"Raising quality standards across Norfolk" Welcome to NTQT - please remember to bookmark the site and check back regularly for updates on local and national tourism training, mentoring, profit help, fire and hygiene legislation updates and more...
	Lynne Finnigan (right), Tourism Adviser, Business Link, meeting with the owners of the 4 Star B&B The Vines, Great Cressingham

Norfolk’s tourism businesses are being invited to help shape the future of the county’s tourism industry by taking part in the EDP Larking Gowen Tourism Survey 2010.

The results will be revealed in the Eastern Daily Press in May.

Visit www.edp24.co.uk/tourismsurvey to complete the survey – deadline 26 February.

DCMS - Accessible tourism: Making it work for your business

DCMS has launched "Accessible tourism: Making it work for your business" on behalf of the Accessible Tourism Stakeholder Forum for the 2012 Games. It sets out the business case for accessible tourism and the economic potential in providing better services and encouraging more tourism from disabled people.

With nearly 1 in 5 people in England with a disability, making changes to essential for not only your customers, but for the future of your business.

For more information, please visit the DCMS website to download the Accessible Tourism documents.

Free Olympics 2012 Conference for accommodation providers and venues

This half-day conference has been put together especially for accommodation providers and venues, and will take place in the Marshall Auditorium, IWM Duxford on Thursday 25th March. Delegates will be briefed on the opportunities that the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games present - up to, during and post-event.

The event will include an introduction to branding guidelines and will look at recommended practical actions for all sizes of business to take away and implement.

The draft programme is:

09.30 Arrival, coffee and networking
10.00 Welcome introduction by Nations & Regions East
10.10 Objectives of the day
10.20 Hotels & Venues – how it will all work - LOCOG
11.00 The East of England Fair Price Programme
11.15 Coffee break
11.45 Workshop - practical examples of using the Games
12.45 Summary, next steps and wrap up
13.00 Buffet lunch

Click here to register your place at the Olympic Tourism Opportunities - Free Conference or for more information please contact Jane Cryer at EET on 01284 727495 or jcryer@eet.org.uk.

Northern Norfolk - Simply Outstanding

Thursday 18th March - Searles Leisure Resort, Hunstanton - 10am - 6pm

Following the success of last year's event at Gresham the North Norfolk Tourism Round Table is working in conjunction with North Norfolk District Council, The Borough Council of Kings Lynn and West Norfolk and the West Norfolk Tourism Forum to make this year's exhibition bigger and better than ever before.

They have arranged free parking courtesy of The Borough Council of Kings Lynn and West Norfolk at the Seagate Car Park for all trade visitors (Car Park Pass enclosed) with a free shuttle being operated by Norfolk Green every 8 minutes. Event signage will direct visitors from all major roads into Hunstanton to the car park. There will be onsite catering offering a choice of pre-booked lunches. If you do not wish to pre-book lunch tea, coffee and light refreshments will be available from 10am until 6pm.

As in previous years invitations will be mailed to Coach Operators, Group Organisers and the Travel Trade Press and they will also be inviting all tourism-based businesses in Norfolk along with Tourist Information Centre staff from key areas of East Anglia. The database is as extensive as ever with the addition of many new groups and coach companycontacts being supplied by our partners as well as Sandringham House, Cromer Pier, Pensthorpe Nature Reserve and Gardens and others.

Join us on the 18th March and see why north Norfolk is SIMPLY OUTSTANDING.

If you would like to exhibit, or would like to attend & pre-book lunch for the day then please contact Bruce Stratton for a booking form:-

North Norfolk Simply Outstanding, C.T.I.S. Ltd., 22 Holt Road, Cromer, Norfolk, NR27 9JW
Telephone: 01263 515900 Email: bruce@ctis-ltd.co.uk  

The impact of the VAT increase on the tourism industry - From the Chamber of Commerce

The end of the temporary VAT reduction that took place this January 2010 is likely to adversely affect the UK tourism industry as a whole. Although the return of the VAT rate to 17.5% will not have a particularly detrimental effect on accommodation providers and tourist attractions, it is bound to reduce the competitiveness of Norfolk and the UK, particularly in view of recent measures taken elsewhere in Europe. For instance, France lowered the VAT rate for restaurants from 19.6% to 5.5% and Germany announced that it will reduce its VAT rate on accommodation from 19% to 7% in January.

The higher tax rate compared with competing destinations means that visitors to the UK will face higher overall prices, which will make the country less competitive. A comparison of VAT rates in some of the top competing tourist destinations (France, Spain, Italy, the US and Australia) shows that on average, visitors to the UK will pay about 10% more on accommodation and restaurants, and 3.5% more on attractions and other items, than they would in any of those alternative countries. This means that a VAT rate of 17.5% puts the UK tourism sector at a clear disadvantage in what is a very competitive global tourism market.

Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said: “Tourism is very important to the Norfolk economy and is well placed to take advantage of the market trend to spend more holidays in the UK and the increase in visitors through the Olympics. However in an increasingly competitive market place the discrepancy in VAT rates needs to be urgently reviewed. Norfolk Chamber is asking the government to review its policy in this area as the lower rate would also encourage investment in the sector, which could reverse the decline in the Balance of Payments and add up to £1.6bn in the first year, with more gains in the successive years.”  For more information please visit www.norfolkchamber.co.uk.

In the Budget earlier this year, The Treasury announced changes to the way in which the Inland Revenue treats businesses that operate furnished holiday accommodation, to bring it into line with EU rules, to take effect next April. Current guidance from the Revenue states: ‘Landlords with income from furnished holiday accommodation in the UK are currently treated as if they are trading for certain tax purposes, as long as they satisfy certain tests, under the Furnished Holiday Lettings (FHL) rules; these rules will be repealed from 2010/11. Click here to download further details from the Inland Revenue website.

Scam Alert (from VisitEngland)

VisitEngland is warning accommodation providers to look out for a new crop of email booking scams, which many self-catering owners have received recently. Generally, the scam entails someone emailing from abroad, such as France, Greece or elsewhere, wanting to book a number of rooms, always for more than one night, for people wanting to visit England on a tour, a religious programme, or something similar. They ask for details of the price and once received, ask to pay immediately. There are various ways they can then try to ‘scam’ businesses following payment. They may pay by cheque or using a stolen credit card. In some instances, they find an excuse to overpay e.g. they need to pay for a translator; requesting that the additional sum is paid into the bank of the translator. Alternatively, they cancel completely and request a refund is transferred into a specified bank account. However, credit card payments can sometimes be approved when in actual fact the card is stolen and the accommodation providers are held liable. If in doubt, accommodation providers should not take the booking and certainly never transfer funds into an unknown person's bank account as a refund. Any refund due following payment by credit card should always be refunded directly onto the card.

Common Standards Industry Survey (from VisitEngland)

The last review of the self-catering scheme was done in 2003-2005 with assessments under the new scheme having commenced in April 2005. The self-catering scheme is our biggest growing scheme, but it is important that we keep up to date with new trends and ensure that the quality benchmarks used for grading self-catering properties are kept up to date. To this end, a self-catering questionnaire is being sent out this month to agencies and all self-catering operators who participate in the scheme. It is also going to businesses in Scotland before the end of the year. Visit Wales have already surveyed their industry.

Self-catering operators who have not received the questionnaire should contact Quality in Tourism by email or telephone 0845 300 6996.

FREE subscription to Accommodation Know-How (from VisitEngland)

Members of VisitEngland’s quality assessment scheme now have a FREE annual online subscription to http://www.accommodationknowhow.co.uk (the Pink Toolkit online). This is a new membership benefit for 2009 worth over £30.00.
Accommodation Know-How (now in its third year) provides access to the information needed to run an accommodation business, including:
• up-to-date legislation
• marketing solutions
• news and features
• a discussion forum to share useful advice and tips with other accommodation providers
• monthly e-mail updates to alert you to changes to legislation.

If you are an accommodation owner and cannot remember your login details, please go to www.accommodationknowhow.co.uk/forgottenpassword.aspx?email to receive a reminder of their password.

Business Link East events

Business Link East have announced their latest round of free business briefings in the county.

Ideal for small and medium sized businesses, the Briefings focus heavily on staff as one of your greatest assets, and also look at how to improve your business website, how to 'green' your business, PR, employment law, fire regulations and staffing issues.

Events:

5th Feb - Fire Regulations - Are You Hot on the Topic? - Stower Grange, Drayton
9th Feb - Smart Networking - Stower Grange, Drayton
22nd Feb - Motivating the Team - Novus Centre, Great Yarmouth
23rd Feb - How to be Seen, Heard and Influence Decisions - Leziate Park, King’s Lynn
25th Feb - What's New for Businesses - Stower Grange, Drayton
2nd Mar - An Introduction to Public Sector Tendering - Leziate Park, King’s Lynn
4th Mar - Developing Management Skills - Stower Grange, Drayton
9th Mar - How to Attract Customers using Free / Low Cost Internet Marketing - Novus Centre, Great Yarmouth
10th Mar - How to Write a Winning Tender - Leziate Park, King’s Lynn
11th Mar - How to Pitch for Finance - Stower Grange, Drayton
17th Mar - Making Projects Happen - Stower Grange, Drayton
18th Mar - Getting the Maximum Benefits from your IT Systems - Stower Grange, Drayton
24th Mar - Growing IT in your Business - Stower Grange, Drayton

For more information, please download the Events infosheet. To book your FREE place, call Business Link on 0845 601 1000 or visit www.bookevents.org.

Norfolk Chamber of Commerce & Industry business events

The Norfolk Chamber of Commerce & Industry regularly host business events for both members and non-members. Please find below a list of forthcoming events. For more information on all events, please visit www.norfolkchamber.co.uk.

