - a great initiative that all of us can consider, no matter where we work.
- The use of cargo bikes for businesses who need local deliveries
- Making the city look more appealing using planters, murals and green walls, all of which make the city centre a better place.
We also discuss the future of the historic Castle Park and the exciting plans to redevelop that rather colourful derelict building on the corner. Along with the plan to landscape the area next to Cabot Circus to strengthen the park's link to the shopping centre.
I hope you enjoy the episode.
Bristol City Centre BID
Redcliffe & Temple BID
Broadmead BID
Connect with Tom Swinthinbank on LinkedIn
For more links to things and businesses discussed (podcast on website)
Huge thanks to podcast sponsor Noble Performs.
Noble provide Unstoppable digital marketing to maximise your performance. From SEO to Paid Social and more, we have the tools you need.
Find out more about host Kelly Ballard and the Visitor Elves here.
Subscribe to the Visitor Elves newsletter, to receive the latest podcast releases and inspirational tips to help you with your visitor economy business.
To share your views on this subject and ask questions about the episode, head over to:
Instagram
LinkedIn
If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please take a moment to give me a few stars on Apple podcasts or Spotify, it helps to encourage more people to listen and learn from our stories. 🙏
In today's episode, my conversation with Graham MacVoy, Managing Director of the visitor attraction Wake the Tiger in Bristol, truly blew my mind.
Wake the Tiger is the permanent 'baby' created by the team running the unique Boomtown festival.
The pandemic has much to answer for, but it gave Graham and his directors the headspace to provide a more permanent base for their creative ideas, so the 'amazement park' Wake the Tiger was created and opened in 2022.
I listened in awe in this episode as Graham revealed how his love of snowboarding led to his career running snowboarding events in Europe, which led to his owning a company that led operations at festivals such as Creamfields, BST Hyde Park, and Boomtown.
Graham talked about how the Wake the Tiger was a huge punt of an idea which thankfully saw 190,000 in its first year of operations.
Wake the Tiger has brought Boomtown's talent and creativity into a permanent space that blows people’s minds and challenges us to think differently and creatively to make a difference to our lives and our planet.
He discusses everything from learning to run a visitor attraction to the importance of the arts and creativity in changing society.
Graham is an inspiration, and his out-of-the-box thinking about how we should behave as human beings and what is important certainly left me questioning everything about life!
He also talks about his love for his hometown of Dursley, Gloucestershire, on the Cotswold Way.
I hope you enjoy the episode.
Read the transcript here https://visitorelves.co.uk/podcast/
Learn more and follow Wake the Tiger:
Website
LinkedIn Company page
Huge thanks to podcast sponsor Noble Performs.
Noble provide Unstoppable digital marketing to maximise your performance. From SEO to Paid Social and more, we have the tools you need.
Find out more about host Kelly Ballard and the Visitor Elves here.
Subscribe to the Visitor Elves newsletter, to receive the latest podcast releases and inspirational tips to help you with your visitor economy business.
To share your views on this subject and ask questions about the episode, head over to:
Instagram
LinkedIn
If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please take a moment to give me a few stars on Apple podcasts or Spotify, it helps to encourage more people to listen and learn from our stories. 🙏
In today’s podcast, I’m heading to the Somerset levels to chat with Vicki Jones, owner of the award-winning Tractors & Cream glampsite.
Vicki and her husband Bryan worked in the hotel trade before they decided to upsticks and create their own hospitality business. After feeling the pain of putting up the yurts each year, they decided to invest in these fantastic architectural geodomes.
Their beautiful site, with five domes and a large event dome, is extremely popular with families, hen parties, and even baby showers - all heading along for afternoon tea.
Life and times at the site are documented regularly on YouTube, earning Tractors and Cream over 10,000 followers and a keen following of glampsite owners in the US, all looking to learn from Vicki and Bryan.
In the podcast Vicki shares how she promotes her business and provides us with some really useful tips on how to market a glamping business.
Find Tractors and Cream:
https://tractorsandcream.co.uk/
You Tube
FacebookRead the transcript and top tips
Enjoy the episode.
Huge thanks to podcast sponsor Noble Performs.
Noble provide Unstoppable digital marketing to maximise your performance. From SEO to Paid Social and more, we have the tools you need.
Find out more about host Kelly Ballard and the Visitor Elves here.
Subscribe to the Visitor Elves newsletter, to receive the latest podcast releases and inspirational tips to help you with your visitor economy business.
To share your views on this subject and ask questions about the episode, head over to:
Instagram
LinkedIn
If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please take a moment to give me a few stars on Apple podcasts or Spotify, it helps to encourage more people to listen and learn from our stories. 🙏
In this episode, I had the pleasure of chatting with Sarah Bagg, founder of ReWork Consulting, about getting the best ticketing or booking system to support your business needs.
As a marketer, I've worked with several solutions, and I've noticed that most of them lack the automated link from email to CRM system. As a result, it's challenging to execute smart marketing strategies without manual intervention. This can be frustrating and time-consuming. It restricts personalisation and generally feeds a lack of enthusiasm for email marketing.
Since ticketing or booking systems are at the core of many businesses in the visitor economy, I wanted to speak with an expert in this area.
Sarah is well-versed in operational systems supporting all departments and has many years of experience working in this area of the visitor economy, both on the client and supplier sides.
Any investment in a new system is a huge undertaking. Sarah has some really useful advice for those thinking about it. She also has some suggestions for those who have already made the investment and have found their system lacking.
Check out the written summary and find links here.
Enjoy the episode!
Huge thanks to podcast sponsor Noble Performs.
Noble provide Unstoppable digital marketing to maximise your performance. From SEO to Paid Social and more, we have the tools you need.
Find out more about host Kelly Ballard and the Visitor Elves here.
Subscribe to the Visitor Elves newsletter, to receive the latest podcast releases and inspirational tips to help you with your visitor economy business.
To share your views on this subject and ask questions about the episode, head over to:
Instagram
LinkedIn
If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please take a moment to give me a few stars on Apple podcasts or Spotify, it helps to encourage more people to listen and learn from our stories. 🙏
In this podcast episode, we focus on increasing bookings from inbound travellers or overseas tourists through the travel trade.
My guests are Jon Chamberlain, Head of Marketing for VisitWest, and Mike Newman of B2Me Tourism Marketing.
Jon has been working for 11 years to promote Bristol, Bath, and the surrounding areas as a European leisure destination. Mike helps destinations and businesses prepare their offers for the travel trade and represents them at shows worldwide.
Many of us in the UK use travel agents like TUI or Jet2 for our holidays, and the rest of the world does the same. We discuss some of the questions that operators focused mainly on the domestic market may have.
We cover topics including:
- £370 million value of overseas tourism to the VisitWest region.
- Tourism industry insights and marketing strategies for Bristol and Bath.
- The importance of relationship building with this sector.
- How to prepare for attending a travel trade event
- Ways to increase visitor spend and dwell time in destinations by promoting lesser-known products and experiences.
- Making tourism businesses travel trade-ready through digital systems and partnerships.
- Visit West's partnership with the OTA Get Your Guide to increase interest in the region. How the travel trade can bring business during shoulder times and dates.
