Download Arts Council England announces £150000 cultural

press release
10 January 2016
Arts Council England announces £150,000 cultural tourism
boost for Bristol and Bath
Bristol and Bath will receive a £150,000 award from Arts Council England and
VisitEngland that will put culture at the heart of the cities’ billion pound visitor
economies.
Building on the successful partnership between Bristol and Bath tourism and the
cities’ cultural organisations, this new investment will see Spike Island lead a
consortium including partners from all four local authorities in the West of
England LEP to promote the full richness and diversity of the region to visitors
from home and abroad.
The new partnership of leading cultural organisations, destination management
organisations and tourism businesses will develop a coordinated approach to the
visitor experience that can make a significant contribution to the growth of the
local economy by increasing visitor spend and engagement.
Alan MacGregor, Chair of the project, said: “I am absolutely thrilled for all our
partners that we have been granted Cultural Destinations project funding. We have
exciting plans for 2017, and this announcement ensures we can build on our
existing activity in a sustainable and lasting way, providing the ideal platform for
us to broaden our ambitions both in terms of the partners involved and our
geographic audience reach. “
Key arts and cultural organisations in Bristol, Bath, North Somerset and South
Gloucestershire will be working with the tourism sector to create a distinctive and
coherent visitor offer that promotes the extraordinary cultural wealth of each
individual place.
The region boasts an excellent combination of traditional, heritage and
contemporary culture. From the major modern city of Bristol with a growing
international airport and the well-known world heritage brand of Bath, to the
engineering genius of South Gloucestershire and the regeneration of WestonSuper-Mare in North Somerset - there is something for all domestic and overseas
visitors.
Phil Gibby, Area Director, South West, Arts Council England, said: “This is a
fantastic result for the region’s cultural, destination and tourism organisations.
The investment will help the consortium to take advantage of the unique
characteristics of the region and to fully articulate this offer to visitors, boosting
the local economy and placing the region on an international stage.”
The grant is being made through Cultural Destinations, an initiative that was
developed by the Arts Council as a result of a three year partnership with
VisitEngland, the national tourist board. The aim of the programme is to enable
arts and culture organisations working in partnership with Destination
Organisations and other tourism partners, to increase their reach, engagement and
resilience. £3,288,600 has been awarded to 16 projects in round two of the
programme.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Full list of successful applicants:
Applicant Name
Suffolk County Council
The Brewery, Kendal
Area
Amount
South East
North
£300,000
£128,000
Culture Coventry
Creative Kernow Ltd
Cheshire East Council
Visit Greenwich
Sheffield Theatres
Spike Island Art Space Ltd
Nottingham Contemporary
Lincolnshire City Centre Partnership
Halifax Culture Hub
Islands’ Partnership
Marketing Manchester
Beam
Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
Milton Keynes Council
Midlands
South West
North
London
North
South West
Midlands
Midlands
North
South West
North
North
Midlands
South East
£200,000
£150,000
£300,000
£270,000
£150,000
£150,000
£150,000
£150,000
£150,000
£147,600
£220,000
£223,000
£300,000
£300,000
Cultural Destinations
Read more about the Cultural Destinations programme on the Arts Council’s webpage here
Image Credit
About VisitBritain/VisitEngland
VisitBritain/VisitEngland is the national tourism agency – a non-departmental public body funded
by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS). Working with a wide range of partners in
both the UK and overseas, our mission is to grow the volume and value of inbound tourism across
the nations and regions of Britain and to develop world-class English tourism to support our
growth aspirations. For further information and to access the latest in-depth market intelligence
and statistics visit www.visitbritain.org or www.visitbritain.com and www.visitengland.com for
consumer information.
Arts Council England champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that
enrich people’s lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from
theatre to digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and
culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In
short, it makes life better. Between 2015 and 2018, we plan to invest £1.1 billion of public money
from government and an estimated £700 million from the National Lottery to help create these
experiences for as many people as possible across the country. www.artscouncil.org.uk
For more information contact:
Lucy Williams, Officer, Advocacy & Communications, Arts Council England,
Tel: 0117-989 7754, Email: [email protected]