11-Feb-10 - West Norfolk Breakfast - Changing rules of marketing
Give your business a kickstart in the new year by gaining new contacts and re-newing old ones as our networking breakfast.Guest speaker James Scott from Black Sheep Solutions will discuss how online marketing and PR is changing the way you communicate with your customers.

16-Feb-10 - FREE: Web Marketing Workshop – Using online techniques to really get your site to work for you.
There are many ways to engage with your audience online using various marketing techniques. Search Engine Optimisation, Pay per Click, Affiliate Marketing, emarketing, social & viral marketing, free marketing plus many others
But how do you know what they are, what each does and if they will work for your business. Brian Bush, of Norwich company Illusion Media, will discuss the various methods and detail how they work. Following this a more detailed view of one of the methods, emarketing, will be presented by Nial Adams of Mancroft Associates. So if you want to know all about the marketing techniques that you could be using to grow your business you must attend this event.

23-Feb-10 - Business Breakfast - Gt Yarmouth
A series of informative workshops held in partnership with enterpriseGY. This months event welcomes guest speaker Caroline Rust from The Coaching Works! who will share her top tips for networking success.

25-Feb-10 - Norwich Networking Breakfast: EDP'S Future 50 Finalist - Ed Wells
We are delighted to be joined by one of the EDP's Future 50 Top Entrepreneurs, Ed Wells. HarperWells was established in 2006 with the ambition to become the region's leading wine spesialists -today they mix with some of the UK's most established blue-chip wine merchants....

16-Mar-10 - Chamber HR Forum: "TALENT WAR"
This forum will address how to select, retain and develop your top talent as the recruitment landscape changes. Sponsored by ERAS

West Norfolk Tourism Link out now

The autumn edition of the West Norfolk Tourism Link is now out and is packed with articles on with what’s on locally, training opportunities and tourism news from across West Norfolk. Download the PDF here.

EET Welcome to Excellence Customer Service Courses

Welcome to Excellence is the most successful customer service training initiative in the country.

Delivered by high-quality experienced trainers, these courses are an ideal way to further your business and to ensure your customers receive the best treatment - and hopefully return in the future!

Welcome to Excellence courses in the region are recommencing after the summer season, and EET Members can benefit from a 50% discount on all Autumn/Winter 2009 courses!

Courses in Norfolk:

Successful Self Catering
For both ‘old hands’ and ‘new’ we examine customers’ changing expectations, how to ensure customers have a delightful stay – and tell all their friends. Check your legal obligations, housekeeping management, booking procedures, what to and what not to provide. Compare your provision with other operators and find out what’s new in self catering.
EET Price £49.00 for EET Members (Normally £98.00)

10.03.10 Cliftonville Hotel, Cromer

Visit http://www.welcometoexcellence.co.uk for more details, or book online at www.eetsurveys.co.uk/training.htm. For further information, please contact Jenny Sheppard on +44 (0)1284 727493 or jsheppard@eet.org.uk.

Proposed abolition of tax break for self-catering operators (from VisitBritain)

Visit Britain are working with self-catering operators to formulate their case against the abolition of Furnished Holiday Lettings Relief. Following discussions with a number of individual operators, Holiday Cottages Group, Hoseasons, the Association of Scotland's Self-Caterers and the Federation of Small Businesses in both Scotland and Wales, our intention is to prepare a policy briefing. Contact Louise Hall to find out more.

Common Standards industry survey (from VisitEngland)

An industry survey of more than 13,000 VisitEngland assessed serviced accommodation businesses was distributed as part of a wider review of the UK-wide Common Standards star rating system.

The UK is one of few regions worldwide that operates a quality accommodation scheme which encompasses service and hospitality, as well as facilities, and includes a mystery guest overnight stay.

Now, almost five years since the Common Standards were agreed, this review will look at the importance and relevance of the criteria in assessing serviced accommodation in today’s digital era. For more information, click here.

Guidance for the Hospitality Industry regarding H1N1 swine ‘flu (from VisitBritain)

The NHS has produced a useful guidance note for the Hospitality Industry on Pandemic Flu, which includes important information on dealing with guests who might go down with Swine Flu whilst they are staying in accommodation, as well as best practice for housekeeping and restaurant staff.

VisitBritain's advice is for accommodation owners to treat Swine Flu as they would any other illness and ensure guests are aware of their cancellation policy and ideally, encourage them to take out their own travel insurance.

To download a copy of the NHS guidance note, click here.

You can also find information and advice from Business Link and the Federation of Small Businesses.

Currently, self-catering operators who manage their own business and let for a minimum number of weeks per year, can benefit from a range of tax breaks, including tax relief on losses, capital allowances, capital gains relief etc, which are now under threat. There are concerns that these changes will discourage owners from reinvesting in their properties, which will have a detrimental effect on local economies and lead to lower quality standards. Click here to read the latest update from the Tourism Alliance.