Moreover, we discuss the importance of viewing commission as profit, not cost, attending large European trade shows like ITB Berlin, and the success of the VisitWest's campaign, 'The England you know but better.'
Lastly, our guests share their favourite places and things to do in the West.
Connect with Mike on LinkedIn
https://b2me.net/
Connect with Jon on LinkedIn
Visit West latest travel trade opportunities
Huge thanks to podcast sponsor Noble Performs.
Noble provide Unstoppable digital marketing to maximise your performance. From SEO to Paid Social and more, we have the tools you need.
Find out more about host Kelly Ballard and the Visitor Elves here.
Subscribe to the Visitor Elves newsletter, to receive the latest podcast releases and inspirational tips to help you with your visitor economy business.
To comment and ask questions about the episode, head over to:
Instagram
LinkedIn
If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please take a moment to give me a few stars on Apple podcasts or Spotify, it helps to encourage more people to listen and learn from our stories. 🙏
Today's Marketing Insights is all about the 'groups' market.
For many years, the domestic group travel or coach tour industry has been an important part of the UK’s tourism industry.
Groups have historically been guaranteed business for many tourism organisations, with up to 50 people on a coach coming often during week day and shoulder periods.
However, because of the pandemic, hundreds of coach companies, many of them well established, went out of business. It's been devastating for them.
So, the question I have as a marketer in the visitor economy is, should it be a market that we are still looking at trying to attract? If so, how have things changed and how do we market to these customers in 2024?
I am joined on the show by group travel specialist Steve Reed from Steve Reed Tourism to talk to me about it.
For the podcast summary and links head to https://visitorelves.co.uk/insights/
Enjoy the episode
Huge thanks to podcast sponsor Noble Performs.
Noble provide Unstoppable digital marketing to maximise your performance. From SEO to Paid Social and more, we have the tools you need.
Find out more about host Kelly Ballard and the Visitor Elves here.
Subscribe to the Visitor Elves newsletter, to receive the latest podcast releases and inspirational tips to help you with your visitor economy business.
To comment and ask questions about the episode, head over to:
Instagram
LinkedIn
If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please take a moment to give me a few stars on Apple podcasts or Spotify, it helps to encourage more people to listen and learn from our stories. 🙏
Today’s episode is all about email marketing and the simple things you can do to make it work more effectively to drive bookings.
Joining me on the show is Sarah Orchard ofGet Fully Booked.
Sarah runs a marketing programme that helps small independent accommodation businesses improve their marketing and increase their direct bookings.
Sarah was also my very first guest on the podcast back in 2022. In that episode, she spoke about her luxury treehouse, Hudnalls Hideout, in the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley.
In this episode, Sarah shares some excellent tips based on her years of experience successfully managing email campaigns for her own businesses and for her clients.
For a full summary of her thoughts and tips, head to visitorelves.co.uk/insights, where I will summarise Sarah’s helpful tips in episode 39.
Listen to Episode 1 where I chat with Sarah about Hudnalls Hideout, her luxury treehouse business, where she also shares marketing tips from her sell-out business.
Find Sarah here:
https://get-fully-booked.com/
https://www.instagram.com/getfullybooked/
Huge thanks to podcast sponsor Noble Performs.
Noble provide Unstoppable digital marketing to maximise your performance. From SEO to Paid Social and more, we have the tools you need.
Find out more about host Kelly Ballard and the Visitor Elves here.
Subscribe to the Visitor Elves newsletter, to receive the latest podcast releases and inspirational tips to help you with your visitor economy business.
To comment and ask questions about the episode, head over to:
Instagram
LinkedIn
If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please take a moment to give me a few stars on Apple podcasts or Spotify, it helps to encourage more people to listen and learn from our stories. 🙏
If large open-air events or air shows are your thing, you'll love this episode.
In today’s podcast, I chat with Simon Hough, Head of Commercial Activities and Hospitality at the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT), the largest military airshow in the world.
We chat about the event and everything that goes into its creation across the year, including the logistical challenge of dealing with 253 aircraft coming into a single location for a week and the event's importance to the RAF and the wider aerospace industry. We also talk about Simon's role and how he went from managing events and concerts in England for Forestry England to RIAT in 2023.
RIAT, which takes place in the Cotswolds every July, is the largest public engagement event for the RAF.
With so many aircraft on display from 25 different countries, 43 nations represented and over 150,000 people visiting over four days, this is a very important international event in the West of England, where aerospace is a key industry.
This event has a massive £4m impact on the local economy each year and gives away £2m annually to support outreach in STEM subject learning across the country.
Enjoy the episode
Find out more about the Royal International Air Tattoo.
Connect with Simon on LinkedIn
Huge thanks to podcast sponsor Noble Performs.
Noble provide Unstoppable digital marketing to maximise your performance. From SEO to Paid Social and more, we have the tools you need.
Find out more about host Kelly Ballard and the Visitor Elves here.
Subscribe to the Visitor Elves newsletter, to receive the latest podcast releases and inspirational tips to help you with your visitor economy business.
To comment and ask questions about the episode, head over to:
Instagram
LinkedIn
If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please take a moment to give me a few stars on Apple podcasts or Spotify, it helps to encourage more people to listen and learn from our stories. 🙏
Today's episode is the first of my Marketing Insights series.
In it, I’m talking to the lovely Claire Robinson, founder and Creative Director of WeekendCandy.com, about the world of influencer marketing and how to work with Influencers in 2024.
Claire shares several tips on how to find the right people to work with and get the most out of the relationship, including:
- How to identify the right influencers for your target audience based on demographics and content tone/quality.
- Be strategic rather than focus on vanity metrics like follower count.
- The importance of a professional approach to working with influencers, being upfront about budgets, and valuing their time and skills.
- The aim for long-term, multidimensional collaborations that offer benefits like SEO and reusable, evergreen content for both parties
Claire is an accredited travel writer and content creator, running the travel website Weekend Candy, which provides inspirational content and listings on where to stay and what to do in the UK.
She has been doing this for many years and has an excellent reputation as a creator and inspirational influencer of her audience, with a reach of thousands across her channels.
Enjoy the episode, and let me know your thoughts on Instagram.
Find Claire here https://weekendcandy.com/
Huge thanks to podcast sponsor Noble Performs.
Noble provide Unstoppable digital marketing to maximise your performance. From SEO to Paid Social and more, we have the tools you need.
Find out more about host Kelly Ballard and the Visitor Elves here.
Subscribe to the Visitor Elves newsletter, to receive the latest podcast releases and inspirational tips to help you with your visitor economy business.
To comment and ask questions about the episode, head over to:
Instagram
LinkedIn
If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please take a moment to give me a few stars on Apple podcasts or Spotify, it helps to encourage more people to listen and learn from our stories. 🙏
Digital marketing is constantly evolving, and it can be a challenge to keep up. I recently had a conversation with Jarrod Lopiccolo (CEO) and Kate Sikora (Managing Partner) from Noble Performs, a digital agency that specialises in travel and tourism marketing.
With over 20 years of experience in the US, they established a UK agency in Bristol in 2019. Their clients include destinations like Lake Tahoe, Yosemite National Park, Cotswold Tourism, and St George's music venue in Bristol.
In the visitor economy marketing industry, the US is often ahead of the UK. Therefore, talking to Noble was helpful in understanding what is coming down the line and what we need to plan for.
