Minutes:
The Director of Development tabled, for the information of the Members, the undernoted report:
“1.0 Relevant Background Information
1.1 Members will be fully aware that since 3rd December, there has been significant protests and civil unrest across Northern Ireland, but in Belfast in particular.
1.2 As a result of the ongoing protests, the blocking of arterial routes into the City at peak times and the high levels of negative media coverage there has been a substantial downturn in visitor numbers to the City Centre and other retail and entertainment areas of the City. This has had a major impact upon businesses within the City and the Council has been contacted by members of the business community, who are asking the Council to consider giving whatever support it can to ensure the message gets across that the Belfast is open for business, the City is operating as normal and continues to offer Northern Ireland’s best shopping experience.
2.0 Key Issues
2.1 2012 has been a very difficult year for retail businesses in Belfast. Rising unemployment, reduced levels of real disposable income and the continuing trend towards internet shopping has resulted in businesses continuing to close within the City, both in the City Centre and on the arterial routes and many of those which survive struggle to make a profit.
2.2 For many retail stores up to 70% of their annual sales occur in the month of December. Given the ongoing difficult trading environment, the 2012 Christmas shopping period is critical to the survival of many city traders.
2.3 The ongoing protests taking place across the City are having a profound effect on businesses. On Saturday, 8th December, the day of the protest outside City Hall, City Centre trade was down between 25% and 35% in comparison with the same day last year. On Saturday alone this amounted to a loss of around £3.8m. This trend has continued during the course of the week as people have avoided travelling into the City due of the ongoing blocking of arterial routes by protesters.
2.4 At the
request of a number of traders, including the managers of both
Castle Court and Victoria Square, officers have engaged with BCCM
and BVCB to see how the Council might help businesses encourage
people to come into the city and promote the fact that the City
Centre continues to operate as normal.
We have also been asked to discourage major employers, including
the public sector, from advising their staff to leave the City
early to avoid disruption.
2.5
In response to these requests, Members
are being asked to consider a programme of activity to support the
promotion of the retail and hospitality sectors in the
City. This consists of 3 areas of
work:
· Supplementing BVCB’s current promotional campaign;
· Animating the City Centre with a programme of activities.
·
Associated Public Relations
Activity
·
2.6 Promotional Activity
2.6.1 It is recommended that a marketing and PR campaign is urgently activated, with a concentration on those media channels which can communicate widely that Belfast is busy and buoyant, and continues to offer fantastic retail, dining and entertainment options.
It is proposed that this is done via the following programme of activity:
1. upweight and extension in the existing booked Christmas media;
2. up-to-the minute daily broadcast of “60 Seconds in the City”
;
3. similarly-styled ’60 seconds in the City’ press advertorials;
4. a programme of ‘60 Seconds in the City’ radio broadcasts;
5. press advertorial;
6. digital updates on Facebook and Twitter;
7. supporting PR activities.
This will enable us to communicate in real time, Christmas events, retail offers and good news stories for the day of broadcast and the following day to effectively convey the sheer breadth of activities that are planned in the City between now and Christmas Eve. It is critically important to present visitors with compelling images of people having a good time in Belfast.
Messaging will be strong, clear and concise and convey the positive communications and images of the City, its products and visitor experiences. There will be no reference to the protests or safety issues in any communications. We will seek to show people are visiting and enjoying the City on a daily basis, availing of great value retail, visitor attractions, entertainment, hotel and restaurant offers.
The marketing and PR communications will operate seamlessly and in tandem, complementing and reinforcing the range of positive messages. A detailed programme from 15 December to 24 December is set out in Appendix 1 at a cost of £80,000
2.7 City Centre Street Animation
2.7.1 A programme of street animation is proposed for the period from Saturday, 15th December until 24 December, 2012. This will take place in Donegall Place, Castle Place, Cornmarket and outside City Hall. This activity will be integrated with activities planned by both Castle Court and Victoria Square Shopping Centres.
The activity would include street entertainers, acrobats, Christmas characters in the streets, buskers, street traders, dance, street opera and choirs.
In order for this to be of a scale which is likely to have an
impact this will require an investment of somewhere in the region
£40,000.
2.8 Christmas Market
2.8.1 The traders within the Christmas market have also suffered a major downturn in their turnover in comparison to last year. Most traders have reported a downturn of around 30% and licensed premises down 40%. The operator of the Christmas Market , MPEL, has been approached with a view to extending the period of their stay up at City Hall from 20th to 22nd December. A decision is due to be made following a meeting with traders on the morning of 14 December. A number of operators will have made arrangements to travel home, however, their stands will be offered to local traders at little or no cost.
2.9 PR Activity
2.9.1 The Development Department and Corporate Communications will work alongside BVCB and its PR advisers on supporting this activity with key media and public messages. These will highlight why Belfast is the place to be in the run up to Christmas and its accessibility by public transport, car, on foot and cycling. One of the main areas, of course, will be promoting late night shopping opportunities, which has been hardest hit due to workers leaving early and shoppers avoiding town due to road blocks.
2.10 Voucher Campaign
2.10.1 A further proposal put forward by the PR Team for consideration by members is the idea of issuing 100 £10 vouchers on each of the 10 days leading up to Christmas. These could be redeemed against purchase in stores/restaurants agreeing to provide offers to attract shoppers into town. The winners would be photographed with the photos placed on social media to encourage people to visit the city. The total cost of this proposal would be around £13,000.
3.0 Resource Implications
3.1 It is anticipated that the cost of an effective promotional, PR and animation programme is likely to be in the region of £120,000.
3.2 The voucher programme if run over 10 days would cost around £13,000
3.3 The cost of the above activity would have to be met from the projected underspend in the current financial year.
4.0 Equality and Good Relations Considerations
4.1 There are no equality and good relations implications.
5.0 Recommendations
5.1 The Committee is asked to approve the programme of activity set out above.”
After discussion, the Committee adopted the recommendations.