During our conversation, we discussed the following topics:
- The differences in tourism marketing approaches between the US and the UK.
- Insights into the future of digital marketing, including Search Generative Experience, AI, and the first-party cookie approach to overcome the abolition of third-party cookies in 2024.
- Changing behaviours regarding search on social media platforms, such as TikTok, versus review websites.
- The growth of interest in second and third-tier destinations, luxury markets, and wellness and sustainable travel.
- Jarrod expressed his love for the Cotswolds (as a US citizen), and Kate shared her appreciation for the whole of the South West of England.
- We also talked about our favourite places to eat, including Roots and Snobbies, Pho, Riverstation (all in Bristol), and the Porthminster Beach Cafe in St Ives, Cornwall.
Read the transcript and find links
Huge thanks to podcast sponsor Noble Performs.
Noble provide Unstoppable digital marketing to maximise your performance. From SEO to Paid Social and more, we have the tools you need.
Find out more about host Kelly Ballard and the Visitor Elves here.
Subscribe to the Visitor Elves newsletter, to receive the latest podcast releases and inspirational tips to help you with your visitor economy business.
To comment and ask questions about the episode, head over to:
Instagram
LinkedIn
If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please take a moment to give me a few stars on Apple podcasts or Spotify, it helps to encourage more people to listen and learn from our stories. 🙏
Welcome to episode 35 of the Visitor Elves podcast.
Today, I’m joined by Fiona Matthews, Creative Director of Super Culture, an organisation that creates cultural experiences in Weston-super-Mare.
Super Culture creates large-scale events such as the annual light festival GLOW and Whirligig and works on initiatives involving the entire community.
Super Culture is providing a key component of the regeneration plans for Weston.
This episode will be useful for anyone interested in the arts, placemaking and destination marketing. It will also be useful to those at the top of the organisation responsible for setting the culture.
Our conversation got me thinking about culture's key role in marketing a place.
We all know that the distinctive local culture sets places apart. It’s often not about the big attractions, it’s about the people, the attitudes, and the vibe that makes a place distinct.
Fiona relayed a quote from the international artist Morag Myrescough, working on a project in Weston; she said, ‘Make happy those who are near, and those who are far will come’.
Join me as I talk to Fiona about their work to put creativity and culture at the heart of Weston’s community and why culture is so important in uniting people and creating distinctiveness.
Enjoy the episode.
Super Weston
Huge thanks to podcast sponsor Noble Performs.
Noble provide Unstoppable digital marketing to maximise your performance. From SEO to Paid Social and more, we have the tools you need.
Find out more about host Kelly Ballard and the Visitor Elves here.
Subscribe to the Visitor Elves newsletter, to receive the latest podcast releases and inspirational tips to help you with your visitor economy business.
To comment and ask questions about the episode, head over to:
Instagram
LinkedIn
If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please take a moment to give me a few stars on Apple podcasts or Spotify, it helps to encourage more people to listen and learn from our stories. 🙏
Welcome back to the first Visitor Elves episode of 2024. I hope you had a good Christmas season and your plans for 2024 are shaping up.
In today's conversation, I'm going behind the scenes of Ashton Gate Stadium, home of Bristol City Football Club, Bristol Bears, and Bristol Flyers, with the wonderful, Dublin-born CEO Mark Kelly of Ashton Gate Sporting Quarter. We chat about:
- The exciting plans to develop a new Bristol Sporting Quarter with a 5,000-capacity conference centre, two hotels, multi storey car park office, housing and retail space.
- How concerts such as Take That (June 2024) are the biggest drivers of staying tourists at Ashton Gate.
- How they had to turn down £10m of potential conference business last year as the facilities were just not big enough.
- Mark's career journey from a hotel management qualification to his amazing job today, which includes leading a new game reserve in Botswana for the Lansdown family.
- Some of his favourite places to eat include Aqua, Sow & Cow, and Cafe Burra (owned by some of the Bristol Bears players).
Enjoy the episode!
Read the transcription here.
Huge thanks to podcast sponsor Noble Performs.
Noble provide Unstoppable digital marketing to maximise your performance. From SEO to Paid Social and more, we have the tools you need.
Find out more about host Kelly Ballard and the Visitor Elves here.
Subscribe to the Visitor Elves newsletter, to receive the latest podcast releases and inspirational tips to help you with your visitor economy business.
To comment and ask questions about the episode, head over to:
Instagram
LinkedIn
If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please take a moment to give me a few stars on Apple podcasts or Spotify, it helps to encourage more people to listen and learn from our stories. 🙏
In this festive episode just before Christmas, we have a returning guest, the lovely Kathryn Davis, Managing Director of VisitWest, shedding light on the key aspects of the recently launched Destination Management Plan (DMP).
The VisitWest regional area, including Bristol, Bath, South Gloucestershire, and North Somerset, brings in a staggering £2 billion to the local economy each year from tourism. Proving once again the importance of our industry.
In our conversation Kathryn shares:
- How business has been in 2023 up until September for the region.
- Headlines of the Destination Management Plan, unveiling key growth markets, distinctive themes, and the necessary elements for infrastructure, product development, and skills.
- How towns, villages, and businesses in the wider areas can leverage visitors by aligning with VisitWest's plans outlined in the DMP, launched in November 2023.
- The significance of VisitWest being one of the first Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEP) and how can lead to future opportunities for lobbying and collaboration.
- Her insights into why a tourism tax is not a straight-forward solution to solving the funding gap for destination management.
- A look into what's on the horizon for the region, including upcoming projects and initiatives that will significantly shape the visitor landscape.
I recorded the podcast on 2nd November 2023 a few weeks before the podcast was released so there are future references to openings such as the Bristol Beacon which have come and gone - nothing stands still in this industry!
Wishing you a wonderful holiday season and a prosperous 2024!
Further links
https://www.visitwest.co.uk/
https://www.visitwest.co.uk/about-us/destination-management-plan
Huge thanks to podcast sponsor Noble Performs.
Noble provide Unstoppable digital marketing to maximise your performance. From SEO to Paid Social and more, we have the tools you need.
Find out more about host Kelly Ballard and the Visitor Elves here.
Subscribe to the Visitor Elves newsletter, to receive the latest podcast releases and inspirational tips to help you with your visitor economy business.
To comment and ask questions about the episode, head over to:
Instagram
LinkedIn
If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please take a moment to give me a few stars on Apple podcasts or Spotify, it helps to encourage more people to listen and learn from our stories. 🙏
Today's podcast episode features the delightful George Combe, talking about the growth and popularity of the Mendip Activity Centre in North Somerset.
Spread across 250 acres, Mendip Activity Centre is the largest independent activity centre in the West. With a dry ski slope, toboggan run, watersports on the river, rock climbing, and much more.
During the pandemic, the team made the decision to open their campsite to the public, where previously it had only been accessible to schools and children's groups. The result has been over 100,000 visitors and a rapidly growing reputation for being one of the South West's best campsites.
In 2022, they won silver in the South West Tourism Awards for the best campsite, and they are eagerly awaiting the results of the 2023 awards, which will no doubt be fruitful.
There's a lot happening at the centre, from instructor training to a dedicated accessibility programme. Sustainability is high on their agenda as they explore more of the site with a resident ecologist.
If you're interested in what it takes to run a successful outdoor active experience and campsite, then you'll love this episode.
Find out more about Mendip Activity Centre.
Full transcript and summary
Interested in the Virtual Marketing Director Service - find out more.
Huge thanks to podcast sponsor Noble Performs.
Noble provide Unstoppable digital marketing to maximise your performance. From SEO to Paid Social and more, we have the tools you need.
Find out more about host Kelly Ballard and the Visitor Elves here.
Subscribe to the Visitor Elves newsletter, to receive the latest podcast releases and inspirational tips to help you with your visitor economy business.
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With one in five households having someone with an impairment or disability, it is crucial for businesses in the visitor economy to prioritise accessibility. Your consideration and awareness of this market can make or break a visitor's decision to choose your business.
Supporting people with access needs has always been essential, but in recent years, more information has become available, and businesses in the visitor economy are responding more proactively than ever before.
In this episode, I talk to Larry Bush, Director of Noah's Ark Zoo Farm in North Somerset, one of the attractions that have been recognised for doing it particularly well, winning gold in the Visit England Award for Excellence for Accessibility and Inclusion.
Noah's Ark Zoo Farm welcomes over 200,000 visitors per year, including 20,000 school children. This former family-owned dairy farm has now been turned into a charity, as the Bush family appreciates that this is more than just a family business. It is now a place for the future of wildlife education, conservation, and people.
In this episode, we talk about
- Larry's journey to joining the family business in 2019, which included bringing Doritos to the UK!
- The recently achieved charitable status of Noah's Ark, why this was important to the family, and the ambitions of the charity.
- What the zoo has introduced to make it more accessible and inclusive and why this will always be an ongoing process of feedback and improvement as people's needs are vast.
- Lastly, we examine how they manage work experience at the Zoo farm and Larry's suggestions for anyone wanting to get a job at a place like theirs.
Links to Noahs Ark Farm, the businesses mentioned and the transcript.
Huge thanks to podcast sponsor Noble Performs.
Noble provide Unstoppable digital marketing to maximise your performance. From SEO to Paid Social and more, we have the tools you need.
Find out more about host Kelly Ballard and the Visitor Elves here.
Subscribe to the Visitor Elves newsletter, to receive the latest podcast releases and inspirational tips to help you with your visitor economy business.
To comment and ask questions about the episode, head over to:
Instagram
LinkedIn
If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please take a moment to give me a few stars on Apple podcasts or Spotify, it helps to encourage more people to listen and learn from our stories. 🙏
It's been a while but I'm excited to be back with my 30th episode featuring the team behind the Bristol restaurant absolutely smashing it on TikTok - Urban Tandoor.
Urban Tandoor are now apparently the most followed Indian restaurant account on TikTok, with many of their posts reaching views into the millions.
In today’s episode, I chatted with Sujith D’almeida Owner of Urban Tandoor, Bristol and TikTok queen Natalie Brereton from the agency Nonsensical.
We chatted about:
- How Sujith went from working on cruise ships through to owning three of his own successful Indian restaurants
- How important social media, in particular TikTok, has been on Urban Tandoor
- How Sujith manages to get his team so heavily involved in the creation of hilarious parodies and regular topical content
- The growth of TikTok - and it’s not just with those below age 25
- How brands such as Ryan Air and Lotus taking big risks on TikTok in order to push the boundaries of their brand and how they are achieving massive success
- The advice Nat has for any business wanting to make it on TikTok
Urban Tandoor is fast becoming a must-go destination restaurant in Bristol as a result of its success on social media.
There is just so much to take away from this episode if you’re interested in what TikTok can do for your business.
Enjoy the episode!
For links to the guests, contacts and mentions go to www.visitorelves.co.uk
Huge thanks to podcast sponsor Noble Performs.
Noble provide Unstoppable digital marketing to maximise your performance. From SEO to Paid Social and more, we have the tools you need.
Find out more about host Kelly Ballard and the Visitor Elves here.
Subscribe to the Visitor Elves newsletter, to receive the latest podcast releases and inspirational tips to help you with your visitor economy business.
To comment and ask questions about the episode, head over to:
Instagram
LinkedIn
If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please take a moment to give me a few stars on Apple podcasts or Spotify, it helps to encourage more people to listen and learn from our stories. 🙏
In this final episode of Series 2, I am bringing you my story. I’m being interviewed by my Visitor Elf sidekick Shonette Laffy, Digital Marketing Manager of Visit West and fellow freelancer.
During my conversation with Shonette, I share how I got into the visitor economy and what life was like in marketing before the internet existed - remember that?? 25 years ago, virtually no one had a website, Friends Reunited was the closest thing we had to Facebook and faxing was still a thing. I share some of the ways we used to find and reach out to audiences before we had so much tech at our disposal.
This interview is a bit of a look back, but also a reflection on the challenges I have faced as a marketer who is juggling an increasingly complex industry.
I share some of the opportunities I see for the visitor economy over the next couple of years, including AI, chatbots and podcasts (no surprises there!), as well as some top tips for those of you working in marketing in this exciting industry.
I hope that this conversation resonates with those of you in marketing trying to do it all - trying to be the digital tech specialist, the planner, the videographer, the writer.
It will also resonate with those whose early careers were a little all over the place until you had your own sliding doors moments.
Enjoy the episode!
Find out more:
Westonbirt Arboretum
Super Weston
Visit West
Culture Weston
Other mentions in the show:
Noble Performs
Tech Pixies
Weston Wallz
Foodworks
Puxton Park
The Grand Pier
Kelly's favourites:
Revo Kitchen, Weston-super-Mare
Sakura, Weston-super-Mare
Prior Shop, Bristol
Find out more about the Elves of the Visitor economy here.
Instagram
LinkedIn
For more about me, Kelly Ballard, head to my website or connect with me on LinkedIn.
With thanks to sponsors Plate restaurantin Bath. Plate are offering 20% off their food bill if you follow their Instagram account and DM them the word: ELVES. NB Blackout dates apply to the discount.
In today’s podcast I had the pleasure of chatting to two independent tourism organisations based in Gloucestershire who are leading the way in not only making their businesses as sustainable as possible, they are also on a journey to changing our thinking around how we spend our leisure time – including what we choose to eat and drink.
This week I was talking to Greg Pilley, Managing Director of Stroud Brewery, Sarah Brewster owner of Stonehouse Court Hotel and Visit Gloucestershire's sustainability lead Hannah McDonnell.
Greg and Sarah are both part of the Sustainability Champions network brought together by Visit Gloucestershire – one of the first Destination Management Organisations to make a commitment to Net Zero by 2050 as part of the Glasgow declaration for climate action.
As travel returns to pre-COVID levels, and overtourism and greenwashing remain a concern, there’s never been a more critical time for businesses to consider their own environmental impact and what changes they can start to implement now.
- Hannah talks about the purpose of the Sustainability Champions and how others can get involved or be inspired to set something up in their local area.
- Greg talks passionately about how he has set up Stroud Brewery as a certified organic brewery - one of only 5 in the country - and now has certified BCorp status.
- Sarah shares how she is transforming the 17th Century hotel with a variety of actions, from temperature controls in rooms to installing electric vehicle charging points.
We also discuss some interesting ideas around how a rural destination can support and promote its sustainability credentials and how businesses can do their bit to help visitors make more sustainable choices.
Connect with this week’s guests on LinkedIn:
Hannah McDonnell Greg Pilley Sarah Brewster
Find out more:
Visit Gloucestershire
Sustainability Champions partnership
Stroud Brewery
Stonehouse Court Hotel
Visit Britain research on the importance of Sustainability to inbound travellers
Other mentions in the show:
Westonbirt Arboretum WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre MUSE Brasserie Stroud Farmers’ Market Galgos L
Find out more about the Elves of the Visitor economy here.
Instagram
LinkedIn
For more about me, Kelly Ballard, head to my website or connect with me on LinkedIn.
With thanks to sponsors Plate restaurantin Bath. Plate are offering 20% off their food bill if you follow their Instagram account and DM them the word: ELVES. NB Blackout dates apply to the discount.
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 responsible for the Roman Baths, she also promotes the Fashion Museum, Victoria Art Gallery and the brand new for 2022 World Heritage Centre - a free to enter experience that tells visitors why Bath is such an important UNESCO World Heritage site.
We talk about the impact of COVID on the Roman Baths, their changing visitor markets and how they are constantly adapting their offering while making sure that the visitor experience is as good as possible.
The Fashion Museum is in the process of being relocated and is not expected to reopen for at least another five years, so we discuss what is happening with that amazing collection and how they are keeping the museum’s stories alive through other means.
In the podcast she talks about some of their online storytelling, in particular their Roman Women’s series on YouTube.
Rebecca shares how her career has led her to the Roman Baths and how mud was involved in her most memorable experience at Westonbirt Arboretum.
Rebecca’s favouritesPlace to visit: Devon & Cornwall for camping and surfing
Place to eat: Bravas, Bristol
Place to shop: Anthropologie
Connect with Rebecca on LinkedIn
Find out more:
Roman Baths
Bath World Heritage
Victoria Art Gallery
Fashion Museum Bath
Visit Bath
Other mentions in the show:
Westonbirt Arboretum
Roman Women series on YouTube
Skip the Queue podcast
EPISODE SPONSORS
With thanks to sponsors Plate restaurant in Bath. Plate are offering 20% off their food bill if you follow their Instagram account and DM them the word: Elves. NB Blackout dates apply to the discount.
If you enjoyed the episode please subscribe and review, it really helps other people to see it.
Find out more about the Elves of the Visitor economy here.
Instagram
LinkedIn
For more about me, Kelly Ballard, head to my website or connect with me on LinkedIn.
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 and telling the stories of its people, what they’ve done, where they’ve come from and where the city is going.
We also discussed the evolution of Bristol Ideas over the years, the most valuable thing Naomi has learned about leadership, and some big anniversaries coming to the city in the coming months.
It was interesting to find out how Naomi ended up in Bristol and how her career in museums was inspired by an experience in London’s V&A Museum. She talks about her love of Bath and how if she’s not talking about food, she's eating it, so she has quite a few favourites to recommend.
Naomi is a passionate champion of diverse voices and stories in the city, and there's plenty of food for thought on how we get thought leaders and idea makers to engage with the public, and vice versa.
I hope you enjoy the episode.
Naomi favourites
Most memorable experience:
Shrouds of the Somme at Bristol Cathedral
Places to eat:
Chai Walla
Chez Dominique
The Oyster Shell
Find Naomi at
@naomibmiller
Find out more about
Bristol Ideas
Twitter: @BristolIdeas
Instagram: @Bristolideas
Mentions in the show
Bristol 650
If you enjoyed the episode please subscribe and review, it really helps other people to see it.
Find out more about the Elves of the Visitor economy here.
Instagram
LinkedIn
For more about me, Kelly Ballard, head to my website or connect with me on LinkedIn.
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 himself, Lewis epitomises all that is unique about the hotel group. He’s also trained with some of the best, working in events at the five star Relais & Chateux hotel Lucknam Park, Wiltshire.
We discuss the importance of influencer marketing and how they have seen dramatic growth in their social followers as a result of their work in this area. We also discuss the growing importance of Tik Tok as a platform for search and those wanting unique experiences recommended by their peers.
Lewis is great fun and brings a fresh perspective that’s so important if we want our places to stay relevant.
I hope you enjoy the episode.
Lewis favourites
Place to visit:
City of Wells
Places to eat:
Osip in Bruton Somerset
Marmo in Bristol
Find Lewis at
@lewismcollins
Find out more about
Kaleidoscope Collection
@homewoodbath
@thebirdbath_
@bishopstrowhotel
Mentions in the show
@lucknampark @visitwest
If you enjoyed the episode please subscribe and review, it really helps other people to see it.
Find out more about the Elves of the Visitor economy here.
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LinkedIn
For more about me, Kelly Ballard, head to my website or connect with me on LinkedIn.
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 successful wedding venue on an estate that has sustainability at its heart.
When you put a festival organiser into a venue like that, you can imagine the parties...you can also imagine what the locals had to say when Anselm put in for planning permission.
Anselm is so inspiring as he shares how ten years on, he has defied all local scepticism and is going beyond the house renovations and is turning his passion for nature and sustainability into rewilding swathes of the Elmore estate. He's now spending his time working on ways to create a really sustainable, biodiverse site through regenerative farming and rewilding of the former wetlands.
Talking of wetlands, looking out over the Severn Estuary will be his six luxury treehouses due to open in May 2023, all of which are being kitted out by some rather famous designers – who are also part of the family.
Enjoy the episode
Find out more about Anselm and Elmore Court at:
https://www.elmorecourt.com
https://www.instagram.com/elmorecourt/
https://www.instagram.com/rewildthings/
Check out the BBC documentary featuring the development of Elmore Court as a wedding venue
Listen to Mothers Pride 'Floribunda' produced by Anselm from 1995. Do you remember it?!
Find out more about the Elves of the Visitor economy here.
Instagram
LinkedIn
For more about me, Kelly Ballard, head to my website or connect with me on LinkedIn.
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 and motorhome market or you want to link into Annah and her recommendations as part of a tour, you might want to have a listen.
A huge thank you to all my guests and an even bigger thank you to you and everyone else who has listened to the podcast this year.
I hope you enjoy the episode.
To get in touch with Anna you can email her:
hello@uncoverbritain.com
More information on Uncover Britain
Find out more about the Elves of the Visitor economy here.
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LinkedIn
For more about me, Kelly Ballard, head to my website or connect with me on LinkedIn.
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 ever since.
Cheltenham is a beautiful Georgian spa town in Gloucestershire with a population of around 117,000. It is home to one of the most famous racecourses in the world, has a food scene that is booming and an event programme that is the envy of many destinations,
Today Lisa and the team at Marketing Cheltenham work with hundreds of businesses across the town, operating as a marketing agency for Cheltenham BID, as well as many others in the area.
Lisa has a unique perspective, understanding the important role of influencer and content marketing for reaching residents, day visitors as well as staying visitors. We chatted about:
· The benefits of being a travel blogger to promoting a destination
· The content plan for VisitCheltenham that drives visitors year-round
· Using Instagram stories and Facebook groups to great effect
· The importance of SEO
· Why it pays for a business to be proactive with the local DMO
Back in 2017 I set up Marketing Cheltenham which is managed by the forward-thinking Cheltenham Borough Council.
If you want to find out more about how Cheltenham transformed its working practices and created an engaged audience and stakeholder group, take a look at the case study here.
Enjoy the episode!
Kelly x
Connect with Lisa on LinkedIn
Marketing Cheltenham
VisitCheltenham channels
visitcheltenham.com
Instagram
Facebook
Find out more about the Elves of the Visitor economy here.
Instagram
LinkedIn
For more about me, Kelly Ballard, head to my website or connect with me on LinkedIn.
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 owners of nine restaurants and have awards and accolades coming out of their ears.
Join us as we talk about the journey to nine restaurants, the pandemic and their beautiful, and oh so engaging marketing.
SIREN ALERT!
Apologies now if you’re listening to this whilst driving, or on your bike, we recorded this at the Clifton restaurant in the centre of Bristol city centre and there were several ambulances with sirens on flying past.
Website
Tik Tok
Connect with Rodrigo Rashinthe on LinkedIn
Find out more about the Elves of the Visitor economy here.
Instagram
LinkedIn
For more about me, Kelly Ballard, head to my website or connect with me on LinkedIn.
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 Manager.
We chat about where Westonbirt it is today and discuss some of the developments that have created a step change in getting closer to its mission, as well as getting closer to creating the elusive year-round visitor footfall.
Sophie shares some of her suggestions for what’s important to the success of a development project, from engaging staff, to managing member and visitor expectations.
She talks about the future for Westonbirt including discussion about the recently purchased land which could develop the visitor experience further.
As my last podcast episode for 2022, I’d like to wish you a lovely Christmas and a healthy, happy 2023.
Thanks so much for listening
Enjoy the episode
Find about more about Sophie and Westonbirt Arboretum:
Website
Find out more about the Elves of the Visitor economy here.
Instagram
LinkedIn
For more about me, Kelly Ballard, head to my website or connect with me on LinkedIn.
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 Guesthouse in Bristol.
Carla shares her journey from corporate Marketing Director to owning a 22 bedroom hotel in the centre of Bath before purchasing her second guest house in Bristol. We chat about how the business has fared over the past few years, and she talks about how she feels the market will change based on her experience of surviving the market downturn in 2008.
Carla has a unique view of operating a business in different cities in the West of England and the importance of DMO VisitWest to presenting the collective place that allows the area to compete on the international stage.
Enjoy the episode!
Find out more about
Brooks Guest House Bristol
Brooks Guest House Bath
In todays episode I talk about Asana as my favourite project management tool.
Find out more about the Elves of the Visitor economy here.
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For more about me, Kelly Ballard, head to my website or connect with me on LinkedIn.
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 Strawberry Thief, with some practical tips that will be useful for any organisation looking to meet their net zero targets.
We chat about the importance of having great staff and incentivising them to really buy into the ethos of the business. We also touch on the whole alcohol-free movement. As someone who went a whole year no beer back in 2021, I love a real ale and the alcohol free versions are fantastic.
It was humbling to chat to Mike who reflected on pursuing his dreams after his personal experience with cancer.
I hope you find this podcast as inspiring as I do.
Find out more about Mike and The Strawberry Thief:
The Strawberry Thief website
The Strawberry Thief on Instagram
Mentioned in the podcast:
Penny Brohn Cancer Care Centre
Clayton Hotel Bristol
St Nicholas Market
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Find out more about the Elves of the Visitor economy here.
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For more about me, Kelly Ballard, head to my website or connect with me on LinkedIn.
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 interest to a journalist or an influencer
· What might make a compelling headline and how that can influence the customer experience
Fiona began her career working for large international hotel chains before setting up her own agency. She has worked with huge profile clients such as Tourism Australia, New Zealand and Namibia. She has also worked with many regional clients including boutique hotel Tudor Farm House, and destination marketing organisations VisitDeanWye and VisitHerefordshire.
If you are involved in marketing, and PR is something you do, or want to do, for your organisation, then you’ll love this episode.
Enjoy!
Find out more and contact Fiona at
Travel Tonic
Find out more about the Elves of the Visitor economy here.
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LinkedIn
For more about me, Kelly Ballard, head to my website or connect with me on LinkedIn.
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 pubs, theatres, football, rugby, music, and beautiful historic buildings.
Imagine being responsible for culture within a whole city!?
My guest in today’s podcast, Phil Walker, has the responsibility of overseeing the culture of the city of Gloucester. His role is to ensure it thrives and is distinctive enough to drive inbound tourism – a big remit.
Phil began his career in the visitor economy in Bristol, during that time he worked in several venues across the city including Arnolfini, Watershed and Bristol Museums. It’s not often I get to speak to someone who was involved in a massive Banksy exhibition. Do you remember the Banksy take over at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery? It was epic! Phil shares how he received that call from Banksy’s ‘people’ one day and how he almost lost his job!
He's taken his amazing experience with him to Gloucester, a smaller and diverse city with similar heritage to Bristol, as a trading post based on a river.
Phil and I talk about the plans for Gloucester and the importance of big events in driving footfall and bringing a city or destination together.
We talk about how Gloucester is investing in its cultural sector to retain its creative talent, and the idea of giving people freedom to curate the city with their own ideas and events. We chat about why it’s important for a Council and those with power, to hand over control to young people and others involved in the creative industries, to not only give the place life and distinction but to create a sense of belonging and pride.
There are some interesting insights into what it takes to drive a city’s culture.
I hope you enjoy the episode.
You can find Phil here:
LinkedIn
Twitter
Mentioned in the podcast:
Visit Gloucester
The Music Works
Jolt Gloucester
Gloucester Guildhall
Gloucester Cathedral
Blackfriars Priory
Banksy
Bristol Museums
Arnolfini Arts
Watershed
Hemingway Design
Visit Cheltenham
More about the Elves of the Visitor economy here.
Instagram
LinkedIn
About me, Kelly Ballard head to my website or connect with me on LinkedIn.
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 brings these places alive with their magical theatrical performances and ‘wow’ factor installations.
One of their most recent projects was to create an experience to mark and celebrate the closure of Bristol Zoo in Clifton (that’s sure to be an award-winner!).
On the show, we talk about the type of work Bakehouse does and how they work with so many stakeholders in delivering town or city-wide messages. We also chat about how art and culture can bring places to life, telling stories through theatre and music.
For those wanting to work in the creative events industry, Kate and Hannah share tips about how to approach a company like Bakehouse and how it takes a multitude of talent, from carpenters to professional actors, project managers and musicians, to create great events.
There’s lots to take away from this episode – I hope you enjoy it.
Find out more about Bakehouse:
- Website: www.bakehousefactory.co.uk
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/bakehouse-factory
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/bakehousefactory
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 managed to convince investors to support the project, how it finally opened as the world went into lockdown, and how four years on, along with his partner Craig Stoddard and a great team, they have navigated three very difficult years (that included Nick losing his ability to speak through a stroke) to become a thriving business, receiving up to 175,000 visitors per year.
Nick’s first career as an osteopath gave him his passion for caring for people’s health and wellbeing - he continues that passion today, driving the ‘blue health’ agenda for being in and around water. He has a burning desire to bring the benefits of his sport ‘surfing’ to as many people from different walks of life as he can and states that he will have failed if The Wave is something only enjoyed by the white, middle classes.
Listen to his exciting plans for the future of The Wave, Bristol including the taking the whole thing off-grid through the investment in solar panels, plus, how he is working on another amazing site in North London.
What a humble yet determined guy - Nick proves just what you can achieve if you really believe in something.
Enjoy the episode.
Find out more
The Wave
Nick on Instagram
Nick on Twitter
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 and visionary leader doing great things for her local communities. And in her pursuit of driving sales of beautiful hand-made products, Beck is bringing to life the stories behind the 150 makers she now works with. Prior has two shops and a visitor experience that combines retail with the local creative culture that customers and visitors can get involved in. This is some of the magic that will bring positive change to the retailers and high streets of the future.
You will love hearing from Beck if you are involved in retail, destination marketing or simply have a love of shopping and hearing people’s stories of turning their passion into a career.
Beck shares how her battle with Leukaemia prompted her to consider and follow her passions. She explains how she got where she is today and some of the tips she has picked up along the way. Beck talks through ideas to drive footfall into Bristol’s large shopping destination Cabot Circus, as well as the smaller out of town high street in Old Market. We also discuss the challenges of digital marketing and increasing online sales alongside a bricks and mortar presence, as well as managing social media accounts as a business evolves.
We hope you are as inspired by Beck as much as we are!
Find out more
- Prior Shop website: https://www.priorshop.uk/
- Prior Made (Beck’s homewares): https://www.priormade.store/
Take our surveyAs season one draws to a close, we’d love to hear your thoughts about the show so far. What do you like? What can we do better?
Take our short survey: https://forms.gle/mRMMbQUCzvob1QBFA
Your answers are anonymous and will help us to shape the podcast going forward.
Thank you!
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 took over a smallholding to run holidays targeted at honeymooners wanting to kick off their married life in a low impact and environmentally friendly way.
Hannah talks about her work with the Rail Partnership, as well as Visit Gloucestershire, and some of the organisations she is working with to bring about and influence change. She shares:
- the importance of making the transport links right for local people first;
- several ways places can address the sustainable transport issue;
- details of some of the fantastic initiatives in places like Devon and Cornwall that have led the way in boosting local communities through better transport links.
Find out more about Gloucestershire Community Rail Partnership:
The partnership have created some lovely trail maps and also have plans to create more joined-up tourism routes which can be booked online.
If you live near a train station in the UK and want to access Gloucestershire without a car, check out these walks and cycle routes in and around Stroud, Stonehouse, Lydney and Cheltenham: www.gloucestershirecommunityrail.org/leisure-trails.
Find out more about Visit Gloucestershire:
- www.visitgloucestershire.co.uk
- www.instagram.com/visitgloucestershire
Contact Hannah:
- Connect on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/responsibletourismhannah
- Email Hannah: hannah@visit-gloucestershire.uk
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 and corporate travellers and for generating regular business throughout the year – often during shoulder months.
Florence's work is all about building trade relationships and connecting the businesses and product offer in Wiltshire and the West, to customers in many markets around the world. Ultimately her job is about bringing more tourism business into the region.
In this episode, Florence shares her insights into what is happening in the world of the travel trade – both internationally and domestically – and how it all works. She also gives some great tips on priorities for gaining a slice of this potentially lucrative market.
Find out more:
- www.visitwiltshire.co.uk
- www.greatwestway.co.uk
- Connect with Flo on LinkedIn
- Email: flowallace@visitwiltshire.co.uk
Have you ever thought about launching your own podcast?
Podcasting can be a great way to connect with your customers or visitors and its 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 manage a BID or a destination marketing organisation and want to help connect your businesses with each other – and create that sense of community.
Today, Kelly is joined by Alison Hadley (Ali), podcast manager at Elves of the Visitor Economy and freelance marketing consultant. We chat through why a podcast could be a great additional marketing channel if you're a business operating in the visitor economy and how to set one up. We also share our process for producing each podcast episode (see the free checklist resource below!)
Some of the questions we answer:
- What content should you share?
- How long should an episode be?
- How frequently should you publish an episode?
- How much does podcasting cost?
- What equipment do you need?
[CHECKLIST] 26 super-easy steps for producing a podcast episode
- For businesses in the visitor economyIn this FREE resource, you'll get:
✔ Our episode production checklist – copy and paste our trusted step-by-step process to save yourself a tonne of time
✔ Six great reasons to launch a podcast as a business in the visitor economy – to help you sell in the idea to your team, manager or board
Download here <<
Connect with us on LinkedIn:
- Follow Elves of the Visitor Economy
- Connect with Kelly
- Connect with Ali
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 class are what you would expect in a high-end £250+ a night hotel. But with Mollie's rooms being less than half this price, they are providing other mid-range hotels with some serious competition.
Lindsey has 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry and she most recently headed up large brand regional hotel sales teams for Mercure and M Gallery Hotels. Lindsey joins the new independent ‘budget luxe’ brand of Mollie's as their very first sales representative, providing them with a wealth of knowledge, some of which she shares with us in this episode.
Lindsey runs through her tips for marketing and driving sales of corporate business, including the essential identification of your core audience and the ‘bookers’, building relationships with referral partners and attracting influencers to come and stay.
Lindsey's top tips for effective hotel marketing and sales:
- Know who your audience is and form a plan to approach each segment
- Identify who the actual ‘booker’ is and develop relationships
- Referral partners are crucial, especially businesses in the area who have mutually beneficial needs
- Use social media marketing for sharing the brand story and attracting influencers to stay
- Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone!
Thinking about a career in hospitality?
Not adverse to rolling up her sleeves and doing things like cleaning rooms during COVID lockdowns, Lindsey proves that hard work, dedication and integrity will serve you well in the industry. Most importantly and key to any long-term sales career, as Lindsey has shown, is her genuine care for good service and ensuring customers have the best time.
We hope you enjoy the episode.
Find out more about Mollie's and connect with Lindsey:
- Mollie's Bristol (website)
- Connect with Lindsey on LinkedIn
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 Marketing Organisations, Bath Tourism Plus and Destination Bristol were amalgamated to form Visit West and how it works today. She talks about some of the benefits of bringing the two cities together along with North and North East Somerset, and how the work they are doing is proving so popular that they are seeing a record intake of businesses joining their membership.
We talk about marketing and the forthcoming VisitEngland grant funded campaign 'Escape the Everyday', along with the growth in interest in the digital platforms that promote the region, with Visit Bristol seeing around 3.7 million visitors to the site each year.
We also discuss:
- How COVID has created a culture of last minute bookings in the conference, meetings and events arena and the recovery of international visitors;
- How we need to reframe the way in which we talk about careers in the tourism and hospitality industry.
Enjoy the episode!
Find out moreIf you’re interested in learning more about Visit West, then head to www.visitwest.co.uk.
To connect with Kathryn, you can find her on:
- Twitter: twitter.com/kathryn_tourism
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kathryndavisbristol
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 Gloucestershire, now in its second year, and its place in amongst the Destination Marketing Organisations that already exist across the county. Steve talks through what he is doing to unite the visitor economy in Gloucestershire and his focus on critical issues such as the skills shortage and sustainability.
I’m sure you will agree that Steve’s passion for the visitor economy and driving forward change is undeniable. For someone with so many hats, as well as having a young family, you wonder when he gets time to sleep! What is admirable is Steve’s desire to help and to make a difference.
Enjoy the episode!
Find out more
- The Hatton Collection: https://hatton-hotels.co.uk
- Visit Gloucestershire: https://www.visitgloucestershire.co.uk
- Connect with Steve on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevegardner-collins
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 Bristol Shopping Quarter, along with Cabot Circus and Quakers Friars, it provides one of the best, most extensive, shopping experiences in the West of England.
In this episode, Viv and I chat about Broadmead and some of the challenges businesses are facing, in particular the recruitment shortage. Viv talks about Broadmead's evolution over the years and what its future might look like, despite losing large retailers Debenhams and Marks & Spencer.
As for Viv's personal story and career in the visitor economy, Viv shares how she got to where she is today, and some of the tips she would give to her younger self.
This episode is an inspiration for anyone who is not comfortable in the place they are right now. Viv shows how anything is possible with her ‘relentless optimism’.
There’s a lot to ponder from this episode – I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
For more information on Broadmead BID, go to:
- https://broadmeadbristolbid.co.uk
- https://twitter.com/broadmeadbid
- https://www.linkedin.com/company/broadmeadbid/
And for more on Bristol Shopping Quarter, go to
- https://bristolshoppingquarter.co.uk/
- http://instagram.com/bristolshopping
- https://www.facebook.com/bristolshopping
- https://twitter.com/bristolshopping
Connect with Viv on LinkedIn:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivienne-kennedy-29175148/
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 enviable position next to the Cotswolds.
The town’s stunning regency architecture provides a beautiful backdrop for a packed programme of some of the UK’s best festivals and events, such as the Cheltenham Literature Festival and Cheltenham Jazz Festival. It has an assortment of fabulous restaurants, cafes and bars, plus a shopping offer to die-for (ok, maybe that’s just for someone like me!).
Cheltenham BID supports businesses in the heart of the town centre. And Belinda, who is originally from Zimbabwe, tells us about her job at Cheltenham BID and about the BID’s role in supporting local businesses. She talks about the need for collaboration and the type of events that drive footfall and sales for the retail and hospitality businesses of the town.
We chat about the different businesses that grew and changed during the pandemic and how the likes of high street retailer John Lewis is doing a great job of supporting local businesses with its initiatives.
It was lovely to find out more about Belinda, how she got to where she is today and what she likes to do outside of work. It was also wonderful to hear one of her amusing memories of Kevan Blackadder, friend and former director of Cheltenham BID, who sadly died in 2021.
Apologies for the slightly dodgy sound quality and I hope you enjoy the episode.
Find out more and connect on social:
- Connect with Belinda on LinkedIn
- Check out the Cheltenham BID website
- Follow Cheltenham BID on Instagram
- Follow Cheltenham BID on Twitter
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'spositive approachthat has driven her through the challenges of the past few years in particular. From losing 20,000 Twitter followers, to having to drastically reduce capacity due to COVID restrictions, and not to mention having to cut a third of her team, it's been tough.
Donna is one of the kindest and most empathic people I’ve met. And what Donna regards as her Chief Exec hack – enabling people to be brilliant–says it all. It’s just so infectious when people love what they do.
For anyone who runs a business managing staff, you need to listen to this episode.
Find out more about We The Curious and follow on social media:
- Website: www.wethecurious.org
- Twitter: @wethecurious_
- Instagram: @wethecurious_
Connect with Donna:
- LinkedIn: Donna Speed
- Twitter: @speed_donna
- Instagram: @donnaspeedg
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 more financially accessible – using Sky's AdSmart service, WWT Slimbridge has been able to advertise to an incredibly targeted audience and this advertising in turn has provided useful audience insights to help future marketing.
We also talk about Sammi's experience of lock down and her love of contemporary country music which she promotes in her spare time.
I hope you enjoy the episode.
- Connect with Sammi on LinkedIn
- WWT Slimbridge
- Follow your arrow – Sammi’s country music blog
- Sky's AdSmart
For more information about Elves of the Visitor Economy, visit: http://elvesofthevisitoreconomy.co.uk.
It was an absolute pleasure chatting to Mike James at the end of 2021 for this conversation. Mike is Blue Badge Tour Guide, Tour Manager and owner of the double gold, award-winning food tour company Savouring Bath.
As we all know, there is an increasing desire for experiences, where people want to immerse themselves in being hands-on, creative or indulging the senses. What better way to experience a culture than tasting its food and speaking to the passionate people who create it.
In this episode Mike shares how he experienced a record 2021, despite the set back of the pandemic.
Mike has been involved in the visitor economy, and the world of tour guiding for many years. I first met him when he was Chair of Cotswold Guides and running Cotswolds Ghost Tours. He is a fount of knowledge when it comes to managing and marketing tours and tour guiding. He’s also a passionate foodie and is on his way to becoming a certified Master of Cheese.
Find out the value Mike places on his local Destination Marketing Organisation, as well as the exposure given to his business by third party distributors such as GetYourGuide and Tripadvisor.Plus how the VisitBritain online distribution platform TXGB, is helping make his booking processes more efficient.
Find out more:
- Savouring Bath
- Mike's website
- Institute of Tourist Guiding
- TXGB
Congratulations to Mike who has been nominated for Tourism Superstar 2022 in the Visit England Awards for Excellence, in association with the Mirror. Vote for Mike before 22 March 2022.
For more information about Elves of the Visitor Economy, visit: http://elvesofthevisitoreconomy.co.uk.
In today's episode I was delighted to chat with Sarah Orchard, owner of award winning luxury treehouse The Hudnalls Hideout.
Sarah is not only owner of her own accommodation business, but she also runs her own marketing consultancy and online training and marketing club called Get Fully Booked.
After many years working in tourism marketing, Sarah and her husband Adrian moved to the Forest of Dean and built Hudnalls Hideout in their garden. Despite launching five weeks before the first pandemic lockdown, the treehouse is now fully booked until 2023.
The trend for glamping has been growing steadily over recent years. Camping has changed from being a cheap form of travel, to being a real outdoor experience. Camping and glamping experiences really lend themselves to the trends for wellbeing and sustainable living. But the simplicity of camping isn’t for everyone – so the demand for luxury, more upmarket ‘glamping’ experiences has boomed. And over the past two years, with overseas travel being off the agenda, people have turned to glamping in their droves.
In this episode Sarah tells us about her experience in the travel industry and what led her to building the treehouse. She shares some of the positive processes that have come as a result of the pandemic, along with her top marketing tips for ensuring the success of her business.
Enjoy the episode!
- Check out the Hudnalls Hideout website
- Follow Hudnalls Hideout on Instagram
- Take a look at Sarah's Get Full Booked online training and marketing club
- Watch Sarah on BBC1 series ‘I Escaped to the Country’ (episode 6, series 6, 10 January 2022)
For more information about Elves of the Visitor Economy, visit: http://elvesofthevisitoreconomy.co.uk.